Tokusatsu

This week, the first season of Power Rangers comes to an end with... well, not much of anything, to be honest.

This week, we journey to 1997 for a story where the Rangers fight... A vampire! Yes, again.

The annual Kamen Rider team-up movie, where the current Rider has an adventure alongside the previous year's model, has become something of a tradition in Japan. The thing is, it's been going for so long that it has to be a pretty tough task to top what happened in the last one. There have been climactic wars between all the Riders, the return of the original "Legendary 7" from the foundation of the franchise, and even invasions from alternate dimensions where the bad guys won and turned all the good guys evil. Once you've done all that, you have to wonder where you can possibly go next. Clearly, there's only one thing to do: Get New Japan Pro Wrestling star Hiroshi Tanahashi to play one of the villains in a movie that also stars five different Riders and Pac-Man. No, seriously. That's what's happening in the next one.

This week, the Rangers fight their evil doppelgangers, except Jason, who will be represented by a very large and very angry shrimp. I don't get it either.

Adapted from Japan's long-running Super Sentai series, created by manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori, the Power Rangers combined the giant robots and monsters of their Japanese counterpart with a completely different set of secret identities and problems, and became a pop cultural phenomenon. This week, Tommy keeps accidentally doing karate when he's trying to do football! You know, teen problems.

I am an adult, and that means that if I want to, I can spend a very large amount of money on a high-end metal action figure of Daizyuzin, the gestalt robot better known to American audiences as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Megazord. Unfortunately, that also means that I have a lot of other things to spend money on --- like, say, food, or my home --- and today, that's something I need to remind myself of a lot. Because today, Bandai has released some high quality images of the next entry in the Soul of Chogokin line.

With 800 episodes over the course of 22 years, the Power Rangers television show is arguably the single most successful live-action superhero franchise of all time, and certainly one of the strangest. Adapted from Japan's long-running Super Sentai series, created by manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori, the Power Rangers combined the giant robots and monsters of their Japanese counterpart with a completely different set of secret identities and problems, and became a pop cultural phenomenon. That's why we're looking back with an in-depth guide to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, including its source material, Kyuoryu Sentai Zyuranger, in ComicsAlliance's Ranger Station! This week, Rita Repulsa attempts to abolish our cheerocracy and install herself as cheertator with an indestructible space lizard that sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

With a new movie in the works, a television franchise that's heading into its 24th year, and a mountain of new critical thought about the original show --- ahem --- the Power Rangers franchise is experiencing the kind of renaissance that we haven't really sen since 1993. Now, the revival of teenagers with attitude and giant robot dinosaurs is headed to gaming consoles with the release of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Mega Battle.

With 800 episodes over the course of 22 years, the Power Rangers television show is arguably the single most successful live-action superhero franchise of all time, and certainly one of the strangest. Adapted from Japan's long-running Super Sentai series, created by manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori, the Power Rangers combined the giant robots and monsters of their Japanese counterpart with a completely different set of secret identities and problems, and became a pop cultural phenomenon. That's why we're looking back with an in-depth guide to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, including its source material, Kyuoryu Sentai Zyuranger, in ComicsAlliance's Ranger Station! This week, Jason and Tommy have it out in a fight to the finish... almost.

With 800 episodes over the course of 22 years, the Power Rangers television show is arguably the single most successful live-action superhero franchise of all time, and certainly one of the strangest. Adapted from Japan's long-running Super Sentai series, created by manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori, the Power Rangers combined the giant robots and monsters of their Japanese counterpart with a completely different set of secret identities and problems, and became a pop cultural phenomenon. That's why we're looking back with an in-depth guide to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, including its source material, Kyuoryu Sentai Zyuranger, in ComicsAlliance's Ranger Station! This week, Power Rangers proves that it knows only slightly less about soccer than I do, which is a pretty impressive achievement.