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Fridge Brilliance

  • Scott/RPM Red says he can't de-morph because he isn't sure if he can breath the atmosphere. While seeing the helmetless Rangers would confirm that he has no radiated air to worry about, he still might not be able to due to how different their air is from his air. It's like why a cloned dinosaur could never survive in today's world. The air is different. Oxygen levels are lower, more pollutants... they'd choke to death. Same here.
  • The Sanzu river may be a concept alien to Western viewers, but as Xandred put it, there is the phrase "cry me a river".
  • The new transformation for the Rangers includes an under-suit and mask materializing first, which is covered by the masked Ranger helmet. While many have written this off as 'ninja suits', Samurai armor often included a face mask to hold the helmet to the head, as well as having a neck covering for additional protection. While less fancy than most, some such masks do resemble the ones the Samurai Rangers have. Which is also along the lines of the balaclava that race car drivers wear beneath their helmets (which have the added utility to protect against fire and smoke).
  • All the Call Backs and Mythology Gags to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers seem a bit odd, given that it was around 17 years ago. But, what was the last Power Rangers on TV? The recut of the original, with the uncut original playing online since September. So it's fairly fresh in the kids' minds, and brings with it certain other potential benefits.
  • There may be no kuroko but the concept hasn't been completely ignored—notice how Mia and Kevin get to ride in a big black SUV in "Origins" and "Fish out of Water", respectively. Adding to that is the fact that we never see the driver's face, similar to how the kuroko never showed their faces.
  • The kanji used by the Rangers are referred to as Symbols of Power and the rangers shout 'Symbol Power' when they use it. While this may seem like a case of downplaying their Japanese nature, the power channeled through them in Shinkenger was called mojikara, which roughly translated to 'word power'. Taken in that context, it makes a lot more sense.
  • Why does it make sense for Mike to have the Beetle Zord instead of Mia? Because as this article points out, beetles can hide in soil or bark, or under wood; in other words, the type of things you'd find in a forest. Likewise for the White Tiger Zord; the first user of that type of Zord became a Red Ranger later on. The Blue Ranger's is mostly obvious, but his Dragon Folding Zord is not. His element is Water, but why a Dragon? Because the "dragon" of the "seas" happens to be a Leviathan, which has a notably long body. It also makes more sense when one remembers that dragons are commonly associated with water in Japanese folklore.
  • One flashback from "Test Of A Leader" clearly shows the Red Ranger before Jayden using Shinkenger's Shodophone instead of a Samuraizer. This may seem jarring at first, but then remember how the first-generation Shodophones (such as the one seen in the introduction) were made of wood. Given that, it wouldn't be that big a stretch to imagine that each generation of Samurai Rangers get morphers more advanced than the previous generation's. In this case, going from an actual brush to a laser pointer. This is true even in the larger Power Rangers universe—the first morphers were big, bulky, belt-buckle devices but later models are smaller, slimmer, and more advanced, incorporating multiple functions such as communications.
  • Also in the same flashback from above, the Shiba House shown in the flashback is different from the one the Rangers live in. Again, there is a possible explanation for this: the house was shown to be under attack and on fire, so it's possible that it had to be rebuilt after Xandred was sealed away.
  • Antonio made himself the Gold Ranger. Given his Large Ham personality and love for being the center of attention, this is the perfect color for him. Also, his morph call is different from the other Rangers. This isn't uncommon in the series, but there's a good reason why here: he built his morpher by himself, and was never in contact with the other Rangers immediately prior to his introduction, so naturally he would think up his own morph call.
  • As mentioned under Pac Man Fever in the main article, the arcade game that Mike was playing in "The Team Unites" looks at least a decade out of date (being comparable to Tekken 2 and/or 3), while a character in the original Sentai plays Tekken 6. But, while arcades in Japan are still very much alive, the arcade in America died a rather unfortunate death during the Playstation era, around the time of Tekken 2 or Tekken 3. So if Mike is going to play an arcade game, it would more likely be an older game, as newer games likely got at most a limited release in the United States.
  • In Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, which is a Milestone Celebration of the past seasons, the Rangers can use the Lion Wildzord from Power Rangers Wild Force's Super Sentai original Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and they can use to form they own version of the Megazord from Samurai's Super Sentai counterpart Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. This is ironic since the Red Ranger and user of the Lion Wildzord in Wild Force appears on the show as Deker.
  • They may have thrown out the sushi angle from Antonio's Sentai counterpart, but the way he prepares his Barbecued Baby Barracuda brings to mind teppanyaki chefs instead, which are known for bartop flairs much more than sushi chefs are. Which would better suit the character, of course.
  • Sticking with the plot of Shinkenger has resulted in an interesting case - not only are the current Samurai Rangers the 18th generation, but Power Rangers Samurai itself is also the 18th season!
  • Turning Sake into "Medicine" seems very typical of a "Mature-to-kid friendly" adaptation, but it could be slang for an alcoholic drink, as in "Xandred needs his 'Medicine'".
  • Another case of censorship being used as an opportunity to do something cool: in the backgrounds of several scenes in Shinkenger there's a pattern that includes manji symbols, which resemble swastikas. These had to be removed in the adaptation of course, and what they were replaced with might seem to some to be a sloppy edit... but actually, it's the kanji for "five"! (Which doesn't quite work as well when the Sixth Ranger appears, but the thought was there.)
  • The Megazord's head, under its helmet, has a strange black protrusion coming up from the back. Unexplained, maybe, but traditionally, samurai wore a topknot hair style.
  • In "Clash of the Red Rangers", there's a moment when Scott fires his blaster Gangsta Style. Now surely Scott, being ex-military, should know that that is not how you hold a gun, right? Because it messes with the aim and all? Well that's the thing, he fired it that way while shooting at Jayden. He was trying not to hit lethally!
  • "Crack in the World" has Bulk and Spike practicing tai chi, even if it's not a known part of bushido or samurai training. Maybe they're desperate? No, just dumb.
  • Mike and Emily's romance. First season to be made by Saban again, and it features a romance involving a green ranger. Not unlike Saban's first season...
  • Kevin being the one to finish off Deker. He was ALWAYS going to be the one to do so! No, really. See, when we first meet Deker, it’s a cameo in an episode where Kevin was the MVP. Deker just happened to walk in when Jayden was fighting while poisoned — heroic to be sure but if you knew the whole story, which he didn’t, “Ultimate Warrior Jayden Saves Everyone” isn’t how you’d see the whole situation. Finally, Deker makes his full appearance the next episode: At the very start of it, the others are watching Jayden and Kevin spar. Whenever they talk about how impressed they are, Ji thinks they’re talking about Jayden when they’re actually talking about Kevin. So we kick off the episode by establishing that you can be distracted by Jayden when you should be paying more attention to the man in blue. So when Deker goes on about what makes Jayden superior to Kevin while Kevin is brainwashed and so can’t accurately be judged, what if he was making the same mistake Ji made earlier? Deker’s Worthy Opponent was Kevin all along, and the evidence was there from his very first appearances.

Fridge Horror

  • Negatron's ability to bring up painful truths is explained (at least in Shinkenger) by the three red eyes on his back granting him a form of sight beyond sight. Basically, he's the embodiment of privacy invasion gone mad, albeit played in a Goldfish Poop Gang context, but Western viewers would certainly find this more unsettling than the original Japanese audience.
  • We know that Serrator was the one who cursed Dayu and Deker and turned them both into Nighlok and has few powerful Nighlok himself. How do we know that Dayu and Deker were not the only ones to be turned from humans into Nighloks? And when Samurai Rangers destroyed those Nighloks, they may have unwittingly killed formerly innocent people.
    • Deker may have only been half-human, but he was still human. So when Kevin destroys him for good, it technically means he's the first Power Ranger we've seen to actually kill another human being... well, if you don't count Master Org from Wild Force
  • Serrator's plan caused a massive explosion in the middle of the city, causing a LOT of damage, probably more than any monster attack thus far in Samurai; entire buildings are seen crumbling and even Deker is left severely wounded by the explosion (and we know how tough he is). How many people did Serrator injure or even just kill in that attack?
  • Thanks to the second season, there are not one but two Christmas specials, implying that the series takes place over the course of two years. If you want to be generous, you could say that the first took place soon after "Origins" and the second shortly before the finale. Now take into account that in the finale, Skull shows up to pick up Spike and acts as if he hasn’t seen Bulk in a long time, meaning he also hasn’t seen his teenage son in over a year... just because. There’s also the fact that Skull is evidently rich, which isn’t even mentioned in "Runaway Spike" where Bulk is having money problems and Spike tries various odd jobs in an attempt to support them. Additionally, in the first Christmas special, Bulk can’t afford the bike Spike wants, but Skull doesn’t even send his son a present!
    • It's possible Skull sent them money and his son a present offscreen, they just don't want to ask more of him.

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