On November 30th, 1984, the Changeman cast assembled for the first round of publicity still shoots (see above), with filming starting at around the same time. CHANGEMAN BEGINS. So begins the legendary show's 30th anniversary, in which I might unleash a complete spamathon in commemoration. Why? Changeman's my favorite. Changeman's the best. And? I just don't think Toei's going to bother doing anything for it.
It's pretty sad the way Toei just kind of gave up on all of their old shows once they got released to DVD. They stopped bothering to do cool reunions for Toei Hero Max or Toei Channel. Those kinds of publications seem to have completely given up on honoring anything that isn't their new shit or a '70s Ishinomori show.
Changeman was big in its time. It's a fan favorite. It's a favorite of Toei higher-up Takeyuki Suzuki, who was the show's main producer. (He used to say Changeman was his top favorite, but supposedly now claims it's Bioman. Traitor!) Changeman was popular all around, and it was one of the first Sentai shows to have crossover appeal, gaining attention from non-toku fans. Toei needs to mark the anniversary! I'm not at all confident they'll do anything -- fans worship Bioman, but 2014 went without anything done to honor its anniversary. Not even any live fan event in its honor!
I want a cast reunion in something like Toei Hero Max or Toei Channel. I want that goddamn Change Dragon Figuarts. I want a new Changeman novel by main writer Hirohisa Soda (who is actually a novelist now, unlike most of the people they get to write the Rider and Sentai sequel novels). I want a Changeman Memorial DVD like the Space Sheriff trilogy got, with all of the same extras. C'mon, Toei, put SOME effort into something for a change...
Let's change! Join the celebration all year long at Facebook and Twitter.
Toei may not have done anything, but Saban did - they appeared in Super Megaforce despite Changeman not being adapted as a Power Rangers season!
ReplyDeleteI just saw the episode that used footage from Gokaiger 49, but also only just found out that the Super Megaforce Rangers turned into Changeman in an earlier episode. The funny thing is, the PR staff didn't realize it was the same team, apparently, so "Griffin" wasn't given the same name as the four others. (Earlier they were called "Dragon Power" and then Griffin was referred to as "Blitz" mode. So I guess you can combine them and Changeman, in the PR universe, is "Power Rangers Dragon Blitz.")
DeleteIt was kind of Saban's "I AM AMAZON!" Masked Rider all over again. Like...they called Flashman "Prism" mode, and even Prism Shooter was named properly, but mostly everything else went through the typical Saban Random Name Generator. It was weird to hear them keep the "Griffin Magma Galaxy" move, though.
My favorite part from that earlier episode, though? In Gokaiger, they Gokai Change into Changeman and monster knocks them out, but Marvelous tries to attack him by turning into Red Mask, and he gets knocked down again while the other three are still Changeman. In a clumsy bit of editing, PR cut out the part with the Red Mask Gokai Change, so they get knocked down as Changeman (er, Dragon Blitz Rangers) and there's a brief shot where Troy is all of a sudden Red Mask (er, the Red Lightning Ranger). The monster knocked him into a different Ranger suit! That monster was tough, HIYAAAAAAA!
They're not very consistent with names. At one point, the Maskman powers were called "Blitz" and the Changeman powers were apparently called "Lightning" in some foreign dub (I could be wrong, but that does fit with them naming mythical beast after things relating to electricity).
DeleteCalling them Power Rangers "Dragon" would be silly. That's like saying the Dino Charge Rangers should be called the Tyrannosaurus Rangers. I'm a bit iffy on calling the Fiveman team Power Rangers "Supersonic", since they were most likely called that based on Five Yellow's powers.
My preferred naming scheme:
Power Rangers Battalion=Dynaman
Power Rangers Lightning=Changeman
Power Rangers Prism=Flashman
Power Rangers Blitz=Maskman
Power Rangers Supersonic(???)=Fiveman
Mighty Morphin Squandron Rangers=Dairanger (not as silly as Mighty Morphin ALIEN Rangers)
I would love a Change Dragon Figuart...but as we all know Sun Vulcan is the kiss of death to Sentai merchandise.
ReplyDeleteDecember: Vuleagle released!
January 1st: Bandai announces bankruptcy, cites poor sales on lone figure as the cause.
Bah! Nobody wants that damn figure! (I ordered one..........meh...)
Fingers crossed that Toei does something, anything to acknowledge Changeman next year. It was also the show I really cut my teeth on even though it remains criminally underwatched by me. If anything, I shall rewatch it the show in it's honor.
I just figured I'd take the time to say I really like reading your blog. Nice to see new posts whenever they pop up.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up, or something, I guess.
It's true. Changeman is the best.
ReplyDelete