Power Rangers Samurai is the eighteenth season of the American children's television series Power Rangers.[1] With Saban Brands buying back the franchise, the show is produced by Saban Capital Group and began airing on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons on February 7, 2011.[2] As with all Power Rangers programs, Power Rangers Samurai is based on one of the entries of the Super Sentai Series; in the case of Samurai, the source series is Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Saban Brands have said the show will have a "brighter tone and gets an infusion of fun and comedy that wasn't present in seasons 16 and 17."[3]
Power Rangers Samurai is the first Power Rangers season to be shot and broadcast in HD and to be airing on Nickelodeon.
Samurai is split into two 20-episode seasons; the second set of 20 episodes began on February 18, 2012 [4] and is called Power Rangers Super Samurai,[5] which is being called a new season.[6] Super Samurai is considered the nineteenth season.
By 2012, the show had an average of 2 million viewers on Nickelodeon.[7] The highest rated episode was the May 15, 2011 broadcast of "The Blue and the Gold", with 3.7 million viewers.[8]
Plot
The Samurai Power Rangers–Red Ranger Jayden, the stoic leader; Blue Ranger Kevin, the devoted second-in-command; Pink Ranger Mia, the big sister; Green Ranger Mike, the creative rebel; Yellow Ranger Emily, the youngest and most innocent; and Gold Ranger Antonio, the expressive fisherman/tech wiz– fight the evil Master Xandred and his army of Nighloks, who want to flood the planet with the waters of the Sanzu River to bring about the end of civilization.
Promotion
Saban announced they would be enacting an "aggressive" multimedia focus, with planned apps, games, streaming content, and social media content in addition to live shows and a feature film.[9][3] The run-up to the new series was promoted by 145 Days of Power Rangers, a daily airing of every Mighty Morphin episode in order. An official Power Rangers Facebook page was also created.[10]
On November 24, 2010, the Power Rangers website placed a trailer for the show online, hosted on Yahoo! Kids. The new Samurai Rangers also appeared at the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.[11]
Paul Schrier has a recurring role in the season, reprising his role as Bulk originating from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.[12]
For the second batch of episodes airing in 2012, Saban began promoting the season with the title of "Super Samurai" to reflect the upgrades to the Rangers powers (glimpsed already in "Clash of the Red Rangers The Movie"). Actor Hector David, Jr., released an official teaser poster for "Super Samurai" on his Facebook profile.
Cast
- Alex Heartman as Jayden, the Red Samurai Ranger
- Najee De-Tiege as Kevin, the Blue Samurai Ranger
- Erika Fong as Mia, the Pink Samurai Ranger
- Hector David Jr. as Mike, the Green Samurai Ranger
- Brittany Anne Pirtle as Emily, the Yellow Samurai Ranger
- Steven Skyler as Antonio, the Gold Samurai Ranger
- Rene Naufahu as Mentor Ji
- Paul Schrier as Bulk
- Felix Ryan as Spike
- Jeff Szusterman as the voices of Master Xandred and Octoroo
- Kate Elliott as the voice of Dayu
- Rick Medina as Deker
- Derek Judge as the voice of Serrator
Zords
The Samurai Rangers' individual Zords are called Foldingzords, as they fold out from an Emblem Form into a small animal form. To pilot them, the Rangers write the kanji for nihongo to enlarge them while the process transforms the Ranger into Mega Mode.
Comic book
Papercutz produced two issues of a comic book based on Power Rangers Super Samurai.
References
- ↑ "Power Rangers | Seasons | Samurai". Retrieved on September 22, 2010.
- ↑ ""Power Rangers Samurai" premiering in February 2011". Retrieved on December 2, 2010.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Loveday, Samantha (September 23, 2010). "Saban reveals new Samurai theme for Power Rangers ". Licensing.biz. http://www.licensing.biz/news/6013/Saban-reveals-new-Samurai-theme-for-Power-Rangers. Retrieved on September 25, 2010.
- ↑ "Power Rangers Super Samurai Promo". Retrieved on 2012-02-03.
- ↑ The Licensing Book, October 2011
- ↑ "Saban Brands Super-Charges the #1 Kids Action Show" (January 30, 2012). Retrieved on February 5, 2012.
- ↑ Harris, Jim (2011-12-19). "Saban". Retail-merchandiser.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
- ↑ "Cable Top 25: Lebron/D-Wade, ‘Pawn Stars,’ Durant/Westbrook, D-Rose, ‘WWE RAW’ Top Weekly Cable Viewing - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-29.
- ↑ Littleton, Cynthia (July 26, 2010). "MarVista to sell 'Rangers' TV library ". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118022158.html?categoryid=18&cs=1. Retrieved on July 26, 2010.
- ↑ Power Rangers Facebook
- ↑ "The 84th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is Set to Feature New... -- NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --" (2010-11-01). Retrieved on 2010-11-28.
- ↑ "Original Powers Rangers Cast Member Returns - TV News at IGN" (2011-01-31). Retrieved on 2011-01-31.
External links
- Power Rangers Samurai at Power Rangers Official Website
- Power Rangers Super Samurai at Power Rangers Official Website
- Power Rangers Samurai at Nickelodeon
- Power Rangers Samurai at the Internet Movie Database