I have to say that so far, honestly, I am very impressed with Power Rangers Megaforce. This show has really stepped up from Power Rangers Samurai. Firstly, think back to the first two episodes of Samurai; “The Team Unites” & “Deal With A Nighlok,” did you have this same sense of excitement from the characters, the story, the action etc? I could honestly say I did not and the only shining beacons towards the beginning were Mike and Jayden. Samurai and eventually Super Samurai got better but never really felt fully realized. Not to mention its intense following of the Sentai. Now, in comparison with only two episodes aired I must say that so far Megaforce is the superior series. Now, let’s go through it and break it down 😀
“Our world was once a safe and happy place. Until evil aliens arrived with one plan; To destroy Earth. Gosei, Earth’s ancient guardian awoke and called on the new team of teenagers to fight off this new threat! They are the Power Rangers Megaforce!”
We get a new opening in the second episode of Power Rangers Megaforce! This opening is ala Power Rangers Samurai and I actually like this one a little better because for viewers who join the series late will understand a little of what is going on! Sort of like the opening of MMPR when we hear about Zordon and Rita!
We open on the Rangers preparing to take a test. Jake is worried and reveals that he hates tests, of course Noah is confident. We get to see more goofy hijinks for Mr. Burley who tells them to stop talking while he puts his feet up and works on his rubix cube! Gia finishes her test early and leaves the room all while receiving stares and smiles from Jake.
As all this is going on Troy attempts to even start his test and remembers back to earlier in the day when he had been jogging.
Troy comes face to face with Creepox who menacingly scrapes his pincers together to create sparks!
He has come to Earth to see what creatures dare to take on the Insectoids (which I suppose is w hat they call themselves as well)
Creepox tells Troy that humans are soft and in an instant they can be taken out, Troy rebuts and states that humans are tougher than they appear!
Troy refuses to fight just to prove it and instead Creepox leaves with a daunting memory on Troy’s mind.
Troy eventually gets this thought out of his head and as the bell rings Mr. Burley falls half asleep out of his chair onto the floor. Of course Noah goes to see if he is O.K. since they seem to be besties already.
In the hallway Gia stares at her Morpher and ponders at it, but as she looks out she notices a smiling Jake on the other side of the door. Gia reacts a little abruptly and reminds Jake she didn’t want a random kid to see her Morpher.
Jake offers to walk Gia home and here we can begin to see where this relationship is headed.
Gia seems to have a sassy remark to rebut the romantic ploys that Jake throws her way. I find this hilarious. She is not like most Female Rangers who bat their eyes and immediately give themselves over to the other Ranger. This girls needs to be worked for and it seems that Jake is that guy.
Meanwhile aboard the WarStar ship it seems that Admiral Malkor is already getting annoyed with the human interference in their invasion. Vrak suggests that the humans be studied to find their weaknesses. Creepox insists they are weak as he tested one earlier in the day and he refused to fight. They send Yuffo, a new monster who is also a flying saucer, to Earth to find out the human weaknesses and kidnap them for experiments!
As I said earlier, there has to be a student-teacher relationship building here in the story line Noah goes to return Mr. Burley’s scarf and sees that he has an entire wall of cryptozoology, aliens, and other crack pot theories. For lack of a better phrase. They both share the same interests and when Mr. Burley finds out about this he immediately wants to befriend Noah and bond over pictures of the loch-ness monster. Now, this was never a trait of Billy. While he was always the Teacher’s pet, we never saw him and Ms. Applebee chillin’ in her office talking about knitting!
The next scenes have to be my favorites for this episode. Gia and Jake are walking home and Jake offers to carry her books for her. Gia kind of smiles at him and replies, “How retro of you.” Whoever writes the lines for Gia should get a freaking gold star. Seriously.
One thing I found strange is that, spoiler alert, later in another episode we find out that Jake is super strong being able to carry the Snake Ax with ease while Noah is not. Then it surprises me that when Gia hands him her bag, he can almost barely get himself to carry it. Maybe the Tiger is stronger than the Snake?
Jake asks, since they are teammates now, they should get to know each other socially. Gia is ready to put him down gently when she notices a flying saucer behind Jake. She reaches behind him to grab her Morpher inside her bag, but Jake notices her arms around him and while she shouts “I think you are….OUT OF THIS WORLD!” beforehand, he thinks she is coming onto him! Eventually she wheels him around to point out the Flying Saucer.
Gia attempts to call the others via her Morpher but Jake stops her and insists that the two of them together can handle the situation. Meanwhile the saucer flies around the city and begins to capture humans for experiments. The humans are collected in web like sacks and transported to a nearby beach where Yuffo is there joined from five separate saucers.
As Yuffo is about to experiment Jake and Gia show up and Ranger Up! This Morph sequence music is a little different and sounds AWESOME! Listen closely! After they morph they confront Yuffo and attempt to stop him with their Mega Blasters, but he reflects the blast. Yuffo insists that the Rangers themselves are also good candidates for his experiments.
Black and Yellow take on a group of Loogies, but eventually Yuffo decides to collect more specimens and disappears leaving them to think they may need backup after all.
As Noah and Mr. Burley are busy bonding, Mr. Burley notices a Flying Saucer fly by and before he can turn to tell Noah, he is gone.
Gia finally gets a chance to call Troy and Emma and eventually they both join them at the beach. I do love the Gosei Morpher but it is really huge in their hands. Lousy Goseiger with this big ass Morphers ;D
Red, Yellow, Black and Pink all attempt to take on Yuffo but his timed attacks and the information he gathers after each blow seems to be getting stronger. Finally Noah arrives and gives Yuffo a blast with his Shark Bowgun! A hilarious part in this scene is when Noah arrives he reminds Jake that he told him UFO’s were real. Jake laughs and said he would never doubt him again, but what is hilarious is that Gia says, “Sorry to break up the bromance..” Great line!
An awesome addition in the second episode is the inclusion of a new-ish roll call for the Rangers, including mentioning their animals such as “Fury of the Dragon, Megaforce Red” & “Venom of the Snake, Megaforce Black!”
So Awesome!
Noah decides, after the roll-call, to take Yuffo underwater and blast him with the Shark Bowgun which is really awesome to the atmosphere of this episode and doesn’t follow the normal formula which I love!
The Rangers pull together the Megaforce Blaster and use the Dynamic Victory Charge and cause Yuffo to explode!
Vrak decides its time to unveil his Royal Robotic Aides, the Zombats which can cause the monster to grow.
This part sets up a lot of questions and a lot of speculation. In this scene Vrak mentions that he is royalty and is privy to more information and technology than other members of the WarStar.
Personally, again spoiler, I think this will lead him into being related to the Zangyack Empire which would indeed set us up for the events of Season 2; Super Megaforce. AKA the Gokaiger footage.
Long story short, we all know what is coming next, the Monster grows and the Rangers need new Zords to defeat the huge enemy!
Gosei calls to them from the command center and sends them new Power Cards which will give them access to their new Zords.
Now, I know many of you want to know how I feel about the Japanese writing and the word “Gosei” being all over the cards. I honestly don’t care! In fact I rather like it! It shows resonance towards their mentor Gosei AND not everything can be reshot and be cost-effective. This is just how it is. That is why it said Zyuranger on the Power Morphers more than once, there were Z’s on the Mega Dragonzord and a GO on the RPM Zords etc. It’s not a big deal!
The Rangers each use their Power Cards and call forth their Zords! One thing I loved about Goseiger was this little mountain that held the Headers.
I am very happy Megaforce kept it! The Mechazord heads spring from the mountain and fly at full force for the Rangers!
Also kept from Goseiger was the heads of the Zords attaching to machines to become their own Mechazord. In this shot the Dragon combines with an Airplane. The Phoenix with a jet, the Snake with a Train, the Shark with a Sub and the Tiger with a Bulldozer!
The Zords fly to the Rangers and begin to use their separate powers. Each has their own special abilities including the Shark having torpedoes and the Dragon with its Missiles. I was also impressed by the first ever Snake Zord who used the stealth of a Snake to avoid Yuffo’s saucer attacks. At first Emma had a little trouble controlling her Phoenix but with a little help from Troy she made it through!
Yuffo continues to separate but is not as powerful as he thinks. Gosei advises the Rangers it is time to combine their Zords into the Megazord and sends them a new unlocked, Gosei Great Megazord card!
The Rangers succeed and form the Megazord!
A lot of people were curious about what the cockpit of the Gosei Great Megazord would look like. In Samurai we got not only a new cockpit but also an entire new uniform for the inside. Here the footage from Goseiger has been used. I actually like this cockpit. For some reason I seem to be liking things in Power Rangers that I never really did in Goseiger. I was a little sad there was no Mega Mode, but I know Saban is spending his money on other great things coming soon!
The Rangers arrive in the cockpit and the first thing Jake says, “This thing is sick” to which Noah replied “It looks fine to me!”
*Clap Clap* The writers are improving, seriously. If you don’t like Megaforce schtick so far, I don’t understand why!
The Rangers do battle with Yuffo, attacking with their Dragon Sword (the Dragon Zord’s tail) and blasting the Zord’s heads for a Mega Punch and Kick attack! Too cool!
As the battle progresses Gosei tells the Rangers they can finish the battle with the Victory Charge Card inside the Megazord!
The Rangers oblige and load the card!
The Victory Charge card causes the Dragon Sword to light on fire and delivers a spicy finisher and ends Yuffo!
The Rangers celebrate and Gosei thanks them for a job well done bringing the episode to a close.
Final Thoughts
Forgive me for gushing, but again, I am absolutely in love with this series so far. I was afraid that with the next episode it would begin to suck and go downhill but so far the show is keeping me interested and ready for the new episodes. 7 Days can’t seem to pass fast enough! From the combination of the weapons, the Power Cards, the introduction of the Zords and Megazords and still being able to tell a story about one or two of the Rangers without out it being rushed are just a few of the reasons why Megaforce is so far succeeding in my book. Watch it!
Episode Scores
Story: 9/10
Action: 10/10
Monster: 7/10
All Together: 10/10
