The G.K.A. Times

Shark, Bat and Elephant Rangers first live action picture

2008-04-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight screen shots

2008-04-23T10:21:00.000-07:00

Our friends at HJU have put up some uber fantastico pictures from the upcoming American Dragon Knight television series. If you read the last post you'll note that JC just got back from visiting with those guys.

Well screenshots have popped up showcasing a couple of cool shots from the show.

My two favorites being this one

Henshin Justice”s Keith “JC” Hayward Gets His Henshin On

2008-04-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

The world of American produced tokusatsu or Henshin as some might call the genre, is about to get bigger or smaller depending on how you look at it. To those of you who were uninformed previously, the long running ”Kamen Rider” live action Japanese series (originally created by Ishimori Shotaro of Cyborg 009 fame) is getting an American adaptation in the form of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight and from Keith’s perspective it ‘s looking outstanding.

I was able to talk to Keith over at Henshin Justice Unlimited (click the link to your right ) and threw out a quick question or two about the show. He was giving answers out left and right to everyone who was willing to ask but I find the answers he gave me really informative without spoiling anything.

On the fighting
Definately Koichi-esque with no wire-work that I remember. Whirls, spins, and the fast innovative moves you come to expect in the industry today. Lotta great stuff and Mullins pulls it off like a pro.... cuz he is one.

On the Henshin
So far I've seen morph sequences that look really cool

On the atmosphere
Both... only problem I had with Raven was the lead who I thought was lame. Production otherwise was good. The tone of a given episode is just very cinematic, almost like a mini-movie.

On the music
Music was great... and frack.. it mixed so well, that I can't remember it. I remember commenting that it was really well done. Hmm... kind of a unique natural progression of Matrix-y music, without ripping it off and making it eye-roll inducing stupid. The music is hip, charged and paced well with what you see on screen

On Dragon Knight poking fun a Power Rangers
Nah... no inside jokes. They wanted to at first, but instead wanted to focus on making this it's own living world of adventure. They really want to distance themselves from Power Rangers and stand as their own raised bar of quality.

On what show this might remind people of since the whole story arch period in television took over about three years ago.
Last three years? Hmmmm..... Smallville, Angel..... Highlander.... it's also serial. So the story is more on going than one shots. One mystery will lead you into the next episode to reveal this thing to have another mystery arise....

Ninja Perspective:Me thinks this will rock much yes!

Which Crisis?

2008-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's around that time again, summer's here and the two biggest comic book companies in the industry, Marvel and DC, are putting out their own respective crisis to see which one will reign supreme.

On one side is Marvel's Secret Invasion, where it's been discovered that Skrulls have been living among us disguising themselves as heroes and villains AND they have been fooling everyone including those armed with a spider-sense (you know who you are). The invasion of Earth began last week, this time the tagline isn't "Which side are you on?" it's simply "Who can you trust?"

On the other hand, there's DC's Final Crisis, which is promised to be the very last crisis EVER, or at least until DC gets a new guy in charge. Not much is known, however they have been building up to the Crisis for about a year now with their weekly series "Countdown to Final Crisis" the series promises to shape the DC universe for years to come, with a tagline of "Heroes die, but Legends live forever" how could it not?

Tomica Rescue Force Opening and Henshin

2008-04-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

PRJF blurb:Looks like Power Ranger Jungle Fury's next episode will be delayed until the 21st of this month-that is all

Wow this looks really great. I already love this series.
The Opening

The Henshin

Power Rangers 2009 Title-Power Rangers RPM!

2008-04-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Well here we go again!

After months of speculation on wheather or not the live action series would see another season, Power Rangers 2009 has it’s title.
“Power Rangers RPM” (RPM tends to be Revolutions Per Minute but for all we know it stands for Really Pretty Mutants”
That last off season was something` else since there was such a ruckus over hearing that PR was planning an animated series with the long running live action series life in jeopardy.
Many people of the “I HatE Power Ranger” crowd were in high anticipation for the inevitable announcement of PR as we knew It departure…
But as the weeks go buy and the names and such come up they’ve found to be sorely disappointed…which just rocks
Now if only they can called the bad guys the Machine Empire in this series

Jungle Fury Team Up News Shocker!

2008-04-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

Click the video to see just who'll be teaming up with Jungle Fury in the fall

Classic Music Video-"History"

2008-03-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Now let's take a second or two to look back to one of my first music video creations.
It's "History" and I hope you enjoy watching the Dino Rangers mix it up with SPD!

Tomica Hero Rescue Force Action Preview

2008-03-27T21:06:00.000-07:00

The true successors of the 90s Rescue Hero brand of Metal hero are almost here. Check out this video that features some AMAZING henshin sequences.

Wolf Ranger Is On The Prowl-PRJF Behind the scene photo

2008-03-26T12:02:00.000-07:00

Wow, the suit looks great and from the looks of it RJ

is in the aftermath of a big brawl. Thanks goes to Tokudude for finding this gem

Ray Park is coming up Snake Eyes

2008-03-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

The G.I. Joe movie hopes to cash in on Transformer's 80s action cartoon turn blockbuster routine with a movie of it's own next year. And here is the first taste of what Ray Park, a.k.a. Snake Eyes will look like in the film(one can only hope Storm Shadow and Cobra Commander are this true the original looks)

Tomica Rescue Force Preview

2008-03-25T17:04:00.000-07:00

Wow, the suits looks great in action! I can't wait to see this!

Camille=Baddest Girl ever?

2008-03-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

You know I liked Miratrix.

Camille though, she strikes a whole other cord with me. Molly fleshes her out nicely and her voice work for the morphed scenes are just outstanding.
Jungle Fury.net posted up this clip that sums up everything

She's just so cold and ruthless, yet with a heart so tender.
I certainly will be looking forward to see if this girl ends up outshining every lady general in the show's history. Then again, she perhaps might end up outshining ALL the generals.
Time will tell

Power Rangers "Go On" next season

2008-03-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

Aww man, word on the street is that Power Rangers is going to continue to hit the airwaves in live action (this will be season 17!) and this Ninja couldn't be more excited(despite the Megazord looking like crud on wheels)

The esteamed Tommy Lawson had his take on this(which originates with Poweranimals and RiderPower
over at the Entertainment forum at Toonzone that this Ninja agrees with.

Some things about next year's PR:-I think it's quite unlikely the show will
leave New Zealand to film in Canada. While true that the U.S. dollar value has
dropped, that will likely change with upcoming seasons and years

- changes in the value of the U.S. dollar are just a part of life when
filming internationally. New Zealand has done PR for six seasons now. Moving to
Canada may prove foolish if there's a major winter storm at the start of 2009
and delays filming. In New Zealand, it's summer in January so there's nothing to
worry about there.

-It might be wishful thinking, but I would like Disney to invest in an
upgrade for their cameras to high-definition quality. The HD format battle is
over with Blu-ray winning, so Disney can focus on getting consumers to purchase
their discs. If Disney wants to make PR on Blu-ray a success, rather than the
low sales of the PRMF DVDs, a good start would be to start filming the next
season in HD quality. Since virtually all ABC affiliates will be broadcasting in
HD once the next PR season hits the airwaves (likely after the Feb. 17, 2009
digital transition date), it would provide an incentive to watch PR on ABC since
ABC broadcasts at 720p quality. Unfortunately, that's for the people who can get
it on their ABC affiliate, and not everyone can get it.

-If they don't upgrade the cameras, at least make sure the filming to match
the original aspect ratio. It's been 16:9 widescreen sentai since Boukenger.
There's really no excuse for PR not to do the same. The digital TV transition is
going to cause a sharp increase in the number of widescreen TVs, and Disney
should adjust and change to widescreen filming.

Dwayne Cameron ( Tyzonne) new movie roll

2008-03-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Everyone's favorite liquid metal Power Ranger has just signed on to a new film project "Just About Famous" read the blurb here

Go, Go Mercury Ranger!

A Personal Look at Power Rangers Jungle Fury

2008-03-13T20:59:00.000-07:00

Before I start, I'd like to thank NinjaJack for welcoming me into the G.K.A. family.

I'll admit that before I watched the premiere of Jungle Fury, I did not have high expectations. Like a lot of people, I was pretty disappointed with the previous season, Operation Overdrive, and wasn't sure whether or not this season would be more of the same thing. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised with how the first two episodes went. I will admit that it while it wasn't the best season of Power Rangers I've ever seen, it definitely wasn't the worst.

Here were what I thought were the strong points of Jungle Fury:

Decent Storyline: Even if the idea of a secret martial arts organization purposed in training young warriors (in this case, the Order of the Claw) to fight evil may sound pretty cliche, it really seemed to work here.
Cool Mentor: The JF Rangers' mentor, RJ, is simultaneously wise, powerful, and extremely funny.
Awesome Villain: For the first time in a very long time, I feel that Dai Shi is truly a worthy villain for the show. He's not goofy, he's not a pushover, and he has this very Lord Zedd-esque scariness about him.
A Likeable Team of Rangers: This year's defenders of Earth are a pretty fun bunch. So far, it seems like they know what they are doing, but at the same time aren't taking themselves too seriously. I really hope this doesn't change.

Like everything else in this world, JF also has its negative points:

The Theme Song: I am an obsessive Rock 'n Roll fan, so, naturally, I was very happy when I had heard that Disney was ditching the Rap direction. When I heard the new opening song, however, I almost lost it. It reminded me of a lot of bands that I really can't stand, such as Fall Out Boy and Story of the Year.
Flit the Fly: As much as I liked the Super Sentai show that JF is based on, Jyuken Sentai Gekiranger, I could not get over how utterly annoying Bae was. His American counterpart, Flit, is not much better, but he at least doesn't make those irritating 'buzz' noises.

So far, Power Rangers Jungle Fury is shaping up to be a pretty decent season. I guess we'll just have to see where 2008's adventure is gonna take us.

Dig Doug Reviews Power Rangers Super Legends' Green Ranger Chaser Figure

2008-03-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

Today, I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of only 20,000 MMPR Green Ranger chaser figures, and for only seven dollars! Since this is my first toy review, I'm not sure how well this'll go, but let's start by taking a look at the packaging:

To anyone that's ever bought any toys from the original MMPR line, this style of packaging should look very familiar. I got a great sense of nostalgia seeing the original logo on top of the old-fashioned green background. Although, this is just the case with the front.

On the back, we see pictures of both the Green Ranger and Lord Zedd, the two chaser figures for the Spring '08 line (the Fall '08 line will consist of the MMPR White Ranger and the Zeo Gold Ranger), as well as a some of the other 5 inch Jungle Fury figures.Now, the fun part!

I don't think I've ever seen a more articulated Power Ranger figure than the one you're looking at right now (then again, this is the first PR figure I've bought since Zeo ended). With 13 different points of articulation, you can put this guy in many cool poses. Check this out:

Awesome, huh?

Some more things I definitely like about this figure is that, unlike the original head-flip figure I had of him, the shield actually stays on (very well, I might add), and it actually comes with the Dragon Dagger instead of the generic ranger gun. A definite improvement over any Green Ranger figure made before it

PROS: Very articulate and poseable; really nicely detailed; tight joints; more faithful to the original Zyuranger design than any American figure made before it; old-school packaging; very low price

CONS: Not quite as shiny or detailed as the promo picture made it seem (although anybody who's familiar with Bandai of America's practices knows that this is nothing unusual)

BOTTOM LINE: If you're lucky enough to stumble across one of these things, buy it. Seriously. Don't hesitate. This is probably one of the best toy purchases I've ever made.I wish you all the best of luck in finding one of these

Thoughts on "Jungle Fury" feelings in the fandom

2008-03-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well it's been five episodes of this new series and so far I'm enjoying the series much more than I did Operation Overdrive. I actually can relate to these Rangers which is a big leap from last years team. You see there is nothing initially wrong or entirely disliked about the Operation Overdrive team(some will argue against this) but the fact that they were all super professionals who lived in a mansion and had everything practically handed to them every time things were tough, just made the team feel, I dunno-not practical?

Here you have a team of regular joes who don't have a mansion, but a loft. Who don't bum around but actually have to keep up with jobs. These rangers seem more like the Teenagers With Attitude from the first season because they just DON'T have everything thrown at them-yet.

Sure the power ups, bikes and zords will come eventually but right now they're just a team with the most awesome leader in many years. I say that at this rate we could very well have a team that becomes more endearing than the SPD, DT or PRNS teams.
That could be stretching it though, fans seem so unimpressible in some forums, while in others they can't get enough of this show.

I had high hopes for last year, this year I decided to stay grounded but positive that thing would be better and so far I've seen a better set of characters both good and bad early on and a with a ton of stuff to take care in future episodes I'm bursting at the seems waiting to see what happens next.

RevolutionChick latest video ROCKS!

2008-03-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

Can I say that if I could, I would have paid a hefty price just to watch that video once. RevolutionChick is the greatest video maker of our time. And I'm going to say better than the "pros" who get paid to do it. Get this girl some cash in her hands, she has got the "mad skilz" as they say

Masaaki Endou Sings Go Go Power Rangers Live

2008-03-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Oh yes indeedy yes folks in the Henshin community the time has come for
The Sentai and Power Ranger civil warring about our respective show tunes to commit to a 4:00 as both sides of the fences, both western and the those who actually are from Japan...to take a listen and jam on their air guitars( and Guitar Hero) and rock out to Maasaki Endou's Go Go Power Ranger cover

Go Go Power Rangers!

Thanks Gryphman from HJU for the original track

NinjaJack's Time Force Music Video-Time is running out

2008-03-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Come on, I want feed back on this

Today's Disney Channel Original Movie(DCOM) Stars-Tommorow"s Power Rangers?

2008-03-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

This is just trivia fodder I know, but I had to ask anyway.We have a great actress in Anna Hutchison and her role as Lily this year. I hear that there was some kind of connection between Wendy Wu, Koichi, Sally Martin and PR that led to her joining the cast. I was hoping to see her on the team and we did.Now, ever since You Wish with Emma Lahana I always speculate if a Disney DCOM star will end up strapping on a morpher and it has been fun to guess despite not always being right.But I with Wendy Wu there was a great cast. Benda Song was great and so was Shin Koyamoda.

Funny thing about Shin, I was expecting to see him in the role of Dai Shi or RedCurrently we have three DCOM girls who've all handled being the sole women in helmets in their respective years

Emma Lahana

Sally Martin

Anna HutchisonI wonder who will be next?

Tomica Rescue Heroes Official Websites Launches

2008-03-02T16:03:00.000-08:00

Oh yes folks of the Henshin hero hopeful, in just a few weeks Tomica's Rescue Heroes will be unvailed across Japan airwaves and a new Tokusatsu series will be brought to the masses of children (and Otaku) round the globe clamoring for ANYTHING that harks back to good sweet, lovable Metal Hero.

But in the mean time to hold you over till then check out their official sites

TV Aichi's Rescue Force page
Tomica-Rescue.com
TakaratomyProducts.com

Return to the jungle

2008-02-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

So I just finished watching the Jungle Fury premiere and wow just wow. It was awesome

the good

secret society that prepares to fight monsters- I don't think we've had that before other than the secret ninja schools seen in ninja storm

the pizza mentor- a very cool and laid back mentor, a very refreshing change especially considering last mentor being so serious and all business

LIKABLE rangers - jeez, nobody liked the last batch of rangers, they were too unrelatable, but these new guys are very likable and very different unlike the overdrive rangers being professionals

villians- awesome villians, and camille *whistles* what a babe, i like how the monster of the week is created giving him a forehead ornament instead of it being earned through training

the action is a nice balance betweeen wire-fu and actual fu which is a very nice touch, one of the reasons i skipped over overdrive was being their fight scenes made me dizzy

the bad

Fly commentator - nobody liked it in gekiranger and nobody will like it in power rangers

sunglasses morpher- did disney think that fist guards would be too violent?

Jungle Fury Theme-What does Ron think?

2008-02-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Recently I asked Ron "The Mighty Raw" Wasserman to weigh on the new theme, and here is what he said.

I like the theme. Kudos to the writers. So glad they went back to
something
with high energy and dropped the rap direction

-Ron

Now that's morphinominal