Saban buys back Power Rangers; show will head to Nick

[Chaotix12345]

I thought SPD and JF were decent. Sure, SPD had it's share of problems, but the cast had very good chemistry and were overall very likeable. It helps that it had some really good filler episodes under it's belt.

RPM is one of my favorite recent seasons because it's very different from the usual PR fare. Who would have thought they'd be able to take one of the goofiest sentais in years and turn it into an epic, entertaining story? I'm really looking forward to the new season, as it's nice to see PR back after so many of us thought it dead.

 

[Ookamikun]

Most of your comments, Fenrir, are generally nitpicking and are minor. If that's the case a lot of the older seasons have tons to nitpick about. Hell, I could state the same thing about MMPR and even Space had its own stuff like that.

 

[Marvin Tikvah]

I'm still not even sure why Kalish is BAD. I mean, I can understand the dislike for Operation Overdrive. Intense ambition without any fulfillment and a horribly broken moral (not unlike, say, Time Force or, to a lesser degree, In Space). But I don't get the big hate on for Kalish as a whole. People complain about him because he feels his job is to just translate Sentai, but...Time Force did that and everyone loves Time Force.

That's the problem.

In early SPD, you can see signs of a promising season, what with the morally ambiguous characters, the intertwined pasts between certain characters, and the hints of something ominous behind it all. Then after Greg Aronowitz left, the series became a watered down Dekaranger clone with a few elements changed to match the series.

Then he goes on to have interviews with the fandom where he practically admits the show is just a paycheck to him and he doesn't really care about pleasing anyone but his bosses. That's not exactly what anyone wants to here especially when he goes on to say those guys are responsible for half of SPD's shortcomings.

 

[garfield15]

Let me get this out. I. Hate. Kalish-splosions.

There is a difference between the usual PR pyrotechnic flair that can be larger than life. Then there's the Kalish-splosion. Oh and it's not just an explosion, it's a process that happens every ten minutes in an action sequence.

1) The villain shoots a beam or weapon of some kind at the Rangers
2) The weapon detonates obviously like 30 or so feet behind the Rangers nowhere near their bodies to be real
3) The Rangers will be lifted into the air inareallyquickcamerashot and then it'll repeat the shot in extreeeeeeme sloooooow moooooootion.
4) Repeat for three or four more Rangers and you've just saved a minute of anything actually happening in the story.

My favorite one is when Flurious and the red guy (whatever his name was) in Overdrive were fighting each other physically with their weapons ie; no beaming or shooting going on and then they point their weapons at each other, again read: point. Not shoot, point their weapons at each other. Then like the entire pyrotechnic budget goes off behind them in constant repeated cuts. Seriously, I can take a lot of crazy stuff happening, but even at that point I had to go "What was the point of that!?"

 

[PC!]

My favorite one is when Flurious and the red guy (whatever his name was) in Overdrive were fighting each other physically with their weapons ie; no beaming or shooting going on and then they point their weapons at each other, again read: point. Not shoot, point their weapons at each other. Then like the entire pyrotechnic budget goes off behind them in constant repeated cuts. Seriously, I can take a lot of crazy stuff happening, but even at that point I had to go "What was the point of that!?"

Weren't there multiple occasions when Flurious shot off ice beams that somehow created explosions? Ice beams!

 

[Beat]

Let me get this out. I. Hate. Kalish-splosions.

There is a difference between the usual PR pyrotechnic flair that can be larger than life. Then there's the Kalish-splosion. Oh and it's not just an explosion, it's a process that happens every ten minutes in an action sequence.

1) The villain shoots a beam or weapon of some kind at the Rangers
2) The weapon detonates obviously like 30 or so feet behind the Rangers nowhere near their bodies to be real
3) The Rangers will be lifted into the air inareallyquickcamerashot and then it'll repeat the shot in extreeeeeeme sloooooow moooooootion.
4) Repeat for three or four more Rangers and you've just saved a minute of anything actually happening in the story.

My favorite one is when Flurious and the red guy (whatever his name was) in Overdrive were fighting each other physically with their weapons ie; no beaming or shooting going on and then they point their weapons at each other, again read: point. Not shoot, point their weapons at each other. Then like the entire pyrotechnic budget goes off behind them in constant repeated cuts. Seriously, I can take a lot of crazy stuff happening, but even at that point I had to go "What was the point of that!?"

It would have been more forgivable had they not out the scene from Boukenger specifically making fun of the explosions. Almost as if Kalish got offended.

 

[PC!]

It would have been more forgivable had they not out the scene from Boukenger specifically making fun of the explosions. Almost as if Kalish got offended.

Aw, are you talking about that scene from the "bad luck" episode where there's the usual explosion behind the rangers, and the red ranger catches on fire?

That was so awesome. I can't believe they didn't keep that scene in.

 

[Gilgamesh]

That level of nitpicking can be applied to any season of PR. Or any show for that matter. And a lot of it doesn't express a flaw with the show, just something you don't agree with or understand. For example, you said:

No. I'm addressing objective flaws. If you raise absurdly interesting questions, you're going to answer them. If your series has horrible implications, you better damn well address those implications. RPM unironically sees nothing wrong with leaving people to die in a desert horribly as you're trying to save the human race. Truman is NEVER CALLED ON HIS CRAP.

They can't address every question that could ever be brought up.

Then don't bring them up en masse. If you don't have time to bring up all the horrible implications your scripts bring up, maybe you should REWRITE YOUR SCRIPTS.

But what do I know?

Plus, in this case I think it's obvious: because the city would be destroyed if people who don't agree on everything refuse to work together.

If that was the solution, they should have addressed that solution. And I call crap on your reasoning anyway: If that was the case, Truman would never have tried touching Dr. K. But he did because of her crimes. If they were really concerned with survival over sins, Dr. K would've never been put to trial. She was the mentor and technological expert of their entire military force.

So no. You are objectively wrong. They did care about people's individual crimes and considered justice a higher priority than survival or military advantage over the Venjix Virus. The show shows demonstrative evidence that you are objectively incorrect. This is not up for debate.

I agree with some of your points, disagree with some others, and don't see why the remaining even matter. But, if you make a list of nitpicks, unanswered questions, and instances of anything less than perfect logic, you can get a long list for any show. That isn't what makes a show good or bad; it's whether the good outweighs the bad and by how much. A list of unanswered questions is a small piece of that puzzle.

The good did not outweigh the bad. RPM promised a tightly plotted, well written storyline from the get go and never delivered.

And since you said it was the most important thing... You asked:

Probably because they were too distracted by talking about the things they liked.

Because RPM is always perfect and has no flaws ever, yes. I'm aware.

This is nitpicking. All of this. These are the kinds of questions that nobody really gives a crap about.

Really? You don't care that Flynn never had a character arc, but you presumably enjoy his character? You don't care that in a single focus two parter, Summer's backstory (which was made up wholecloth and then resolved in that same story, giving her absolutely no arc for the entire series except for being Dillon's designated vaginal crease) completely demolished the already flimsy world building of the series? And that was like, what, five episodes in?

You don't care that Gem and Gemma were traumatized by violent slavery to the point where they possess superpowerful military gear and love the idea of mass homicide...only for them to be, instead of treated for their obvious mental damage, drafted into Corinth's military. And this being portrayed unironically as a happy ending for their characters.

I want to make this clear.

You don't see any problem with Gem and Gemma's ending. You have no problem with homicidal mental patients being manipulated and drafted into the military being portrayed as a good thing. And according to your words, nobody else does either.

Just making sure.

This is not nitpicking. This is only nitpicking because you like RPM. Admit it.

In fact, name any season you don't like. Even if it's one I like, I don't care. Tell me why you don't like it. And then explain to me in detail why you're not nitpicking. Otherwise, don't even.

These are the kinds of questions that prove even more why a show intended for kids should not really be reviewed so heavily outside of actual flaws in-show.

How is Dr. K designing her computer to give you the answers you want when you fail to hack her system to get the answer you want after it's been proven Grinders can walk in their any time they please not an in-show flaw?

How are all the terrible implications that go on unadressed not in-show flaws? Is your definition of flaw "the things I didn't like, but if someone else brings something up he's just a nitpicker."?

I could make a gigantic list of every Power Rangers nitpicking like this. Heck, I could make a list of anything nitpicking like this to make it sound worse than it is.

You don't see anything wrong with ending a mentally damaged person's character arc by portraying his manipulation and drafting into the military as a genuine flaw. So no, I actually don't believe you could construct the list you claim you can. I actually question if you actually pay attention to what you watch.

And no, it's not the same. You can't do a list like this with most of MMPR, because it doesn't promise to be anything other than braindead high schoolers fighting goofy monsters for a half hour. And it succeeds in that, so it's much harder to criticize. You can say it's a bad show, which it is, but you can't claim it didn't deliver what it promised.

I can claim RPM did not deliver what it promised and never did. Because it established itself as an introspective, post-apocalyptic story of humanity's last days and then basically ditched that for doing anything it wanted while still pretending it had any lick of gravitas. THAT should be criticized. That should have the holes blown out. MMPR doesn't promise you anything but bare essentials so you're not getting anywhere by criticizing it. RPM promised the sun and gave you a match that burnt out decades ago.

It's one thing to offer criticism but it's another when you make a long post of nitpicky complaints that the neither the children nor the older fans really care about.

Here's a question: why don't the older fans care? They'll nitpick the crap out of, say, Bruce Kalish. Douglas Sloan's Ninja Storm. Wild Force. What makes RPM any different?

Really. What makes RPM any different?

Are you seriously asking why a character has a certain trait? That's like asking "Why does nobody notice the morphers on the Wind Rangers" or better yet, that's like asking "Why are Bulk and Skull so dumb? That doesn't make any sense."

No. Venjix designed his entire army and race of robots. His monsters of the week are all drones who lack personality. Why would he suddenly make a robot and declare "THIS ONE HATES BOOBS!"?

Really. Why? This is not rhetorical.

Ninja Storm didn't take itself too seriously from the start, so I don't expect people to assume fancy wristwatches are morphers. MMPR did not even try to make its high school realistic and never acted like it was, I don't really see any reason for Bulk and Skull being perceived as unintelligent a problem.

Most of your comments, Fenrir, are generally nitpicking and are minor. If that's the case a lot of the older seasons have tons to nitpick about. Hell, I could state the same thing about MMPR and even Space had its own stuff like that.

No you couldn't. MMPR didn't promise you anything but goofy highjinks and spandex fights. You can say it's terrible, you can't say it didn't deliver.

And you COULD make similar arguments about In Space. In fact, I dislike Countdown to Destruction for this very reason.

And no, asking why enlisting mentally traumatized people who love the idea of destroying everything in their way into the military and portraying this like a good thing is not nitpicking. This is me asking why RPM's writing was so unironically unethical.

If I had children, I'd let them watch MMPR. It's harmless. Even its ambitious stories that didn't really WORK were harmless. I'd let them watch most of the first six years. Most of the Tzachor/Lynn years are okay. Mystic Force and Jungle Fury, sure. Ninja Storm and DinoThunder, yeah.

But RPM? No. RPM unironically embraces mentally damaged human beings without ever addressing what's actually wrong with them. Homicidal, broken human beings are drafted into the military after the only enemy Corinth faces is thought to be dead anyway and this is seen as a good thing. Nobody under Truman's watch questions his complete cynicism and apathy beyond "OOOH DAD YOU GOOFY GOOBER I'M GONNA DRIVE THE GO-ONGER VAN!".

And I always figured it was for the same reason people like Time Force: "But it's dark!" So when you criticize RPM, you're nitpicking (even though you didn't understand why someone could hate RPM; then I tell you why and I'm nitpicking. That's wonderful). But if you criticize Bruce Kalish, it's all justified.

(I don't even love Kalish and I think that's bullcrap. Mack's storyline had a HORRIBLE moral that no children's show should ever have).

But RPM is dark and awesome, so you can't criticize it without being nitpicky. Because this fandom just wants you to be ambitious, it doesn't actually care if you can fulfill it.

Prove me wrong.

 

[garfield15]

Okay, once you started multi-quoting past two posts, that's way too much to care.

 

[Gilgamesh]

So, just so I'm clear:

You can complain about explosions and overused pyro-technics and not be nitpicking, but I can complain about horribly unethical storytelling in children's TV and be a nitpicker?

Got it.

 

[Taekmkm]

Unethical? Next to Dragon Ball Kai? Uh....

 

[Gilgamesh]

Unethical? Next to Dragon Ball Kai? Uh....

I don't really like Dragonball Z/Kai either for similar reasons, so I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at, here.

 

[Taekmkm]

Most every show nowadays has levels of unethical concepts, ideas, or just being existent. This includes kid's block shows, so arguing it based on that is kind of a never-ending wheel. The only exceptions are pure learning segment shows meant for ages 2-6.

 

[Dogbert]

This is not up for debate. ...

Prove me wrong.

I'm getting mixed messages here, so I'll just say this: We clearly have different opinions on RPM. I stand by everything I said in my previous post. Saying things like "You are objectively wrong" while debating character motivations is way over the top, so I don't see this going anywhere productive...

 

[KYO'NYUU IMOUTO]

I haven't watched RPM but it does seem to have a lot of flaws...

I don't really like Dragonball Z/Kai either for similar reasons, so I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at, here.

Half the fun is that none of the main characters have Clark Kent's moral center.

 

[Innagadadavida]

Ethics are subjective and not every show has to have the same ethics, children show or not.

Frankly I'd be bored if every show gave me the same message. And kids are much smarter than people give them credit for.

 

[garfield15]

I haven't watched RPM but it does seem to have a lot of flaws...

You should really watch RPM. It has Go-Onger references.

 

[Marvin Tikvah]

I haven't watched RPM but it does seem to have a lot of flaws...

The biggest positive of this series is that its not being handled by an apathetic directer and it came at the point where Disney didn't care anymore, so some of the old restrictions were not nearly as enforced or even prevented.

 

[Taekmkm]

I haven't watched RPM but it does seem to have a lot of flaws...

What. I don't get this post at all.

 

[firefoxprime]

The biggest positive of this series is that its not being handled by an apathetic directer and it came at the point where Disney didn't care anymore, so some of the old restrictions were not nearly as enforced or even prevented.

What do you mean? What kind of leniency are we talkin about here?