The Energon Pub

Well, the wait is finally over. The world premiere of Power Rangers: Samurai has finally aired tonight on Nickelodeon. And how exactly does this new series made by Saban hold up with the other previous series? Well... let's just say I've seen better.

I mean, seriously, this couldn't possibly have been Episode 1! The way it was handled was as though it was expected of the audience to already know who these characters were and what was going on. Nothing was given a proper introduction, and the Rangers were treated as though they had already been existing! Did they just decide to skip the *real* first episode or something?

And what exactly was the point of that one scene with Bulk and Sku-- er, I mean Spike ( ), anyway? Besides for fanwank, it served no purpose to overall plot of the episode. Do these two even know the Rangers? Do the Rangers know them? What is their connection to the this series aside from eye-candy!?

And the monster, gaaah, this monster was annoying as all get out! He would not shut up at all, and every single line of dialogue he spoke during the fight scenes were nothing but painfully-bad one-liners! Enough with the puns, already! Would it really kill them to give us some decent competent dialogue?

But, aside from all this confusion and irritation, the action was good and the soundtrack was epic. The theme song was revamp of the original "Go Go Power Rangers!" with some rewritten lyrics to better fit with this series. And it was great!

So overall, good action, poor continuity, awful villain dialogue, and great music.

Hmm, I'll have to check out the first episode to see how it compares to Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.

Love the new suits, and the new/old intro music. The continuity is a problem, though. Apparently they intend to have flashback episodes later on like they did with RPM. The villain dialogue wasn't that bad, though. I really, really don't like Skull's replacement, Spike. I'm fine with Bulk, even if he is just there for the fans, but Spike's voice sounds like he's trying too hard to imitate Skull, and it just doesn't work.

According to what some people have told me, this was actually the third episode that they aired first. If that's the case then where are the two missing episodes and why did they skip them?

Sabrblade wrote:According to what some people have told me, this was actually the third episode that they aired first. If that's the case then where are the two missing episodes and why did they skip them?

And according to what I've heard, this was the first episode. Which sounds more plausible, that they intentionally made Episode 1 this way and intend to show flashbacks later on like they've done with several series, or that Saban and Nickelodeon screwed up and showed episode 3 first?

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:According to what some people have told me, this was actually the third episode that they aired first. If that's the case then where are the two missing episodes and why did they skip them?

And according to what I've heard, this was the first episode. Which sounds more plausible, that they intentionally made Episode 1 this way and intend to show flashbacks later on like they've done with several series, or that Saban and Nickelodeon screwed up and showed episode 3 first?

Then explain to me what episode this is from?


In this clip, they are fighting the first monster that Shinkenger fought (in episode 1 of that series, no less), they introduce themselves to the enemy, and present themselves in a way that implies that this is their first ever Ranger fight. None of this resembles a flashback, and it wouldn't make sense for this one monster to not know who the Rangers were if his superiors knew (they wouldn't not inform him on them, this show's writers are better than that).

RPM did exactly what you've described, but the way they did it was nothing like this. They still treated RPM's episode 1 as an introductory episode even though it didn't go into how the Rangers got their powers and/or show their first encounter with the enemy.

Samurai, however, instead seems to expect the audience to already know who everyone is and what's going on in the story. Nothing is introduced at all in the episode that aired. Everything just shows up as though it were the norm and as though the audience knew exactly what was going on (yet, we don't).

Episode 2 -

Okay, this time we get a bit of backstory with some opening narration at the very beginning of the episode. Why this wasn't done before in the previous episode is still beyond me. It would have really helped to explain the story.

Xandred: "Do you know how many Nighlok have failed me already?!! Failure is not an option!!!" - Hmm, I count... one. Unless we're missing a episdoe or two (*hint hint*), only one Nighlok has failed you , Xandred.

Once again, the scene with Bulk and Spike was pointless, but Bulk's still delightful to watch (Spike, however, is going to take some serious getting used to).

Kevin's moment of nostalgic emotion could have been executed a LOT better than it was.

Okay, cooking with a sword = awesome.

The staff thrown by the Nighlok hitting the ground like it did just screams "Tuxedo Kamen rose".

The Nighlok keeps calling Kevin and Mia "Rangers" in front of the kid. Does the secret identity rule hold up in this series or not?
Also, how do Kevin and Mia know the kid's name? It wasn't said out loud before.
Also also, that kid is a terrible actor.

Mia: "How dare you pick on a little kid! That's unforgivable!" - Yurusenai! Ai to seigi no sailor fuku bishoujo senshi! Sailor Moon! Tsuki ni kawatte oshiokiyo!

First appearance of the Fire Smasher (outside of that preview clip), the Forest Spear, the Earth Slicer, the Hydro Bow, and the Sky Fan.

What exactly is the point of Mega Mode? If it's just to pilot the zords, wouldn't it be cheaper to just use the Shinkenger mecha cockpit scenes?

This Nighlok was a a lot dignified than the last one. While he still had the occasional cheesy line or two, at least not everything to come out of his mouth was a bad pun.

Leave it to Bulk (and Spike) to turn a predictably cliche moment into a delightful comedic moment.

All in all, this episode was a decent filler episode. Though, next week, the Rangers are getting another zord. What? A new zord in only the third episode? What is up with the pacing of this show?

Sabrblade wrote:Does the secret identity rule hold up in this series or not?

Probably not. I haven't seen the second episode, but from the first episode, the rule seems to be "Try not to tell anyone, but if they find out for whatever reason, no big deal."

Since the show's only on once a week and it's new, I'll probably stick around for the series. However, it's not off to a great start, as my nastalgia is really the only thing holding me to it right now. Still I did just watch the new episode, and a couple thoughts:

-Yes, Mia pulling out her sword to cook was awsome.

-That squidheaded guy(don't know his name) said he mixed up some medicine and put Xandred to sleep. Fine, but the next scene looked liked Xandred just got drunk and passed out . I mean, he's even surrounded by bottles and is holding one!

-Zords fighting without being in Megazord mode? Nice! I hope that trend continues. Also, the final attack was pretty cool.

-Kevin said he really hated liars after him and Mia teamed up to beat the baddie. But earlier in the episode he threw out Mia's cooking and said it was good. Hypocrite?

Duke of Luns wrote:-That squidheaded guy(don't know his name) said he mixed up some medicine and put Xandred to sleep. Fine, but the next scene looked liked Xandred just got drunk and passed out . I mean, he's even surrounded by bottles and is holding one!

Gotta explain away the Sentai footage in a PC way somehow.

Duke of Luns wrote:-Zords fighting without being in Megazord mode? Nice! I hope that trend continues. Also, the final attack was pretty cool.

Not like that's anything new. We've seen that hundreds of times in past series.

Blurrz wrote:Oh my awesome

That would be GokaiOh. Primary mecha of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.

Red - Gokai Galleon
Blue - Gokai Jet
Green - Gokai Racer
Yellow - Gokai Trailer
Pink - Gokai Marine

Though, this is technically off topic since Gokaiger has currently next-to-nothing to do with PR: Samurai (Gokaiger is two years ahead of Shinkenger).

Blurrz wrote:Oh, lol. I thought the topic was Power Rangers: Pirates.. and I didn't realize we were talking bout the American version of Shinkenger. XD

Where did you see that word in the title? Did you even read the first post?

Sabrblade wrote:

Duke of Luns wrote:-Zords fighting without being in Megazord mode? Nice! I hope that trend continues. Also, the final attack was pretty cool.

Not like that's anything new. We've seen that hundreds of times in past series.

In my defense I only saw Power Rangers here and there back in the day, not having cable or satelite at the time. Plus by the time they went "In Space", I was pretty much done with the show. From what I remember though there were very few instances where the individual main five Zords fought the monsters.

The only other Ranger series I've seen since then was RPM, and that didn't happen very often, but they were vehicles so it was kinda hard. I've also seen most of Dino Thunder, but other things got in the way and I kinda forgot about it. But yeah, not a whole lot of individual Zord fighting there either, but there is some from what I've seen.

Episode 3 -

Is it just me, or does Emily's character seem like it was written for a much younger person than she is? I get that she might be acting on the "dumb blonde" archetype mixed with a "goody-goody" trait, but she doesn't really seem to act like someone her age would.

In fact, the only one of the Rangers whose acting seems believable is Mike. His character seems real, while everyone else seems to act a little more wooden.

Why does Jayden suddenly already have the Beetle Disk? Why don't we see him getting it first?

Spike's trying a little to hard to be like Skull.

Oy, a stereotypically Texan-accented monster who won't stop talking. This is gonna hurt.

Jayden learned to master the Beetle Disk quite literally through Burning Justice. So the moral here is, if you want to achieve something, keep at it till you pass out and scream as loud as you can.

First appearance of the Fire Smasher Kayden Blast Mode and the Five-Disk Beetle Cannon.

"Sure." "Hope." "This." "Helps." - *facepalm*

Say, what is the method used to make the Nighlok grow giant in this series? I can't recall if it has been said yet.

First appearance of the Beetle Zord and the Beetle Blaster Megazord.

Jayden: "Well, guess what! Things are about to get real buggy for you, buddy!" - *double facepalm*

So. Many. PUNS! Gyaaahh!

Hello! Giant Moogers?!! Aw, YEAH! Now we got the enemies thinking smart for once! Making the foot soldiers giant sized is brilliant! At this size, they greatly outnumber and out speed the slow-moving Megazord... unless of course the Rangers have another Deus Ex Machina up their sleeve.

And next week... another filler.

Episode 4 -

I seriously hope that there's something wrong with Emily's mentality to explain her unusually high level of child-like behavior (as opposed it just being "lost in translation" writing basing her on her younger Shinkenger counterpart).

Negatron: "I better go vent somewhere else." - *Gets KRDK vibes from that line.*

When Bulk and Spike clashed "swords", a background simialr to those seen in the MMPR2010 recut appeared.

So, the Rangers' Samurai powers were literally passed down from their families? Let's see the canon work around that one.

So, Emily was picked on and clumsy as a kid, and never really got over it. I guess that's a start to explaining her behavior.

"Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" - Oy, she just had to go there.

Can't they just have a decent Megazord fight doesn't require a pun-induced vocabulary?

Sabrblade wrote:Episode 4 -

I seriously hope that there's something wrong with Emily's mentality to explain her unusually high level of child-like behavior (as opposed it just being "lost in translation" writing basing her on her younger Shinkenger counterpart).

Negatron: "I better go vent somewhere else." - *Gets KRDK vibes from that line.*

When Bulk and Spike clashed "swords", a background simialr to those seen in the MMPR2010 recut appeared.

So, the Rangers' Samurai powers were literally passed down from their families? Let's see the canon work around that one.

So, Emily was picked on and clumsy as a kid, and never really got over it. I guess that's a start to explaining her behavior.

"Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never hurt me!" - Oy, she just had to go there.

Can't they just have a decent Megazord fight doesn't require a pun-induced vocabulary?

Hmmm, regarding what you said about the Rangers' Samurai powers being passed down from their families. I think it can be canon. Just because their parents and family member had the powers doesn't mean they actually got to experience being a Power Ranger. Yes, they had the Samuraizer morpher, but maybe the Evil Master Xandred & his monsters were not a threat to Earth yet. Now that he has awoken, the current generation of the family is young and thus, get to fight as the new Samurai Power Rangers! (the previous samurai rangers being the ancient ones from centuries long, long ago)

sdknight76 wrote:Hmmm, regarding what you said about the Rangers' Samurai powers being passed down from their families. I think it can be canon. Just because their parents and family member had the powers doesn't mean they actually got to experience being a Power Ranger. Yes, they had the Samuraizer morpher, but maybe the Evil Master Xandred & his monsters were not a threat to Earth yet. Now that he has awoken, the current generation of the family is young and thus, get to fight as the new Samurai Power Rangers! (the previous samurai rangers being the ancient ones from centuries long, long ago)

I mean, let's see how it relates to the canon established by past series. Like, where the powers came from and when in regards to the previous Disney era series. I mean, do we still not know when this series takes place? Like, how long after Jungle Fury? Two years? Three? One? And we still need them to address when RPM occurs in this timeline (if it is in this timeline, that is).

Officially, RPM isn't in the timeline. As far as Power Rangers goes, it's non-canon. however, it's been officially stated that if Samurai does a crossover event with RPM, then they'll canonize it.

Shadowman wrote:Officially, RPM isn't in the timeline. As far as Power Rangers goes, it's non-canon. however, it's been officially stated that if Samurai does a crossover event with RPM, then they'll canonize it.

Hopefully, they'll do so in a way that makes sense. I mean, who thought it would be a great idea to make a non-canon series? We like continuity! We get that they tried it before with Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue, and Ninja Storm, but those attempts were wonky at best. Why would they intentionally try to dissociate RPM with other series when it doesn't build upon to existing story?

Plus, the Red Overdrive Ranger's helmet cameoed in RPM once.

As for Samurai, here's my write for episode 5 (I didn't do write ups for those after 5 since this thread kinda died out for a while, and I haven't seen any episode passed 6).

Episode 5 -

So, they gotta capture wild zords in order to use them like in Wild Force?

A fishing pole? Really? And Why is Kevin talking to himself?

Is it really that strenuous for him to draw symbols and then cast them?

So, the Swordfish Fencer Megazord is just the Samurai Megazord with a new backpack and helmet? Oh, and the Megazord's sword attaches to its head.

Oh, hello mysterious white monster. What are you doing?

Next week: An interesting turn of events. The rangers face off against both the female Nighlok commander seen on their ship (Dayu) and the mysterious white warrior mentioned above (Deker).

Shadowman wrote:Officially, RPM isn't in the timeline. As far as Power Rangers goes, it's non-canon. however, it's been officially stated that if Samurai does a crossover event with RPM, then they'll canonize it.

Haha, I totally agree with you on that. RPM is like the 1st Power Rangers season to ever be non-canon. The incredible storyline itself separates it from the timeline. I mean, if it WAS canon, then the Time Force rangers should've done something about Venjix so that RPM's post-apocalyptic world would not happen. It's so tragic that all the rangers we have known actually died. Thus the RPM rangers are the only ones left =\. By the way, even though RPM was not a complete rip off of Go-onger, it amazes me how the season feels and IS out of continuity. That's how it's done with all Super Sentai seasons! So that they don't have to deal with the canon issues. But Power Rangers is canon, so let's hope non-canon seasons do not happen again. Although, I can't see how the future seasons can be in continuity, considering the themes of pirates and what not. Things are getting too weird and will be a challenge for Saban now!

sdknight76 wrote:I mean, if it WAS canon, then the Time Force rangers should've done something about Venjix so that RPM's post-apocalyptic world would not happen.

Not unless it takes place before the year 3000. Like in a post-SPD, pre-Time Force era. After all, from what we saw of Millennium City in the year 3000, the outsides of the city looked a lot like wastelands, like those seen in RPM.

sdknight76 wrote:Although, I can't see how the future seasons can be in continuity, considering the themes of pirates and what not. Things are getting too weird and will be a challenge for Saban now!

Aren't we forgetting about Goseiger? It's Gokaiger that the pirate one. Goseiger came before it, and after Shinkenger.

Sabrblade wrote:

sdknight76 wrote:I mean, if it WAS canon, then the Time Force rangers should've done something about Venjix so that RPM's post-apocalyptic world would not happen.

Not unless it takes place before the year 3000. Like in a post-SPD, pre-Time Force era. After all, from what we saw of Millennium City in the year 3000, the outsides of the city looked a lot like wastelands, like those seen in RPM.

The wastelands in RPM were caused by Venjix's nuclear (?) attack, and at the end of the series, it was shown that the damage was coming undone and life was returning.

Shadowman wrote:

Sabrblade wrote:

sdknight76 wrote:I mean, if it WAS canon, then the Time Force rangers should've done something about Venjix so that RPM's post-apocalyptic world would not happen.

Not unless it takes place before the year 3000. Like in a post-SPD, pre-Time Force era. After all, from what we saw of Millennium City in the year 3000, the outsides of the city looked a lot like wastelands, like those seen in RPM.

The wastelands in RPM were caused by Venjix's nuclear (?) attack, and at the end of the series, it was shown that the damage was coming undone and life was returning.

Well, maybe there were a few parts that didn't heal. The world is a big place, and global damage that severe is difficult to undo 100%.

Also, this isn't entirely Power Ranger-specific, but this Gokaiger footage is awesome.