Is the Neo-Saban era of Power Rangers Really That Bad?!

What I have been finding peculiar about the reaction towards the end of Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel and the official conclusion for the Neo-Saban era, is that many people considered this era to be the absolute worst era of Power Rangers, or that it "killed the franchise". Uhm, yeah. Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't we had that same reaction when Disney had the rights to the franchise for the past six years at the time?! So, what exactly was so pain-inducing about this era?! I mean, so far. We haven't had a really good start with Samurai and Super Samurai, despite the fact that it did managed to bring Power Rangers back on the map with higher TV ratings than RPM's abysmal time schedule and lack of promotion. And with Megaforce and Super Megaforce both sharing the same "20th anniversary" treatment, since one season aired on the actual 20th anniversary year of Power Rangers, and the other just suddenly got to anniversary stuff in the franchise's 21st year. But, even so. Megaforce and Super Megaforce were a huge letdown since it didn't really had that same caliber of being "so bad, it's good" in comparison to Samurai and Super Samurai. It was only necessary to say that Megaforce and Super Megaforce were a cheap attempt to cash in on childhood nostalgia without ever understanding why people even talk about Power Rangers to this day, or why it's important to acknowledge that the past seasons do matter and how much of an impact they have on those who have actually seen those past 17 seasons before when they were younger. They didn't really do anything but just make everyone think that this is what actually happened in one of those past seasons of Power Rangers, when in reality, no...that's not how it actually went in a season like Mystic Force, or RPM, or Dino Thunder, or in Wild Force for that matter. And for anyone who has actually seen those past seasons of Power Rangers, they know what they're talking about. And you would think that the people who actually made the 20th anniversary TV series would care about all of that, or at least put in any form of effort to show that they actually give a damn about this franchise and the people who actually support it as well as the past actors and crewmembers. But, they didn't. They just wanted to be lazy at their jobs and put in no effort of being creative at all "because it's Power Rangers!" And that's not what we wanted to see in Power Rangers. We don't want laziness, we want to see actual effort and creativity being put into these kind of seasons, if a company like Saban Brands want to keep the franchise going. That and some logical consistency and decent writing that makes sense. Seriously, what kind of fans do you take us for at that time, Saban Brands?!

Now, admittedly, we did get some form of improvement in the next season, Dino Charge, acting-wise. But, quality-wise...it's still the exact same crap that we have gotten from Samurai/Super Samurai and Megaforce/Super Megaforce. So, despite the fact that Dino Charge felt like a breath of fresh air in its' first half of 22 episodes, it still suffers from the exact same poor quality as the last four seasons have. And Dino Super Charge was an even bigger step down after its' fourth episode. And it was getting worse once we got to the season finale, to the point where everybody was trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the show and what's going to happen to past like Dino Thunder and season one of MMPR. Only to reach to an unsatisfying conclusion that Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge should exist outside of the main Power Rangers universe, similar to RPM because of the unholy, confusing finale of Dino Super Charge.

And with that out the way, let's talk about Ninja Steel and Super Ninja Steel....

Now, I am not gonna sugarcoat it, people. I don't know what the hell Saban Brands was thinking when they were incorporating the reality game show aspects with the whole ninja aesthetics from Ninninger. Yeah, an intergalactic reality TV game show and ninjas don't seem to go together. Especially, if the main villains are based off of Japanese yokai myths. And then there is the idea of having the command center being moved inside the high school instead of moving it to the abandoned Romero family barn. But, yeah. The story got even worse when they allowed a 20 year-old famous county-singer to attend high school. And while the second season, "Super Ninja Steel" was okay in my opinion. I can't really say that it was a great season. Nor do I thought that it was the worst season of Power Rangers.

So, what all that said. Is the Neo-Saban era of Power Rangers really that bad?! Well, only the first seasons of this era (Samurai to Super Megaforce) are just straight-up embarrassing for me to watch. And with Dino Charge's first 20 episodes being considered as the least-awful episodes of the Neo-Saban era. I honestly can't say that this era is the absolute worst era of Power Rangers. It's more like a below-average era of the franchise. Like a "D-" level of below-average. And with Ninja Steel and Super Ninja Steel having to be ranked than Dino Super Charge as being bad seasons in my opinion, it just goes to show you that maybe Saban Brands shouldn't have gotten the rights to Power Rangers back from Disney in the first-place and that maybe Disney should have given Power Rangers to Hasbro from the beginning.

But, I digress. At the end of the day, it's just another incarnation of Power Rangers that probably will be ridiculed and mocked by so many fans in the future for its' negative impact on the franchise and for constantly banking on the MMPR season one nostalgia. Much like how the Disney-era is being mocked and rediculed of its' emphasis on Kalishplosions and laser sound effects when ever character punch, or kick something or are constantly jumping in the air with wire-fu and how season one of MMPR is being mocked and rediculed of its' infamous whooshing, and hii-yahs and head-bobbing.

At least until we get to the Hasbro-era...but, that is a story for another day.