Which Super Sentai Series Really Saved Sentai Back In The 90s?


Back then, I heard that Carranger saved Super Sentai and here's what TV Tropes (now whoever edited this, I really welcome you to comment here) said this:

Gekisō Sentai Carranger (Extreme Rush Squadron Carranger) is the twentieth installment in the Super Sentai series, airing from 1996 to 1997. It's about a group of idiot workers at Pegasus Garage who use the power of car-shaped constellations to fight a group of idiot aliens called "Space Biker-Gang Bowzock".

As the twentieth installment of the franchise, it's an Affectionate Parody of Super Sentai and all the tropes it has, while being a full Super Sentai series in and of itself. At the time, Super Sentai was under serious threat of cancellation due to falling ratings, and popular opinion is that the executives simply did not give a damn and allowed the writers to do whatever the hell they thought they could get away with... resulting in a series so ridiculous, comedic and inexplicably popular that it saved the franchise.

At the same time, I also hear how Power Rangers Turbo nearly got Power Rangers canceled. Can anybody verify this? Now here's another source from the Power Rangers Wiki on the notes concerning Carranger:

While many Western fans call Carranger "The Season that saved Super Sentai" as toy sales were good enough to keep the series going, the reality was that the Super Sentai series was still under the possible threat of cancellation after Ohranger's ratings. The ratings struggled to fully recover for several series and did not fully return to a more normal viewing level until Seijuu Sentai Gingaman.

Like TV Tropes, Power Rangers Wiki can be subjected to any member can edit, right? Based on the source above, it said that after Ohranger, Carranger did have good sales but the genre could have gotten canceled. TV ratings just shows how many people are watching TV as of that particular time, it does not necessarily measure popularity. So what's the point? I thought that if Carranger couldn't save Super Sentai, remember that the show didn't have that much merchandise to offer as its predecessor Ohranger. You didn't get random power-ups here and there compared to Ohranger, right? Ohranger tried to save itself by toy sales and Carranger had lesser merchandise to offer but were the toys that cool that it created high toy sales?


On the other hand, some people now insist that it's Megaranger that saved Super Sentai. I dunno whats' with the Carranger dislike or perhaps, even some hatred from a current generation audience? I hear that Go-onger had mixed reviews and Carranger had better reviews. Source anyone? Now for the whole idea that Megaranger saved Super Sentai. Coincidentally or not, Power Rangers in Space also saved Power Rangers. Now what's really going on?

Honestly, I can't blame fans for liking Megaranger and for me, it's a real masterpiece. Sad to say I don't have any concrete data except the TV ratings. So if Megaranger has higher ratings than Carranger, does that mean that it saved Super Sentai? Again, TV ratings aren't the biggest measure of popularity. It's as said just the measurement of how many people turned on the television. So I was thinking that what's funny is that I don't see any hint or suggestion that it was Megaranger and not Carranger that saved the franchise.

Granted, Megaranger does return fans back to some nostalgic vibes with Turboranger and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers in some way with a return to the teenagers with attitude theme. Although the show is a successful mixing pot of Hirohisa Soda's era containing elements like teenagers with attitude (Turboranger), the science theme (Bioman, Flashman, Liveman) and back then, I freaking thought Hirohisa Soda was its head writer when I first heard of it. So is Megaranger that good that it tends to overshadow Carranger? I can't really say.

So really, what's the real truth out there? Is the whole thing that Carranger did not save Super Sentai and it was Megaranger just another rumor like "Are you kidding me? Lost Galaxy was more popular than Gingaman in Japan!" which was just a rumor at Rangerboard? What are your thoughts?

Comments

  1. that not true jetman saved the super sentai series

    ReplyDelete

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