New Season of POWER RANGERS Based on SUPER SENTAI Love Letter to POWER RANGERS
I grew up on Power Rangers. I watched as a dedicated fan from Mighty Morphin through Dino Thunder which came out when I was in about 8th or 9th grade. The show was always cheesy, but it was also always fun to watch. It was even cooler when I learned later in life that a lot of the scenes were taken from a Japanese show called Super Sentai. That added to the cheesy, almost campy, feel of the show. That’s why I was a little confused at the announcement for the latest season.
At first glance, there’s nothing unusual about Power Rangers Beast Morphers. However, when you look at the source material, things start getting Inception-y. Beast Morphers will be based on Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. Go-Busters came out back in 2012 which marks Saban Brands’ first dive into the Sentai back catalog instead of using one of the more recent series. The bigger odd moment though is that Go-Busters is a bit of a love letter to Power Rangers. When they transform, the characters say “It’s Morphin Time!” and “Let’s Morphin!” in English. They also call the mecha beasts they control Zords which is a term that was coined for the western audience.
I think this is an odd choice for Saban, but I think it’ll be great. I may try watching this new season to see what they do with their adaptation of this love letter written to them. Here’s a synopsis for Beast Morphers:
“Set in the future, a secret agency combines a newly discovered substance called “Morph-X” with animal DNA to create the Power Rangers Beast Morphers team. The Rangers must fight off an evil sentient computer virus bent on taking over the source of all Ranger power, the Morphing Grid itself. Featuring never-before-seen leather suits and an all-new beast-themed arsenal (including dynamic new Zords), fans should get ready for a season full of secret ops and morphinominal fun.”
Source: io9