Hello there, everyone, and welcome to another entry in my Inspired Sources, Changing Forces series, where I analyze adaptations, localizations, and how things are changed in the process.
Today, I’m doing another Sentai to Power Rangers one— Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger to Power Rangers S.P.D. once again. If you’d like to see my analysis of the first episodes, you can see it here.
This time, I will be analyzing Dekaranger Episode 4 “Cyber Dive” versus S.P.D. Episode 16 “Boom.” And if you’re asking why I’m comparing two episodes that are that far apart, it’s because they held all the Sentai footage and plot from “Cyber Dive” till then.
“Cyber Dive” is a sequel to the previous episode, “Perfect Blue.” DekaBlue Houji “Hoji” Tomasu made his first mistake in his policing career by not realizing that a woman he rescued was a fake meant to lull them into a false sense of security, and he’s struggling to accept that he’s not perfect so he can recover and fix his mistake, and DekaRed Banban “Ban” Akaza has to snap him out of it, while DekaGreen Senichi “Sen-chan” Enari, DekaYellow Marika “Jasmine” Reimon, and DekaPink Koume “Umeko” Kodou try to figure out where the culprit went.
Hoji being depressed about his failure.
Meanwhile, “Boom” is the only episode in S.P.D. to star Kat’s assistant, Boom. The plot is significantly more comedic, with it being revealed that Boom has been lying to his parents about his job— he told them he was a Power Ranger, rather than a gadget tester. His parents are coming by to see him, and he begs Green Ranger Bridge Carson, Yellow Ranger Elizabeth “Z” Delgado, and Pink Ranger Sydney “Syd” Drew to help him keep the lie up while Red Ranger Jack Landors and Blue Ranger Schuyler “Sky” Tate are kidnapped on a routine patrol and sent through many dimensions.
Boom, dreaming of being the S.P.D. Orange Ranger.
Plot Changes
Now as I’m sure you could see from the episode descriptions, the plots are almost completely distinct. These episodes share the fight scenes and the Red and Blue rangers getting sent into a computer, that’s all.
And the scenarios that they used to enter are completely different as well. Ban and Hoji went in voluntarily to rescue a kidnapped woman and find a stolen item, while Jack and Sky were kidnapped while investigating an energy surge.
Even the fight scenes’ context changes significantly with that, where Jack and Sky are trying to escape this computerized dimension while Ban and Hoji are chasing the criminal through the many worlds that they get sent between while the criminal tries to take them down.
Hoji and Ban after saving Erika, the kidnapped woman.
Jack and Sky trying to escape.
Characterization Changes
The characterization also changes between the Blues specifically, as “Cyber Dive” was an episode that centered Hoji while “Boom” has almost nothing to do with Sky. Hoji is having a mental breakdown for most of the episode, as he has severe perfectionist tendencies. He made a severe mistake in the episode prior, and “Cyber Dive” is the fallout from it. Hoji is assigned to try and do some internet research to try and find the villain, but he mistypes the password and proceeds to break down almost entirely. Ban tries to snap him out of it, and eventually snaps at him about how he’s acting sorry for himself over making one mistake and tries to do Hoji’s assignment himself— making many, many mistakes along the way until Hoji gets his groove back and finds where the culprit has been hiding.
When they get sent in to find the culprit, they end up making a bet— whoever takes down the culprit gets a free dinner paid for by the other. And after it’s over, they can’t decide on who won the bet, so they get into another brawl to decide who’s paying.
Meanwhile, Jack and Sky have almost no focus in Boom despite having the most fight scenes. Their capture is mostly a carry-over from Dekaranger. And despite their relationship usually being more fraught due to their mutual dislike of each other, Jack and Sky’s relationship is significantly more cordial than Ban and Hoji’s in this episode— even teaming up to get a big hit on the culprit at the end.
Ban dropkicking Hoji out of his chair.
Jack and Sky teaming up to hit the monster of the week.
In fact, if you do a direct comparison of some of the fight scenes, you notice quite a few minor changes. For example, Hoji takes a spear to the shoulder while Sky blocks it. The dialogue also changes significantly between the two, and there’s the obvious differences in the transformation scenes.
(Dekaranger subtitles by Over-Time Subs)
Bridge, Syd, and Z also have a significantly more expanded role in Boom— while Jasmine, Sen-chan, and Umeko are mostly fighting in the outside world, Bridge, Syd, and Z are assisting Boom in keeping the lie to his parents by any means necessary. They also have to hide this from their boss, Commander Anubis “Doggie” Cruger, who would not exactly appreciate what they were trying to do. Jasmine also uses her ESP, or psychic powers to try and solve the mystery, while Bridge, who also has psychic powers does not use his.
Jasmine using her ESP.
Bridge, Syd, and Z helping Boom impress his parents/hiding him from Cruger.
Completely Original Additions
Now, this section will probably be the largest, because this episode is one of the ones that changed the most in the process of adaptation.
Kat’s counterpart in Dekaranger, Swan “Swan-san” Shiratori, didn’t even have an assistant— Boom himself is completely exclusive to Power Rangers and anything involving him has to be shot brand-new, so it makes sense that his big episode would be changed so significantly.
Executive Producer Greg Aronowitz has said that “Boom” was one of his favorite episodes to produce, and that makes sense. He had free reign over it, and even sells copies of the episode outline on his Etsy.
Most of the original fight footage stars Boom in some way or another, whether it’s him on a bike made from S.P.D’s Robotic Interactive Canine or saving Jack and Sky from the villain by teleporting into the cyber world that they’re being held captive in.
Boom rushing in on a bike he built from a robot dog ten minutes ago.
Boom bringing Jack and Sky home from the dimension they’re trapped in.
However, it’s not just the fight footage that he finds his way into. He is the star of this episode, after all. Since the plot centers around him instead of around Sky, the majority of the civilian footage includes him trying to impress his parents by doing Ranger things or “leading” the team.
Boom, playing the role of the rangers’ commander.
“Boom” is overall a pretty silly episode, and it’s almost completely unique in Power Rangers. The side characters who are added very rarely get their own episodes, because it would require shooting so much more footage. However, once in a while, we get an episode that completely changes the story. For better or worse, it’s a completely new experience.
But it’s certainly fun to watch.