Dear Saban Brands,
I am writing you this letter as a long-time fan of Power Rangers. I have enjoyed this series for many years, share in my love for PR with my young relatives, and continue to support PR with merchandise, memorabilia, and attending various conventions across the country.
As with most fans, I was excited to have Power Rangers return home with the Saban corporation. The production values and promotional campaigns for the series have never been better, and it is wonderful to see how high the ratings have been after so many years. However, now that the season has actually premiered, concerns have begun to emerge through more and more of the fandom as to its current creative direction.
To that end, I have joined with a number of other fans to explain what we have taken issue with in the production of Power Rangers Samurai in the hopes that all PR fans, both young and old, will continue to enjoy this series in all its many permutations.
We have been told repeatedly that our voice as long-term fans is encouraged by this company, and I want to tell you that we have heard you loud and clear. Never before have the management and public relations team for Power Rangers been more accessible to its fan community, and we could not be more appreciative for this fact. From Facebook to Twitter to Power Morphicon, your company has given us more than we ever could have asked for. We hope you will respect the opinions we offer you now.
The literal adaptation of Japanese Super Sentai plots has always been a stickler for the teen and adult fandom of Power Rangers, not because we have watched the Japanese episodes online and thus already know what is going to happen, but because the cultural and storytelling traditions of Eastern and Western storytelling are so different that these stories always ring more hollow than a story produced originally for Power Rangers. Verbatim Sentai adaptations have been a hallmark of Jonathan Tzachor's stewardship of the series from 1999-2001, and it shocked the fandom to see how quickly this policy was reinstated in 2011.
Never before has Power Rangers credited the original Sentai series writers in its openings. Never before has Power Rangers been treated like a dub of an anime program. Even if these simple policies had not been implemented, the fandom still would have taken note; what is permissible in Japanese children's programming is not allowed in American, and these stories feel hollow and condescending. Literal adaptation of Japanese stories when the American broadcast standards and practices will not allow it reduces a goofy but warm-hearted show to an empty and heartless copy of something else, and reduces endearing role models to vapid catch-phrase spewing props.
Even as its silliest, Power Rangers set out to tell simple and straightforward stories that still had narrative complexity. It aspired to not be more or less than its source material, but merely be its own entity with its own audience. Not only has Samurai repeated the mistakes that the later seasons of Saban Entertainment/MMPR Productions Power Rangers made, it has amplified and magnified them several times over.
The fans appreciate the return of Bulk very, very much. Paul Schrier has always been a warm and open participant in the fan community for over ten years and he is by far one of the most beloved PR cast members. That said, Bulk's integration in this season is at this point effectively irrelevant. He is simply relegated to a scene or two per episode with almost no interaction or chemistry with the Samurai Rangers. They continue to exist in their dubbed Shinkenger storylines while Bulk and Spike's stories happen on the periphery of things. It almost seems that, for all intents and purposes, we are watching two unrelated and disconnected shows, and the one that doesn't have the Power Rangers is the one that’s far more engaging to the long-term demographic you’re trying to court. To many fans it feels as though the use of Bulk was a token gesture to appease us while no effort was taken to actually do anything constructive with the show, his character, or Bulk himself as a plotting device from which stories can develop. It is impossible for anything meaningful to happen to Bulk when Bulk cannot affect the stories of the principle cast.
That brings us to the next point, regarding continuity. Power Ranger fans want a sense of shared continuity and that there is a bigger universe just around the corner. This is achievable not just through teamups and crossovers with previous Ranger teams, but also through grounding our heroes in a believable locale and surrounding them with memorable supporting characters. Bulk and Spike are not supporting characters. We are a fourth of the way through Samurai and we still do not know the name of the city the show is taking place in. We have not been provided with an origin storyline. We have not been given any sort of hangout or down time for our characters when they are not being Power Rangers. They are not characters so much as human forms of action figures.
One of the most popular seasons of Disney's tenure on the series was Power Rangers Dino Thunder. This season neatly encapsulated much of what the fandom had wanted Power Rangers to aspire to. The location of Reefside was fleshed out, there was a rich supporting cast who interacted with the Rangers in and out of costume, there were settings and plots completely unrelated to the team's Power Ranger duties, and the show successfully wrote at a level that could be enjoyed by both children and adults, while still successfully imparting moral lessons for the youngest members of the audience. Dino Thunder had VERY high ratings among children and teens for this reason. The fact it was promoted on the basis of "Tommy returns" fell far short of its true appeal: it felt like the Power Rangers formula. The initial selling point for the fandom of Samurai was "Bulk returns," and for more and more of us, there is nothing more to this series. The presence of a single actor and use of the classic theme song matter less than quality storytelling.
Power Rangers Samurai shoe-horns its morals in around the original Japanese storylines in the most condescending and unsubtle means possible. Often times at complete odds with what is occurring in the scene itself. Yelling about "teamwork" when a lone Ranger is battling an army of villains is baffling and confusing. Power Rangers has never targeted an audience of 5-8. It has targeted an audience of 7-10. If this is the caliber of writing we can expect by trying to aim the show at a younger demographic, then the show is not meant to aim so young. With each episode more and more of the fans passionately find themselves wondering what kind of quality control is being put into these episodes. Power Rangers has always been a show that its ancillary adult audience could grow to appreciate without shame. The original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers may have been campy, but until now the fans never felt PR was actively talking down to its audience in a condescending manner.
I have gladly supported this series for much of my life. I have encouraged people in my age demographic to reevaluate their opinions of the show, and I have shared in my love for the show with young relatives and associates. I have devoted much of my time and a good deal of money to this brand out of love. However, if the current creative direction of the series continues on as it is, I cannot in good conscience continue to watch nor encourage others to do so. I very much hope it never comes to this and we can continue to enjoy many, many years of high-flying fantasy adventure from Saban Brands.
I appreciate you reading this. Please take our criticism constructively, and may the power protect you.
Sincerely,