Henshin Grid -- The Blog

This is my brand new blog dedicated to all kinds of Tokusatsu (Live-action special effects children's programming) from around the world. On my blog Spanengrish Ramblings, I covered a couple of things on Super Sentai and Power Rangers. I own the unofficial fan website SuperSentai.com and help Power Rangers Central that my partner inherited. I decided to put all my past posts on this blog, including more insights, rumors, and ramblings (of course). The reason it is called Henshin Blog is because Henshin means 'to change' in Japanese and commonly used by Tokusatsu heroes and Grid is from 'Morphing Grid' as 'Morphing' is the equivalent to Henshin. Above is a picture of the Red and White Rangers and the Masked Riders in a special 1995 episode in the third season of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers." It is considered non-canon for fans and the only team-up (in a way) between Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

Henshin Grid -- The Blog

Gatchaman Clarification

DOES THE ABOVE PICTURE LOOK FAMILIAR?

The above picture is of a Japanese Animated series from the 70's.

Most Americans may know the Anime as G-Force or the Battle of the Planets or perhaps Eagle Riders. This is because this particular Animated series has been dubbed or adapted three times in the United States and the characters have been given different names. The original series was shown in 1978, in heavily edited form, as Battle of the Planets. The series was shown again on American television in 1986 and 1995 (on cable) in translated form as G-Force: Guardians of Space; while this version cut out much less of the original, and had a much more faithful translation. The two sequel series, Gatchaman II and Gatchaman F were combined into one and translated as Eagle Riders in 1996 by Haim Saban, with yet more changes.

The original 1972 Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman series was followed by two sequel series, Gatchaman II (1978) and Gatchaman F (1979). It was created during the hugely successful Henshin boom started by Shotaro Ishinomori's Kamen Rider in 1971. It established the convention of the five member hero team that has been emulated most notably the successful Tokusatsu Super Sentai franchise, which I mention a lot. In fact, the Sentai series Choujin Sentai Jetman (1991) was in many ways considered a homage to Gatchaman. They have similar birds like the eagle, condor, swan, swallow and owl; the only difference is that eagle/leader was changed to hawk and swallow was female, instead of male like in Gatchaman. Incidentally, Haim Saban who adapted Super Sentai into Power Rangers, he adapted the two sequels into Eagle Riders.

The difference between the original and the adaptations, there was heavy editing made to make the show appealing to the audience in the United States by removing controversial elements [i.e. graphic violence, profanity and transgenderism (namely, the bad guy] while adding other elements. Unlike Battle of the Planets which bounced around the Gatchaman episode order and adapted them as the producers' saw fit, G-Force followed the original Gatchaman episode order for its entire run, only skipping two episodes. However, only the first 87 of Gatchaman's 105 episodes were adapted for G-Force which resulted in the adaptation stopping cold at a cliffhanger, with many crucial plotlines left unresolved.

In fact, in one The Simpsons gag, Homer was Ultraman, Bart was Astro Boy, Lisa was Sailor Moon, Maggie was Pikachu and Marge Simpson was dressed as Jun, from Gatchaman.

Shin-Chan and the New Super Sentai Go-Onger!

This is a promo advertising the new Super Sentai to premiere in February. Of course, it is a man in a suit depicting our favorite adolescent Shin-Chan.

Male to Female Power Ranger Monster Conversions

I am on a roll now. Since writing "Gender Bias in Power Rangers" and "Transgender Characters in Popular Culture" I felt like dealing with female villains in both series and the fact that the Power Rangers change male monsters to female. Also, the diverse male characters in Super Sentai.

In partially all Super Sentai series, there is a main villainess and the same in Power Rangers. But when it comes to the 'Monsters of the Day,' there is a only about three to two female monsters. "Kakuranger" (1994) had eight female monsters, making them the most. I did count the series from 1991 to 2007. In Power Rangers, they convert some feminine-looking male monsters to female. For example, above left male Incubus from "Magiranger" was changed to female Gnatu for "Power Rangers Mystic Force"; male Hanasakkadoshi from "Hurricanger" was changed to female Florabundacus for "Power Rangers Ninja Storm". And these are just a few of the changes. Sometimes, they don't even use the actual female monster from the Japanese series and feel short so they make one guy into a girl. For example, from the 8 female monsters of "Kakuranger," only 4 made it to "Power Rangers." I think they do it to have balance but just have a few female villains is not going to do much.


Most recently, the one above doesn't look female at all but they changed "Boukenger"'s Ouga to Crazar in "Power Rangers Operation Overdrive," the name doesn't even sound feminine. Most of the time the actor inside the suit is male. Even for the female rangers. There are rare times and more often up to recently that actual women don the female suits. And recently in "Gekiranger," a female is the suit actor for their male cat mentor Master ShaFu.


Some cases, they have no choice. Like the monster above left looks very female but was Wedding Dress Org actually male in the original "Gaoranger." In that same series, there was a intersex character Rasetsu that spoke in both female and male voice and surprisingly made it for "Power Rangers Wild Force" as Mandilok. The original American voice of Rita Replusa even voiced Mandilok's female aspect for a while. Strangely enough the female Jin (monster above right) in "GoGo Five" was converted to male in "Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue."


As for the male characters in Super Sentai, some are allowed to be artistic or hairdressers or look feminine. Some of those include Dairanger's Kazu, Abaranger's Yukito, and Gekiranger's Retsu and Ron (above left). In fact, many of the male heroes these days all look androgynous but that is the 'look' now in Japanese popular youth culture. Many times, ignorant people mistake them for girls. But us used to Anime and Tokusatsu are used to it. Actually the picture above is non-character time, the actors are in their regular clothes.

[Left to Right: Naoki Kawano; Hirofumi Araki; Hiroki Suzuki; and Riki Miura]

Gender Bias in Power Rangers

When the Power Rangers first came out, people were curious to know why the Pink Ranger had a skirt and the female Yellow Ranger didn't have one. One of the many concerns fans have had about the 15-year running series is the increasing gender bias. Through the years, the females have not gotten motorcycles and in the toyline, mostly ignored. Since 2005, there are only two figures of each female ranger in the whole line. While the male rangers, especially the red ranger (which is another issue fans have) gets around 30 or so products. Many would just say this is because it is a Boys toyline and that is the bare truth. Since 2001, Bandai America (that produces the figures) claim the Pink Ranger sells less than all other figures. Since then, the female rangers are spotlighted on eBay because they are hard to find in stores.

[The picture above is Sasha Craig as Kelsey Winslow and Alison MacInnis as Dana Mitchell in 2000's "Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue."]

The reason that five of twelve odd female Yellow Rangers had no skirts when their female buddy had a skirt is because of the source: the Japanese series Super Sentai. The first series to be adapted to make "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" was "Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger" (Dinosaur Squadron Beast Ranger), which had only one female. The yellow ranger was male, funny enough his name was Boy. Mostly because he was the youngest. But there are some series (of Super Sentai) that have had two females. They could have add skirts but then there would be a conflict with the footage. I guess they rather dealt with disappearing boobs than disappearing skirts. Now, why did they have to go through all the trouble of adding a female if it is a male-orientated show?

Maybe in the beginning, they did want both boys and girls to be into it. And now, it is probably tradition. Since Disney took over in 2003, it hasn't been an issue because there have been two females in the teams of five. In the cases that the show started with three heroes and eventually get to six or five, there would just be one female and no other was gender changed. Actually there was only one series in Power Rangers that the girls has no skirts... "Power Rangers S.P.D." That one had 6 females (Pink, Yellow, Red, Orange/White, Pink and Silver/Navy), all had no skirts. While in Super Sentai, there are plenty series that the girls had no skirts. Despite common belief, yellow is not always female in Sentai. More males have had that designation.

[The picture above are sketches by the Japanese artists of warriors from various Sentai series, some came before Power Rangers. Top: Phoenix Ranger from Dairanger (1993) and FiveYellow from Fiveman (1990) Bottom: Magiranger's MagiBlue (2005)/Blue Mystic Force Ranger (2006); Gaoranger's Gao White (2001)/White Wild Force Ranger (2002); Gingaman's Ginga Pink (1998)/Pink Lost Galaxy Ranger (1999)]

I think the reason people wish females in Power Rangers got a little more respect is probably because in some choice times, female characters are allowed to cross the line of the traditional roles in both Super Sentai and Power Rangers. For example in Power Rangers, there has been three female leaders. White Alien Ranger in 1995, Pink Time Force Ranger in 2001, and Red S.P.D. A-Squad Ranger in 2005. Funny thing about her (above), she didn't have a Japanese predecessor and producers had to convince Disney to have a female red ranger. It is obvious they hadn't decided on her gender until later in the series since in earlier episodes, the red ranger was heard to have a male voice. Fans sum this up as her disguising her voice to fool the enemy. Ultimately, I think they let it happen because she was not part of the main team, nor where there any toys based on her or her team. Best thing was that particular team was the first 'evil' team that was not under a spell. They actually chose to oppose the forces of good on their own free will. Super Sentai producer Hideaki Tsukada was recently asked about the possibility of having a female red ranger leader and he said it wasn't completely out of the question, "But still unlikely. For example, the fact that Super Sentai is a show for 3 to 5 year old boys, having a female leading character is not supported by the toy shops." It all goes down to toy marketing and sales, both series are aimed to boys.

The same plight that have gone to the females in Power Rangers have come to Super Sentai. Lately female warriors have gotten the shaft in the toy lines. But not so much to storylines. To the current incarnation that will end in February, "Juken Sentai Gekiranger" (Beast-Fist Squadron Fierce Ranger] that will be adapted into "Power Rangers Jungle Fury" that same very month, GekiYellow (above) is the leader. Some fans have complained that even with that, she is not getting very much focus and it could be that she was given the leader position as lip service. The picture above is about the upcoming teamup 'Gekiranger Vs. Boukenger' coming in March. Each year the previous team meets with the current team in a straight to video special. Next to her is Natsuki, Bouken Yellow from 2006's "GoGo Sentai Boukenger" (Rumbling Squadron Adventure Ranger) and she had special focus in the series. People liked her that she was a bubbly and childish. She is a fan favorite.

[The picture above is Mina Fukui as Ran Uzaki and Chise Nakamura as Natsuki Mamiya.]

The Future of the Power Rangers

In 2002, Disney acquired the rights to the Power Rangers and with that, the rights to adapt the source of the series--Super Sentai from the Toei Company in Japan. Since Power Rangers have still been on the air since 1993, fans were not exactly happy with what Disney was doing with the series. One fact is that Disney's contract with Toei is ending this year. There is a rumor circulating that Disney is planning to stop production with the live-action series and might go animated. There is a large possibility this might come true.

Disney (in general) has not had many fans in the past few years for any of their decisions. Thus going animated with the Power Rangers is not a surprise. Along with the rumor, there is another that the animated series will based on the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," supposedly in hopes of capturing old fans. Since 1996, Power Rangers have followed its source Super Sentai in changing theme, title, plot, and cast each year. Super Sentai is an ongoing franchise since 1975 and has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. If Disney does choose to go animated, then the newest Super Sentai series won't be adapted to English. This week, pictures of the 2008 series have been revealed.

Gouonger or Go-On Ranger has received mix-reviews like 2007's Gekiranger, which is now being adapted into "Power Rangers Jungle Fury." One main reasons the designs of Gekiranger got mix-reviews was that they have no belts, which is a Sentai mainstay. Some fans are happy and some others are calling the costumes and robots of Go-onger goofy and garish. And some joke 'No wonder Disney dropped out.' But this was a long time coming for them to leave because of their contact. Power Ranger fans are notorious for freaking out before anything happens, they have been called worse than Star Trek, and comic book fans all put together. Very often, fans see a new sentai and think it won't get adapted and it does get adopted regardless. I am proudly one of them. hee hee. My family and friends call me obsessed. I for one, I am excited to go what will be the result of all of this.

Updated December 15 2007:
PrometheusUFO reports a 10-minute animated pilot has been produced. It is said to be called "Power Rangers Morphin' Heroes." There are rumors the animaed series will be just a year and it might go back to live-action. Which makes both PrometheusUFO and I happy that they will definitely have more time to plot out the storyline for the 2009 season from the Japanese source. But it could be they skip Gouonger all together and adapt Sentai 2009 for 2010 and end up the same way. Lemme explain, we fans don't like the squeeze PR producers have to go through by adapting the Japanese footage and their whole series feels so squished. It doesn't help that Disney has reduced 40 episodes to 32 episodes. Super Sentai series since 1998 have had 50 episodes and were merely reduced to 49 in 2005.

Interview with Super Sentai Producer

As you may or mat not know, I am the webmaster of a Super Sentai fan site (supersentai.com) and also contribute to a Power Ranger fan site (rangercentral.com). Which was down for July 24 because of maintenance.

Here is an interview by Christian Lonsing with Super Sentai producer Hideaki Tsukada. It is an PDF file, Click here to download or view it.

Tsukada reveals in this rare interview that they are keeping hero deaths to a minimum, which is common in Super Sentai. The 'Green Ranger' we know from the original MMPR series--his Japanese counterpart Zyuranger/Burai died. Also he admits there is no communication between the Power Ranger and Super Sentai crews, but surprisingly Bandai America does have some input. Fans have wanted a red female leader and a pink male which has yet to happen, Tsukada doesn't rule it out but being it a show mainly for boys, he doubts stores would want to sell a series with a female lead. Kamen Rider, a series Toei (production company of Sentai) also produces--they only have communication at the beginning to make sure they don't have the same theme. Sequels are rare in Super Sentai, they have never happened. Each story and cast last a year long for the past 32 years. Tsukada says if the companies involved Toei and Bandai are convinced it is worth doing, they may do a sequel. He personally would love to do one on Dekaranger (Power Rangers S.P.D.)

Violet Power Ranger

The picture above is from the latest Super Sentai series 'Gekiranger' in Japan, next year it will become the newest incarnation of the Power Rangers--Power Rangers Jungle Fury. I have been waiting for a Purple Ranger for years. For some time I thought the purple ranger would be female but I guess I was gender bias. This new 'ranger' is GekiViolet, yes that's right Violet. I agree that 'Violet' sounds female but thats just our society, gender assignment. It is silly to think colors have genders. In some cultures, pink and blue don't belong to any particular gender while in others pink is for men. I highly doubt the Disney company (that runs Power Rangers now) will call this ranger Violet but we'll see. [BoukenSilver which I mentioned last year is referred to as the Mercury Ranger.] I am so excited, I think it is so bad ass that a male superhero is violet.

Background on series: Gekiranger means 'Fierce Ranger' and started with three feline-inspired warriors that practice martial art techniques based on animals. GekiViolet obviously has a wolf theme.

In Tokusatsu (Special Effect Live-Action series), most purple warriors have been men:
2005 - Wolzard from "Magiranger" [Koragg from "Power Rangers Mystic Force"]

2002 - Kamen Rider Ouja from "Kamen Rider Ryuki" [If 'Kamen Rider Dragon Knight' gets picked up, he may be in the U.S.]

2003-2004 - Sazer Dali of the Gransezars [Not in the U.S.]

1993 - Tokusou Robo Jansperson [Not in the U.S.; I don't think it had a gender].

The only purple female in Tokusatsu I can think of is B-Fighter Tentou of "B-Fighter Kabuto" in 1996 [Platinum Purple Beetleborg from Beetleborgs Metallix].

Disney actually invited a Sentai castmember to DisneyWorld!

Let me catch all of you to speed...

Disney owns Power Rangers.
Power Rangers originally comes from Japan, a 30 year old enterprise known as 'Super Sentai.'

The current series in the U.S. Power Rangers Mystic Force was Magiranger in 2005, while this year's Boukenger will become Power Rangers Operation Overdrive in 2007.

Magiranger (2005) = Mystic Force (2006)
Boukenger (2006) = Operations Overdrive (2007)

Now, you would think Disney would not give a flying Dumbo about the series of origin or the former stars of said series. But to my surprise, one of the former stars of Magiranger, Ayumi Beppu (Who portrayed Houka Ozu/Magi Pink) was invited to Disneyworld to participate in a parade (unknown which one or the significance) and got to be with the costumed Power Rangers of MGM studios and her counterpart the Pink Mystic Force Ranger. Unfortunately she couldn't take pics. What makes one wonder is why they invited her and what for.

Click to see her blog that is in Japanese Kanji.

Bascially here is a rough translation:
"pawaa renjaa
Do you guys know what this is? I'm sending a post from Disney World. I posed alongside Magi Pink, Mickey, Ariel and Stitch. Like do you guys wonder why? That's righ, even overseas the glory of Magiranger is shown on TV screens as a remake. This remake is not airing in Japan but I had chances of seeing it on video several times. There's many differences between Magiranger and PRMF, after all it's just a remake but I think it's very interesting. Power Rangers seems to be extremely popular and active here overseas. It's a shame there wasn't a chance of me being photographed.. me along side costumed Deka Red (Red SPD Ranger), Abare Killer (White Dino Ranger). So I felt like a princess (as you can tell by her animation). I must return home so soon in 3 days... the top photo is me trying to imitate Mickey with Apple ears hehe."

Related Topic: Power Rangers at Disney Resorts

Presenting Bouken Silver!

The latest Super Sentai series in Japan is Boukenger ("Adventure Ranger") and next year it will be Power Rangers Operation Overdrive here in the states and eventually a year later in Latin America, the U.K., etc. Power Rangers is now being filmed in New Zealand where it doesn't even air anymore because it was banned because of the violence. I rarely put Sentai stuff on this blog because thats bascially my life--my website.

But I thought this sixth ranger was pretty interesting because of the level of silver, it is like an aliminum silver and the blue is a shiny lavender-sort of color. It is interesting. There has been like two other silver rangers in Sentai history but they were pretty different shade and quality. Yes, I know the guy playing him is pretty andyronistic but they are all like that these days.

Sentai Vault 2: Jetman Parody

This is a parody of one of the best Super Sentai series, Jetman, it was the series before Zyuranger, which the original Power Rangers was based on. Jetman almost became the first season, Jetman was about a group of humans that were accidently sprayed with 'bird'-waves, superpowers based on birds made by the airforce. Beware lots of cursing and human-made sound effects. Oh yeah, I didn't make it.

Sentai Vault 1: Girl Power

Here is a clip of all the female heroes of Super Sentai. From Momo Ranger of Goranger (1975) to MagiMother of Magiranger (2005) with cool music in background. Although popular belief, not all Yellow rangers were female so you may just see pink for a while. My favorites: DekaBright (silver and navy) and Blue Dolphin (first female blue ranger).