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Lost & Found in Translation

Revision as of 02:21, 26 April 2020 by DiamondStarHalo (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Notes)
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Icon-abarangerThis article is about an episode in Power Rangers Dino Thunder.

Lost & Found in Translation is the ninteenth episode of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. It is a tribute to Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, as well as the Super Sentai franchise in general.

Synopsis

When Conner, Ethan, and Kira find a show about Power Rangers in Japan, Conner is appalled at its portrayal of them. Meanwhile, the Japanese Power Rangers must go up against a money hungry monster named Ka-Ching.

Plot

Late at night, at the Cyberspace, Conner and Kira arrive following the sound of the TV turned on, and find Ethan watching it. He explains that, thanks to the new satellite antenna bought by Hayley, they now have access to over 900 different channels from the entire world. Conner, not as enthusiastic as him, reminds Ethan they have a social studies assignment to do. As he starts to leave, Ethan, surfing through the channels, finds a Japanese show depicting the Power Rangers. While Kira is enthusiastic and Ethan, curious, Conner is skeptical about it because, as it is not an American program, they would portray the Rangers very inaccurately. Even so, he stays when Kira convinces him to keep watching so as to back up his claim.

The first scene shows the Japanese Rangers, in their civilian forms, cooking some curry, when Kenny, the Blue Ranger comes in and reads in a newspaper of baseball player Whacker Wilson's visit to Japan. He complains about American athletes being greedy, then offers to make curry for his teammates when Red Ranger  complains about Yellow Ranger's curry being too spicy.

At this point, Conner, outraged, turns off the TV, complaining that the Rangers on the TV look nothing like they do, even when Ethan reminds him that no one really knows who the Rangers are. Kira points out that different things don't necessarily amount to bad work, and Ethan, who states to have liked his counterpart despite the glaring difference, turns the TV back on.

At the villains's lair, they plot against the Power Rangers with a plan revolving around bad hair - specifically mushroom heads which, while old-fashioned, is stated to be evil. Though Conner is visibly annoyed by this, Kira finds herself amused.

In the next scene, Kenny's curry is ready - an odd dish with a pineapple in the middle. The other Rangers try to dodge it by giving it to a friend of their, Mr. O'Shaughnessey, to eat it, but he soon passes it on to Mikey, the Black Ranger, who eagerly and unsuspectingly eats it. He soon gets sick, as the emergency alarm flashes. Due to his sickness, Mikey is unavailable to fight, so the other three Rangers go on to fight, asking their friend to "clean up after him" when he is done.

In the next scene, the monster - an improbable combination of "mushroom, bear and ATM machine", as Conner points out - is wreaking havoc on the city. While Conner comments on the absurdity of the creature, Kira is quick to shoot him down by reminding him of the monsters they've been fighting themselves. The monster, called Ka-Ching, uses his mushrooms to grow mushroom head wigs on people and make them greedy. The Power Rangers soon show up to stop the monster, morphing into action, surprising Ethan and Kira as to the morph's accuracy. Conner meanwhile comments they will finally get some action. Ka-Ching has plans for the Rangers involving turning them into the Wig Rangers, complete with an imagine spot. Conner, outraged, thinks they are making fun of them and decides to leave. Even though the others try to convince him to stay, he goes, but Ethan knows he will return because he forgot his backpack.

On the TV, the Rangers are saved by a bystander, who uses a baseball bat to rebound one of Ka-Ching's mushrooms back at him, growing a mushroom head on him as the Triptoids laugh at him. After the monster leaves with the Triptoids, Kenny recognizes the bystander as Whacker Wilson, the baseball player. Whacker, who has an injury on his back that prevents him from playing, is searching for a famous chiropractor who lives in Japan, called Kenny Yukito, who happens to be the Blue Ranger. 

Sure enough, Conner comes back, and decides to get back to watching it, as Kenny is fixing Whacker's back. Red and Yellow Rangers are nearby, commenting whether Whacker plays only for the money or he likes the sport. After Kenny is done with his job, Whacker is so grateful that he tries to convince him to use his talents to become wealthy, but he turns him off, explaining that being Blue Ranger is what's most important to him. When Ka-Ching shows up and fools Whacker into getting autograph from baseball player and then infecting Wilson with a wig, Conner gets enraged with the writers making American sports heroes appear gullible and self centered, going so far as to block the TV from Ethan and Kira's view. Kira says he is overreacting because it's just a TV show, and he doesn't even know if the entire series is like this, and Ethan suggests he watches it to the end and only form a concrete opinion then. Begrudgingly, Conner accepts. 

Back to the show, Whacker Wilson tries to push a lot of money onto Kenny, who steadfastly refuses, until he notices there's a mushroom wig on Whacker, who reveals he won lots of money in a home-run derby by bribing the pitcher, and keeps trying to state the point that only money can make one happy, something which disgusts Kenny further as he throws Whacker's money away. And it appears that Whacker's not the only one being affected: the wigs are making everyone money hungry. Kenny tries to make Whacker come to his senses, but Ka-Ching punches him away and shoots enough coins to bury him. At this point, Conner's interest seems to get piqued, and it grows steadily when Kenny transforms into the Blue Ranger and breaks out of his predicament as the other Rangers join him. 

As the Power Rangers face off against Ka-Ching's money attack, Red Ranger makes an inappropriate joke about getting paid by the monster, something Conner actually finds funny. Mikey shows up to help, bringing giant piggy banks to catch the money with. However, Ka-Ching's attack proves to be too much for them and they are struck down. Just then, Whacker comes by again offering his money bags. Remembering how Whacker batted Ka-Ching's mushroom before, Kenny pitches his piggy bank to Whacker, in hopes that he really does love baseball more than money. Suddenly, Whacker whips out his bat and bats his piggy bank back, straight into Ka-Ching, who gets knocked unconscious. He soon wakes up and strikes the Rangers viciously, prompting them to use the Z-Rex Blaster to destroy Ka-Ching. Conner gets caught up in the excitement of the Power Rangers's victory, admitting that it was "cool" after all and thus changing his opinion about the Japanese Rangers, with Kira making the point that they are not much different from themselves - it's just a matter of perspective.

The next day, Conner gets to write his social studies paper: he has written about the proximity between Japanese and American cultures, having caught a rerun of the episode as he explains to Ethan and Kira that he did so from his standpoint as a spectator: starting out skeptical, but getting into it later ("without getting too specific", as Ethan adds). The adventures of the Power Rangers continue in Japan, as other youngsters at Cyberspace come to watch them.

Cast

Notes

  • Jason David Frank (Tommy), Jeffrey Parazzo (Trent), Latham Gaines (Mesogog) and Miriama Smith (Elsa) do not appear in this episode.
    • Unless Jannu and Lije or Dezumozorlya are counted as counterparts for Elsa or Mesogog, Tommy's counterpart is the only one who appears in this episode.
  • None of the regular Rangers appear morphed in this episode.
  • The episode Conner, Ethan, and Kira were watching was Episode 10 of Dino Thunder's Super Sentai equivalent Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, Abare Leaguer Bind. The Abaranger episode had several minutes of footage cut (some of the more significant scenes cut were of Asuka in the bathroom after the eating the Curry Fruit, a policeman attacked by the monster having a gun in hand at all times, Super Dino Mode battle, and the entire Zord sequence) and replaced with the Dino Thunder Rangers making comments. Most of Abare Leaguer Bind's dialogue was completely changed, part of which included all of the original names for the weapons and attacks being changed to the Dino Thunder names (including calling the Abarangers "Dino Power Rangers"). Many Sentai fans criticized Disney for the dub, stating that it was a mockery of the Sentai franchise and made it seem like Sentai was based off of Power Rangers (in truth, it is the exact opposite). On the other hand, some Sentai fans actually compliment the episode, seeing it as an amusing nod toward PR's source material.
    • Only Yukito, Bucky Bonds, and Asuka are named in the dub (Kenny, Whacker Wilson, and Mikey, respectively). The Barmia Soldiers are called Triptoids, but that would likely be considered a term akin to the names for the weapons (ex. Dino Bomber = Z-Rex Blaster). Yukito is the only one to retain his original name, with his given name Yukito becoming Kenny's family name.
    • This parody dub of Abaranger is reminiscent of the real-life parody dub of Kagaku Sentai Dynaman shown on USA Network's Night Flight and alternately Nickelodeon's Special Delivery in 1987-88.
  • Kenny Yukito (the Blue Ranger) was voiced by Jorgito Vargas, Jr who played Blake in Power Rangers Ninja Storm, while the unnamed Yellow Ranger was voiced by Morgan Reese Fairhead, who played Kylee Styles (coincidentally, a friend of Kira's) from Diva in Distress.
  • None of the Abaranger actors are credited in the episode.
  • In the beginning of the episode, when Ethan is surfing the channels on the TV, there is an image of the planet Onyx on the screen.
  • This episode is the first that two of the major minion characters, Creative Messenger Mikela and Visionary Messenger Voffa, appears in Dino Thunder. The next episode they appear in was during the "Thunder Storm" two-parter, where they are the servants of the space ninja Lothor (where Douglas Sloan called these servants "Izzy" and "Pupperazi" respectively).
  • Due to the nature of this episode, this is the first time music from Super Sentai is heard in Power Rangers. The next time would be a little less than 11 years later (coincidentally, during the next dinosaur themed season) in A Fool's Hour, albeit hummed by Koda instead of the actual music.
  • In a way, Abaranger would probably be as accurate a television show about the Dino Rangers could be (disregarding both being television shows and Abaranger coming first): while the Dino Rangers and the viewers know the Japanese television was not entirely accurate, someone in Dino Thunder's universe outside the Rangers and villains' circle would only know about the battles and what was said during the battles. Everything else, including the unmorphed Rangers' names and the Blue Ranger's occupation, would be conjecture, especially to someone not even in Reefside. Even the TV Dino Rangers' use of "Dino Thunder, Power Up" could've been overheard (hence Kira and Ethan's shock) or just a good guess.
  • While Dino Thunder adapts the Abaranger episodes in order, this episode replaces the crossover episode that features the characters from Tsuribaka Nisshi, the anime that wasn't dubbed in the United States. The second part of the crossover, however, would be partly adapted into the following episode.

See Also

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