Tuesday, August 28, 2018

4 Power Rangers "Ships" That Should Have Sailed

Today was deemed Power Ranger Day as it's the 25th Anniversary of the franchise. It's probably one of the longest running children's franchises and it still lasts today.

Tommy and Kimberly (Mighty Morphin)
How many fans were shipping Tommy and Kimberly as kids? Even before shipping was a term. Kimberly had an interest in Tommy from the start and was heart broken when she learned he was the evil Green Ranger. Then broken anew when he lost his powers. She even fainted when he reappeared as the White Ranger. They were meant to be and even dated for a bit, but then Kimberly left for the Pan Global Games. Unfortunately, after she left, Kimberly met someone while training in Florida. There was no mention of this during her appearance in the Turbo Movie, but in the meantime Kat and Tommy got together for a bit (they even appeared married in a possibel future in "A Season to Remember"). But by the time of "Forever Red" and Dino Thunder, Tommy still appeared single.


Zhane and Karone (Space)
It was short lived, but while Karone was Astronema, she had a thing for Zhane, the Silver Space Ranger. She was later revealed to be Andros's sister and (after some brainwashing) she was returned to the side of good. The unfortunate thing is that after Andros, Zhane, and Karone returned to KO-35, we never saw what happened to their relationship. Karone later appeared as the Pink Galaxy Ranger in Lost Galaxy and Super Megaforce and there was no mention of Zhane... so we can only suppose it never worked out.


Wes and Jen (Time Force)
This one was almost like a weird Oedipus Complex. Jen was engaged to Alex, who appeared to be a distant descendant of Wes, while still in the year 3000, but then when Jen wen to 2001 and met Wes... well, it wasn't love at first sight. It was more like shock at first sight. She actually had a hard time taking down her walls with him, because of how similar he looked. But after all the time in 2001, her walls were down enough and she'd become level-headed enough that she was obviously feeling for Wes. But of course to protect the timeline she had to return to 3000.


Blake and Tori (Ninja Storm)
After the Thunder Rangers joined the Wind Rangers, they became a tight knit team. Around half-way through the series though, Blake and Tori seemed to have a little bit of a spark. A few episodes in the last quarter of the season had to do specifically with some jealousy going back and forth for a little bit. After Lothor was defeated, Blake and his brother returned to the Thunder Ninja academy and nothing seemed to happen with Tori. At the very least, nothing significant was referenced in the Dino Thunder crossover or "Once a Ranger".

Who would you have wanted together? Personally, I'd even be satisfied if there's even a reference to an off-screen relationship between any of these. Maybe Tommy or Wes will mention one on the anniversary special tonight? Doubtful, but I can wish.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Sorting the Avengers into Hogwarts Houses

As if Harry Potter isn't everywhere already, I had the thought recently to (as many geeks have done before me) sort some of my favorite characters from other fandoms into Hogwarts house. Please tell me what you think. First up, The Avengers!



Tony Stark/Iron Man - Slytherin
This is maybe a controversial one to start out with. Between his genius and his ambition, it's hard to place him between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. However, in the end it's his overwhelming ambition and pride that do it for me. It seems like every Avengers movie he's overwhelmed by ambition (manifesting as pride): he made himself the leader in "The Avengers", he created Ultron in "Age of Ultron", and he tried to take control on Titan in "Infinity War". As a result, I'm classifying him as Slytherin. A good-guy Slytherin, of course.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Ravenclaw
I debated between Slytherin and Ravenclaw here, as she's very intelligent but she also used to be an enemy spy. Even though she's ambitious and cunning, I think intellect and analytical mind trumps that. She speaks multiple languages, she's a strategist, and a super intelligent overall. Even as I write this I'm tossing between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I'm going to go with Ravenclaw, because as a reformed spy she isn't as focused on ambition as she is what's right.

Bruce Banner/The Hulk - Ravenclaw
The Hulk is a tricky one to place, specifically on the Hulk-side. Banner is easy. He's all about the textbooks and the analytical. Sure, his physical strength comes from the Hulk (I'd probably classify him as Gryffindor Slytherin... it's hard to tell since he doesn't have much personality in most of his movies), but the man behind the Hulk is a hardcore Ravenclaw, valuing knowledge before all else.

Thor Odinson - Gryffindor
This one should be pretty self-explanatory. Before his arrival on Earth, I might say Slytherin, because he was all about honor and power, but as an Avenger he tends to do the courageous thing, even if it's stupid. During "Ragnarok", he was willing to risk everything in order to save Asgard from Hela, even if it meant fighting off the whole of the Grandmaster's Sakaar. This bravery in risking himself for others is why I put in him Gryffindor.

Clint Barton/Hawkeye - Hufflepuff
There had to be a Hufflepuff on here. Especially since I started owning my own Puff-ness, I had to include someone. And who better than Hawkeye. In many ways he's the stereotypical Hufflepuff, quiet and loyal. But inaddition to his loyalty to the Avengers, and to making amends after breaking Loki's mind control, his fierceness and preciseness also match Hufflepuffs I've seen in my life. But in the end the biggest thing I've put him here for is his loyalty to his team and his family.

Steve Rogers/Captain America - Gryffindor
It's the easy answer, but it also makes sense. Cap is known for standing up to bullies and showing courage, whether as a scrawny kid in "The First Avenger", against corrupt SHIELD agents in "The Winter Soldier", or against his friends in "Civil War". My second choice was Hufflepuff, due to his loyalty to Bucky and Peggy, but his bravery in regards to ALL the odds leaves me with Gryffindor.

Which sorting do you disagree with? Would you put Tony as a Ravenclaw? Or Black Widow as a Slytherin? Is Cap the real Hufflepuff? Let me know your thoughts.


Check out our other Hogwarts sortings: FriendsPower Rangers (2017)Once Upon a TimeArrow

Thursday, August 9, 2018

5 Things in Pokemon that Make No Sense

Being a 20+ year franchise, it's inevitable that there are some inconsistencies in the Pokemon world (games, anime, etc). But some of them are funnier than others.


Slow on the Uptake
So it's relatively normal on Pokemon Go for the average Pokemon to run away after failed capture attempts. What doesn't make sense is the super slow ones: Slowpoke and Slakoth. Slowpoke are notoriously slow (hence the name). Blue Version even states that it takes Slowpoke 5 seconds to feel pain. Other Pokedex entries state that it doesn't feel pain when bitten. So if Slowpoke is that slow to respond to pain, how does he run away from a Pokeball? Similarly with Slakoth. The Pokemon can't even attack 50% of the time because it's so slow... so how is this Pokemon able to run away when someone tries to catch it?


Fish Out of Water
This isn't such a big deal in the anime (we even have explicit lines about it) but throughout all the games we get fish Pokemon fight on land. Magikarp, Goldeen, Feebas, etc. Any and all of them fight on land in the games. How is Goldeen supposed to fight any Pokemon when all it can do is bounce and flop?

More Zords than Power Rangers
Late in the Johto series, it's explicit that our Team Rocket trio doesn't have any money. In fact, they are very in debt to to Giovanni (so Delibird comes swooping around every few episodes). So if Team Rocket has so little money, how are they buying brand new Meowth balloons every episodes (sometimes more than once per episode) and new digging/stealing machines every other episode. Those things aren't cheap and yet they never have money to pay back Giovanni or to buy food.


Going on a Walk-ish
In HeartGold/SoulSilver and Pokemon Go you get the chance to walk around with your Pokemon. Funny thing is that you can choose fish Pokemon and chrysalis Pokemon to walk with you. I love the concept, but how exactly does it make sense to drag a Metapod or a Magikarp behind you and call it a "walk"?

The Ultimate Retcon
In the Pokemon anime we have often have glimpses of the next Generation, especially towards the end of a region. In Kanto/Orange Islands, we saw Togepi, Ho-Oh, Lugia, etc. In Johto, we saw Latias, Latios, and Wynaut. In Hoenn, we got Lucario and Manaphy. In Sinnoh, we saw Zoroark. Unova region saw Genesect. And Kalos had Magearna.
Besides these special circumstances, we don't often see newer Pokemon in older regions. However, we often see older Pokemon in newer generations. For example, May caught a Bulbasaur in Hoenn and Dawn had Cyndaquil/Quilava. To a large extent, we see this in the games too. Even in the remakes, we mostly only see the original Pokemon from that game and the generations before... nothing new. Just seems kind of odd that we'd have so many more Pokemon available in Kalos and Alola than Kanto ever had back in the day.


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