Akibaranger Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Mighty Morphin Powerful Rangers!

For this episode of Akibaranger the franchise gets a major change as somehow Powerful Rangers the American adaption of Super Sentai is first! Then the first Super Sentai series is Gaoranger, how did this possibly happen and how will it be fixed?

Now for those who think this is a battle of the purist of Sentai and Power Rangers, it sort of is. The Powerful Rangers act like how a PR fan would when they think it's the better franchise. Also I mean the fans who will be blasting their words at you for this topic. The two rangers quickly attack the Akibarangers saying that they suck for ripping them off. It can also been seen for the Sentai fans as well since the situation is that Powerful Rangers was first so in ways they are Sentai now. This leads to the argument that Sentai purist bring up cause Sentai was the first which makes it better. Personally I used to be a Sentai purist when I started the franchise since I found out that America just uses the stock footage. After a year though I quickly realized how dumb that was of me. I mean a series is a series and if it's good it's still good no matter what. So I really did like how the Powerful Rangers were used as they portray the anger in the fandoms.

Now moving on to how the heroes reacted to this. The only one in the group who wasn't completely destroyed by this was Luna since she was the one who caused this. I will talk about her later though. So the other two heroes try to get people to remember the Sentai series before Gaoranger. Then going on the story behind this is that Gaoranger used Powerful Rangers Wild Force footage without permission and for America they own the franchise and has considered suing! This does bring up some questions though, would Dairanger be gone completely again since it was never used for PR? Then going to more thoughts Kakuranger would only be the Alien Rangers! Well going on some would now think that Nobuo and Moegi would act like the Sentai purist and they are, but it's only because they love that franchise. I mean they watched it as kids and they never said they hate Powerful Rangers so that's open for discussion. The two are just fighting for the series they love to come back into reality. Too bad one person didn't think like this.

Oh Luna how I wanted to like you, but this episode didn't really make you shine at all. First she was the cause of the situation, now this isn't the major reason why she didn't do well in this episode. How this happens is because she sees an image of Powerful Rangers and thinks they were the originals. After the team find out that she was the cause they give her the whole breakdown of what happened. Sadly though she still doesn't listen and wants to be on the Powerful Rangers' side because of a director she likes and the fact that they are cool. Now it makes sense she doesn't really care about which series is first, but you think she would see how hard the other two are doing in the beginning and help them. In the delusion world where they meet the two rangers again, Luna just runs up to them. She is then held on the sideline and watches her allies get beaten up! This is when she does start to see how hard the two are working, but she still doesn't do anything until the Zyurangers return to normal and thinks they are cooler. The sad part of this is that it could have been easily fixed.

When in the delusion world for the second time they try to get the Zyurangers back to normal by referencing the biggest part of the series. Mostly the parts with Burai and Geki and yea spoilers were there. This doesn't work so the two American rangers beat up the two, they are even knocked out of their transformations. The Americans continue to attack them and soon Nobuo brings them back to themselves thanks to Dragon Ranger's saber toy. This was pretty simple to get the two back to normal and I was hoping for a little more. Heck I see a great way this could have been done. Luna starts to see the heroes she was idolizing are going way too far and are acting more evil than anything. This would lead her to give a speech to the two about being good which could have been the reference to Zyuranger since her speech could have similarities to Geki's speech to Burai about being good. Sadly though this was a wasted opportunity and how everything was then executed just felt average at best.

Another thing that was just average was the jokes. I was hoping to get more Power Rangers jokes for this episode and I mean why not. They are clearly referencing it. Now I will say the Powerful Rangers were funny cause they had broken English speaking patterns and they acted like a really stereotypical American. There was also a Powerful Ranger comic where the Red Ranger looked very muscular which does poke fun at how America likes to sell them as more muscular heroes in the toy lines. Still I was hoping for some jokes with Bandora/Rita since it would have been interesting to see how they would have done with that. Also some clips of Powerful Rangers would have been great as well. Also for some reason when Mogei mentions Toei she doesn't get bleeped like Luna did in episode two. So yea the jokes were good, but there could have been some more to have with this.

The villains weren't at their best either since the Shogun didn't do much since he had personal business to take care of. We meet his student I guess since this girl calls him her Sensei. This new character is Akina as she is a fan of Sentai as well I would guess since she does the dance of avarice which was in Sun Vulcan. Going on there was a very random joke where they fuse three names together to make one director. This name is George Speilburton. It's very obvious what they are referencing and they even make an E.T. joke. Also it seems this director was a Sentai fanatic so Luna would be wrong that he would like Powerful Rangers more. Still Akina was barely in the episode as I just question why she was there. I can tell she will be in the series more since she has a connection with Shogun as he calls her his Chimera which was a villain in Dynaman.

Even the action wasn't that much and I know this series is not really the highest form of action, but after the reveal of Super Akiba Red you think they would really want to rival that or use it again. It was a straight struggle fight which is fine, but it was only Red and Yellow in that part. Blue barely did anything which is still really a bad move for the series since it would have been a little funny to see Luna fight Red and Yellow. She wouldn't go too far though since she knows them. The new monster was barely even used as it's the phone monster again, but as a Trinoid. At least the first fight had some fun since Malshina easily used the Powerful Rangers to her advantage. Well with the Zyurangers back there is going to be a new power for the Akibarangers, but Luna gets it? As I said before she barely did anything, but cause issues in this episode so why would the Zyurangers give her their powers? Then the item isn't that special, it's a giant buckler that fires a laser. The last power was great because it worked with the Dairanger's special move and the laser that it fired was ten times stronger. Even the past items had more creativity since we had the Deka Cuffs which pokes at the police theme in Dekaranger, Bouken Scoop was interesting because it was a completely different tool and it combined features of Bouken Red's weapon with Yellows. Then the best one is the Jet Winger which works with how the Jetman fly. The giant buckler is alright, but there could have been more ideas with them. Also at least give it some other powers other than a finisher.

I am not a big fan of this episode. They missed a lot of opportunities and really misused Luna. Also some weak reveals as well. I mean really if the Luna issue was fixed it would have been a much better episode and make Luna more likeable, but she still stays as the same person now. I can tell she will love Sentai now, but it's only because she found them to be cooler. It's weak which is most of the episode, but it still passes by as average at best. So this episode gets a C.

Next Time: There is always time for tea.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 8 Review: Come Quietly or There Will Be Trouble

In this episode of Megaforce it seems that there are a new race of monsters that have been born. Will they join with Malkor and Vrak or will they just fight for their own cause? Sorry if this is a shorter review, I am having tons of work do for this month.

Sadly there isn't much to go on with this episode except for the new things. Our heroes really just find out about them and know they are new foes to fight. This is the reveal of Robo Knight who I will get to during this review. This episode isn't a copy of episode seventeen of Goseiger, but that is only because they trimmed down parts and didn't really include anything good to watch. The team is with their class on a field trip and they find things. First is that Noah and Emma find an industrial plant that is up and working again even though it was shut down years ago. There was also a big foot print that was found as the class went back to school after that. The beginning scenes were just mundane and not interesting to watch and the rest of episode is just okay.

Going on with the new villains I am liking how the first villains are still around minus Creepox. Malkor wants the mutants on his side and Vrak will be a messenger for him. This is probably my favorite part of the episode cause I am hoping to see more mixing around with the stock footage, heck they could use two episodes together with an alien and mutant MOTW. There is high potential for the villains in this series unlike the original Goseiger. Now onto the disappointments. To be honest now in Goseiger my favorite villains were the Yuumajuu. I liked them as the two main villains really worked well together and did many things and were part of really big moments in the series. The Yuumajuu were an ancient tribe that just wanted Earth as a home and will take down anything that couldn't live in their lifestyle. Here they are born from waste and will take revenge on the humans who dirtied the Earth who made them like this. Alright I know protecting the environment is important, but don't shove it down our throats! I mean this feels like Captain Planet will team up with the Power Rangers. I just hope later on the series these villains will get better since there is great potential for them.

Oh no he's here, RUN!

Now onto Robo Knight and I feel like I should call him Robocop. I mean that voice is so Robocop. I have to say I don't like the added in sounds for this guy cause it just makes me laugh more than anything. They are way too loud and sound like something you buy from a website. Then the voice is similar since I bet I can make myself sound like Roboknight for free on my computer. The character is basically the same as Goseiknight as well so yea I am truly disappointed in this. I mean he so could have been a human character, but since Goseiger is only being used for season one so I guess Knight will probably be gone in season two. So yea he's going to be a character that won't be much I bet since the real sixth warrior will be in season two. Now I really love Goseiknight he was my favorite character in Goseiger, but for an adaptation I don't want to see the same thing twice. So yea that's Robo Knight, just Gosei Knight with some bad sound effects and bad dubbing.

This is really all I can really talk about the episode since it used stock footage for all of the fight scenes. I mean there is how Robo Knight will not work with the team, but that's just like Goseiger. Basically Robo Knight was gone for a while and he came back with some improper circuitry so he works alone because of that. With Gosei Knight he just didn't see the team of being capable of helping him until they got his trust. With Megaforce having him being way too mechanical just takes the human elements away from his character and just makes it seem the team is fixing him. I really only had fun with Vrak meeting the villains and having them join Malkor. Everything else was just boring and couldn't get me interested. So I give this episode a D+ cause it still has interesting things at least.

Next Time: How will the team befriend Robo Knight?

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 7 Review: You See Any Tears? (Spoiler Alert!)

For this episode of Megaforce, Creepox has had enough with the rangers. So now he is on his own and will try to defeat the rangers by himself. Also there are bully issues in the school so how will our heroes deal with three villains? Also this isn't the biggest spoiler, but Creepox is one of the main villains and I would have the same with the Goseiger episodes.

First thing with this episode it uses two different episodes of Goseiger. Most of the footage is from the aftermath episode for Warstar episode sixteen and the debut of Hyper Gosei Great which was episode twelve. So I do like the mixing around of footage as the series did do this already with the use of Vrax. There are some hiccups though with the mixing around since Creepox doesn't have any armor, but it then reappears when he is in giant form. Then Hyper Gosei Great is called the Ultra Gosei Great..... why? I know the names weren't dead on with the others, but Sea is still close to Seaick. I mean the stock footage still shows the name being Hyper so why call it Ultra? Then there is the very noticeable Datas as he is not a part of the series so yea.... With Creepox I can take that hiccup, but changing a name we can see and trying to ignore a mech is way too big to forget.

What was handled well was the transition of stock to original expect for a lighting error with Gia's and Jake's fight, but I will let that go. The action portion of the show really did get a boost with these nice transitions and I always like to see monster suits actually be used in the original footage. Actually seeing the monster attack the actors really helps us paint the image that it's actually there and not just stock footage. It also breaks that realm of stock footage where you can't imagine seeing the actual actors being the heroes. Megaforce is doing well with this as I can see the American actors actually being the heroes, well maybe that is because I try to get Goseiger out of my mind. Going on with this knowing of scene transitions seeing a clash between Troy and Creepox was great and I think Troy is doing better as an actor, well maybe it could have just been for this episode.

So for Troy this episode does make him look like a better actor not saying he is a terrible actor, but this episode gives him some more points to at least be somewhat more average. I do think it is because of how the episode felt since Troy dealt with two foes who want to be dominant. Troy kept his stance at a bully showing that he is not afraid of him and is not crying. The deadness he usually shows in past episodes works better here since that state of emotionless tells people that he doesn't care. He even does this with Creepox which is an idea I do like. A nice comparison to Creepox as he is the type who likes to see people cower before him. Going on with this the bully characters are a nice callback to Bulk and Skull, just actually being more serious and not goofy. The two end up being nice then because a kid who they picked on them actually saves them. A short little kid saves them as he stood up against Creepox! Kid you got gusts and I like that a whole lot. So there is a anti bully message in this episode, but it is handled very well since it shows people helping each other no matter what.

One final thing to talk about is that Vrax showed up again in his Earth Armor which is actually his Yamajuu form from Goseiger. I do like we have no explanation for his change in appearance and knowing that he uses his normal form in battle as well makes me think if he is planning on his own. I do know that episode eight will give us the debut of Robo Knight which means more Yamajuu footage will be used so how will the Warstar villains be used during this? I will guess that the Yamajuu for this series will be following the leader in Megaforce so it will make it seem like it's still one villain group and I hope we get to see original footage where the different groups meet up and talk about their plans. Overall this episode was very different from the Goseiger episode and seeing that the series is doing more differences does make me heavily anticipate on what will happen later on.

This episode really made me more happier than the last couple of episodes. It is easily a comeback from episode six which was pretty bad cause of lack of originality and bad use of the stock footage. With this we got good use of the suits, nice mixing around with the footage, and some thinking in the mix. I will give this episode a B since as I said there are some hiccups still, but nothing too big like episode three had.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 6 Review: Turn it Down!

Well for this episode of Megaforce we get a performance from the monster and the Pink Ranger as they use their music as weapons. The world cannot deal with the crazy music from the monster and even our heroes are heavily affected. Sadly I have to say this concert is a flop.

The major problem with this episode is that it didn't take much freedom from the stock footage like the other episodes did. In the Goseiger episode Red and Pink were heavily damaged by the horrible music since they were very sensitive to sounds and with that blasting completely loud they were getting hurt by it. In hear the two rangers were just closer so it hurt them more in the beginning. That really makes no sense since the other rangers are humans just like the others and every other human except some of the old timers were getting hurt by it. There was really no good explanation for this as the episode just went on without it. Going back this could have been a great moment to learn about the powers the team have since there could be side effects to having them. Heck recently Gosei hasn't even talked that much which is another disappointment. Gosei could have easily made something for the team to counter the monster's music so that way they could use the stock footage in a much better way. There also wasn't much splicing around with the two different footages which again is a disappointment.

Another thing I must bring up with the bad use of explanations was how dumb things got in this episode. I mean wow this one got really dumb. First with that really bad singing from both villain and hero which I will bring up later. The monster uses his music to spread it around over the whole world and boy there were many stereotypes being seen then. I laughed because of how bad it was not for just being funny. Then somehow the three rangers fight with no problems even though that music was at a complete blasting volume! Then the final thing was that Emma's singing stops the music in that area. Goseiger did this as well and either way it's dumb. So yea this episode of Megaforce was way too close to the source material and why episode four I have to ask?

Then for a focus episode it wasn't much as the only big thing we learn is that Emma can sing. Also really badly it seems since I can so tell that is not her real voice singing. It's so out of place and doesn't fit her at all. Again this could have been avoided if the series used Gosei for this episode. Troy had nothing special either so this episode had no focus on any big traits. I will say I did like seeing Gia being comforting for the others as this helps with her caring personality. Sadly this wasn't a Gia episode so it wasn't the major focus. Overall there should have been a more target focus for this since it just made things seem to spread out and not giving any big impressions.

I will say I did enjoy how the villains worked in this episode as the leader thought what to do for this task. He sends Vrak because he knows Creepox is not suitable for the mission. The MOTW is more ravage and won't listen to force as he has tons of free will. So Vrak is sent to trick and reason with him so that his powers could be used for a much bigger way. As I said before the use of the villains is good right now as they are showing that they are powerful and smart. We know that Vrak and Creepox fought the Rangers before as this will hopefully build up to a something. Now they are closely based on Goseiger, but there are slight changes that make them different.

Overall there isn't much to say about this episode other than how it's the weakest one so far. Nothing felt big except for the villains. The heroes were just there this time and didn't leave any big impacts. It was way too close to the source material and episode four of Goseiger is not a good episode. So yea they could have picked a better episode to work with or at least splice episode four material with another one. I will give this a D since parts are still okay.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 5 Review: Work Slaves!

For this episode of Megaforce we get a focus episode for the two female members of the team. The episode mostly shines on their friendship and the villains try to use that agaisnt them. The new monster can control people and she soon makes the two women hate each other. Will the two girl rekindle their bonds or will the team suffer from defeat?

Now for this episode it felt more closer to the Goseiger plot just with the big difference of the girls being friends already. In Goseiger episode nine the two were having their issues and this caused them to suffer in battle. What I did like though was how they used the Yamajuu arc footage already. They showcase the Land Armor of Vrak so they are mixing different arc footage already and I am happy with this. This does make me wonder though if they will use the original look for him in any of the battles. What works great with this piece of stock footage is that the two girls are working well together which soon leads the two hating each other cause of the monster. So it is closer to the original series, but they used different footage which is a good sign for the future of the series.

For the two girls it was a good episode for them as their friendship is very strong. Then seeing their hatred for each other turns into a big flaw was nicely done. Sadly though we don't get too much. This is a big cliche and not many things feel special. It's odd how much cliches are being done for Toku series right now and this one gives not much different on the two best friends turning on each other. Also their friendship is like the really corny stuff as I wished we saw some more evidence of them being friends other than constantly being around each other. What could have helped if there was more scenes with the two together since Mia felt left out for the first four episodes. Overall I wish there can be a little more new things with this cliche plot point and some more evidence and scenes for the two girls.

For the MOTW it was very similar to the original, but this one decides to make the two friends hate each other for some reason. I mean really if she could control people why didn't she do this with the women. She takes control of many other men to be her slaves, but doesn't bother with making the two girls being slaves. She was very close to defeating the team since she had control over the three guys. The Goseiger episode does share this flaw as well so it's not only Megaforce. What I did like was how they used the suit for more of their own footage and mostly comedic footage as well. It was very nice to see the series use the monster suit for more than just a quick shot and for fights. Still it suffers like the Goseiger episode did.

Another thing I did enjoy in this episode was the humor. It was mostly with the monster taking control of the guys and making them do things they did want. She made them clean her up with cleaning her feet and nails. Also fanning her down and she still had complete control in battle. She really abused the three heroes as Troy was made to kick Noah and then all three of them had to shut themselves up. It was really funny seeing the guys still cover their mouths even though the were free from her control. So the humor was a little childish at times, but how the actors worked with it was well done and made me laugh a couple of times.

Overall a pretty enjoyable episode with the cliches being the biggest flaws of the episode. Still there was a nice sense of humor that was done well by the actors. Stock footage was used well since it had some mixing around for this episode. Also the series continues to make nice transitions between the original and stock footage. Then the dubbing was good also. I would give it a C- since the two female characters are alright, but their friendship needs a lot more to make me care about it. So far I still only care for the male characters as they portrayed great traits and shown how they are useful to the team. With the women yes their teamwork is a great thing, but seeing it crumble then and seeing the team completely get defeated by the MOTW just means that whenever these two females fight it will mean big trouble for the team.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 4 Review: Lying is Bad M'kay

Another Megaforce episode review before the start of Sentai Month for today, but don't worry my first post for that special will be up by today. With this episode of Megaforce, Creepox is going on the move to show the other two villains how weak humans are. Meanwhile a random guy named Jordan is telling people that he is a Power Ranger.

I will first talk about this Jordan guy because his character had a lot more than what I was expecting. I was thinking when he jumped into battle he would just run away and that would ruin everything then. That doesn't happen though as he wants to meet the actual rangers. Even though he did lie about being a ranger I can tell he has a lot of devotion for being one. At first I was thinking he just wanted the people to accept him and stuff like that, but I feel that he has some heroic feelings. Then how he learned that becoming a ranger is harder than it looks he then learns that he should stay as himself. I liked it when he told everyone the truth then and the people leave him. I was expecting for the people to take his apology, but nope they were sick of him for lying. At least he still keeps a clean mind. So a cliche idea like a person pretending to be a hero was done somewhat differently which I can respect.

This was also a focus episode for Troy as he trains himself and the others and has his first fight with Creepox. Troy is showing off some great leader qualities by training and soon using that training to teach the others. Cause his quick reflexes really work well on the fast Dragonfly and Creepox. The dubbing during his first fight with Creepox was well done as things were put in nicely. I even like their conversation of who should be on the planet since it makes me think of the villains some more. Creepox said the insects were on the planet longer so are the villains some higher race of insects that want to take the world for their lower brethren? For Troy he says the humans will stay of course, but he doesn't say that they will take over the other living creatures. It's a good start for their rivalry as they have a little more meat on the bone compared to Alata's rivalry in the first part of the show.

Going on with how Troy helped the team with their reflexes it really helps with the teamwork motif of the show. Troy is helping them out so that they don't get splattered around the floor. Now in episode six the four trained together which is still nice since Alata was wounded, but not by much. I prefer having the leader be the teacher though as it shows nice workmanship in the whole team. For a show about working together as a team it's great to see moments like these. Then another great part of the team is that they then teach Jordan about lying. Again cliche, yes, but I just liking seeing the team working together well like this.

Like in the previous episode there were great moments of splicing in some original footage since Jordan is only in Megaforce. They even use an attack the creature uses in the stock footage and it blends in well. Nothing seemed off and there wasn't any hiccups with the transition between both footage, unlike episode three which had that really big issue. There was more stock footage used in this episode compared to the previous, but the dubbing didn't really bring this episode down which is unusual for Power Rangers as there is mostly that one moment with the dubbing that bugs me.

This is a much better episode compared to the previous ones as things with the team seem to be progressing. Troy for this episode shows off some good leader qualities and seeing him hold his own with one of the main villains is fun. The other team didn't have much to do, but it was a focus episode for Troy and we already got some nice things from Noah and Jake already. Not a lot for the female members though since Emma didn't get much overall and Gia only had that one moments in episode two. I bet that will be in the next episode, but for this episode I give it a B- since it had cliches, but worked well with them to spice things up.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 3 Review: Being Super

We get another Noah focus episode which is alright I guess since his last one just shown us his love for knowledge. This time we see Noah not believing in himself since he is not as strong as Jake. Meanwhile the villains plan to send a monster to infect the humans so that they won't have to waste time with getting their army down to the Earth.

Here's Jakey!

First thing are the villains, I really do like how they plan things out. Goseiger did do well in the beginning with Warstar, but this time there is a little more. It's the contrast between the heroes and villains. Right now Creepox is more about power while Vrax is thinking tactically. Which goes along with Jake wanting to practice with his axe some more to get better. Noah is more of a brainy guy, but he wants to get stronger as well. Noah though still relies on his brain for the most of the episode. I hope we get some more episodes like this as the comparisons make it more fun to watch and think about.

Going on with Noah I like how he thinks power is needed. It's not an unnecessary thing to have in battle as power can break through things easily. Still Noah takes his time to think about the battle as he sees that Jake's axe can hurt the creature so he decides to use it. Now we did get the "believe in yourself" message which is soooo cliche. I mean it was nice in the beginning since Jake was comforting Noah to be more confident. Then they just kept saying it in the final moments. Overall I liked this part of Noah more to have low belief in himself and then learning he can be as powerful as the others. One more thing that was the whole premise for the episode so that's one big difference compared to the Goseiger episode.

We also get more focus on Jake trying to impress Gia with his abilities. This is the third episode where we got this in a row. I get it Jake is trying to get something, but he is taking some of the focus away. I mean really Troy and Mia haven't got a lot of focus in this and the second episode. For now Noah is being my favorite of the team since he had some good focus episodes already. I really hope though the whole Jake and Gia thing will not take more than five episodes at least. All we need is some more focus for the other characters and seeing that Noah got two already is not a good sign. Also Jake why did you need to get your axe when you could just summon it with a card?

One thing that I was very happy with in this episode was a higher use of American footage. The gang couldn't attack the Loogies since they were people. The monster used his illness to change people to the monsters. So at first the team had to gather the infected people around so they performed some more dodging than fighting. Now I bet some people will say it's not consistent with the other fights, but the team was avoiding the monsters and not actually fighting. So a clever way to use their own footage. We even got original footage with the monster suit! This is what I mean about the use of original footage it helps makes an show that adapts another one gives it their own vibe. Along with that it was used nicely with the stock footage, except for one part. After the team finished the monster with their cannon and then Noah frees the people as they were sealed until fully healed. Well Vrax sends the bats to make him large after that, but the scene still shows the team with the cannon. So that was a big hiccup there.

Overall if the hiccups were fixed this episode would get a higher rating. There are very good things in this episode though. Noah's focus of wanting to be a hero was very nice since he sees himself as a different person compared to the others. Now he learns he has the same potential as them. Now I wish the message of believing yourself wouldn't come up so much near the end. Action was nice with a great blend of stock and original footage. I will give it a C+ since there were some hiccups along with the team saying Tensou's name incorrectly I think they were saying Tentwo?

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 2 Review: The Power of Science!

In this episode of Megaforce we get an episode for Noah as we learn about his love for knowledge. Also the aliens want to investigate the humans before going for an all out attack. With UFO being sent down he captures humans for experiments. How will the team react to UFO's abducting people?

The first thing I want to talk about is how they got around the stock footage and didn't copy it exactly. This is like episode one again as they tried to do something different. If I remember in Goseiger, the team was reluctant of fighting for each other. Alata and Eri were already fighting for the humans, Moune and Aigri wanted to fight on their own because they thought they were much more powerful, and Hyde was thinking they shouldn't be involved with the humans. For Noah he stuck around with one of his teachers as they both talk about what science can soon solve. Along with this Gia and Jake try to fend off the monster and his army by themselves. Troy and Emma weren't that involved, but Troy had a good scene with Creepox. Creepox wanted to fight him already, but Troy didn't want to fight yet. I can see that Troy is relying on his team already. That was another point of the episode is to show that the team is at it's strongest when everyone is around. A little cliche, but it's another nice callback to MMPR.

I was very happy with how the dubbing for the MOTW was done since his lines weren't funny, but smart. He talked out loud of what he thought like a scientist would when he experiments. It shows that this creature was actually developing some theories even though he still boasted most of the time. Also the creature then seemed to be a smarter villain. Creepox seems to be very similar to his counterpart where he wants to fight. What's different is that he sees no potential for humans and only wanted to fight Troy to make an example. In Goseiger, Alata had a rivalry with this villain and it was okay. I still can't say much on the main villains right, but I do like how they want to experiment the humans before going for a big upscale battle.

Episode 2 did follow Goseiger in when the mecha was shown and this time the name Gosei doesn't get in the way since having robots named after a leader makes sense. I'm not so happy hearing Gosei Great Megazord because it's just the original name with Megazord at the end. Oh well the first mecha fight is really good since it's stock footage, but I really like how Goseiger went back to particle effects. For example the fire on the Gosei Great sword is really real fire! This could be stretching it since it's been a long time that PR did their own mecha scenes. I would still like to see that being used though for future episodes. With how the show is using the stock footage it's getting off it's own presence and having more American fight scenes will help as well.

Episode 2 is like the first episode where there isn't too much special, but the potential is still there. They added some nice things like Noah's love for science and the start of the growing relationship with the team. Along with that the MOTW was enjoyable as he conducted on some research during battle and seeing the main villains doing some thinking makes them seem smarter than they appear. Finally we had a much better use of the suits in the American footage as this boosts that potential of more American fight scenes up. I give it a C+ since it's another above average episode with some nice nods to MMPR.

Power Rangers Megaforce Episode 1 Review: A Mega Appearance

Well it's time for the next Power Ranger series to make it's entrance. With alien invaders coming to Earth, Gosei and Tensou need the aid of teenagers with talented attitudes to fight off the aliens. Now with Samurai trying to have MMPR elements, but Megaforce is the anniversary series that fans have been waiting for. Does the first episode give fans hope or does it start another dark path for the franchise?

For the cast of characters in this series we get teenagers like in MMPR. It has been a while since PR has gone back to the teenagers with attitude concept and I'm happy to see it come back. The leader of the team is Troy and he is a very well trained martial artists. This is easily a callback to Jason with the discipline angle. Noah is the Blue Ranger as he is the smart guy of the team like Billy was. Even in his first out of suit fight he was just getting lucky. The Pink Ranger is Emma who is pretty preppy, but has a strong love for nature and she shares that same attitude pattern like Kimberly does. Gia is the perfect girl as she is smart and strong now Trini never had that angle, but I do remember hearing fans calling her perfect. Finally my favorite so far is Jake the Black Ranger. He has the same easy-going attitude that Zach has and from what I have seen he is the best actor out of the group. With that the acting isn't that, it already seems pretty average right now and it's a much higher step than Samurai's acting. I can tell they will get better on the way and there does need to be some improvements which is mostly Troy's actor since he made some funny faces at times. Overall, I am happy with the cast of characters we have. I can't say much for the villains right now, but their voices are good expect for one.

Now there were tons of good references to the original PR series as they were put in pretty well. We have Troy telling to team to use the new powers given to them like Jason did in the first episode. Noah was amazed by the robot Tensou which is like Billy's fascination with Alpha. The last big one was then Emma making a joke about not being in the team since the helmet messes up her hair. These were nice touches and added some nice corny humor as it fits unlike Samurai that tried way too hard. A good touch for the story is that Gosei has been brought to Earth in absence of Zordon just in case the Earth falls in danger from alien invaders. I guess Gosei had a long resting period since Zordon had to put him there before his.... well you know.

By Samurai I mean Samurai, not Super Samurai

Now for the action portion that was mostly Goseiger footage when it got to the suit action, but we had a good out of suit fight. Now somethings I didn't like was the CGI soccer ball, but mostly things were good. I did like seeing the team use what they got on their hands for battle with Emma using her camera to blind her foes with a flash. Now how does that work with when they go into Megaforce. Well it works well after thinking about it. With Noah a bowgun seems to be a good weapon since he has good intelligence and will make accurate shots. Troy is probably the best with this transition since Alata his counterpart was the most skilled of the original five and if I'm correct he did use a real style for his swordplay. The other three then keep their attitude the same with some good dubbing. There were some odd noises that didn't need to be in there, but things matched up nicely as like Samurai it does good the transition of stock footage and the American footage. All I wonder is how some of the cards work out since you can see their real names at times, but I guess I have to see what the American toy line looks like first before I go to that criticism.

Says Megaforce and you can clearly see Gosei in the background, ugh.

Overall for the first episode this does show a lot of good potential for this series. What I am not happy with is very little with just some hiccups cause of the stock footage. The acting does need to improve, but it's not terrible. There are very good callbacks though as I can't wait for more of those moments. I will give this episode a C+ it's slightly above average thanks to the nice amount of references and actually working around the Sentai footage and not just following it. There isn't a lot I hate about this first episode, but it needs to improve a little more to get into those "A" or "B" rankings.