Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Power Rangers being the International Version



People have said that Super Sentai is the "Japanese version," while Power Rangers is the "American version." Indeed, that's all true. But if looked into, one can see that Power Rangers can also be considered the "International Version." Power Rangers has had far more marketing around the world than Super Sentai has. And this tends to create a major imbalance between the two franchises.

Super Sentai has mostly remained in Japan only. In recent years, it has tried to leak itself out into other countries. Little by little. Unfortunately, many people really don't care for Sentai to try and expand itself outside of Japan, saying that Power Rangers is more than enough. And on an even more extreme level, certain people on Rangerboard wish to make sure that Sentai stays in Japan and to never expand from it.



Saban himself tends to play an interesting role in this himself. Many toku fans have wondered what in the world he thinks of the tokusatsu franchises. Some say he absolutely loves it, due to how he wanted to bring shows like Sun Vulcan, Bioman, and Jetman over to the states. As well as how he is bringing the franchise back with Samurai. And, how Power Rangers was given good quality when it was in his hands (Space, LG, LSR, TF). Others say that Saban could care less. People have blamed Saban for giving toku a bad image with MMPR. As well as making certain creations like Masked Rider, Big Bad Beetleborgs, and Mystical Knights of Tir Na Nog, which were all shows that many fans frowned upon. Fans have also complained about how Saban never acknowledges Super Sentai's existence in interviews. For example, when he was asked "why Power Rangers had been going on for such a long time," he did not mention Sentai or Toei helping him out at all. Overall, people love how Saban cares for the Power Rangers franchise enough to bring it back next year with hopefully good quality. While others just think he's a guy who doesn't care about the toku genre as a whole and just wants money.

While Power Rangers fans defend Power Rangers when it's quality is compared to Super Sentai..... Super sentai fans defend Sentai when it's amount of exposure is compared to Power Rangers. Which is indeed a big problem, and is a major fuel source for why fans rage a lot.