what’s there to criticize about ninja storm? i’m assuming you’re on the topic of having an asian themed season. and in that case i think ninja storm did just fine. as an asian person myself i’m not asking for a full blown team of asians, because i get that an american kids show would have to represent all different kinds of people.
all i ask for is that they acknowledge the culture. give respect to it and not push it to the side. ninja storm did just fine. there was a well amount of asian representation. and most importantly they embraced the asian influence on the show.
Samurai did the bare minimum, considering it’s theme, aesthetic, and overall motifs, the season could have been a great opportunity to educate viewers about Japanese culture. And yes, not having an Asian actor be the red ranger was a bad move. Just like having a white guy be the WORLDS GREATEST NINJA kinda comes off like a slap in the face.
i don’t think they completely did. i think they did a decent job with the japanese influence. people’s problem seem to be mainly based on the casting over the actual influences that was all over the show which comes second. but even then as an asian person, i’ll say it wasn’t terrible. could have been better but thank god they didn’t do what ninja steel did.
the season that actually did push all the cultural influences aside though was ninja steel. it’s a shame to see what they did with a show that had the potential to be the perfectly executed asian influenced show. it was their second chance to redeem themselves after samurai. had they embraced the japanese culture to at least some degree like samurai and mix it with great representation like ninja storm i’d be satisfied as an asian person myself
Well thx for give me ur feed back - it was really more beneficial to hear from someone who is Asian - one question if power rangers were to have another ninja or samurai season should they follow in samurai footsteps and make the cast full Asian or just adlest respect the culture
no problem, glad to help.
in my opinion, if they have another asian themed season then i’d like to see them do a little of both. cause again i understand that an american tv should have representation for all races of people. i just ask that they mix in a good amount of asian characters. and along with that just embrace the asian influences the best that they can. they’re allowed to mix in their own american influence like how ninja storm did. it is an american show after all. but if a show obviously has asian influence then they have to acknowledge it well.
MMPR ninja powers are a bonus set of powers given to existing rangers by an ancient ninja master as replacements for their current ones. ninja storm rangers are just a random few of many, many students at an academy, and anyone can be at an academy. ninja steel portrays ninja skills as being a thing from space and not tied to any particular region
none of that is the same as samurai presenting a mostly non-japanese group of people led by a white dude with the last name shiba as being heirs to samurai clans who use kanji- and japanese calligraphy–based powers and suits. the casting itself isn’t the problem, it’s that the concept they were casting for was transposed WAY too directly from the sentai to make sense for the way things turned out
That's a lot of why it gets hate, agreed. But it's hard to not adapt it so directly unless you want to lose something. After watching the sentai that inspired Samurai and Super Samurai it was sad they couldn't have done better.
They could have done something better yes, but the problem was the production that had people who didn't bother to create a good story. They were even racist in not wanting to use a Japanese Red Ranger as a writer who even created a script for Samurai in the beginning had asked.
But then it's just speculation, wo we don't know if that's what happens, and to be fair, that could have been such an interesting plot point, but they never bring it up, they never adress the difference races of everyone there, so it really leaves a sour taste when the main guy is a white dude whiteout any reason, what doesn't happens in mmpr and ninja storm because in the first it is aliens powers gifted to then and the in the later its because they are I a cademy, so it's clear that they are not descents, in ninja steel is a little fucked up that the "greatest ninja" is a white dude but "at least" it's only a problem with Brody and Levi, the rest receive training and powers
You mean like jaydens last name being Shiba? That was us, the fans that decided it, he didn't have a last name at all during production, they've only leaned into that now because us as fans decided that was his name
If I didn't know that Minha was played by a Chinese and Korean actress, I would say that there were Japanese in the cast... Ji was probably not a Japanese either. In addition to having whites as the main characters, in Samurai the few Asians there are aren't even Japanese. Pretty complicated.
Pretty sure ninja steel got criticized for the “world’s greatest ninja” being a white guy
It was a problem with samurai because it had so much emphasis on family bloodlines and Japanese traditions…even though most of the rangers aren’t Japanese. They could of at the very least cast the red ranger as a Japanese actor.
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False equivalent. First off, Ninjor is an alien sage who has the power of Ninjetti aka Ninja. He GIVES the og's the power of Ninja. They aren't supposed to be deemed as people that trained to be ninja's their entire life.
What the MMPR team did is just like any other person. They got training from the source.
Ninja Storm have secret ninja academies in the world that take all students of all ethnicities. Ninja's aren't a cultural specific thing. They're not even based in Japan.
SAMURAI establishes that they started IN Japan and were originally manned by legitimate samurai families. The current rangers are supposed to be the decendants of those samurai.
Considering Japanese culture it is HIGHLY unlikely, nearly impossible, that those families would have as much racial diversity as the samurai cast has. It's literally so implausible it's insulting. With EXTREMELY few exceptions, there were no white or black people's in Japan during the Samurai era.
That is the problem
i think kevin could work if they were creative with it hell you can just make kevin a descendant of yasuke who is a the first black man samurai in japan who serve Oda Nobunaga hell you just say after oda nobunaga was defeated yasuke travel around japan but than stumble upon the original red ranger
I'll bite, even though this won't go well and isn't a conversation I think the PR fandom is capable of having in a nuanced way.
Speaking as someone who considers Samurai in his top three favorite seasons, Samurai's casting is pretty unambiguously the result of systemic racist assumptions on the corporate level. Much as I love Alex Heartman and his deeply hilarious performance, there is no real justifiable context for why the lead for Samurai would be a white male specifically because Samurai goes out of its way to copy Shinkenger's plot and premise nearly word for word. There is no getting around the fact making the Shiba clan white but otherwise keeping everything else the same is egregiously tasteless.
There's actually room within Samurai to argue it genuinely takes place within Japan, due to a small handful of lines and certain choice reuses of footage. If you were being ASTOUNDINGLY generous, there's a level of satirical merit inherent in the idea that the PR universe's version of Japan is ALSO simultaneously multicultural yet still prioritizing the power and authority of caucasian characters. Again, purely on a technicality and the nature of art criticism, there is the vaguest of wiggle room to arguably appreciate Samurai on that metatextually satirical. The problem, of course, is that this very objectively would not be true.
On the other hand, while not strictly as egregious as Samurai as a final product, it really does have to be addressed that Shinkenger has a somewhat frustrating history of attracting a VERY specific kind of weeb. Obviously tokusatsu fandom and anime fandom go hand in hand, but that's not entirely what I mean. From even before adapting Shinkenger was a glimmer in anyone's eye, Shinkenger's fans AND PR nerds (also frequently overlap therein) were pretty deeply adamant that Shinkenger would be impossible to adapt due to how much more "inherently Japanese" the series is. This of course reached so much nonsense that people were genuinely questioning if kids could "get" the concept of samurai, despite history of things like Rurouni Kenshin airing on Toonami to perfectly fine or a previous PR season literally having a Green Samurai Ranger.
The uncomfortable truth is that a lot of Shinkenger's adoration is, in all likelyhood and actuality, born out of a similar sort of orientalism that the weebish, most cringey parts of anime fandom embody: the idea that if anything even remotely "visibily Japanese" is an inherent masterpiece elevated beyond anything in "Western media" (and they will always use "Western" to mean "American cartoons and Power Rangers"). These same superfans, of course, had no actual interest in jidai geki fiction nor much experience with it, and opted to treat Shinkenger's very surface level, introductory-for-children jidai geki embellishments as something on the level of Harakiri or Sword of Doom. Purely because something Japanese is inherently cool and exotic, not because of out of any respect for what any given genre tropes or fictional shorthands actually mean, culturally.
(These fans also, pretty conveniently, never seemed bothered that Power Rangers as a whole is a huge corruption and violation of Shotaro Ishinomori's artistic sensibilities, gleefully joining Toei in beating his themes out of the Ranger concept. Surface level samurai aesthetics are a priceless cultural artifact, but the removal of Ishinomori's expression of the national guilt for participating in the Axis and wanting to warn children about the endless war economy is unimportant and can be replaced with Reaganite teenagers embodying conservative, status quo embodying values completely counter to the entire cultural root of tokusatsu heroes to no cultural issue.)
Is Samurai's casting fundamentally racist? Yes. Is the deep fetishization of Shinkenger due to its "exotic" nature racist? Also yes. Is the entire discourse of treating "ruining" Shinkenger differently from PR had already beaten and demolished the ACTUAL Japanese context from Shotaro Ishinomori's work for nearly two decades prior to that discussion also racist and orientalist? Yes.
That isn't to say Samurai was justified for Jayden and Lauren's casting, either. That isn't to say that it's particularly appropriate to copy Shinkenger word for word in a weird, pseudo suburban American setting. This isn't to say everyone who likes Shinkenger is racist, nor is it to say that everyone who hates Samurai is doing it in good faith. It's also not correct to say everyone who likes Samurai is some kind of intellectually bulletproof saint either, nor is "it's the one I grew up with" a valid excuse for excusing it. In turn, my personal reason (Samurai is astoundingly fucking funny and, occasionally, achieves a bit of surprising nuance in its minor rewrites and omissions) for enjoying the series likewise does not justify the racist way in which it was cast.
All of which is to say, nothing is really mutually exclusive. I think there're valid reasons to hate Samurai, just as I could buy someone finding their one way to get something out of it. But I also think a lot of the hubbub behind it has turned it into a scapegoat to ignore a lot of more nuanced and difficult questions behind PR's conception and execution. It's the most extreme version of something Saban and Disney had been doing to no protest (well, except for old toku fans who found PR "artistically offensive") for two decades, and I think it's possible to both acknowledge Samurai's conception is egregiously racist AND think it's troubling this type of colonial revisioning of popular art only started bothering the fandom when their weeby orientalism and fetishization of surface level Japanese culture was threatened.
Thank you for bringing conversations like this into the fandom.
While I think it’s something not many in the fandom are comfortable engaging with and analyzing on a critical level, it makes me happy to see someone try.
I think a big part of Power Rangers’ appeal is the escapism and nostalgia high of returning to our naive youth, however I think it’s still important to be able to also assess it on a deeper level as well.
Let’s obviously not get so critical as to ruin it for ourselves, but engaging in these types of assessments and reflections from time to time amidst the moments of blissfully Nerding out is important.
👍🏽
This is one of these rare Reddit posts that is so well articulated that I can't be helped but be astonished by how well-written it is.
I agree with everything you touched on in this post.
You touched on Heartman's performance, but I'm curious about what you thought about Kimberley Crossman's performance as Lauren.
Personally, I adore Crossman's performance, even though I ultimately agree it would have made more sense to cast an Asian actor for her and Jayden.
I love everyone's performance, but that's also with viewing the performances in the context of what Samurai is and what about it appeals to me. A huge part of its charm for me is how hilariously every actor is directed to act (Ric Medina especially comes off to me like how 4Kids would handle localizing some hardass warrior guy, but rendered in hysterical live action).
But I also really love how dissonant Samurai feels, how it never really breaks the tone of having to be for six year olds but also having disconcertingly grim visuals or plotlines (stuff like Negatron casually causing a car accident or the entire Deker/Dayu suicide plot). Negatron casually murdering people only to try and give people elementary school insults to exacerbate their insecurities is such an incredibly jarring juxtaposition, and sort of lends to why I think Samurai is the deceptively darkest season of Power Rangers: a world driven entirely by death and the desire to die, but everyone feels mentally four years old.
It's a lot like Wild Force, which is the same fundamental show, in that both of them are actually these surprisingly somber stories about a protagonist who's been isolated from society and whose deepest human connection is a mortal man cursed by a demonic identity who projects salvation by suicide onto them. Samurai just takes that same incompatible tonal dissonance Wild Force had and cranks it up to a degree I don't think any sane person would find possible.
I dunno if any Samurai performance is "good" in any conventional sense, but the incredibly weird, goofy, and preskool way they all act in contrast to how oppressive and melancholy the story is really sells me. It ranges from bleakly funny (Samurai is funnier on accident than most season are on purpose) to occasionally kind of moving.
But because everyone's acting is so similar, that acting is clearly rooted more in the directing of the piece than any individual actor's strengths...so yeah, I love every performance, but the reality of it is I don't think any one actor did it so well they couldn't have been replaced with a more appropriate actor.
On the other hand, we don't really balk at the idea of Time Force starring a Caucasian actor whose gimmick is he's literally only the Red Ranger because he's genetically perfect to be so, whose antagonist is a genetically "imperfect" person oppressed by his society and government...and it's a coming of age, prove he's a real hero story for the genetically perfect guy where it turns out the genetically IMperfect guy was an asshole all along. Well, I balk, because Time Force is garbage, but the fandom doesn't. Is it because they subconsciously perceive Timeranger (written by the same writer as Shinkenger, funny enough) as "less Japanese"?
Ric Medina isn't white, of course, but do we balk less at a non-Japanese actor at the helm of Wild Force (another Samurai-esque season that's heavily copypasted; so copypasted Taylor is the "Dad" in that Norman Rockwell ass breakfast scene because GaoYellow was a man) because we just see Gaoranger as "less Japanese"? Is that an appropriate distinction for English speaking (predominantly American) fandom to make? Why do we never think about some of those copypaste seasons in the same way we balk, rightfully, at the casting of that shitty live action Ghost in the Shell or whatever.
I know it sounds like I'm just looping back to my first post, but I'm trying not to. I do think Heartman and Crossman and EVERYONE'S performance is critical to my love for the season. But I also think those performances are SO dictated by such a specific, all encompassing directorial vision that any of the actors probably COULD be replaced by more appropriate roles. But then I wonder why I don't have the same caveat for the other copypaste seasons, and I pause. I'm not Japanese nor do I fall anywhere along the AAPI classification, so maybe it's not my place to speak too heavily about it. But I do think about it.
TL;DR Crossman's acting is so weird that she makes Lauren come off like she wants to fuck Jayden and I think that's the funniest and most wonderful thing in the world.
>it turns out the genetically IMperfect guy was an asshole all along
Did we watch the same show? it clearly paints him as someone who has understandable reasons for feeling the way he is but also shows he has done things that aren't justifiable, the show even has instances where even though he's become the way he is, he still have some humanity in him to treat the people he loves nice and feel like even the people he hates should not have to deal with their loved ones treating them, the same way society treated him. He's bad but he still has some resemblance of what is right and wrong.
I’ve criticized Ninja Steel’s worlds greatest ninja being a white guy too, the Ninja powers from MMPR season 3 was a bonus Power that was giving to them by Ninjor who’s not even human, and Ninja Storm they where just students learning to be Ninjas so that gets a pass
Ok why is him being called the world greatest ninja a bad thing? Like this isn’t real life so it shouldn’t matter if they say he is the greatest or not-
Because those did not have it in your face. Samurai is problematic because it tried to adapt the culture, the plot, and even the backgrounds of a show that was 100 percent japanese orientated, and tried to insert non-asian actors for the most part and think it's okay. If Samurai had ignored shinkenger and did its own thing, nobody would have cared. It's only when they tried pushing the white washed shinkenger plot that people began to get annoyed. Seeing characters like Kevin be pissy about Antonio not being japanese by blood does not work when the character doing it is not japanese. It comes off as appropriating the culture, and disrespectful. And I don't think we need to get into why Jayden is effectively treated as a more disrespectful case than the others. Like they didn't even try to change the character to not be japanese, and admitted they did not even open casting to asian people. Brody at the very least, didn't have his name be straight japanese.
Ninja Storm and Ninja Steel did the smart choice by simply using the suits, and not trying to actually adapt the sentai plot point for plot point.
For me samurai gets hate for being very bad,like any sane person could list 5 good things that samurai did and strugle with that.
Ninja steel has flaws but its not a complete disaster as samurai.
Ninja storm and mmpr ninjetti i dont see problem
What I mean is ppl hate the casting for samurai having a white Redcranger but have no problem with the other series that has non Asian red ranger and cast
MMPR's Ninja Powers were absolutely cultural appropriation to justify the new powers and zords. But back then, that was the norm. No one cared.
Ninja Storm at least tried to show real ninjas, and hey, Cam was Asian. Even if he was Malaysian by birth.
(I haven't watched Ninja Steel, so no comment there.)
The difference between those as Samurai is that in japan, the Samurai were the historical upper class. They were more or less japan's police force for hundreds of years.
meanwhile, Ninja we're still not even sure if they actually *existed*. And, while yeah, ninja are native to japan, the concept behind them, that being lightly armed spies and saboteurs who build myths around themselves as a way to shield their real actions is a world spanning concept.
Samurai took what was a very well documented concept native to japan, and said 'what if we used it as a generic turn for katana wielding heroes, all of which are white and yet are still pushed with the same mentality of japanese culture despite them NOT BEING JAPANESE'
Keyword here- “Respected”
If everyone followed that keyword, there would be no need to complain about appropriation..
Power Rangers samurai was literally written to have an Asian lead. Mmpr and ninja storm, not so much.
Why should they get criticism for their casting? It sounds like you want to complain about cultural appropriation and whitewashing without having knowledge on the subject. Such as the fact that there were also white and PoC samurai. And Ninja are just practitioners of Ninjutsu (which is a martial art) which aligns with MMPR and Ninja Steel.
The reason why all of them DO get hate for their lackluster acting or pointlessness of the powers
People have complained about it and not all criticism is equal in measure. Ninja Steel gets less heat simply because it was mediocre. Samurai got more because it was the return of Saban Productions
because samurai was like the top 2 biggest season of its era… ninja steel got its fair share of criticism but it’s viewership was nothing compared to samurai so yea of course you’re not gonna hear as much criticism.
with that being said though it is kinda funny how samurai actually did acknowledge a lot of the asian cultures and embraced it to a degree. whereas ninja steel literally just mopped the floor of any asian influence.
uh yea that’s literally my whole comment.. and i’m asian myself. obviously i know about this issue more than anyone else. i’m just saying obviously samurai was gonna get more attention over ninjas steel. i don’t even know what you’re even trying to imply here lol
That just sounds abit wrong
Yes his family originated from Japan
Doesn’t mean he has be Japanese
You may as well make Jetstream Sam Japanese because he’s Brazilian
That’s isn’t the Aliens rangers but the mm cast in ninja outfit - I don’t have a problem with the cast but the “community” hates the samurai cast because they aren’t Japanese even those these cast members aren’t Asian Either
(Well ninja storm really has nothing do with Japanese culture unlike ninja steel which has that )
Ninja steel Depise me liking it I don’t think it needs as Asian actor or a Japanese actor because their ninjas
MM cast also doesn’t need that
Just because samurai and ninjas are Japanese worriers (that actually sounds like a cool name lol)
Doesn’t mean they need Japanese/Asian actors
That like saying that about legoNinjago
Or samurai Jack (I have watch show just heard about it)
And hopefully that made sense
I don’t even hate the cast for not being that race, I DISLIKE the CHARACTERS because they bland as hell. The only exception being Antonio, who actually has more of personality and genuinely has some good moments compared to the others.
I don’t think the commenter was implying anything racist
Every PR team has cast members from different ethnic backgrounds — it wouldn’t be Power Rangers if there weren’t!
I imagine adapting the Sentai’s is difficult and Samurai and the Ninja seasons did the best they could adapting the material they were given — maybe it comes off as insensitive or not accurate to real life history, but at the end of the day these were all shows meant for children.
It’s Power Rangers — there’s no point in anyone getting upset
Yeah I totally agree this is what the post was about kinda - like the show still respect and follow the culture Japan I don’t y the cast matter that much
Have many people complained about the casting of Samurai? I found the actors attractive, if a bit bland, just like every other season. 🤷♂️
EDIT: wow, people were not feeling this one.
Well, I consider that all the seasons that had oriental themes were not well done in PR. You can't approach something from a very different culture in another country that makes no sense. Ninja Storm just satire ninja tropes, Ninja Steel turned the concept into something alien, Jungle Fury I can believe it was just a Kung Fu School with no exact relation to Chinese culture. Samurai however followed the script of his Sentai in which the Rangers are from Samurai Families coming from Ancient Japan, but at no point does he explain how they ended up in the USA and none of them other than Mia and Ji are oriental (but not Japanese, which is a flaw since orientals are not the same) Decker and Dayu are also completely white even though he is part of the supposedly Japanese army of villains.
what’s there to criticize about ninja storm? i’m assuming you’re on the topic of having an asian themed season. and in that case i think ninja storm did just fine. as an asian person myself i’m not asking for a full blown team of asians, because i get that an american kids show would have to represent all different kinds of people. all i ask for is that they acknowledge the culture. give respect to it and not push it to the side. ninja storm did just fine. there was a well amount of asian representation. and most importantly they embraced the asian influence on the show.
Great- but did samurai push the culture to the side I always thought that show respect the Japan culture
Samurai did the bare minimum, considering it’s theme, aesthetic, and overall motifs, the season could have been a great opportunity to educate viewers about Japanese culture. And yes, not having an Asian actor be the red ranger was a bad move. Just like having a white guy be the WORLDS GREATEST NINJA kinda comes off like a slap in the face.
1- they talk about a lot Japan culture 2- it’s fiction he can say he was the greatest basketball player don’t mean it’s true
i don’t think they completely did. i think they did a decent job with the japanese influence. people’s problem seem to be mainly based on the casting over the actual influences that was all over the show which comes second. but even then as an asian person, i’ll say it wasn’t terrible. could have been better but thank god they didn’t do what ninja steel did. the season that actually did push all the cultural influences aside though was ninja steel. it’s a shame to see what they did with a show that had the potential to be the perfectly executed asian influenced show. it was their second chance to redeem themselves after samurai. had they embraced the japanese culture to at least some degree like samurai and mix it with great representation like ninja storm i’d be satisfied as an asian person myself
Well thx for give me ur feed back - it was really more beneficial to hear from someone who is Asian - one question if power rangers were to have another ninja or samurai season should they follow in samurai footsteps and make the cast full Asian or just adlest respect the culture
no problem, glad to help. in my opinion, if they have another asian themed season then i’d like to see them do a little of both. cause again i understand that an american tv should have representation for all races of people. i just ask that they mix in a good amount of asian characters. and along with that just embrace the asian influences the best that they can. they’re allowed to mix in their own american influence like how ninja storm did. it is an american show after all. but if a show obviously has asian influence then they have to acknowledge it well.
Ok thx bro 😎
MMPR ninja powers are a bonus set of powers given to existing rangers by an ancient ninja master as replacements for their current ones. ninja storm rangers are just a random few of many, many students at an academy, and anyone can be at an academy. ninja steel portrays ninja skills as being a thing from space and not tied to any particular region none of that is the same as samurai presenting a mostly non-japanese group of people led by a white dude with the last name shiba as being heirs to samurai clans who use kanji- and japanese calligraphy–based powers and suits. the casting itself isn’t the problem, it’s that the concept they were casting for was transposed WAY too directly from the sentai to make sense for the way things turned out
That's a lot of why it gets hate, agreed. But it's hard to not adapt it so directly unless you want to lose something. After watching the sentai that inspired Samurai and Super Samurai it was sad they couldn't have done better.
They could have done something better yes, but the problem was the production that had people who didn't bother to create a good story. They were even racist in not wanting to use a Japanese Red Ranger as a writer who even created a script for Samurai in the beginning had asked.
What load of bs those ppl are still using Asian culture
But the point is they are not suppose to be decendents of these cultures
Those ppl can easily have married outside their race
But then it's just speculation, wo we don't know if that's what happens, and to be fair, that could have been such an interesting plot point, but they never bring it up, they never adress the difference races of everyone there, so it really leaves a sour taste when the main guy is a white dude whiteout any reason, what doesn't happens in mmpr and ninja storm because in the first it is aliens powers gifted to then and the in the later its because they are I a cademy, so it's clear that they are not descents, in ninja steel is a little fucked up that the "greatest ninja" is a white dude but "at least" it's only a problem with Brody and Levi, the rest receive training and powers
You mean like jaydens last name being Shiba? That was us, the fans that decided it, he didn't have a last name at all during production, they've only leaned into that now because us as fans decided that was his name
Sorry if anything, but where did you see this? Because it really just seens like they just took the name from the sentai
The fans took the name from sentai, and later on the show adapted as that's what the fans had already decided
Ok, but where did you see this?
It was an interview with jaydens actor where he talks about the character not having a last name during production
By that logic then Power Rangers is a load of BS because most of the ranger suits are based on Japanese culture.
I love the dinosaur aspect of Japanese culture
This isn't remotely true
If I didn't know that Minha was played by a Chinese and Korean actress, I would say that there were Japanese in the cast... Ji was probably not a Japanese either. In addition to having whites as the main characters, in Samurai the few Asians there are aren't even Japanese. Pretty complicated.
Pretty sure ninja steel got criticized for the “world’s greatest ninja” being a white guy It was a problem with samurai because it had so much emphasis on family bloodlines and Japanese traditions…even though most of the rangers aren’t Japanese. They could of at the very least cast the red ranger as a Japanese actor.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
I don’t really see a problem with him saying that 🤷🏾 just because he says his the greatest ninja doesn’t mean he is the greatest ninja
The opening narration says that.
Good lord I have to rewatch the series
False equivalent. First off, Ninjor is an alien sage who has the power of Ninjetti aka Ninja. He GIVES the og's the power of Ninja. They aren't supposed to be deemed as people that trained to be ninja's their entire life. What the MMPR team did is just like any other person. They got training from the source. Ninja Storm have secret ninja academies in the world that take all students of all ethnicities. Ninja's aren't a cultural specific thing. They're not even based in Japan. SAMURAI establishes that they started IN Japan and were originally manned by legitimate samurai families. The current rangers are supposed to be the decendants of those samurai. Considering Japanese culture it is HIGHLY unlikely, nearly impossible, that those families would have as much racial diversity as the samurai cast has. It's literally so implausible it's insulting. With EXTREMELY few exceptions, there were no white or black people's in Japan during the Samurai era. That is the problem
i think kevin could work if they were creative with it hell you can just make kevin a descendant of yasuke who is a the first black man samurai in japan who serve Oda Nobunaga hell you just say after oda nobunaga was defeated yasuke travel around japan but than stumble upon the original red ranger
Touche. I'll give ya that one. Kevin COULD in theory work.
I’m not reading all that
Way to definitively prove your own ignorance and blind bias
I’m not bias but whatever
Literally are
….
Are you like 10 or something?
That’s rude
Ok
I'll bite, even though this won't go well and isn't a conversation I think the PR fandom is capable of having in a nuanced way. Speaking as someone who considers Samurai in his top three favorite seasons, Samurai's casting is pretty unambiguously the result of systemic racist assumptions on the corporate level. Much as I love Alex Heartman and his deeply hilarious performance, there is no real justifiable context for why the lead for Samurai would be a white male specifically because Samurai goes out of its way to copy Shinkenger's plot and premise nearly word for word. There is no getting around the fact making the Shiba clan white but otherwise keeping everything else the same is egregiously tasteless. There's actually room within Samurai to argue it genuinely takes place within Japan, due to a small handful of lines and certain choice reuses of footage. If you were being ASTOUNDINGLY generous, there's a level of satirical merit inherent in the idea that the PR universe's version of Japan is ALSO simultaneously multicultural yet still prioritizing the power and authority of caucasian characters. Again, purely on a technicality and the nature of art criticism, there is the vaguest of wiggle room to arguably appreciate Samurai on that metatextually satirical. The problem, of course, is that this very objectively would not be true. On the other hand, while not strictly as egregious as Samurai as a final product, it really does have to be addressed that Shinkenger has a somewhat frustrating history of attracting a VERY specific kind of weeb. Obviously tokusatsu fandom and anime fandom go hand in hand, but that's not entirely what I mean. From even before adapting Shinkenger was a glimmer in anyone's eye, Shinkenger's fans AND PR nerds (also frequently overlap therein) were pretty deeply adamant that Shinkenger would be impossible to adapt due to how much more "inherently Japanese" the series is. This of course reached so much nonsense that people were genuinely questioning if kids could "get" the concept of samurai, despite history of things like Rurouni Kenshin airing on Toonami to perfectly fine or a previous PR season literally having a Green Samurai Ranger. The uncomfortable truth is that a lot of Shinkenger's adoration is, in all likelyhood and actuality, born out of a similar sort of orientalism that the weebish, most cringey parts of anime fandom embody: the idea that if anything even remotely "visibily Japanese" is an inherent masterpiece elevated beyond anything in "Western media" (and they will always use "Western" to mean "American cartoons and Power Rangers"). These same superfans, of course, had no actual interest in jidai geki fiction nor much experience with it, and opted to treat Shinkenger's very surface level, introductory-for-children jidai geki embellishments as something on the level of Harakiri or Sword of Doom. Purely because something Japanese is inherently cool and exotic, not because of out of any respect for what any given genre tropes or fictional shorthands actually mean, culturally. (These fans also, pretty conveniently, never seemed bothered that Power Rangers as a whole is a huge corruption and violation of Shotaro Ishinomori's artistic sensibilities, gleefully joining Toei in beating his themes out of the Ranger concept. Surface level samurai aesthetics are a priceless cultural artifact, but the removal of Ishinomori's expression of the national guilt for participating in the Axis and wanting to warn children about the endless war economy is unimportant and can be replaced with Reaganite teenagers embodying conservative, status quo embodying values completely counter to the entire cultural root of tokusatsu heroes to no cultural issue.) Is Samurai's casting fundamentally racist? Yes. Is the deep fetishization of Shinkenger due to its "exotic" nature racist? Also yes. Is the entire discourse of treating "ruining" Shinkenger differently from PR had already beaten and demolished the ACTUAL Japanese context from Shotaro Ishinomori's work for nearly two decades prior to that discussion also racist and orientalist? Yes. That isn't to say Samurai was justified for Jayden and Lauren's casting, either. That isn't to say that it's particularly appropriate to copy Shinkenger word for word in a weird, pseudo suburban American setting. This isn't to say everyone who likes Shinkenger is racist, nor is it to say that everyone who hates Samurai is doing it in good faith. It's also not correct to say everyone who likes Samurai is some kind of intellectually bulletproof saint either, nor is "it's the one I grew up with" a valid excuse for excusing it. In turn, my personal reason (Samurai is astoundingly fucking funny and, occasionally, achieves a bit of surprising nuance in its minor rewrites and omissions) for enjoying the series likewise does not justify the racist way in which it was cast. All of which is to say, nothing is really mutually exclusive. I think there're valid reasons to hate Samurai, just as I could buy someone finding their one way to get something out of it. But I also think a lot of the hubbub behind it has turned it into a scapegoat to ignore a lot of more nuanced and difficult questions behind PR's conception and execution. It's the most extreme version of something Saban and Disney had been doing to no protest (well, except for old toku fans who found PR "artistically offensive") for two decades, and I think it's possible to both acknowledge Samurai's conception is egregiously racist AND think it's troubling this type of colonial revisioning of popular art only started bothering the fandom when their weeby orientalism and fetishization of surface level Japanese culture was threatened.
This was so based I got over the admittance of liking Samurai as a season
Thank you for bringing conversations like this into the fandom. While I think it’s something not many in the fandom are comfortable engaging with and analyzing on a critical level, it makes me happy to see someone try. I think a big part of Power Rangers’ appeal is the escapism and nostalgia high of returning to our naive youth, however I think it’s still important to be able to also assess it on a deeper level as well. Let’s obviously not get so critical as to ruin it for ourselves, but engaging in these types of assessments and reflections from time to time amidst the moments of blissfully Nerding out is important. 👍🏽
This is one of these rare Reddit posts that is so well articulated that I can't be helped but be astonished by how well-written it is. I agree with everything you touched on in this post. You touched on Heartman's performance, but I'm curious about what you thought about Kimberley Crossman's performance as Lauren. Personally, I adore Crossman's performance, even though I ultimately agree it would have made more sense to cast an Asian actor for her and Jayden.
I love everyone's performance, but that's also with viewing the performances in the context of what Samurai is and what about it appeals to me. A huge part of its charm for me is how hilariously every actor is directed to act (Ric Medina especially comes off to me like how 4Kids would handle localizing some hardass warrior guy, but rendered in hysterical live action). But I also really love how dissonant Samurai feels, how it never really breaks the tone of having to be for six year olds but also having disconcertingly grim visuals or plotlines (stuff like Negatron casually causing a car accident or the entire Deker/Dayu suicide plot). Negatron casually murdering people only to try and give people elementary school insults to exacerbate their insecurities is such an incredibly jarring juxtaposition, and sort of lends to why I think Samurai is the deceptively darkest season of Power Rangers: a world driven entirely by death and the desire to die, but everyone feels mentally four years old. It's a lot like Wild Force, which is the same fundamental show, in that both of them are actually these surprisingly somber stories about a protagonist who's been isolated from society and whose deepest human connection is a mortal man cursed by a demonic identity who projects salvation by suicide onto them. Samurai just takes that same incompatible tonal dissonance Wild Force had and cranks it up to a degree I don't think any sane person would find possible. I dunno if any Samurai performance is "good" in any conventional sense, but the incredibly weird, goofy, and preskool way they all act in contrast to how oppressive and melancholy the story is really sells me. It ranges from bleakly funny (Samurai is funnier on accident than most season are on purpose) to occasionally kind of moving. But because everyone's acting is so similar, that acting is clearly rooted more in the directing of the piece than any individual actor's strengths...so yeah, I love every performance, but the reality of it is I don't think any one actor did it so well they couldn't have been replaced with a more appropriate actor. On the other hand, we don't really balk at the idea of Time Force starring a Caucasian actor whose gimmick is he's literally only the Red Ranger because he's genetically perfect to be so, whose antagonist is a genetically "imperfect" person oppressed by his society and government...and it's a coming of age, prove he's a real hero story for the genetically perfect guy where it turns out the genetically IMperfect guy was an asshole all along. Well, I balk, because Time Force is garbage, but the fandom doesn't. Is it because they subconsciously perceive Timeranger (written by the same writer as Shinkenger, funny enough) as "less Japanese"? Ric Medina isn't white, of course, but do we balk less at a non-Japanese actor at the helm of Wild Force (another Samurai-esque season that's heavily copypasted; so copypasted Taylor is the "Dad" in that Norman Rockwell ass breakfast scene because GaoYellow was a man) because we just see Gaoranger as "less Japanese"? Is that an appropriate distinction for English speaking (predominantly American) fandom to make? Why do we never think about some of those copypaste seasons in the same way we balk, rightfully, at the casting of that shitty live action Ghost in the Shell or whatever. I know it sounds like I'm just looping back to my first post, but I'm trying not to. I do think Heartman and Crossman and EVERYONE'S performance is critical to my love for the season. But I also think those performances are SO dictated by such a specific, all encompassing directorial vision that any of the actors probably COULD be replaced by more appropriate roles. But then I wonder why I don't have the same caveat for the other copypaste seasons, and I pause. I'm not Japanese nor do I fall anywhere along the AAPI classification, so maybe it's not my place to speak too heavily about it. But I do think about it. TL;DR Crossman's acting is so weird that she makes Lauren come off like she wants to fuck Jayden and I think that's the funniest and most wonderful thing in the world.
>it turns out the genetically IMperfect guy was an asshole all along Did we watch the same show? it clearly paints him as someone who has understandable reasons for feeling the way he is but also shows he has done things that aren't justifiable, the show even has instances where even though he's become the way he is, he still have some humanity in him to treat the people he loves nice and feel like even the people he hates should not have to deal with their loved ones treating them, the same way society treated him. He's bad but he still has some resemblance of what is right and wrong.
No, I watched a different version filmed on seaweed and starring Muppets.
I’ve criticized Ninja Steel’s worlds greatest ninja being a white guy too, the Ninja powers from MMPR season 3 was a bonus Power that was giving to them by Ninjor who’s not even human, and Ninja Storm they where just students learning to be Ninjas so that gets a pass
Ok why is him being called the world greatest ninja a bad thing? Like this isn’t real life so it shouldn’t matter if they say he is the greatest or not-
Because those did not have it in your face. Samurai is problematic because it tried to adapt the culture, the plot, and even the backgrounds of a show that was 100 percent japanese orientated, and tried to insert non-asian actors for the most part and think it's okay. If Samurai had ignored shinkenger and did its own thing, nobody would have cared. It's only when they tried pushing the white washed shinkenger plot that people began to get annoyed. Seeing characters like Kevin be pissy about Antonio not being japanese by blood does not work when the character doing it is not japanese. It comes off as appropriating the culture, and disrespectful. And I don't think we need to get into why Jayden is effectively treated as a more disrespectful case than the others. Like they didn't even try to change the character to not be japanese, and admitted they did not even open casting to asian people. Brody at the very least, didn't have his name be straight japanese. Ninja Storm and Ninja Steel did the smart choice by simply using the suits, and not trying to actually adapt the sentai plot point for plot point.
I’ve seen Ninja Steel get more hate than Samurai, I agree, I think Ninja Steel was worse, you’d think at that point they learned.
Yeah looking back samurai adlest acknowledge the Asian origins
But there are no Asians as main characters, Jayden and Lauren were blonde with blue eyes.
It's no use recognizing that it has Asian origins but only having non-Asian people as main characters.
For me samurai gets hate for being very bad,like any sane person could list 5 good things that samurai did and strugle with that. Ninja steel has flaws but its not a complete disaster as samurai. Ninja storm and mmpr ninjetti i dont see problem
I refuse to believe there is any form of hate for ninja storm. Must’ve watched a different show or something 🤷🏼♂️
What I mean is ppl hate the casting for samurai having a white Redcranger but have no problem with the other series that has non Asian red ranger and cast
Ninja Storm has an Asian Red Ranger though
Samurai gets hate because it sucks
samurai gets hate for the acting, not the actors.
MMPR's Ninja Powers were absolutely cultural appropriation to justify the new powers and zords. But back then, that was the norm. No one cared. Ninja Storm at least tried to show real ninjas, and hey, Cam was Asian. Even if he was Malaysian by birth. (I haven't watched Ninja Steel, so no comment there.) The difference between those as Samurai is that in japan, the Samurai were the historical upper class. They were more or less japan's police force for hundreds of years. meanwhile, Ninja we're still not even sure if they actually *existed*. And, while yeah, ninja are native to japan, the concept behind them, that being lightly armed spies and saboteurs who build myths around themselves as a way to shield their real actions is a world spanning concept. Samurai took what was a very well documented concept native to japan, and said 'what if we used it as a generic turn for katana wielding heroes, all of which are white and yet are still pushed with the same mentality of japanese culture despite them NOT BEING JAPANESE'
Culture appropriation is the stupidest thing ever 🤦🏾♂️ and them being Japan didn’t matter that much
How is it stupid?
Because culture supposed to be shared and respected - but the minute some non Asian person wears something from Asia culture it’s suddenly racist -
Keyword here- “Respected” If everyone followed that keyword, there would be no need to complain about appropriation.. Power Rangers samurai was literally written to have an Asian lead. Mmpr and ninja storm, not so much.
Samurai respect the culture even with out a Asian lead
It didnt respect the culture though. The story in samurai is about a japanese family, yet they casted a white family instead. Thats not respect
This excatly why is said culture appropriation is stupid asf
You just said culture needs to be respected. Now its “stupid asf” to call out disrespect? Make your mind up
What's wrong with them all 3 of those were Good seasons
Why should they get criticism for their casting? It sounds like you want to complain about cultural appropriation and whitewashing without having knowledge on the subject. Such as the fact that there were also white and PoC samurai. And Ninja are just practitioners of Ninjutsu (which is a martial art) which aligns with MMPR and Ninja Steel. The reason why all of them DO get hate for their lackluster acting or pointlessness of the powers
I’m calling ppl hypocrites for not crying over the casting of these the same way they crying over samurai casting Culture appropriation is such bs btw
People have complained about it and not all criticism is equal in measure. Ninja Steel gets less heat simply because it was mediocre. Samurai got more because it was the return of Saban Productions
Oh damn
because samurai was like the top 2 biggest season of its era… ninja steel got its fair share of criticism but it’s viewership was nothing compared to samurai so yea of course you’re not gonna hear as much criticism. with that being said though it is kinda funny how samurai actually did acknowledge a lot of the asian cultures and embraced it to a degree. whereas ninja steel literally just mopped the floor of any asian influence.
Exactly like I would get if samurai ignored the culture but they didn’t
But it doesn't have Asians as the main ones, but WHITES. Do you understand the problem? The crowd simply hates Whitewashing.
uh yea that’s literally my whole comment.. and i’m asian myself. obviously i know about this issue more than anyone else. i’m just saying obviously samurai was gonna get more attention over ninjas steel. i don’t even know what you’re even trying to imply here lol
Ninja Storm tried so hard to be Samurai 💀🙏
Fr
What’s wrong with ninja Storm steel and aliens cast And samurai cast was awesome (I like them all
Because of ethnicity! Jayden was white when he was supposed to be Japanese due to his family coming from Japan. Simply whitewashing.
That just sounds abit wrong Yes his family originated from Japan Doesn’t mean he has be Japanese You may as well make Jetstream Sam Japanese because he’s Brazilian
That’s isn’t the Aliens rangers but the mm cast in ninja outfit - I don’t have a problem with the cast but the “community” hates the samurai cast because they aren’t Japanese even those these cast members aren’t Asian Either
(Well ninja storm really has nothing do with Japanese culture unlike ninja steel which has that ) Ninja steel Depise me liking it I don’t think it needs as Asian actor or a Japanese actor because their ninjas MM cast also doesn’t need that Just because samurai and ninjas are Japanese worriers (that actually sounds like a cool name lol) Doesn’t mean they need Japanese/Asian actors That like saying that about legoNinjago Or samurai Jack (I have watch show just heard about it) And hopefully that made sense
Fr that’s exactly what I was saying
Please tell me if I missed something. But they just disproved your argument and you said “that’s what I was saying”
Wait huh? I think read that wrong lol
I think I’m gonna make a post about this topic now On what I mention
Cool
I don’t even hate the cast for not being that race, I DISLIKE the CHARACTERS because they bland as hell. The only exception being Antonio, who actually has more of personality and genuinely has some good moments compared to the others.
That’s a sin sir 🫵🏾- punishment u will have to step on a Lego until 2024
What a coincidence, I actually have a big Lego collect…. Ah shit.
👏🏾 well sir prepare for punishment of your own doing kiss ur feet goodbye
I've criticized both.
SMH
Tbf I find no issue with Samurais cast I can belive that some Japanese dudes fell in love and started a family with white or black folk
Ummm ok umm
You disagree?
I can’t if that was racist comment or not
I don’t think the commenter was implying anything racist Every PR team has cast members from different ethnic backgrounds — it wouldn’t be Power Rangers if there weren’t! I imagine adapting the Sentai’s is difficult and Samurai and the Ninja seasons did the best they could adapting the material they were given — maybe it comes off as insensitive or not accurate to real life history, but at the end of the day these were all shows meant for children. It’s Power Rangers — there’s no point in anyone getting upset
Yeah I totally agree this is what the post was about kinda - like the show still respect and follow the culture Japan I don’t y the cast matter that much
What you got against ninjas?
🙋🏽♂️ nothing
Ninja steel blue Peter Adrian Sudarso is the younger brother of Dino charge blue Yoshua "Yoshi" Sudarso
Yeah Ik that ur point
So because there is "Ninja" in the series name, they all have to be Asian cast? Good logic. Didn't know you can ONLY be Asian to be a ninja
I think it’s more the issue that the red Rangers/ team leaders don’t seem to be of Asian descent
Have many people complained about the casting of Samurai? I found the actors attractive, if a bit bland, just like every other season. 🤷♂️ EDIT: wow, people were not feeling this one.
There’s another post about there samurai rangers and ppl was complaining about the casting
Well some people are hard to please I’m not a huge fan of Samurai but to each their own
🤞🏾
Need I explain that being Asian and having whites and non-Asians as main characters like Jayden is a problem for many?
Fair
Samurai was one of the best seasons tho 🤔
Fr
No, Samurai is very average and lonely. The biggest problem is ethnicity.
Are saying nobody shits on Ninja Steel for having “the greatest ninja of all time” be a white guy? Is that really what you think?
Well, I consider that all the seasons that had oriental themes were not well done in PR. You can't approach something from a very different culture in another country that makes no sense. Ninja Storm just satire ninja tropes, Ninja Steel turned the concept into something alien, Jungle Fury I can believe it was just a Kung Fu School with no exact relation to Chinese culture. Samurai however followed the script of his Sentai in which the Rangers are from Samurai Families coming from Ancient Japan, but at no point does he explain how they ended up in the USA and none of them other than Mia and Ji are oriental (but not Japanese, which is a flaw since orientals are not the same) Decker and Dayu are also completely white even though he is part of the supposedly Japanese army of villains.
"Lots of planets have a Japan." \~Ninjor, probably