Bah, this is just a comparison and for funsies. I like both series anyway. I don't want to harp on anyone. Again, because SSTR and PWTF are written for totally different audiences and culture in mind, I won't go into any of the -isms.
Writing
It's like comparing apples and oranges. However, if I were to pick the better written overall, it's Timeranger. Time Force didn't have much development on some characters' end, namely Lucas and Katie. There are development there but not as much that provide as well as their counterparts in Timeranger. Sometimes, certain development that should follow a certain path would not fall into that path like Ransik for example.
As extremely well-done the acting Vernon Wells put into Ransik, the writing is not quite up to par. I love his relationship with his daughter, no doubt and I love his humanity. Some of his actions did not say this unless we go into the mind of Ransik which the show didn't go into.
Unlike other PR adaptations of SS like Samurai and Megaforce, it's far better than expected. Now TF is far more ambiguous at the ending whereas Timeranger is always going to end up bittersweet. The Americans wanted happy endings.
Additionally, the circumstances between Alex and Ryuya are very different. While the writing of Time Force did not really do well unless Alex is just very strict to the rules. I find it dubious that Jen didn't know this side to Alex during her time dating. On the other hand, Ryuya has a different relationship with the rest of the rangers from the start. Even disregarding the beginning where it was apparently not Ryuya in the first place except it kinda is since he was the bigger bad behind what happened.
I seriously wonder what if Time Force kept Ryuya's villainy for Alex. Ryuya wanted to save his own life at the price of so many including Naoto. I think it would break Jen's heart if her hand was forced to kill Alex in the end. And Time Force would be forced to cover up Alex's crimes as he was supposedly one of the saviors. It would make Time Force's adaptation to spare Eric much more ironic, given that Naoto died. It would certainly be a stab to Alex, even if he did die in the end. What if he did take the Quantum Morpher instead of Eric and survived or would he still die?
Pah, I just don't mind that PRTF chose to make Alex's counterpart much more heroic despite the potential angst. I just have a problem with having Alex depicted as such a jerk when there shouldn't be the need to be. The difference between Ryuya and Alex returning to the past is that Ryuya has a much different goal in mind and the Rangers did not know Ryuya's personality. I don't mind sparing Eric because Dan Southworth is a fantastic actor in the show. His later appearances in the Wild Force crossover showcased another one of that performance. I don't mind it, given how much it's something that worked for Time Force.
Even then, don't forget the differences between Katie and Lucas and Trip with their Sentai counterparts. Hell, Domon has a story arc, unlike Katie. I like Katie, she's awesome. But she doesn't have a strong arc like Jen. Even Nadira has an arc. Katie is a good character but doesn't have a strong arc or even a well-written static character in the likes of Toph. Lucas' counterpart had an arc, mainly because he was deadly sick.
A major problem with Power Rangers and Super Sentai is that there are neglected Rangers in terms of a story arc. Typically, those are in the more average seasons - such as Goseiger and Mystic Force. They have strong and good characters with great personalities that the actors can work with but in little ways with an actual story like background.
Then there is Frax and his counterpart. Both counterparts are tragic in different ways. Either way, both are so sad that they don't deserve more pain in their suffering. It's just sad that Frax ended up destroyed. I don't know if that was a mercy kill or not, especially since the Rangers definitely did not know that bit of backstory. Frax just had a lobotomy that destroyed his remaining humanity.
Nadira's counterpart did little to affect the plot in any major way. But even Nadira's role was mainly to play Daddy's little girl and villain. She's less pure evil and more spoiled. She has a kinder side to her that took some time since all she knew was her dad's villainy. She has some personality and character though. She wasn't defined entirely by her father though as she does resist her father.
As for Gluto, his counterpart in Time Force was not intelligent and did not affect the plot in any grand way. Gluto was Timerangers' main antagonist in the series before the reveal of Ryuya as the true Big Bad.
I think a major difference between these two series is that Time Force presented itself as a utopia with no criminals left. Think of it as Star Trek without the space exploration...although I do think humans had made contact with aliens for centuries already since the MMPR days. In contrast, Timeranger is always presented as this craptastic world. I would like to remind you that the aliens aren't from an entire prison but from a prison ship that Gluto hijacked. It is one section. The implications of dystopia are still there but it's always presented itself as a better future for everyone whereas Timeranger and Star Trek made it pretty damn clear that for all its innovations and obvious less -isms, there are still -isms. Hell, aliens were the ones that were basically imprisoned by turning into toys.
Timeranger actually went into the changes made by the Timerangers in the past. Time Force brought it up by Alex but never once went deep into it. I just wished that part was expanded upon. That would be awesome to go into that. We actually know the changes that went on due to the interventions in the past such as a cure for TimeBlue and a time of suspension for TimeYellow and TimePink's families living instead of dying. Time Force's timeline looked like it barely changed at all when Timeranger's timeline had changed.
Hey, in comparison to those seasons that stick way too close to the Sentai without taking consideration of character or creativity, Time Force is better than Megaforce. Anything is better than Megaforce or at least the Super season.
Acting
Although I seriously wonder why award-winning and some people who are better like Vernon Wells doing in Power Rangers? It's like watching Meryl Streep in a bad B-slasher movie. Why on earth are actors who had a better scale of acting jobs - for the love of Godoka, Edward Albert earned a fucking Golden Globe - than Power Rangers? Power Rangers, this campy and cheesy goodness...that admittedly evolved throughout the years at least until certain people won't allow creativity. But still a Golden Globe-winning actor and an actor who had been in Mad Max with relatively unknown actors or actors who did not gain lots of traction. I know that nobody expected Power Rangers to rocket into pop culture when it was initially released. But do I have to remind you that Power Rangers, no matter how good a season, was never quite as pervasive as The Twilight Zone? Seriously, I saw one episode of The Twilight Zone and fell in love with it in middle school. One of my English teachers in middle school showed it to the class for some kind of analysis, I think.
I'm digressing.
The acting in Time Force has some good acting chops. A prime demonstration of acting is encapsulated at the moment Jen meets Wes for the first time. There are many good moments of incredible acting in the series that we would be here all day in this section.
Dan Southworth is worth mentioning since he has been auditioning since the MMPR days. I'm actually glad about that since Dan would outshine a good lot of the cast. Power Rangers' acting tends to be more serviceable than anything else. Seriously, if Dan had been cast as Adam, he would work it despite the little material he had. He would stick out from Rocky's actor a lot. Eric, on the other hand, is something Dan could put to potential, highlighting his talent. In a show of good actors, he would shine just as much as the rest of them rather than outshining. There are decent cast members in TF such as Lucas.
If you want to see good actors stick out like sore thumbs in Power Rangers, look no further than the Lightspeed Rescue and Time Force crossover. Even if we just contrast the acting of Vypra and Ransik and Nadira, the difference was stark. And that was when Vypra's actor had improved but not so much to actually stand out from the actual good acting of Vernon Wells. Power Rangers' typical performances, especially those with not much to go on due to their writing, are serviceable. Amy Jo Johnson has a lot more to work with as her character developed beyond the original concept of a valley girl. Hell, Jason David Frank's Tommy Oliver has a lot of material to work with - see his battle inside the mind with his previous colors.
Again, why the hell are extremely good actors, or at least actors who should have better paygrade than Power Rangers as in this ridiculous show that is so cheesy and hammy that flips the bird at science and perfectly willing to let their space-time continuum die in its own blood? I don't know why Judd Lynn would go out of his way to do the former. Even when Dino Charge is revealed to be an alternate universe, you shouldn't kill the space-time continuum that Pokemon looks easier to live with? Look, I would not mind being in the actual show itself but I'd rather not waste money going to New Zealand just to audition.
There is seemingly a lot of material that these actors can use. Whereas Trip, Lucas, and Katie did not have that much material to work with as opposed to their counterparts who have a lot to work with, these actors did do their best.
The chemistry of the Time Force cast had been well-noted. To the point, the entire cast exempting the dead ones would've come back for the Wild Force crossover.
Overall
I don't want to choose one over the other with the exception of some cases. But even then, I would just shrug them off at this point.
Now I didn't tackle any of -isms and -phobias in this post. If I were to do that, I'll make a separate post for that. Because if I want to tackle social issues nowadays, it's on a separate post dedicated to it or an addendum.
Both series aren't perfect. Nowadays, it's hard to even enjoy a series without people putting social issues first before their story - looking at you, Steven Universe who is really dragging the story beyond its shelf life and make things realistic than in-character. The irony is that the Pokemon anime doesn't have the same problem as SU at all. Please normalize those people first and don't draw too much attention to it unless it is the central/one of the theme you are tackling and don't make these characters mouthpieces instead of actual people with morals and personality. Don't hit these people over the head with the three-by-four on the social issues; don't treat your audience like goldfish.
The next post coming up is on Pokemon AUs.
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