- AKA
- Tim, Ryu
So, Super Sentai for those not familiar, is a very long running tokusatsu superhero franchise in Japan. At least one show has graced Japanese broadcasts since 1975's Gorenger. People in the west might know it as the series that Power Rangers takes its props and footage from (Hilariously, Power Rangers is also very popular in Japan.), It's also been very influential on other japanese media for a long time. It's probably most comparable to the big two's comic books as far as cultural osmosis goes.
This cultural cache extends several times to references and themes in video games. For example, the Persona series has a long running reference to Featherman, which is an episode for episode tribute to the sentai series Jetman, and these sentai have made some sort of appearance in all the mainline titles, as masks, as the series, as figurines, or unlockable costumes, etc.
Do I think Rebirth is styled after a Sentai team? Not even remotely. What I do think is that it would be hilarious to think of them as such.
So, the basic "rules" of Sentai for some understanding. Teams are often five people, but there can be additional heroes or rangers and a teams of up to 9 and as few as 3 have existed. Each member of the team has a key color. This will often be reflected in their civilian wardrobe somehow. The main character wears red. He- and it has always been a he because Sentai sees young boys as primary demographic and girls as secondary - is the main character and almost always the team leader, even if he's not suited for it. Color meanings are not fixed, but tend to have patterns. Like pink is always someone nurturing, yellow is strong, black tends to be cunning, green is often but not always nature focused, blue is often a goofball, things like that.
Teams also have a name and a theme. For example, Jetman is the soaring human squadron Jetman, Zyuranger (what became power rangers) is the Dinosaur Squadron, etc.
All that preamble out of the way, here's my proposal for Planetary Rescue Squadron Avaranger.
Cloud is our Red Ranger. If he wasn't he might be our yellow or possibly our black ranger due to being a longer type, but no, he's our hero. He wields a special sword. That's basically reserved for Reds and special heroes with like one exception. Anyways, Zack would have absolutely been a red ranger, so Cloud is definitely a successor Red not sure he's doing the job right.
Tifa is a White Ranger- It fits her color scheme and female white rangers have been associated with mermaids and fight with claw weapons, so yeah.
Barret could go a few places. He's the big tough dude and very expressive, so he could go yellow, he's very focused on nature, so he could be green. I think I'm going to let him have Green Ranger status here. No big reason.
Aerith is a fucking pink ranger are you kidding me next. But her existing coloration aside, her personality as the genki girly one also fits.
Red ought to be the Red Ranger but since he's not, he might also fit as a yellow ranger - tough, connection with nature - or orange - very intelligent. I will give him orange.
Yuffie is a blue ranger. Let me correct that. Yuffie is so much Blue Swallow from Jetman it's ridiculous and she's a big part of why I wrote this list. Like if Nojima said "I based Yuffie on her" tomorrow I would not bat an eye. If you make her comedic focus on money into Materia, it's crazy how well they line up, especially given Yuffie's newfound propensity to sing in Rebirth.
Cait Sith is not a ranger. Instead he's a mentor figure and a special hero. Mentor figures in Sentai mean "I am not a ranger but I often give the rangers their tools and help them behind the scenes with technology and support" which very much fits Reeve's MO in Rebirth.
Vincent is our Black Ranger. He's a loner, he's keeping you at a distance, but his heart's in the right place.
Cid is... hell if I know. Silver ranger, maybe? As the last joining party member he feels like he would have an extra ranger style color, plus coming with his own vehicle.
The turks are also clearly a semi-villainous sentai team, and Gilgamesh in Rebirth has the feel of a tokusatsu monster suit.
Any other thoughts? Shall I continue this absurd thought experiment?
This cultural cache extends several times to references and themes in video games. For example, the Persona series has a long running reference to Featherman, which is an episode for episode tribute to the sentai series Jetman, and these sentai have made some sort of appearance in all the mainline titles, as masks, as the series, as figurines, or unlockable costumes, etc.
Do I think Rebirth is styled after a Sentai team? Not even remotely. What I do think is that it would be hilarious to think of them as such.
So, the basic "rules" of Sentai for some understanding. Teams are often five people, but there can be additional heroes or rangers and a teams of up to 9 and as few as 3 have existed. Each member of the team has a key color. This will often be reflected in their civilian wardrobe somehow. The main character wears red. He- and it has always been a he because Sentai sees young boys as primary demographic and girls as secondary - is the main character and almost always the team leader, even if he's not suited for it. Color meanings are not fixed, but tend to have patterns. Like pink is always someone nurturing, yellow is strong, black tends to be cunning, green is often but not always nature focused, blue is often a goofball, things like that.
Teams also have a name and a theme. For example, Jetman is the soaring human squadron Jetman, Zyuranger (what became power rangers) is the Dinosaur Squadron, etc.
All that preamble out of the way, here's my proposal for Planetary Rescue Squadron Avaranger.
Cloud is our Red Ranger. If he wasn't he might be our yellow or possibly our black ranger due to being a longer type, but no, he's our hero. He wields a special sword. That's basically reserved for Reds and special heroes with like one exception. Anyways, Zack would have absolutely been a red ranger, so Cloud is definitely a successor Red not sure he's doing the job right.
Tifa is a White Ranger- It fits her color scheme and female white rangers have been associated with mermaids and fight with claw weapons, so yeah.
Barret could go a few places. He's the big tough dude and very expressive, so he could go yellow, he's very focused on nature, so he could be green. I think I'm going to let him have Green Ranger status here. No big reason.
Aerith is a fucking pink ranger are you kidding me next. But her existing coloration aside, her personality as the genki girly one also fits.
Red ought to be the Red Ranger but since he's not, he might also fit as a yellow ranger - tough, connection with nature - or orange - very intelligent. I will give him orange.
Yuffie is a blue ranger. Let me correct that. Yuffie is so much Blue Swallow from Jetman it's ridiculous and she's a big part of why I wrote this list. Like if Nojima said "I based Yuffie on her" tomorrow I would not bat an eye. If you make her comedic focus on money into Materia, it's crazy how well they line up, especially given Yuffie's newfound propensity to sing in Rebirth.
Cait Sith is not a ranger. Instead he's a mentor figure and a special hero. Mentor figures in Sentai mean "I am not a ranger but I often give the rangers their tools and help them behind the scenes with technology and support" which very much fits Reeve's MO in Rebirth.
Vincent is our Black Ranger. He's a loner, he's keeping you at a distance, but his heart's in the right place.
Cid is... hell if I know. Silver ranger, maybe? As the last joining party member he feels like he would have an extra ranger style color, plus coming with his own vehicle.
The turks are also clearly a semi-villainous sentai team, and Gilgamesh in Rebirth has the feel of a tokusatsu monster suit.
Any other thoughts? Shall I continue this absurd thought experiment?
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