[TokuKnight89]

Quote:

Originally Posted by acdcguy

Perhaps the issue is MMPR is so heavily embedded into Western pop culture than anything that's not dinosaur/prehistoric themed is just going to fall flat on its face.

I think the problem stems deeply with the beginning of Power Rangers. Saban had been trying to get Sentai adapted since Bioman. And Marvel with Sun Vulcan before that. Saban kept trying and trying until 1993 when the fates determined that Jurassic Park will be released and be a huge hit, with later that summer Zyuranger would get an American adaptation, coming off the heels of the hugely successful prehistoric blockbuster. With Ninja Turtles being popular at the time as well, MMPR season 1 was a recipe for success given the blend of martial arts and dinosaurs.

For two more seasons, and a movie, the suits maintained the prehistoric ascetic (with the exception of one) despite the zords changing around them. Zeo was the first to break the mold, which did modestly, but its follow up, Turbo nearly doomed the franchise. In Space revived it but with the death of Zordon came the metaphoric death of Power Rangers as a franchise. Lost Galaxy was probably the pinnacle of the franchise in story form, but sales were either stagnant or dropping.

Disney eventually got their hands on it and after a season and a half they adapted Abaranger with the return of Tommy. They would continue produce seasons up until 2009, but toy sales continued to drop, and Bandai of America tried everything to cut cost and increase sales. Disney and Bandai realized only MMPR sells. Thus in 2010 we got the MMPR revamp. When Saban got his hands back on the franchise he cut and pasted elements of MMPR into every adaptation of that era. The only one to break the mold a little in terms of story was Dino Charge, which was allowed because it was a dinosaur season and dinosaurs sell. They could make parallels to MMPR with it without even trying. And Saban got way too experimental with the 2017 movie, which is why that received mixed reactions and modest toy sales.

Hasbro now owning the property and seeing first hand what does and does not sell, they too are following the same pattern. Why? It's because we've been conditioned to associate Power Rangers exclusively with MMPR and dinosaurs. I am sure the toy and suit designs in some recent Sentai seasons don't hold a candle to the 80's and 90's versions and that could affect sales. But in the Western World the main issue, at least from my perspective, is the lack of developing a season with their own identity and marketing the hell out of a newer product, and instead playing it safe with a cut and paste formula each season, with new characters that get cycled out too fast and remain under developed, combined with sub par toys.

I have always believed that the franchise could help itself with a more anthology-minded season than a singular adaptation. The older Sentai, which Super Megaforce "helped" to include in the greater Rangerverse canon, could easily be used in such a season to get us back where we need to be.

Think about Star Wars and their more recent reveals, relating to the timeline of the Old Republic and characters we've never seen before.

Would adapting a mid-'80s Sentai be sensible? Nope! The footage is too old and the aspect ratio isn't suited for widescreen.

Would a Movie Special from a mid-'80s Sentai be sensible? Possibly. Movies tend to be more in widescreen and a have different quality to them.

Is there some newer footage of older Sentai teams that could still be used? Of course! Super Megaforce probably didn't adapt even half of Gokaiger! Movie Specials and Crossovers could also help.

Could an anthology season be made to work while still bouncing off of MMPR and its mythos? Not hard to imagine. The BOOM! Comics had the 1969 MMPR Team prevent Psycho Green from freeing Rita decades before she actually was! A kid-friendly anthology wouldn't be as dark as that MMPR Issue 20 was, but it could echo the idea that a lot of interesting things happened before 1993!

Would an anthology season be hard to market? Hard, but not impossible. You could easily introduce new elements while simultaneously referencing 25+ Years of franchise history, all framed within the context of "MMPR & DINOSAURS ARE KING"!

Hasbro hasn't gotten to safe-zone with the franchise yet, and is apparently too skittish about taking an unnecessary risk. It may take awhile before something truly interesting happens, and right now, all Beast Morphers has left is the Dino Ranger Crossover (minus the unforeseen surprises they've kept hidden until now).

One day this franchise will realize that it can't keep lining its pockets with a glut of MMPR. Even Iron Man and Spider-Man change suits once in awhile!