[TokuChris]

This series is bittersweet for me.

For starters, I loved that Power Rangers left Earth and left Angel Grove to discover what else is out there. The series got away from its roots and really opened itself up and expanded itself. On Earth we got just a few tidbits of other things ... Aquatar, Triforia, aliens from far distant galaxies that came to Earth to conquer it ... and in this series, the Power Rangers went to them after defeating the leader of the last group of villains during In Space.

Magna Defender, and his entire storyline, remains one of my favorites. Here's a hero who was consumed by rage after his son died, so much that with his dying breath, took the body and spirit of another to enact his revenge, and only in his end did he realize that being a hero isn't about revenge, but about saving others ... and while he couldn't save his son, he could save Terra Venture and all the people, and freed Mike while doing so.

Mike was a wasted character on the other hand - literally the "backup Ranger" and was written and treated as such until the Lost Galaxy and Captain Mutiny bits where he lost his powers. Karone was also wasted ... it's like the writers didn't know what to do with her, so they just stuck her with Leo and then never really expanded on her life more than the Astronema bits from the past when Leo got his battleizer.

It does feature one of the best finales in terms of "Red Ranger vs Main Bad Guy" though. And hey, it's really the first series to feature a Power Ranger ripping his shirt off just because.

It was our farewell to Bulk and Skull ... Skull, who is left asleep in their apartment and Bulk who becomes nothing more than a spotty guest character (almost as bad as Samurai). They won't return, obviously, until Forever Red ... and then not again until Samurai.

Overall, a good series (the greatest theme), and a nice change from the norm. But Power Rangers was never the same after it, and it lost a lot of magic for me when it transitioned in to Lightspeed Rescue.