The Decade-Shinkenger teamup lookback

There was the Shinkenger and Decade crossover which happened in episode 24-25 of Decade NOT in Shinkenger. So it was kind of a cross between worlds. Hmmm... it'll be hard for fans in their imagination to fit in the Kamen Rider Universe into the Sentai Universe for any fan-fiction Toei allows them by making both universes officially up to fan's imagination.

It's not the first time that Kamen Rider was mentioned. If you can remember the Goranger vs. JAKQ movie, Shoutarou Ishinomori intended that his Sentai warriors be in the same universe as Kamen Rider. However as time passed, it wasn't official and fans were left to speculate how they operated within the same universe.

The idea came into fruition NOT in Super Sentai but in Power Rangers. Not everything in Sentai is original. Power Rangers did contribute some things to later Sentai too even if they're the franchise version, Saban had originality. It was way back then then Saban created the crossover in the 3-part series entitled "A Friend in Need" in MMPR which however got me disappointed why Kimberly Hart had to suffer from a cold. Sigh. I kept feeling bad about her cold and Tommy not being near her. The whole mini-series was intended to introduce the adaptation of Black RX to America. It focused five rangers minus Kimberly Hart in Edenoi which was conquered by Count Dregon, using footage from Kamen Rider Black RX episode 3 in many scenarios.

Sadly the Kamen Rider Black RX adaptation was a failure I believe because Power Rangers got too powerful that fans didn't bother to watch other toku adaptations plus it lacked plot. A funny show doesn't always have a poor plot, it's how the humor gets executed that affects the show. Saban's Masked Rider was JUST AWFUL!

Somehow Toei saw through livening up the whole idea in the two part Shinkenger crossover, which Decade travels into the world of Shinkenger. Unlike the MMPR idea where he wanted to introduce Masked Rider to the audience of MMPR, Toei did the opposite. Decade (which only lasted for 31 episodes :-( ) actually wanted to introduce Shinkenger to Kamen Rider fans. The whole plot involved the crossing and Decade meets the Shinkengers.

The whole two part episode for me was more fun IMO than the three part MMPR crossover because they were complete and there was much more action, even if they didn't travel to another planet. I just can't help but laugh at how silly Genta can get when Diend stole his Ika-Origami. I'm also glad that Mako Shiraishi doesn't have to stay in bed with a cold like poor Kimberly Hart did.

The thing is the Gedoushu also gets involved in trying to get rid of Decade as well in which, puts Doukoku in a more active spot than Lord Zedd was during the MMPR crossover. However what I can complain about this show is that, it was more of a random meeting than a mission sent to them. Again Sentai commanders are frequently shown to be less powerful than Zordon which balances the whole franchise, even Mr. Voice doesn't know as much as Zordon does.

The show ended up paying tribute to the "Friend in Need" arc when the next Decade episode was focused on Black RX. As the crossover ended, we see a picture of Crisis Empire hinting at "A Friend in Need" although this was much shorter.

However when Saban adapts Shinkenger (and I hope he does cross the line once of an Oriental red ranger then that's the end of it), I wonder if he'll ever put Decade into it. I think not. He may have a hard time knowing how his other toku adapts failed. They're not that strong as Power Rangers.

Credits to Sean Akizuki's Sentai Blog for the lookback.