Piggy: "Oh... Did I do the right thing? Please, god, send me a sign!"

God smites his nasty slop truck.

A+ comedy right there.

Since part 2 is what the producers have been saving money for with the bug CGI fight at the climax (though back when it was actually run by people with passion, the PR YouTube channel evidently didn’t think much of it, since their representation of SPD in final battle compilations was Cruger and Grumm’s two brief fights). So it’s fitting that part 1 is the last semi direct adaptation, mostly just condensing two episodes worth of Dekaranger’s finale into 1. The big changes include the A-Squad replacing another member of Broodwing’s crew of monsters (the costume had to wait until Dino Charge to appear in Power Rangers, and that was in the background. Regardless, with two unadapted monster, SPD is tied with Ninja Storm, Ninja Steel and Dino Fury for third most monsters from the Sentai adapted in series), an explanation that the spiky looking criminal wih the sword was the basis for the Orangeheads’ appearance, voice and fighting style, a reveal that Broodwing’s counterpart had destroyed countless planets and ruined even more lives through his arms dealing, and the true plan that capturing the base was supposed to accomplish: Wait for the Space Police to send everyone they can to liberate the Earth branch, then react the planetary shield to destroy them when they enter the atmosphere, thus crippling justice to ensure crime will reign forever.

As for part two, in addition to the last minute debut of the Nova Ranger, we get two newcomers joining the cavalry with Birdie and Silverback. The bird looking one is Numa-O from the planet Horus, Birdie’s Sentai counterpart and the lion looking fellow is Gyoku Rou, the previous Red I mentioned that Delex’s counterpart seemingly killed.

Also, they totally killed Omni when the Magnificence went up in flames. I guess since they didn’t know it was alive, they probably didn’t classify him as needing judgement

Personally, I preferred History as I thought the Dino Rangers being brought to the future made more sense for the plot.

You forgot about Once A Ranger!

As I recall, the Dino Rangers' memories were erased as a side effect of being sent back, since future memories don't have backwards compatibility or something like that. This is supported by Super Legends as well. Speaking of memories, I'm not sure about the logic of the SPD Rangers deliberately erasing their own memories in the sequel, as future people having memories of 20 years in the past is, like, super normal.

Sam's probably envious of his fellow Rangers that they got to travel to the past and keep their physical bodies.

I think Jack has done more than enough for SPD to pay off his community service, so he deserves the right to quit if he wants to. Perhaps another reason for him considering this now is that he believes his team have become reliable enough to cope without him and would be in safe hands under Sky's improved leadership, while Jack doesn't really have much left he can learn, much less ambition when his heart was never in SPD to start with. Z found her place to belong and now Jack wants to find the same, showing his development since the start where he was content just being a lowly street thief.

I imagine the main thing that would change is Sky's reaction to having to take orders from a girl. Jack can even keep the name, as a common nickname for Jacqueline.

Maybe this subplot could've been introduced sometime around Impact? Either way, based on what you said about what we've always known about Jack's motivations, the fact that he doesn't intend on staying with SPD isn't exactly a surprise. Seemed inevitable that it would happen at some point.

Absolutely.

I mean, far as they knew it was indeed just a giant mech. And those don't go to prison.

So you think! (I totally did.) My bad though. Last traditional team-up episode.

It's more about the spirit of the action more than anything. Cruger erases everyone's' memories so that no one is treated unfairly by the laws of time travel.

Not that time travel ever made any sense in Power Rangers but, ya know, it's the spirit of things!

Oh yeah, that's a very good read. Jack has definitely seen how his teammates have grown over time; Sky especially. So there's no doubt he's confident that his friends are more than capable.

Assuming Cosmic Fury was still the same in this alternate timeline, it'd make Sky's' phobia even funnier.

Yeah. While one could easily make the argument for him staying with SPD, I think him setting out on his own, pursuing his own passions, is alot more fitting of a way to go.

Now I know what some of you might be thinking.

'What the heck? That's clearly Tommy Oliver! What does he have to do with Power Rangers SPD?"

And the short answer to that is, well, "practically everything."


Written by Kyle Higgins while consulting Jason David Frank himself, "Soul of the Dragon" takes place roughly a decade after the events of SPD, and involves not just Tommy, but his son, JJ, who is currently enlisted in Space Patrol Delta.


And boy does this story go places. Involving things such as a deconstructing of Tommy's' life long mission of being a Paladin of sorts to the Power Rangers, a view into how the world has changed since SPD took over, and both good and bad that comes with legacies.


The biggest source of drama throughout the story though is Tommy's' strained relationship with his son, JJ. The two were close, but ever since JJ joined SPD, he seems to be growing more distant. And things only get worse when one day, a friend of JJ's' named Anara comes to Tommy bearing the unfortunate news that not only has JJ quit SPD, but he's gone missing as well.


Thus, Tommy begins his own investigation into the matter, only further motivated in how SPD seems to be totally useless on the matter. Sky himself seems to be keeping quiet about the whole ordeal, though it's easy to tell that he doesn't want to. I love how the passage of time has clearly hit every character involved here; with Sky now sporting some scars. It's clear that he's seen his fair share of battles over the years.


When it's revealed that JJ has seemingly gotten himself involved with an ever growing gang war in the city, Tommy is at a loss at how his son could even go down such a path. And this is probably my favorite scene in the entire comic. Being the son of the most legendary Power Ranger of all time makes for some serious shoes to fill. It's the sort of thing that a child can't easily escape growing up; having a parent so famous and respected. It applies a ton of pressure(and resentment) that could easily break alot of people.


But this story has just as much to do with the past as it does the future. Tommy enlists the aid of Finster, who's long since been purified(and not incinerated) by the Z Wave. I love Finster's' speech here, about how despite the machinations of good an evil, even in the Power Rangers universe, anyone is capable of repeating old mistakes and doing the wrong thing. This comes up because the boss of the gang war is known as "The Witch" and thus people think it might be Rita Repulsa. Fans will know that she eventually became the Mystic Mother, but really, the public at large wouldn't be privy to such information, right?


No, the culprit instead turns out to be Scorpina, who became displaced in space and time due to a trap set by Rita herself(and thus why Scorpina disappeared without a trace in MMPR proper). She ends up in the realm of Talos, ruled by Lokar, a very infamous figure from the Mighty Morphin' days. Scorpina plans to be Lokar's' avatar of sorts, and help him to take over her home dimension. In order to make the pact official though, she offers to feed Lokar the soul of JJ, given how Lokar was foiled by the original Ranger team in the past. Thankfully though, JJ isn't willing to just go with that idea, especially since it turns out that he'd been undercover investigating the entire thing this whole time.


And so the fight for JJ's' soul(in more ways than one) is on. But it's not just Tommy alone. He's got the Blue Senturion and all of SPD backing him up on this one. And keen readers might notice that the Blue Ranger of SPD is a woman. How curious. That aside, the final battle, like all the skirmishes in this comic, is pretty intense. Tommy's' powers are on their last legs(the Master Morpher barely even functioning at this point), and Kat and JJ are for all intents and purposes just normal people now, fighting against a new monstrous form that Scorpina takes on to try and kill everyone in one fell swoop. It's a hard fought battle, but in the end, the day is saved not by Tommy shouldering all of the burden himself like usual, but by him entrusting everything into his son.


Sadly, the defeat of Scorpina also means the end of all of Tommy's' powers. But in the end, he's content.


It's another thing that I really love about this comic. It serves as a wonderful send off to Tommy, while also being a great tribute to not just the character, but Jason David Frank himself and just how much good he did for friends and fans. He's fondly remembered for a reason, and this comic does just as great a job at showcasing why as "Once & Always" did for many of the other MMPR alumni.

By the way, if you're wondering who's responsible for all of this wonderful artwork, that'd be Giuseppe Cafaro, who did a great job here. The mood is captured in his artwork perfectly; Whether is be the more downtrodden and dramatic stuff or the big action pieces. Heck, especially those action bits, because I feel Cafaro did a fantastic job at displaying every power at play here for all of their worth. Case in point:

The elemental mastery of Dino Thunder Black.


The incredible speed of Turbo Red.


The raw power of Zed Red.


The duality of Mighty Morphin' Green and White.


And last, but most certainly not least...


Yeah, I really couldn't think of a better image to end the story on.


And that, for all intents and purposes is where the story and setting of SPD stop. Hasbro certainly had a few things to say about the characters in it though. That female Blue Ranger? That's Lina Song from Power Rangers Hyper Force. And given how Hasbro themselves have posted about the cast before on their socials, yes, both "Soul of the Dragon" and Hyper Force are infact canon to the main Power Rangers timeline. Along with the casual reveal that, after being promoted to Commander, Sky takes on a new Ranger form known as the Deca Ranger. As such, it is my headcanon that Sophie goes on to become SPD Gold. But there's been no official word on that suit as of yet.

Overall, while I'd love to explore more aspects of SPD as a whole, just as I would any other PR season, I am still very happy with what we do have. And this comic is no exception to that.

Can’t think of much to say for this (been waaaay too long since I read it last), but remember that anecdote concerning the filming of History where they kept the Dino Thunder cast from seeing the Cruger costume until filming began? Well it turns out, that the guy who played DekaRed went through something similar. In his case, he thought that since he was half asleep, he’d wandered into Disneyland by mistake.

The producers got lucky for sure with SWAT conveniently resembling A-Squad. Honestly, I think this makes it fit better for SPD than it did in Dekaranger, which is amazing to think about when we remember that this is totally by accident. The climactic B-Squad VS A-Squad fight scene shows how much the former have grown as a team to come out on top and SWAT really emphasizes that fact in the form of a visual parallel. Love to see Red and Pink using their iconic weapons as well!

I can see good arguments for both sides. While A-Squad turning evil of their own free will is more shocking and perhaps realistic, them being brainwashed means they can be redeemed and that Doggie's established trait of being a good judge of character is maintained.

Creepy.

Mora acting under Omni's spell is also creepy and she was already creepy before. Impressive work from the actress. Shadow Ranger is totally the MVP and most bad*ss here!

Feels like Bridge changing to Blue came out of nowhere though, since there was no implication that he was in line for a promotion while Z and Syd stay the same. Considering how the Deltamax Strikers are the same and the new bikes introduced in Episode 4 were exclusive to Red and Green, seems like Green's equipment is probably better than Blue's anyway. Even the flying Zord doesn't matter anymore since SWAT gave everybody flying Zords. Can this even be called a promotion?

I have to respect the producers of the Saban and Disney Eras for having to improvise with such limited information and yet still make a lot of great shows, while the producers of the Saban Brands Era had foresight yet often failed to take advantage of it.

I mean, if I were one of those Dino Rangers, I'd honestly feel better knowing that the SPD Rangers remembered how I helped them out, even if I wouldn't. But with Tommy being exempt due to actor absence, the whole scene is kind of pointless anyway. Imagine if he brought up the event later and the others got confused.

Sky can probably relate to JJ, as somebody who also once lived in the shadow of his father and pushed himself too hard.

For sure, it's heartwarming to know that at least Tommy got a happy ending, since JDF's ended in tragedy. Shame that PR is stuck in limbo right now, as I think it would've been interesting to see JJ become the new champion of the franchise in live action.

I'm not familiar with this Lina Song person. She looks good as the female SPD Blue though.

Haha, funny that such a thing happened on both sides of the ocean!

It really did work out super well overall. Makes me wonder if Toei saw what A-Squad looked like and adjusted SWAT Mode accordingly.

You know things have shifted when Mora threw away her doll.

I agree that Z and Syd probably should've been bumped up too, but hey, in the end, it made the gap for JJ to become Green eventually. Which is just thematically fitting.

Both formats have their ups and downs for sure. I imagine having all of the footage upfront is alot less stressful though.

I've always said that were Zenkaiger to ever get adapted, that the lead character should be either JJ or JJ's' son(who was last seen in the Zeo Christmas episode).

Lina is a character who was original to Hyper Force. Long story short is that it was established that she became the new B-Squad Green soon after Sky and Bridge's' promotions. So I guess come the time of the comic she got promoted.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON POWER RANGERS SPD

Have you ever seen a TV show where, as soon as you tuned into it, it felt like it just clicked with you immediately?

Power Rangers SPD was one such show for me.

SPD aired when I was 12 years old; A very tough time in my life. And this show, with all of the elements it had that seemed tailor mode to appeal to me directly, gave me something to look forward to at the end of each day.

I've always been a Power Rangers fan, that much can be assured. But something about the way Space Patrol Delta presented itself; with its high intensity action, its almost film-like direction, engrossing atmosphere, and its very genuine devotion to character development and drama made me feel that this show was something special.

Make no mistake, I'm not saying that all the other PR shows prior didn't have any of these elements, but none were quite like this. PRSPD was, first and foremost, a cop drama for kids. The closest thing I could even think of to ever attempt for such a thing was Filmore, but that was allegory. This was literal.

But it's not like the show is all moody seriousness all the time, like what some viewers claim they want out of the franchise. No, there was a surprisingly great balance of comedy too. SPD had no less than three comic relief characters who not only balanced the overall mood out but never felt like they were in the way. And their likability was only further enhanced by them both being genuinely funny as well as getting their own well thought out arcs.

It's the sort of show where I genuinely feel as though everyone involved was giving it their all. Not just in terms of writing, either. Every actor plays their part perfectly: From Bridge's' wacky antics to Sky's' more somber drama, no one feels like they're phoning it in. And that's not even getting into the incredible amount of effort that Greg Aronowitz put into the show's' world building, which I feel might be one of, if not the best example of it in the franchise. New Tech City feels like a very distinct place that you could actually go to, aliens and all.

Is it absolutely perfect? No. There are some plot bits that I felt could've been handled a bit better, and while the characters are overall handled very well, even I'll admit that there's a few areas that could've been improved on if not outright shifted in terms of focus. While the easy pick for this sort of thing is Sam, and sure, more screen time with him would've been nice, one particular example that I've never seen talked about is Z, who only has a grand total of one two-parter to her name, which is shared with Sam. Like, "Who's Madison?" is a derogatory meme aimed at Mystic Force, but Madison atleast had two whole episodes devoted entirely to her. Z has no such luxury. Where's the "Who's Z?" meme?

None of that really matters though because again, I am totally in love with this show. Any flaws that I could point out really do not hinder my overall experience in the slightest. Sure, I wasn't wild about the SWAT two-parter, but man, that's such a small drop in the bucket compared to how SPD continuously managed to deliver banger after banger in terms of episode quality. Even now on rewatch, the tale of B-Squad felt like an actual reward for getting through my average day of work. And on the especially killer days, it felt even sweeter. It was such a wonderful reminder of so many things that I love about not just this season specifically, but the Power Rangers franchise as a whole.

If you were looking for an at all "objective" analysis of this tokusatsu, then I'm very happy to say that it's not. The point of this thread was to showcase my love, not my derision. And I can only hope that even a fraction of the passion that I have for both SPD and the parent franchise that it comes through at all reached you. So long as that was achieved, then it really doesn't matter to me whether or not one loves this show as much as I do or not.

In the end, I give Power Rangers SPD a very, very strong 5/6. It's not absolutely perfect, but it is plenty perfect for me, and I don't think that will ever change. Nor would I hope it to.


With that out of the way, it's time for some tallies. You might've noticed that I've been keeping track of certain aspects of SPD due to various misconceptions that have cropped up around the show over the years. As such, I am going to address said misconceptions here on now.

1. Jack only uses his civilian power once in the entire show!

Not true. Jack uses his power to phase through objects a grand total of five times throughout the season, with the last time being Episode 18: Samurai.

2. All of the action scenes are nothing but giant fireball explosions!

Again, no. There are a total of six episodes where fireballs are made prominent, and most of those are ones focused around the acquisition of new vehicles, and the other two being during giant, climactic fights. Yes, the fireballs do still exist in other action scenes, but they're more often than not very one-and-done. The usual Sentai Sparks can still be found all over the show. And ontop of that, SPD isn't what started increasing their usage: Dino Thunder did that.

3. Sam gets literally no focus or character development!

Even if you tried to make the claim that the "Sam" two-parter doesn't count for some reason, Sam does still have his moments. He's a boy who wanted to grow up wanting to encapsulate what he felt were the best qualities of the heroes he admired, with the unfortunate circumstance of his future becoming an apocalypse meaning that he had to fly solo alot, and thus needed to learn the value of teamwork when he traveled back to the past. Yes, he does get less focus than everyone else, but to say he gets literally nothing isn't the case.

4. Most of the character focus episodes focus on other characters too much!

The only episodes that I feel you could even remotely make this argument for are episodes 3, 4, and 25. The previous two being very early in when the show is still trying to warm the audience to its cast, and the latter being due to stock footage requirements. Every other character episode very much has is central character at the forefront over everyone else.

5. All of the character flaws come out of nowhere and are immediately forgotten once the episode is over!

This is the misconception that baffles me the most out of all of them, because not only is it not true, it also doesn't make sense. The only character flaw that you could reasonably argue comes out of left field is Jack's' fixation on the Shadow Saber in episode 18(and even then I'd argue against it), otherwise literally every other lesson of the day has a basis.

For example, literally every episode focused on Syd deals with her upbringing as a spoiled princess, just with a different angle to it every time, and it's certainly not something forgotten when it runs through the whole show. Meanwhile, other character clashes are brought up multiple times, such as Sky talking about Jack's' bossiness in episode 4 and Jack talking about Sky's' jealousy in episode 24.

But even in the few cases where something isn't ever brought up again(again, Shadow Saber), wouldn't that just mean that the character learned their lesson and moved past it? It's pretty basic character development, guys.

6. The Blue Heads and Orange Heads don't talk.

This one was actually an L on my part. I legit just forgot that these two mook types had voices. Now, granted, they speak alot less as the show goes on, but they do indeed speak regardless. And throughout alot of the show, too.

And that's about all I recall people raising a stink about, specifically, and thus what I kept my eyes out for the most. If you feel I'm misguided, I recommend watching the show yourself and keeping your own tally. Would love to compare notes, and you'd get to see a great show out of it!


And now it's time for me to give a spiel about a personal anecdote that I felt appropriate to put here, but you know, feel free to skip this part since the review aspect of the thread is essentially over.

There was a time last year where I felt like giving all this up.

It seemed as though ever since the Reiwa era of Japan hit, the toku sphere at large was just getting more and more toxic, and depressingly so.

Power Rangers had always been the chew toy at the center of it all, yeah, but it seemed like as time passed, people were just hating the medium in general more and more. Even on this very website, a place that I thought was a step up compared to other toku centers I'd been to, the toxicity and infighting just kept building to the point that I started to actively dread reading threads, rather than feeling motivated to partake in them.

Honestly, I seriously considered just throwing my hands up and calling it quits on at all interacting with the fanbase and just keeping all of my experiences to myself. But then, in 2014, a small miracle happened: I was able to afford going to Power Morphicon, the biggest PR convention in the US, for the first time.

To say that I found it to be a magical experience would be an understatement. Inside of that large convention center were what seemed like hundreds of people, not there to fight or argue over which franchise was superior or how MMPR was the worst thing to ever happen to television, but rather to celebrate a medium that was all knew and loved: Not just Power Rangers, but tokusatsu as a whole. Even shows known for being widely hated online like Kamen Rider Ghost, had its own loud and proud fans who showed up.

I had never experienced an event or a place with such a huge concentration of positive energy before, and honestly? It was exactly the type of healing my soul needed at the time. I found myself interacting and talk with so many different people. Hearing their stories about just how much these shows meant to them. Seeing them cry when talking to the various actors who showed up to the con. And even making a few new friends that I still talk to now, a year later, among them. It was a much needed reminder not just about how different the online and real worlds can be from one another, but just how important every tokusatsu franchise is to so many. Yes, even something as "kiddy" and "dumb" as Power Rangers is often seen to be online.

These people weren't "dumb" or "misguided" or "ignorant" or anything like that either. They knew how badly Hasbro was mishandling the franchise, they knew how to keep calm and articulate their opinions well. And they knew that at the end of the day, we were all on the same team. We all want what's best for these shows and we want them to succeed and to be respected. Every show, every franchise, it meant something to someone, and we were all rooting eachother on just as much as we were rooting for toku as a medium.

And this rewatch of SPD? Yet another firm reminder as to my own passions. Even if the franchise dies under whatever it is Hasbro plans to do, I'll always have 30 years worth of content to look back on fondly. I don't know if I'll ever do another Power Rangers centered thread(heck, I still think someone like Fish Sandwich would be better suited to tackling shows like Mighty Morphin' and Lost Galaxy), and I don't even know if I did at all well with this one, but the experience alone was one I'd say was worth it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, but Power Rangers is a franchise very near and dear to my heart; it having been with me since I was born. Sure, it gets me mocked pretty often online, but really, I don't care. Even if I'm not the best articulated, or the smartest, or even the most comprehensive viewer of the shows out there, I'll continue doing what I can to keep my passions alive, and it's something I recommend that everyone do, whether they like the same things I do or not. Others around me have quit or taken extended breaks, and hey, they have every right to. But me? I still love what I love, and I wanna talk about it.

A big thank you to everyone who not just participated, but even so much as read any of this thread at all. And I hope to see you again with whatever I decide to talk about next.

Thank you for such an interesting topic and your frankness. It was really great to read all this. I can say for myself that I dove headfirst into tokusatsu from more mainstream superheroics precisely because any discussion there was reduced to talk about race, gender and the orientation of the characters and scriptwriters. So for me personally, the tokusatsu fan base feels completely non-toxic, although sometimes some red flags do appear.