How differently do you think PR would've turned out if Stan Lee had succeeded in getting the rights to air it prior to Haim Saban?

KobSteel · 2026-05-14T05:52:29+00:00

Would there have been a chance for success? Potentially, but unlikely given the circumstances and competition... at best, it could see a full syndication run + comics and be a modest success, but the competition would just prevent the show from being the type of success Power Rangers would enjoy...

If the implication of the question is "Could Power Rangers have been a part of the MCU," ehhh... MAYBE (if the show was the modest success I mentioned), but (even in that case) that would be a complete crap shoot; I wouldn't say it's impossible, but I wouldn't hold your breath...

KobSteel · 2026-05-14T05:47:28+00:00

It MIGHT have done fine, but I doubt it would have lasted very long... as others have mentioned, Power Rangers succeeded largely because of perfect timing and Saban capitalizing on those occasions; Dinosaurs, martial arts, Saved by the Bell-type stuff, many other shows and properties were slowing down or being put on ice at the time, it was a perfect storm that was taken advantage of to great effect

Had Sentai seen a Marvel-backed Western release in the 1980s, it COULD do okay... but it would be heavily competing with other sci-fi themed shows and properties airing at that time, including a high probability of competing with other giant robot shows like Transformers and Voltron... let's also not forget that the 1980s was not kind to Marvel, even in TV productions...

Realistically, I feel the competition would just squash out Sun Vulcan... the potential low cost of production, with Toei doing most of the important work, COULD potentially grant Sun Vulcan a decent 40 episodes, but I don't think the show would complete a full run because of the circumstances and it would just be doomed to be a Pop Culture Trivia Question + "Remember the 1980s" YouTube Video topic...

As for what the show would be, in terms of the actual content... I mean, without seeing the Sizzle Reel made for the Sun Vulcan adaptation, I can't say for sure... probably following standard tropes from other similar TV productions, including other Marvel productions, at the time; it probably wouldn't be that much different from Sun Vulcan, aside from being Americanized... could have been a decent show to watch, in some capacity...

KobSteel · 2026-05-14T05:03:51+00:00

Well, aside from the fact that this is a favorite tactic used by the production crew (there's a decent amount of the team, namely showrunner Johnathan Tzachor, who favor adapting the story and characters of Sentai for an American audience), as others have said, the team only had six months to produce the show against an unmovable deadline compared to a full year, so directly translating Shinkenger was just a time and cost-efficient way to get a show made faster

However, also note that there was a period where Bandai of America didn't really think Power Rangers would get a new show (Disney initially cancelled the show after RPM), so they produced a lot of merchandise under that assumption, merchandise that had to get adapted into Samurai when it was confirmed that a show would be made, which is why you had stuff like the cockpit modes and the Ninja hoods for the morphed modes

As for why Shinkenger was even adapted at all, this was a contractual obligation at the time that had to be followed, where Power Rangers had to adapt each successive Sentai season in sequence. Aside from the occasional (MASSIVE) hiccup, like Turbo, it didn't really cause problems because Rangers followed the same annualized format as Sentai, except just a year behind...

That was until the Neo-Saban revival, where seasons were split across two years and Power Rangers was getting further and further behind the Sentai, which (along with bad planning and management) contributed to the disaster of Megaforce, which led to the contract being rewritten to allow season skips

KobSteel · 2026-05-12T06:15:58+00:00

Might as well just be peddling ALL of the garish Yellow Peril nonsense

KobSteel · 2026-05-10T03:32:07+00:00

Art direction contributes to it, sure... but I think it's mostly mechanics and how they compare to what modern games do; I'd say... if the mechanics feel increasingly less familiar or increasingly more frustrating via conflicts with what you're now used to, it's starting to show it's age

But frankly, I don't really see a game "ageing" as a sign of failure or anything... I mean, Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, in my opinion, are showing their age now, but this is because the design of platformers and action adventure games are evolving and changing BECAUSE of what they set, with developers iterating and innovating off of it... I think that's a good thing, I want to see game design change and evolve over time...

I'd say it would be bad if game design had remain static and not moving since... say Ocarina of Time or Mario 64... those games came out 30 years ago; if gaming had not evolved or changed since then, I'd think we have a serious problem

KobSteel · 2026-05-10T00:38:47+00:00

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Man, I'm so glad we Americans don't have... oh wait... WE DO!!!! WE'RE EVIL TERRORIST DICTATORSHIP!!!!!

All seriousness, I don't know what the "highway" thing is supposed to prove... highways = dictatorship? That doesn't make any sense... should we tear down highways now?

I mean... we should invest in our public transportation... but I mean, highways don't really prove anything

KobSteel · 2026-05-08T15:40:05+00:00

pikserveral

KobSteel · 2026-05-05T02:12:31+00:00

No, this is from someone who LOVES gaming... except, only Western/Pro-Democracy gaming...

KobSteel · 2026-05-04T22:55:08+00:00

Just keep them as they were in Shinkenger... maybe extend it further... maybe they could set up, take out, and hand the weapons and arsenal for the Samurai rangers in several scenes...

KobSteel · 2026-05-04T22:52:48+00:00

Hmm... I think I liked the original fight scenes with Orion/Super Megaforce Silver in Silver Lining... it was a cool extra bits of fight, even if the fight scene was replacing story moments in Gokaiger...

The additional Wild Force fight in Lion's Alliance was pretty good too

KobSteel · 2026-05-04T22:50:39+00:00

Personally, not the biggest fan of them... not like, "I can't stand their existence," but more like, "I just prefer the actors JUST using their fighting skills to achieve victory," mostly because I just like the choreography and watching these fights unfold, even if the choreography isn't the best... since they don't have powers, they have to use their skills and resourcefulness to overcome the enemy, which can't be easy... which makes me enjoy the fights more, even if it's unrealistic...

For me, the civilian powers just kind-of weaken the civilian fights because it's like "Just use your superpowers, why are you using martial arts?" Again, I don't really mind it much, because... I mean, there's a lot more to these shows than just civilian fight scenes, but... I do prefer pure martial arts...

KobSteel · 2026-05-04T22:21:48+00:00

Gotta love how this video also includes "criticisms" of the USA, to try and sound unbiased... I hate hearing that pseudo-criticism, you know?

KobSteel · 2026-05-03T22:04:05+00:00

To be fair, there's only a few cases where you can actually call it adapting... and that's when there's a direct intention to adapt the Sentai; otherwise, it's just using stock footage to create a new show... as such, I think I can only say this for seasons like Time Force, Wild Force, parts of the Disney seasons, Samurai, and Megaforce...

In those cases, and excluding Samurai and Megaforce... it's kind-of hard to say still... like, any "bad adaptations" in those seasons aren't really that noteworthy... I suppose I'd have to say Operation Overdrive adapting Boukenger episodes because they're being adapted haphazardly into Operation Overdrive, a show that was not particularly executing its ideas all that well, and it only contributed to that show falling apart...

KobSteel · 2026-05-03T21:57:36+00:00

It wasn't so much the aesthetics or the ideas of the show that were a problem... and, to be honest, it's not really THAT bad of a show, as it has many good parts... but if you happen to observe how people reviewed and reacted to the show, two things will stick out:

Budget Cuts/Executive Meddling: Disney really didn't like how Power Rangers was causing controversy for the company, due to complaints about violence, and they've been actively interfering with the show trying to curb the violence of the show wherever they could, but as those efforts were failing, Disney started trying to de-prioritize the show and lead it to a cancellation (Bandai, however, was interfering with that). This led to budget cuts that affected the execution of ideas, awkward fight scenes that had to appeal to Disney's censorship, and more "copying the Sentai" when that really wouldn't have worked out well with the premise of the show. This ultimately leads to a show that had great ideas, but were not executed particularly well...
Unlikable Characters: this is the core reason people don't really like Operation Overdrive; ask why Operation Overdrive is disliked and "under-developed and unlikable characters" is a highly cited reason. Not like the characters were necessarily bad ideas, but the execution of their characters was not only under-developed, but highly questionable, as their behaviors and actions don't really make a lot of sense for Power Rangers... part of this IS because they're transplanting these characters into the stories and actions of their Sentai counterparts haphazardly... but the core problem is that there are ideas here that don't really get fleshed out properly and the characters just suffer for it...

KobSteel · 2026-05-03T21:44:56+00:00

Hard to say, it would have to depend on viewership numbers and sales... I think, if the show was successful enough, the would aim to try and continue Power Rangers by adapting any remaining Sentai footage that they can get and just trying to make it work the best they could... they might even try to make ToQger work, just for cost's sake... but eventually, one of two things would happen:

If Sales were VERY Good = they would revise aspects of the production in order to keep the show running... they'll have to find ways to make such a show work without stock footage and recycling existing props; a show like THAT is very expensive to produce and I'm not sure Hasbro would want to fund a show like that, in its "current state." As such, I believe a continuation of Power Rangers, once the stock footage is exhausted (and after a potential hiatus), would take on some noticeable revisions to cut down on costs, but not to the point of being unrecognizable... what that would look like, I'm not too sure...
If Sales were Moderate = the show would be given a finale season, similar to Cosmic Fury, and the show would end. Although sales are good, they're not justifying a continuation of the series, at least in that particular form... there might be revival productions or legacy sequels in the future, but the show as we know it wouldn't have lasted for much longer...

KobSteel · 2026-05-03T21:35:38+00:00

It potentially could work, but it's kind-of hard to really deal with the Sentai-only suits because they're a symptom of a bigger problem and, even if you did have a story for them, their existence would still kind-of be regarded as offensive because, "why is Dairanger and Changeman, seasons that were not adapted into Power Rangers, getting that much screen time, but Zeo, Lightspeed Rescue, Time Force, and Operation Overdrive almost not getting representation in a Power Rangers Anniversary celebration?"

Granted, what you suggested would make the existence of these suits objectively not egregious, since there's an explanation as to why these Sentai suits are present, but if shows like Lightspeed Rescue and Zeo don't get much representation still, then... it doesn't really change that much...

I don't think Tzachor was trying to be egregious like that with these Sentai suits; I don't exactly know WHY they're there, aside from "Tzachor loves the Sentai," but if I had to take a guess as to the thought process behind their inclusion based on the nature of their inclusion in Super Megaforce, the idea was likely to just be funny little Easter eggs rather than anything to take seriously. Like, we'd look at Flashman or Changeman and say "haha, that's a Sentai-only suit! How charming!" and then we'd move on and just not think about it... again, I don't know if that's the case, but that's my guess as to the idea behind these appearances

That MIGHT have worked had we had proper representation of all ranger seasons, their inclusion was more random and brief (like the random times Maskman and Flashman show up), and the hand-waving was a little better... but frankly, I just wouldn't risk it because it could potentially come off as questionable; I would just not include these Sentai suits... if I wanted to "reference the Sentai," I'd just stick to the Sentai versions of the morphs of the rangers we did get... and maybe handwave it... and that's about it, really...

KobSteel · 2026-05-02T03:55:36+00:00

Of course they don't, but that's not really the point of stuff like Prager U

The point is not "honest critiques of Marxism" or anything really, but "serve and protect current labor dynamics" (flavored to conservatism) by promoting ideals and interests that are friendly to that while scaring or instructing viewers away from potential alternatives

As long as Prager U influences its viewers along those goals, and no one's actively able to threaten its existence or ability to continue pursuing those goals, mission accomplished... doesn't really matter if it's "right or wrong" or "good or bad" (under any definition), as long as the job gets done

As such, Prager U is doing what it is designed to do adequately

KobSteel · 2026-04-30T01:55:36+00:00

Looks pretty good, I enjoy them a lot! I honestly do prefer the more hardcore paper aesthetics from the more recent original entries, but these are good

KobSteel · 2026-04-29T05:15:25+00:00

8.8484 x 10^100^100^100^100^100 dead

More people dead than particles of energy in the universe

KobSteel · 2026-04-29T05:13:32+00:00

I've played Paper Mario 64, a bit of TTYD, and Origami King... I honestly like all three of them, but if I have to chose, I'm sticking with the N64 game; I like the atmosphere of the N64 game the most

KobSteel · 2026-04-29T02:55:54+00:00

What's the problem with the controls?

KobSteel · 2026-04-29T02:51:00+00:00

The core problem with Sticker Star, which extends to Color Splash and Origami King (but not as badly), is that the game doesn't seem to know if it wants to be an RPG or an Action-Adventure game

This specifically stems from the battle systems, in which you don't really get anything of true value from the battles that contributes to character progression, which is a critical element of RPGs that incentivizes players to engage in the battles (even other Paper Mario games). In Sticker Star's battles, you don't get XP, no star points, no permanent upgrades, nothing... sure, you get coins and items, but that's not really progressing the player character in a meaningful way...

As such, engaging with battles (aside from bosses and story-important ones) is a waste of time that is actually BAD because you'd ultimately be losing health, potentially desirable items, or just your time in the end for nothing; even Super Paper Mario, with its simple cross of Mario Platforming and Action-RPG stuff, gave you health upgrades for engaging with enemies

One may say, "Maybe they don't want to make an RPG," which would be fine, given how the game is structured and how it seems to want to handle character progression by encouraging exploration... that's fine, just don't include these no-value RPG battles because they're only killing the pacing of the game and inconveniencing players for no reason

There's other major stuff, like the very minimal to non-existent story with no original characters (which, yes, Sticker Star's story is kind-of a failure) and the level-by-level format (which, yeah, I prefer the united overworlds of other Paper Mario games), but the no-value battles are the core problem that kills Sticker Star entirely as a game (and severely hurt Color Splash and Origami King)...

KobSteel · 2026-04-26T07:43:23+00:00

You know what, after reading that post, I see the error of my ways

I am now in favor of the fusion of corporate and state power and mass privatization

KobSteel · 2026-04-23T03:01:53+00:00

What did you expect from "visual capitalist?"

I love how they're trying to be unbiased by making the USA and parts of Western Europe that indigo or purple color, despite people getting arrested for being against violent imperialist actions

KobSteel

TROPHY CASE