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Interest | Anything Goes... || Exit | Areas of
Interest | Anything Goes... |The popular TV series, Power Rangers, started airing in August of 1993 and has had ten seasons with over 440 episodes so far.
Did you know that the series is not an American original but is based on many long running Japanese TV series, collectively called Sentai or Super Sentai? The origin of those original Japanese series dates back to about 1974, and since 1979, they have gone on continuously and still going today. Starting with the fourth season Power Rangers (1996), characters' costumes have been changed every season. The looks must be an important factor in the series.
What interests me is the striking similarity between Power Rangers characters' costumes and today's sportbike riders' protective gear with helmets, gloves, boots, and leather racing suits.
Do you think the Japanese motorcycle industry was involved in producing the original Japanese series, collectively called Sentai and Super Setntai and the inception of Power Rangers series in the U.S. to promote the looks of protective gear they planned to sell to the future younger riders? As you know, children are very impressionable. If they grow up enjoying watching Power Rangers thinking how "cool" those characters look, wouldn't it be natural for them to want to look like them? At least, they wouldn't have much trouble accepting the looks, would they?
Satisfied that the looks of sportbike riders seem well accepted in our society, the Japanese motorcycle industry may push certain lines of their bikes next. The 2003 Power Rangers incarnation will be called Power Rangers Ninja Storm. There's a word which is the name of Kawasaki's sportbike line. Will the 2004 incarnation be called Power Rangers Gixxer Something? Being the two smallest of the Big Four, when Japanese economy is so slow, Kawasaki and Suzuki will welcome a little boost in the sales of their sportbikes.
Of course, even I think all this is too far-fetched, but look at the pictures below:
