Lauren/Female Red Samurai Ranger in Media

UPDATED 7/26/13

I covered the female Red Ranger's Japanese Counterpart Hime Shinken Red and her merchandise before. (http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2010/09/female-shinken-red-in-merchandise.html) Now I am covering where Lauren has appeared in Power Rangers media or merchandise. Since she comes in late in the game, it is hard to have her in any merchandise. Though Saban has been able to sneak her in. Nick.com had video of Lauren leading the team.

For the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade 2012, Lauren appeared with the other 19 Red Rangers to complete the 20 Red Rangers!

 In February, Lauren joined the other Red Rangers on a bus in New York doing a tour around the city for a Twitter contest.

In the Nick.com game Power Rangers Samurai: Super Samurai, it has been upgraded with Lauren and Shogun mode.

Lauren has her special spinning attack like in the show but sometimes there are glitches.

 When you win her over with Super Mode, only Jayden appears in the big picture sequence with the villain. Also, when she morphs we see Jayden's hand and his ranger form before the game starts. Even in super mode, sometimes it glitches and shows Jayden's regular Samurai mode instead of Super.

 Lauren in Shogun Mode above. She holds her Fire Smasher forward.


Jayden in Shogun Mode above. He holds his Fire Smasher on his back.

 Shogun close-up for both.

And the elusive '7th Mystery Ranger' which showed up in the UK and still hasn't appeared in the US stores. Some were hoping she would turn up in the Megabloks line but unfortunately the way they designed the female figures, they have no skirts so there is no way to show off the female Red Ranger and also their chests are all the same.

Also in the Super Samurai X-Box Game, Lauren is mentioned in the credits, she might be an unlockable character. No pictures have been seen yet of this.

Lauren has two cards in the Guardians of Justice series (2) of the Power Rangers ACG.

She has one card in Hope of the Universe (Series 3).

Volume 4 of Power Rangers Super Samurai was released June 11th. She is on the cover and back of the DVD and in the menu and DVD disc but Pink Ranger has been omitted.

She has replaced the White Ranger on the cover of Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly. 

Jason David Frank in front of the Saban Brands booth at the San Diego Comic Con 2013, pictures thanks to the Power Morphicon Facebook.



Apparently her Figuart was sold at the NYCC 2012.
http://www.jefusion.com/2012/09/sh-figuarts-shinkenred-kaoru-shiba-ver.html

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2010/09/female-shinken-red-in-merchandise.html

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Comparing the two Red Samurai Rangers

Since 2009, Super Sentai fans have known about Shinken Red and Princess Shinken Red. The only differences to their uniforms is that the girl has a red skirt with black triangles on the sides while the male Red Ranger has black legs and red triangles.

 

The Mega and Super Mega modes are different as the female Mega Mode Rangers have no skirts, much like the Mighty Morphin Power Ranger the movie costumes had no skirts. The different was that they had 'breastplates' which is the best I can describe it. So the same thing here, that the female Rangers have 'breasts' instead of flat chests like the male Rangers. 

So naturally the female Red Ranger has breasts instead of a flat chest. Even though it is just a simple change, I like it. Where as for the regular mode, they just had to add a skirt, for mega mode, they had to make two whole new vests in red.

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Why Yellow in this and Pink in that? No Yellow Samurai Ranger Costume

Here I go again with the ongoing debate on female rangers in merchandise. It is confusing as to why some merchandise has Pink Ranger only and other has only Yellow Ranger and why not both.

 

A shocker this year was that we got the Pink Ranger Mega Mode mask (that I reviewed) and not Yellow. They rarely make any Pink Ranger masks. Bandai has never made one. The mask was made by Bandai. As for the Halloween costumes, every time there is a Pink Ranger, a kids costume is made. If there is a Pink Ranger, there is no Yellow. If there is no Pink, there's Yellow. Last Halloween, we didn't get Yellow and Green. This year we get Green but no Yellow.

 

The above left picture of the MegaBloks is another shocker. The Mega Bloks have 'Hero Packs' that have cockpits with figures. We don't have Pink Ranger Hero Pack nor Pink Ranger Turtle Zord. But now a shocker is that a repackaging of the Samurai Megazord has four cockpits with figures. They are a bonus. They have Red, Blue, Gold and Pink. Some fans made their own Pink cockpits and now to find out they made it. People, including me, were confused as to why Yellow got Megabloks stuff and not Pink.

Yellow gets more figures in MegaBloks than Pink and also her Ape Zord. In Megaforce, Yellow Ranger will also be getting her zord and figure. So why does Yellow get more Megabloks stuff but no costume or mask? And why does Pink get costume and mask and less Megabloks stuff, no hero pack nor own zord? Theory could be that kids would be most likely to buy Yellow Ranger Mega Bloks toys other than Pink. And they make Pink Ranger masks and costumes for little girls, little sisters, so I am sure parents will buy the costumes and masks for their girls to play with their brothers. But why no Yellow? ::Shrug:: It would be awesome to have a whole team in the kids costumes.

Yellow Cheetah Ranger Costume is on sale for $5 at my local Party City!

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/09/can-girls-line-for-power-rangers-work.html  | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/02/holy-schmidt-pink-and-yellow-shogun.html  | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-yellow-and-not-pink-in-megabloks.html 
 | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/09/lavender-rangers-sky-mega-ranger-mask.html

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Can a Girls Line for Power Rangers work?

UPDATED 5/12/13

I was tweeting and e-mailing PR fans about the idea of a girls merchandise line of Power Rangers. I also mentioned it with my friends at Power Morphicon. I remember the "Power Rangers for Girls" dolls but some people feel that those focused only on Pink and Yellow, that they focused on beauty, fashion and so forth.

 

Back in the day of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, there was not only dolls and shirts but also pajamas, slippers, Birthday invitations, walkie-talkies, jewelry and other things. But of course all of this came in pink and yellow. One fan mentioned that girls not only liked Pink and Yellow. I agree with this.

Just like with Power Rangers items aimed to boys like the book bags, t-shirts, other clothing, lunch bags, notebooks and party supplies that only have three or four male Rangers, companies might think Girls only want Yellow and Pink in their merchandise.

When Disney licensed the adult T-shirts that looked like each Ranger, there was red available in Women's sizes and pink available for Men. But at Hot Topic, they only had Pink and Yellow in the women's section and the other four in the men's section.

In the Disney era, it was rare to have the females in any other merchandise. Mystic Force plush dolls had all five just like now with Power Rangers Samurai and also small plush figures. For Power Rangers Samurai, it seems they are being more inclusive like back in the day of MMPR. There is more available, and that is great. But what I think what fans want the most is more figures from Bandai.

Fans are happy that the Yellow Ranger has figures in the MegaBloks line but not so much about Pink. That each Ranger gets a zord set and a hero pack (with cockpit) except for Pink. Yellow gets her zord but not Pink. And so far, it looks like Pink is only getting three figures (Mega mode in blind pack #1, regular form in blind pack #3, and Super Mega mode in Megazord bonus pack) while Yellow has around four or five. MegaBloks has no plans to make a pink Turtle Zord nor a hero pack with cockpit (even though her cockpit is available in the bonus pack).

And as for battlizers, which are usually coveted for Red Ranger (on the show, but now we had Blue and Pink on Samurai) and the male Rangers get their versions in the toys. We got to see promotional photo of Yellow Shogun and saw Pink Shogun in action but none got toys. But in Lost Galaxy and Power Rangers in Space, there were toys that had armors. As for Samurai toy line, we got figures of the girls in regular, Mega and Super Mega but not Super mode. And we did get a figure of female Red Ranger but it was only available in the United Kingdom.

So what fans want are more girl toys in the regular toy line but Bandai knows they don't sell as well as the boy toys. I know this too. I see the girl toys sitting on the shelves. Rita is also sitting there. But it would be nice to have more variety like back in the day. Girls got cycles, armors and sets. I say more girls merch because little girls like Power Rangers too and clothing would be cool. Maybe if the clothing was more unisex and had the whole team instead of just pink and yellow. Luckily coming up with Megaforce, there will be clothing of the pink and yellow  Rangers solo. But Go-Busters (2012 Super Sentai) has only one female and she is yellow no pink. Most likely Go-Busters will be adapted for 2015.

I also say that if they do dolls and merch for girls, they should have them in girls aisle. I think the reason the 'Power Rangers for Girls' toy line did not survive because it was in the boys aisle. They had planned three Zeo Ranger dolls (including Tommy the Red Ranger) but it never happened. That would had been cool. Above is a picture of the Micro Machines Pink Ranger back in the day.

I think more girl toys will sell. If they made cycles and armored figures, they could make a few of them like they do now with the action figures. If they don't sell enough, why not make a whole section in the girl's asile? I know girl superheroes don't sell well (look at Golden Girl, Princess Gwenviere, Sailor Moon, etc.). Or maybe have a limited amount of girls toys but as collectibles or chase figures (like Deker, Camile and other figures that were sold in small quantities). I think an aggressive sell of a girls toy line (one that looked identicial to the regular toy line but in the girls aisle but centered around the female Rangers) would work because Power Rangers is an established brand. It is too bad the female Red Ranger comes in the tail end of the series, because it would had been nice to see a toy line headlined by her. Little girls love Power Rangers. Girls at school are always telling me how they love PR. And I know fellow Power Force member Joe Rovang's girls want superheronies too.

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2010/09/mighty-morphin-power-ranger-girls.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2009/10/chests-in-female-power-ranger-figures.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2011/04/feminine-zords.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2010/03/shades-of-pink.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/02/why-yellow-and-not-pink-in-megabloks.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/07/colors-chosen-for-power-rangers.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2009/10/pink-and-yellow-battlizers.html

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Pretty Cure Magical Girl Series

I cover Tokusatsu, but 'Henshin' also has to do with transformations and technically what follows is a Sentai and done by Toei. I am always interesting in Heronies. For those who don't know, 'Magical Girl' is a genre of Anime and Manga. 'Magical Girl' is about a little girl or teenage girl with some magical friend and magical powers. Sailor Moon changed it by having them fight evil. Some still don't fight evil. But here is a franchise called Pretty Cure and the reason I bring it up is because it usually runs after Kamen Rider on TV Asahi. 

 Futari wa Pretty Cure (2004-2005)

 Futari wa Pretty Cure (Together, We are Pretty Cure) was created by Izumi Todo. The original Pretty Cure series, directed by Daisuke Nishio aired on TV Asahi between February 1, 2004 and January 30, 2005. It is the only Pretty Cure series to date to have received an English language version, which aired in Canada from March 2009. It revolved around two girls, Nagisa Misumi and Honoka Yukishiro, who encounter the Mipple and Mepple, who give them the powers to the fight the Dark Zone: a dimension of evil that has encroached on the Garden of Light and want to do the same to Earth. The initial run of the series has Cure White and Cure Black searching for the Prism Stones, and they place them in a heart-shaped device known as the Prism Hopish. Later in the series, Porun, the Prince of the Garden of Light, grants the Pretty Cure duo use of their Rainbow Bracelets as they defeat the Dark King. The heronies used the color schemes of Black and Pink; and White and Blue. It aired alongside of Dekaranger and Kamen Rider Blade.

Pretty Cure Max Heart (2005-2006)

Pretty Cure Max Heart continues the story when Nagisa and Honoka meet the mysterious Hikari Kujou, revealed to be the "Life" of the Queen with no memory of her life before and powers scattered in the form of the "Heartiel." But as the Pretty Cure duo attempt to find the Heartiel, remnants of the Dark Zone are protecting a mysterious boy suspected to be the "Life" of the Dark King. Cure Black and Cure White fight back these new enemies with Hikari backing them up as Shiny Luminous. It introduces Shiny Luminous/ "Life of the Queen" in human form after the Queen got split apart following her last encounter with the Dark King. Going under the guise of Akane's cousin and working at her takoyaki stand, Hikari enrols into Nagisa and Honoka's middle school two years under them and becomes friends with them. She had a color scheme of Pink and White. Aired alongside of Magiranger and Kamen Rider Hibiki.

Pretty Cure Splash Star (2006-2007)

Saki Hyuuga and Mai Mishou met after they followed glowing balls that flew towards the Sky Tree,  situated on top of a mountain in their town. 5 years later, they met again at the same place and became the new legendary warriors PreCure. Spirits from the Land of Fountains, revealed they chose to protect the Fountain of Sun hidden in Earth. Later they are upgraded from Cure Bloom and cure Egret to Cure Bright and Cure Windy with help from two additional spirits. The villains of this series are the Dark Fall, who are searching for the Fountain of Sun, the last of the seven fountains that feed the source of all life forms for all worlds. Their color schemes are unique as they are not the traditional primary colors. It aired alongside of Boukenger and Kamen Rider Kabuto.

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 (2007-2008)

Nozomi Yumehara finds a magical book and a creature from the Palmier Kingdom. Nozomi decides to help restore his world, which has been destroyed by the Nightmare, by completing the book and finding the 55 Pinkies to make any wish come true. S, she proves she has the heart to be a Pretty Cure and is given her Pinky Catch from a pink butterfly letting her transform into Cure Dream. Meanwhile, the Nightmares are fighting the cures to steal the Dream Collet and defeat Pretty Cure. To help, she chooses a team of four other students. Together with Cure Rouge, Cure Lemonade, Cure Mint and Cure Aqua, they form the Pretty Cure Team. The series has made use of butterflies as the main theme, also to the extent that the girls transform with the phrase "Pretty Cure, Metamorphose!"; which refers back to the butterfly theme. This is the first team of Pretty Cure that is of five and they have the basic Sentai colors. It aired alongside Gekiranger and Kamen Rider Den-O.

Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo! (2008-2009)

In the direct sequel series, the Cure Rose Garden has always been concealed from human eye. However Eternal, an art organization known for amassing treasure and artwork from many worlds, is trying to get to the garden. They first invade the Palmier Kingdom and four other kingdoms. Flora senses the approaching danger and sends a letter to Nozomi and the Pretty Cure 5. Their new mission is to find the four rulers that have fled from their kingdoms since they hold the Rose Garden Keys. To perform this mission, Nozomi and the others regain their ability to transform into PreCure Five. It aired alongside of Go-Onger and Kamen Rider Kiva.

Fresh Pretty Cure (2009-2010)

 This is the first Pretty Cure series to cater in outside the target audiences' age demographic extending beyond young girls. It's also the first to feature more mature-looking characters and Cure costumes which resemble fashionable outfits. All subsequent seasons have followed thus, with due emphasis always paid to costume design. The series's main themes involve traditional playing card suits, as well as fruits and clovers; these symbols and objects are strongly associated with the cures, magical devices and attacks that the series' characters use. Love Momozono is a 14-year-old student at Yotsuba Junior Highschool that tends to care more for others than for herself. One day she visits a show of the famous dance unit "Trinity" and decides to become a dancer, too. On the same event, subordinates of the Labyrinth Kingdom show up who want to collect the unhappiness of the audience. Love gets the power to change into Cure Peach and fights them. Soon after, she is joined by her good friends Miki (Cure Berry), Inori (Cure Pine) to begin her life to protect all worlds and compete in the dance contest. The Pretty Cures are of Pink, Yellow/Orange, Blue and Black/Scarlet. It aired alongside of Shinkenger, Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider Double.

 HeartCatch Pretty Cure (2010-2011)

The series has two main motifs. One is fashion, which is referenced to Tsubomi joining the fashion club, which is part of the storyline. And second is flowers, which are prominent in the naming of numerous characters and items, as well as in the main storyline. Additionally, most episodes contain at least one reference to the language of flowers. In each person resides a Heart Flower, which is connected to the great Heart Tree that watches over everyone. Protecting this tree are the Heartcatch PreCures, who defend it against the Desert Apostles, who plan to wilt everything and turn the world into a desert. However, when the current PreCure, Cure Moonlight, is defeated in battle and the Heart Tree loses its flowers, she sends two fairies to seek out her replacement. They find Tsubomi Hanasaki, a shy new girl to become Cure Blossom. Joined by her new friend, Erika Kurumi, who becomes Cure Marine, they fight against the Desert Apostles who transform the wilting Heart Flowers inside people into monsters known as Desertarians. By defeating these monsters, they gain Heart Seeds which allow the Heart Tree to become healthier again. There is four Pretty Cures in this series: Pink, Blue, Yellow and Purple. It aired alongside of Goseiger, Kamen Rider Double, and Kamen Rider OOO.

 Suite Pretty Cure♪ (2011-2012)

Produced by Toei Animation, the series is directed by Munehisa Sakai, who directed the One Piece anime series and character designs by Akira Takahashi, who previously worked on Kaidan Restaurant. A manga adaptation is also being serialised in Kodansha's monthly Nakayoshi magazine.  The series theme is music, which are prominent to the names of the Cures and the magical devices they use. In Major Land, a Melody of Happiness is due to be played, spreading happiness throughout the world. However, an evil Mephisto steals the Legendary Score, plotting to turn it into a Melody of Sorrow to spread sadness. Aphrodite, the queen of Major Land, scatters the Notes that make up the Legendary Score into the human world and sends a fairy to Kanon Town in order to recover them. There, she meets two girls, Hibiki Hojo and Kanade Minamino, who are chosen to become the Suite Pretty Cure in order to recover the missing Notes and protect everyone's happiness. The Pretty Cures are Pink, White, Blue and Black. It alongside of Gokaiger, Kamen Rider OOO and Fourze. 

Smile Pretty Cure! (2012-Now)

The series is written by Shōji Yonemura, who is best known as the head writer of Glass Fleet and Kamen Rider Kabuto. It started airing in February, alongside Go-Busters and Kamen Rider Fourze and soon Wizard. The kingdom of Märchenland, where various characters from fairy tales reside, is attacked by Pierrot, the emperor of the Bad End Kingdom, who seeks to direct the world towards its worst ending and steals the Cure Decors, which power Royale, Queen of Märchenland. Using the last of her energy, Royale manages to seal Pierrot away. However, his minions seek to revive Pierrot by harnessing the Bad Energy from Earthlings. Royale orders a fairy to search for five legendary warriors, the Pretty Cures. Arriving in the town of Nanairogaoka, she encounters Miyuki Hoshizora, a new transfer student, who soon gains the power to become Cure Happy. Joined by her new friends become Cure Sunny, Cure Peace, Cure March and Cure Beauty respectively. The team colors are Pink, Orange, Green, Yellow and Blue.

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