Power Rangers News Galore: The Big 2-0, DVDs to kill for, and the Greatest Megazord Toy EVER! XD *UPDATED*

Hey, look whose actually posting news for a change? But enough with me ragging on myself, we’ve got more important matters to attend to. We have confirmation for Season 20, newly released DVD sets, (one of which will blow your mind), and some new official pics for Super Robot Chogokin Daizyujin (okay, that’s really Sentai news, but it’s still cool anyway). IT’S MORPHIN’ TIME!

First, and newest, we’ve got official, confirmed info about the 20th Anniversary Season of Power Rangers. According to a new report, the next season of Power Rangers will be entitled “Power Rangers MEGAFORCE”, and while no details about the next season were revealed, some tantalizing clues would seem to suggest a number of future event meant to act on the “cross-generational appeal” of the show:

Next year will mark the landmark 20th Anniversary of the Power Rangers brand, an occasion for which Saban Brands is already deep in preparation. Plans for the anniversary include a new series, “Power Rangers MEGAFORCE.”

Saban Brands plans to embrace the series’ cross-generational appeal during the anniversary by celebrating its past as well as its present and future.

Older fans will be able to participate in special events and online activities, while new products and the new show will attract younger fans.

“We’re in an exciting place as a brand. We look at the 20th anniversary not just as a celebration of the past, but as our entry into a third decade,” Dekel says.

With new series launching every two years that reinvent the brand and change its theme, Power Rangers looks to remain a force in children’s entertainment. “Just like our audience, we’re constantly reinventing ourselves,” Dekel adds. “We can honestly say that after 20 years, this isn’t a fluke – kids really do identify with and engage with this show.”

The article also talks about how Saban Brands was able to revive the Power Rangers Brand, the Brand’s new Worldwide Reach, the growth of the Paul Frank Brand (also owned by Saban), and just Saban Brand’s amazing new-found success.

Moving on to DVD news, in addition to Lionsgate Entertainment releasing episodes of Power Rangers old and new DVD, TimeLife.com is currently taking pre-orders for the soon-to-be-released Power Rangers DVD Box Set, entitled Power Rangers: From Mighty Morphin to Lost Galaxy Complete First Seven Seasons. This set includes 40 discs, with 338 episodes from the first seven season, tons of bonus material including 2 DVDs featuring rarely seen archival material; exclusive new featurettes; and interviews with the cast, creators, and fans of Power Rangers. And with each of these sets you’ll get this cool (and somewhat familiar) Mighty Morphin Red Ranger figure wearing the Dragon Shield w/ Power Sword and blaster (a rare Bandai-made figure according to the site description). And all of this can be your’s for $219.95! (Expected to ship August 6th)

Yeah, talk about sweetening the deal…

UPDATE: Official Box Art for the DVD Collection has just been released! Check it out below:

And finally, while not being completely related with Power Rangers, there is this:

Yep, it’s an official image of the Super Robot Chogokin Daizyujin, and it looks amazing. Check out these other pics below:

Known to Power Rangers fans fondly as the Megazord from MMPR, this figure stands at 140mm tall, comes with signature sword and shield, and a couple of effects parts. Note that it cannot transform into the “tank mode”, as the main priority with the Super Robot Chogokin toy line is articulation (and a very thorough level of detail). It costs 5040 yen and is expected to come out in September. While normally I avoid covering stuff like this (due to my own inability to afford stuff like this), it was worth mentioning. I mean just look at it…. not even out yet and it’s probably one of the best figure versions of Daizyujin I’ve seen yet.

UPDATE: This figure will be available from retailers in the US and Canada on October, for the price of $60.99, just in time for the start of the Power Rangers 20th Anniversary celebrations. This according to Tamashii Nations USA Facebook page.

Well, that’s it for pertinent Power Rangers news. Just a friendly reminder to those of you asking about the latest round of auditions, they’re not accepting any new applicants, better luck getting those in next time. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to talk to a web server about a DVD pre-order. 😛

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Yeah, no way I could get around NOT posting this: Kamen Rider Vs. Super Sentai Movie Announced! (Last Week…)

Last Sunday, December 4th, we, the members of tokusatsu fandom, recieved what is perhaps some of the greatest news we have yet to recieve. The ultimate fan fantasy crossover movie was announced, between the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises. Tenatively called “Superhero Taisen”, this movie will feature as it’s leads Kamen Rider Decade and Kaizoku Sentai Go-Kaiger.

And along with those two, the movie will also feature all 40 Kamen Riders (up to and through Fourze), and over 200 Sentai Senshi (up to and through Gobuster).

Confirmed cast includes Inoue Masahiro (Kadoya Tsukasa/Decade), Ozawa Ryota (Captain Marvelous/Go-KaiRed), Akiyama Rina (Naomi from Den-O), Ishimaru Kenjiro (Owner/Stationmaster from Den-O), and Momotaros. and the director confirmed for this epic EPIC movie is Kaneda Osamu. Filming begins later this month (December 2011).

Producer Shirakura says, “In the year after the anniversary we’re not going to power down but cross it…. We want to show things you can’t see in the regular shows. This was pretty close to impossible but I’d like to make it the norm for our spring films. Rider is science, sentai is magic.”

Well, I always thought it was sorta the other way around, but really they’re both in this weird pseudo-scientific fantasy area at this point. But the real point I’d like to get at is this:
This is without a doubt the greatest movie announcement EVER, and I can’t wait to see it. Period. I may invent time travel solely to see this movie.

And I’m not the only one who has anything to say about it either, because Inoue Masahiro also talked about this on his blog shortly after the announcement. Here’s what he had to say:

So, recently I was going through my old photos and thinking, “It sure was fun when I was working on Kamen Rider….”  And now, all of a sudden, I get to do it again!   This one is even bigger than last time–it looks like a lot of fun!

The kids don’t talk about Decade much anymore so I was starting to get kind of lonely, lol.  He’s still passing through!

I’m going to have fun but still give it my all.  If only one person sees it or a lot of people see it, I’ll be happy either way!

I can’t write much yet so I’ll stop for now, lol.  It would be great if I could get to do some action again!

The movie is expected to come out March 2012. I may fly to Japan to see it.

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Go-Kaiger Scans and Episode Summaries: Rise of the Dragon Slayer?

Yay! More new scans! This time, we have scans from upcoming episodes of Go-Kaiger, as well as some new episode summaries, and it looks like we’re going into two characters’ backstories. Meet the Princess and the Dragon Slayer!

Next week’s episode of Go-Kaiger, Ep.41, “Something I Don’t Want to Lose”,  Emperor Ackdos Gil enters the battlefield, setting after the Go-Kaigers for the death of his son. And along with him are two of his guards (seen above), Imperial Guards Dyrando ans Zatslig. After imprisoning Damaras for not protecting the Prince in battle, Zatslig, with a reputation for destroying whole worlds, goes on the attack. And Ahim is the one that goes after him, because Zatslig is the one who destroyed her home world of Famille and killed her parents, the King and Queen shown in the first scan, and saying that she has a grudge against him would be an understatement. We’ll also learn how she met Marvelous and why she became a Pirate.

And this scan come from the episode after, Ep.42, “The Strongest Man in Space”. In it, Ahim uncovers reports that would suggest that Don Dogoier/Hakase may have been a legendary warrior, known for slaying many dragons on many worlds. But Don has no memories of doing any of it. So, is he a great Dragon Slayer, or was he just an intergalatic cosplayer?

And this final scan reveals that the RangerKey toy line will continue into next year (2012), and that there will be a new toy to use with them. No word yet on which teams or senshi the new RangerKeys will be based on.

And that should be it for Go-Kaiger series stuff. Hopefully, we’ll get a glimpse of that new toy sometime soon.

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Question for you: Any ideas on what the new RangerKey toy will be?

More Power Rangers Samurai Stuff: Parades, Floats, and the greatest Panel EVER.

Hey, don’t be fooled by shiny specials, this week has practically been dedicated to all things Power Rangers. As proof, we have video of the Power Rangers Samurai in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, along with a few photos, a new design for a Tournament of Roses Parade float, and video from the Tsuyoshi Nonaka Panel at the Pacific Media Expo (PMX) talking about the desings for the Mega Mode figures. Let’s get this Samurai celebration started!

First, for those of you who didn’t catch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year, here’s the Power Rangers Samurai’s official appearance in the parade:

And here’s a small gallery for you:

Who doesn’t like a little Ranger live-action show? And the little affair is fine, but it could have been really jazzed up with a float like this:

Yes, this float will be created and submitted to the 123rd Annual Tournament Of Roses Parade by Namco Bandai, and will feature all six Rangers standing amongst their zords and the Samurai Megazord, the float itself being made with precisely arranged flowers and organic materials. Just a little over-the-top promotion for the Wii game.

And finally, we have a video from the PMX featuring the Tsuyoshi Nonaka Panel, and during this panel they reveal some secrets behind the design of the Mega Mode figures, including:

• That the “Battilized” Ranger figure would appear in the show
• That the ninja/wrestler-style masks were originally included in the design because they had no idea who would be on the final cast, and Saban just decided to incorporate the masks into the toys
• That the Mega Mode was partly inspired by the suit designs from the MMPR Movie
• And that they usually use these kinds of designs mainly with Kamen Rider

Check out the panel video here (for the stuff about the PRS Mega Mode, skip ahead to about 8:47):

And that should be everything Power Rangers-related for now. If anything else pops up, I’ll let you know!

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Zodiart Switches Coming soon: Dibs on Capricorn!

Wish upon a star? Jiminy Cricket does not approve.

The Astro Switches might be fun, but would you like to wish upon the stars and become a Zodiart? Well now you can! Bandai will release the Kamen Rider Fourze Zodiarts Switch on March 19th, 2012!

The Switch, which let’s people change into Zodiarts in the show, weigh 300 grams and will be show size. It has several self-contained sounds, including the transformation sound, the “Last One” sound, and it can list of the name of the 20 currently known Zodiarts, which includes the 12 Zodiac Zodiarts.

Well, they haven’t done a release like this since W, I wonder how well it will sell with fans. Anyway, pricing hasn’t been set yet, but preorders are available at various online retailers, so go find out whose got ’em!

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Banpresto announces Battle Dodgeball 3 for PSP: Still no love for Sentai?

Along with the newly announced Great Battle Fullblast game for the PSP, Banpresto has just announced another new game for the PSP, Battle Dodgeball 3. It will be included with limited edition copies of the Great Battle game.

The game pits characters from (once again) the Ultraman, Gundam,  and Kamen Rider franchises against each other in all all out dodgeball team battle! It features 13 teams and a total of 52 new and returning characters from the Compati Hero series games.

The “Twin Battle Box” edition of the Great Battle Fullblast game will feature this game, the Great Battle Fullblast Theme Song Companion CD, and a special Great Battle 20th Anniversary booklet. The total package will ship out March 1st, and the entire Twin Box package will retail at 11530 yen (about $150 USD).

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Great Battle Full Blast Announced for PSP: Riders and Gundams and Ultras Oh My!

Looks like with all of these major anniversaries hitting all at the same time (which is oddly coincidental but welcomed all the same), the good people over at Namco Bandai are feeling a little nostalgic for the days when Banpresto was the king of franchise crossover games. Last week, we got an announcement for the Lost Heroes game for the Nintendo 3DS, and now we have an official announcement for a new Great Battle game featuring characters from (once again) Kamen Rider, Ultraman, AND Gundam. Talk about a winning combination!

Alright, so here’s the main info on the game from Siliconera:

Freedom Gundam, the original Gundam, Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Decade​, Ultraman, and Ultraman Mebius are confirmed characters. In each stage, you get to pick three of them. The game has a total 36 assist characters, twelve from each series, so it sounds like Namco Bandai​ has plenty to reveal. Reserve The Great Battle and you’ll get even more assist characters. Early copies include a product code for: Justice Gundam, Gun Cannon, Ultraman Hikari, Zoffy (Ultraman series), Kamen Rider #2, and Kamen Rider Kuuga.

Great Battle Full Blast will come out on March 1 in Japan. Pick up the Twin Battle Box for 11,530 yen ($150) and you’ll get Battle Dodgeball 3, a new sports game from Banpresto’s Super Famicom series, and an eight CD soundtrack collection.

Wow, they have a lot of confidence that this game will sell. I wonder if they’ll revive one of Banpresto’s old games that featured Super Sentai along with Kamen Rider, Ultraman, and a few other Henshin Heroes? They could very easily bridge the gap between Kamen Rider and the gigantic partners he’ll have in these games. 😛

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

GREE to offer “Super Sentai Wars” SNS game: wait, what’s GREE?

Namco Bandai announced earlier today (November 7th) that they would be offering a new SNS Sentai card game title, Super Sentai Wars, on the Japanese social networking service GREE. It will feature past and present characters from Himitsu Sentai Goranger all the way to Kaizoku Sentai Go-Kaiger.

The Super Sentai Wars SNS card game will feature past senshi and robots. New digital cards have been made for the game, where the main goal is to build a powerful squadron to back up your favorite hero.

The game features both a Story mode, where you’re faced with a variety of missions which include fighting that stage’s boss, and a 10 vs. 10 battle (overkill much?) to prove that you formed the best and most powerful team.

Throughout the card game, you can collect a number of cards to enhance the power of you squadron, and you can build collections for different types of cards.

Super Sentai Wars SNS game is currently available for DoCoMo/KDDI/SBM mobile phones, with iPhone and Android versions coming soon. You can check out the game here: http://mpf.gree.jp/1607 (Note: you will need to be registered with GREE in order to view it).

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Kamen Rider OOO Final Episode Director’s Cut Revealed!: Now with even more twists!

It’s been over two months since Kamen Rider OOO finale aired, but it looks like the adventure isn’t quite over yet. It was recently announced that a Director’s Cut of the last two episodes of OOO (Ep.47 & 48) will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD next year!

The new release, aptly titled Kamen Rider OOO Final Episode, features audio commentary from actor Watanabe Shu (Eiji/OOO), director Tasaki Ryuta, writer Kobayashi Yasuko, and producer Naomi Takebe, and an extra 8 minutes of bonus scenes. They include:

• Satonaka informs Kougami she couldn’t deliver the present.
• In the Foundation, Eiji–not persuaded by Date & Goto–goes to fight Maki.
• Eiji recieves Cell Medals from Kougami.
• Complete Uva fights Birth & Birth Prototype.
• Doctor Maki puts Core Medals into Uva in human form.
• Date & Goto talk to Kougami in the lab.
• Date & Goto in the lab at dawn.
• Kougami makes a cake for Eiji who has unleashed his desire.
• In the epilogue, the dialogue will now be audible.

Kamen Rider OOO Final Episode will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD February 21st, with DVD rental copies available February 10th.

-M.C., the Quantum Twin

Power Rangers Jungle Fury Coming to Nicktoons: This November, Unleash the Beast!

Well, it looks like someone’s finally making good on their promise. 😛

Nickelodeon announced on Twitter yesterday that their would be a Power Rangers 48-hour marathon, but it’s not for the one you think it is. It’s for Power Rangers Jungle Fury! Check out the original Tweet:

Hey Power Rangers fans, wanna see some of the previous Ranger series? JungleFury joins #Nicktoons on 11/18 at 7pm ET w/ a 48 hr marathon!

For something that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention, this is actually HUGE news! While Jungle Fury might not be everyone’s favorite season (btw it is one of my personal favorites), they are actually running an older season of Power Rangers on Nicktoons, like they said they would, and this could lead to other older seasons seeing new life on this new network. And besides, it’ll be fun to re-watch Jungle Fury, relive all your favorite moments. I plan on trying to catch at least part of it, and you should too! 😉 And remember, that’s November 18th at 7 p.m. EST on Nicktoons.

Jungle Beast, Spirit Unleashed!

-M.C., the Quantum Twin