After having a lot of Zyuranger footage to work with for season one and a considerable amount from Dairanger for season two, the third and final season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers saw quite a change from what had come before. The 43-episode series saw designs from Super Sentai series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger make it across the pond, but outside of the zord footage a lot of it was brand as there were still “old” ranger designs being used. The result was a very different feeling Power Rangers series, but one that still managed in keep in tone with what had come before. Season three opens with “A Friend in Need”, a three-part crossover with the then forthcoming Masked Rider series (adapted from Kamen Rider Black RX ). Although the story was an introduction to the characters, it later proved to be non-canonical to the Masked Rider series itself although Alpha-5 is from the same planet as Dex, the series protagonist. Much like Masked Rider , “A Friend in Need” isn’t a parti...

Before moving onto season three of the series I thought it would be worth looking at something that happened at the very peak of Power Rangers popularity, a full length cinematic feature film. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie was released in 1995 to mixed reviews, but has somewhat of a cult following thanks to the popularity of the series. The film features elements from both the Super Sentai series season three would be based on, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger , and some original concepts that would be seen on the television show. The film opens with the six rangers (Tommy, Rocky, Adam, Billy, Aisha and Kimberly), Bulk and Skull taking part in a charity sky dive for Angel Grove observatory in anticipation for the passing over of Ryan's Comet (aka plot point) in the next few days. Meanwhile, construction workers dig up a giant purple egg which is subsequently opened by Lord Zedd, Rita, Goldar and Mordant (new character, will come onto him later). Inside is the evil Ivan ...

Idols feel very much an Asian concept. Sure the West has pop stars and the like, but Japan's huge idol culture takes things to a whole different level.  The Idolm@ster is a 25 (plus one recently released OVA) episode series based on the Namco game series of the same name, which sees you raise prospective idols to the height of fame. It's not the first Idolm@ster anime to be produced, but one that's far more faithful to the games (the first series, Idolmaster: Xenoglossia , was about mecha pilots...something I may need to investigate in the future!) and includes their original voice cast. It was made by A-1 pictures (responsible for the likes of Black Butler , Fairy Tail and AnoHana ) and aired between July and December 2011. The Idolm@ster main cast The Idolm@ster follows the day to day life of production company 765 Pro and their twelve wannabe idols. With a brand new Producer in tow and the help of former-idol-turned producer Ritsuko, office clerk Kotori and ...

Before the Gokaiger came about with their ranger keys and ability to transform into previous rangers, one pink-clad hero was able to do it years before. Kamen Rider Decade was the tenth anniversary celebration of the Heisei Kamen Rider series, which started back in 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga . It ran for 31 episodes (the shortest of any Heisei Rider series), between January and August 2009. The story revolves around Tsukasa Kadoya, a mysterious man who appeared to the Hikari photo studio one day without any memory of his past. When the world turns to chaos, he draws power from a strange belt that grants him the power of various Kamen Riders through the power of cards. Later Tsukasa is told by a mysterious man than he is Kamen Rider Decade - the Destroyer of Worlds. His task is to travel to the nine AR (Another Rider/Alternate Reality) worlds and destroy them in order to prevent the worlds from merging into one. Travelling with Natsumi Hikari and her grandfather Eijiro, Tsukas...

Akibaranger was a series that wasn't subtle about a lot of things, but one of the first ones that comes to mind is product placement and merchandising. In a series where the cast were frequently seen in a room filled to the brim with Super Sentai figures, mecha and roleplay items, its no surprise that Bandai also had plans to milk the show as far as merchandise was concerned. Not only that, but the show also included several commercial bumpers for the products, and even a gag in the last episode about promotion of two Tamashii web exclusive Figuarts for characters that didn't even appear in the show (Deka Blue and Black Condor). Well now that the show has finished, it's time for the figures to start rolling out. The first to be released is none other than Nobuo Akagi aka Akiba Red, with Blue to follow in July and then Yellow in August. Malshina and a Shatieek have also been seen, however their release details have yet to be announced. The box is a bright displa...

An anime that's H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos as you've never seen it before, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san is a 2012 anime series based on the light novels of the same name. Before this full-length 12 episode series, Nyaruko has seen life in animation once before in two short flash series (one an OVA, the other a television series) titled Haiyori! Nyaruani and Haiyori! Nyaruani: Remember my Mr Lovecraft respectively. One night ordinary high school boy Mahiro Yasaka is attacked by a gruesome black alien, when a silver haired girl comes to his rescue. She identifies herself as Nyaruko, also known as the Crawling Chaos Nyarlathotep in Lovecraft's works (which she reveals are actually alien races). Sent to Earth by the Space Defence Agency, Nyaruko has been assigned with protecting Mahiro from being kidnapped from an alien trafficker. The Crawling Chaos As Mahiro becomes caught up in a world of aliens obsessed with Earth gaming and otaku culture, he also meets two o...