Today, Millennium’s Mind returns, and it has been awhile since one of these was published. Actually, nearly three years have gone by since the previous one in 2017. My apologies for this time away, avid Hero-Club readers who enjoyed my past work. Thankfully, I will try to avoid having three year gaps in my schedule again. For those unaware, my time away was due to moving, health issues, and receiving several commissions. Also, other things happened that stopped my involvement, but those are too personal to discuss here.
Nevertheless, I am back, new and improved, as well as I am ready to discuss all things Power Rangers, like the newest installment. Previously, I had to deal with Power Rangers Ninja Steel, but now it is dinosaurs again with an adaptation of Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. Also, while I was away from the site, Power Rangers moved from Saban and Bandai to Hasbro. Whereas, fans of the franchise find this change divisive. Currently, we are officially entering the Hasbro Era, as Beast Morphers should be considered as a transitional production.
Now, the aforementioned Ryusoulger adaptation is properly titled, Power Ranger Dino Fury, and I am ok with this choice. The use of Fury in a title has not been seen since Jungle Fury in 2008, and that was 13 years ago. However, I must get off my chest that I was not a fan of Ryusoulger, and I found it to be rather passable. So, it makes me wonder what will be changed for Power Rangers; especially when the fandom has been constantly panicking on if this will be the last adapted Super Sentai series. With rumors and reports running rampant on a possible Hasbro/ Toei split, I am left to believe it is not entirely possible. Furthermore, I rather want more official statements than possibly insider leaks. Yet, with all this in mind, I want to try discussing all the cool things that are coming with Dino Fury. Also, I plan to dissect ‘what we know so far’ on the series, and give my own opinions on it.
To officially begin, I want to touch on the actors, and WOW, do we have good ones here. Our leader is Zayto from planet Rafkon, and he will be portrayed by Russel Curry. When I first heard the character name of Zayto, I assumed he might be an Eltarian like Zordon. This assumption is due to how in the Boom comics, all Eltarian names begin with Z. However, with this not being the case, I am not too perturbed about it. Then as for actor Russel Curry, he surprised several fans when we discovered he is a SAG member! So, this means Hasbro is putting in some extra money into the series. Whereas, what I have been able to learn about Mr. Curry through social media is that he raps like no one’s business, so we got some class to kick off this cast.
The second member of the team is our ‘blue boy,’ Ollie Akana portrayed by Kainalu “Kai” Moya. Mr. Moya will hopefully be bringing some Hawaiian style to the team, as he is the first Hawaiian in the series. Moya’s credits are semi-recent dating back to 2015, so he has been active for six years. Currently, I do not have too much to say about Kai or his character Ollie. Whereas, I have more to say on our third member, our ‘pink princess’ Amelia Jones played by Hunter Deno. From the sounds of the character’s biography, the staff based Amelia’s personality and traits on Ryusoulger’s Ui. Now, while I was not a huge fan of Ui in the series, I am deeply sad Mana Kinjo passed away recently at a terribly young age. Yet, I think the basis of Ui’s personality will work better in Power Rangers, as an actual Ranger versus being a support character. Ultimately, I am curious to see how Amelia’s personality will differ from Ui, and how it will affect the series.
Following our first three members is the pairing of Black and Green who are step-siblings. I must now raise the question of when did ever have that in Power Rangers? The answer is probably astonishing to some as it NEVER happened. We have had basic siblings and adopted siblings, but somehow no step-siblings until Dino Fury. I am personally looking forward to how it will attribute to the story and the characters themselves. Interestingly, the first sibling is Izzy Garcia played Tessa Rao, who is our Green Ranger. We finally have a female Green without adapting Kyuranger, and we are bringing back the gender-swap trope from the original Saban Era. Also, this could be a nod to MMPR and Thuy Trang’s Trini, as both are paired to the Sabertooth Tiger. Whereas, Izzy’s brother is the Black Ranger, Javi Garcia played Chance Perez. Javi may feature the ‘bad boy’ trope due his footage adapting the badass that was Banba.
Now, before heading onto our villains I want to discuss the Dino Fury Green recast, and supporting characters. First off, Tessa Rao was the second actress selected to play Izzy Garcia, after the original actress got replaced. Unfortunately, this reminds me of the Ninja Steel Yellow fiasco a few years back, but I am honestly not heartbroken about it. It is possible the original actress did not seem like the right fit, so they went their separate ways. Another theory floating around is the actress was positioned into another role on the show. Nevertheless, we do not know much about this incident similar to our new ‘Cyborg Dino-Man’ ally. Yet, we do know that Kelson Henderson is returning as Ninja Steel’s Mick!
For some unexplained reason (at this time), Mick will be joining the cast of Dino Fury. We are not sure if he will be the team’s mentor like he was in Ninja Steel. Yet, I personally hope Mick is a mentor again, because he has been the best mentor in the Neo-Saban Era. Soundout can back me up on this claim, as Mick could convey Ninja Steel’s various morals for the characters and viewers to figure out lessons on their own. So, bringing Mick back to share his wisdom, and style of mentoring would fit with Hasbro’s past works like Transformers: Rescue Bots. Heck, Mick might even drop several Ninja Steel references and character callbacks!
Then as for our villains, I am looking forward to hearing more about VOID KNIGHT! This son of a gun is the adaption of Ryusoulger’s living armor, Gaisorg. I freaking loved Gaisorg in Ryusoulger so much that I purchased the toy based on his signature weapon. Currently, it seems like Hasbro is going to position Void Knight as the main villain, fixing a major issue I found in Ryusoulger. For those unaware, the series did not focus on a main villain until the finale, with the generals taking center stage. Other Super Sentai series did this too, but Ryusoulger tried to cram several generals in, only to be killed off and resurrected. So, Void Knight being a ‘Warlord on a Throne’ type of villain will single him out as a menacing threat, and hopefully explain why rarely battles. Furthermore, it will compliment the character’s appearances in the source material too.
Finally, I do want to touch on the recent trailer, and oh god where do I begin? Well, it seems that every time we get trailer updates for a season, fans find ways to criticize the show before its premiere. From the start of Toy Fair up until the first episode airs, the fandom at large has more complaints than concerns. However, the biggest problem fans are currently debating (and unfortunately again) is the use of standardized group Megazord Cockpits. Now, I saw the cockpit in the trailer, and personally I do not think it looks bad. In addition, Twitter user RoboPterea tries to break down the situation in the overall debate. Whereas, the Toy Fair trailer did feature the Ryusoulger cockpit footage, but again that was a preliminary Toy Fair trailer. The trailers seen there are normally before production has begun, or sets are properly made. Things are probably worse now on-set too, due to the current PANDEMIC so I can forgive the editing if that is the case.
Nevertheless, Power Rangers Dino Fury leaves fans with several questions and concerns, while raising expectations. What we know so far on the series may increasingly change between today’s Fan First Friday and before its premiere next weekend. Now, I personally cannot wait for Power Rangers Dino Fury, especially with the way things have been since the PANDEMIC. For me, it is just simply nice to have another Power Rangers season on the television again. Beast Morphers was a home-run, so I cannot wait to see Hasbro strike again. Whereas, in the near future for Millenium’s Mind, I will discuss the Power Rangers/ Netflix debacle. So, until next time readers, stay safe and continue to support our work!
