I'm old enough to remember when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was on TV, and man that was 20 years ago. I went from being obsessed with the Power Rangers to no longer watching or caring about them after Season 2 around the time the movie came out in 1995. It seemed that way for a lot of my friends. I mean I remember how in the Halloween of 1994, so many kids including myself at school were dressed as Power Rangers, but the Halloween the year after I only noticed one kid dressed as a Power Ranger. I believe Power Rangers was at it's peak in popularity after the Green With Evil episodes to the second half of Season 2. When that show aired, I did not realize the show was using footage from a Japanese TV show. I did not hear about that until years later. But, I did notice at times even as a kid and more as an adult how the show wasn't always well done. Part of the reason is because the show changes from American footage to Japanese footage, and frequently there were the Zyurangers in scenes not morphed fighting alongside morphed characters, or lots of times there'd be people in the backgrounds of the fights, including kids that they tried to edit out in the American version, but weren't always successful.
I've seen all 50 episodes of Zyuranger, and I can't help but think about reasons why I'd say this show is better than the Power Rangers, and definitely better done. I believe part of the reason I lost interest in the Power Rangers was because the show wasn't well done, and it was predictable, as watching it years later I notice how the show doesn't have much of a plot to it. Zyuranger has more of a plot to the show. There also is more depth to the characters including the Zyurangers, even though we might prefer the characters from the American show over them. There is also more of a story behind the villains and even the monsters that strike. It also is fun watching this TV show as we get to see Japan. You can buy the DVDs subtitled, and if you're studying Japanese it would probably be a fun way to get to learn Japanese watching Zyuranger episodes.
So, while this show is a kids show and it seems like it would be PG-rated, it has a darker atmosphere than the Power Rangers. They edit some of the darkness from this show as lots of things from Japanese franchise gets edited for American audiences such as scenes from another Japanese TV show I really like called Dragon Ball Z, and one of my favorite video games Super Mario Kart where Bowser and Peach would drink champagne after winning the cup in the Japanese version, but not the American version. This show should entertain you more for the darker atmosphere and watching 50 episodes of Zyuranger feels more productive than watching 50 episodes of Power Rangers.
This show is also a little, but not much older than the Power Rangers. It's hard to believe that it's over 20 years old, it doesn't seem that old and it even looks less dated than Power Rangers. Though, if it were done today it would have had better effects.
So, while I as a lot of you think this show is better I wish they said more often at the time, how Power Rangers was from a Japanese TV show. Also, we can wonder what if this show came over to America instead of just using the Japanese footage and if it was dubbed, or even subtitled back then? Would it have done better than the Power Rangers? Oh Well, I guess we will never know.
If you're like me, you'll think of this show as better than the Power Rangers and will be sad when it ends after the last episode. I'm glad to see years later, what my childhood show was based off of.
