Contributed by Jason T.

It is important to note that many of the cartoons you are referencing come from Japan. In Japan, there is a type of superhero sub-genre called the “sentai.” The best example of a sentai series is the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Other examples include the Samurai Troopers (Ronin Warriors), Go Lion (Voltron), Magic Knights Rayearth, and Sailor Moon. The basic formula for the sentai team is as follows:

1. Near-identical costumes
2. Primary differentiation is by color
3. Their power is most effective when used in unison

The sentai emerges from the Japanese culture. In most Western cultures, emphasis is put on the individual. Hence, great epics are written about Odysseus (not the whole crew of his ship), Luke Skywalker (not the Rebellion as a whole), and the Green Lantern (not the entire Green Lantern Corps). By the same token, most American superteams consist of very individualized characters, such as with the Avengers, the X-Men, the Justice League, etc. In Japanese culture, emphasis is placed on the collective. There is even a well-quoted saying that “the nail that sticks up is hammered down.” Thus, sentai teams appear more homogeneous.

There are some rare cases of American-produced sentai. These are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Planeteers. The Powerpuff Girls is, in my most humble of opinions, a ripoff designed by Cartoon Network to cash in on the popularity of Sailor Moon. The short-lived Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad and Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills were blatant ripoffs trying to cash in on the Power Rangers craze.

As for elemental powers, I’m not sure how this got started. When you have a set number of members and this number corresponds to a set number of a cultural, scientific, historical, or other kind of phenomenon, you can associate the powers of your sentai team with the aspects of of this phenomenon. This technique can be used to put emphasis on the overall theme of the show.

Let’s look at Ronin Warriors. It can be viewed as a show about two sentai teams. The original versions of the Ronins were elemental, just as in America: earth, fire, air, water, and spirit (lightning). They each represented the four Confucian virtues: courtesy, wisdom, justice, virtue, and faith/trust. The Warlords are each powered by the four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. They are linked to samurai virtues: loyalty, piety, obedience, and serene endurance. This links the show to the overall motif of feudal Japan and the ways of the samurai.

Let’s look at Sailor Moon next. Here, we can see three sentai teams. The five Inner Senshi (#1) represent elements: earth/metal, water, lightning/wood, fire, and spiritual purity. (There is no air elemental character, I am told, because the air was considereduncontrollable by man. It was the domain that only gods could control.) Sailor Pluto was introduced later as a stand-alone character, controlling space and time. Uranus and Neptune (#2) were introduced as a duet, and they represent the duality of the sky and sea (see Magic Knights Rayearth). Saturn was introduced solo, and she represents the cycle of death and rebirth. The Sailor Starlights (#3) were introduced as a trio. They represent the Hindu concepts of the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer. (Tuxedo Mask, by the way, represents the planet Earth.)

The Magic Knights represent the land, the sea, and the sky. Their powers reflect this. They are the chosen protectors of the realm of Cefiro, and so they embody the power of the land of Cefiro.

Contributed by “PRomanIV”

I read in one of the dozens of over-analyzations on this site that Japanese “children’s” anime has a tendency to allow a bit more violence than western cartoons. This got me to thinking: Have you ever noticed just how ridiculously far Voltron (the original, I’ve never seen the new one) goes to insure that NO ONE DIES.

I’m doing this from memory, but let me site the examples I can think of:

1. In order to show just how cruel Zarkon is, they constantly show him observing gladiatorial bouts in his arena. And yet, they make a point (in pretty much every episode) of mentioning that the gladiators are robots. So, in effect, Zarkon is just watching the Universe’s Most Elaborate Mortal Kombat Game.
2. Prince Lotor (I think that’s how it’s spelled), in a fit of rage, cuts up a bunch of his father’s minions with his laser sword. Then, once it’s all over, he mentions, for no apparent reason, that they’re all just robots.
3. In another episode, Lotor kidnaps a whole busload of peasantfolk and holds them hostage, ordering the Voltron boys to surrender. His bluff is called, and, in order to prove his toughness, Lotor orders a random peasant shot. Blast blast, the man goes down. Then he says “That was just a stun ray, but the next shot will be real!” or something to that effect. At this point, the Voltron Force gets all scared, decides “he’s serious” and surrenders.
4. There is one episode where Zarkon causes it to rain fire or lava or some such down on the planet, causing some nasty damage to the local flora. Later in the episode, the princess mentions that EVERYONE made it safely into the caves.
5. In one of the very last episodes, Lotor usurps his father and has him imprisoned in a robeast. He sends the robeast out to battle Voltron. Naturally, Voltron wins, and destroys the robeast, which blows up quite impressively. Next shot is a close-up of daddy Zarkon’s face, hastily saying something to the effect of “I managed to escape, some day I will wreak my revenge on my treacherous son!” He is never heard from again.
6. In the final episode, Lotor and Sven are fighting it out in Lotor’s palace. Sven draws a knife and comes at Lotor, cut out there’s an explosion, the two are struggling, they fall into a lake. Sven emerges shortly thereafter saying “I’ve finally defeated the evil Lotor!” But then the narrator cuts in an announces, “And yet, unbeknownst to our heroes, Lotor has escaped!” Then he makes the obligatory “I’ll get you next time!” bad guy curse, and climbs into this escape pod that came from lord-knows-where.

The only exception to this “no death at any cost” mentality is when Zarkon’s first general (no idea what his name was) gets turned into a robeast and blown up. I’m fairly certain we are left to assume he went boom with his robeast, but I don’t particularly remember. Either way, he is never heard from again.

My point in all this? Well, let’s examine #3 for a second, as it is the most airtight proof of my theory that I have. In that scene, the mention that it was “just a stun ray” completely kills any tension that previously existed. Even an eight year old would have to pick up on just how ludicrous it is for the Voltron Force to be kowtowed by a villain who can only stun his hostages. It would have been much simpler for them to just surrender before Lotor did anything, if they didn’t want to show a hostage get killed. The whole stun ray statement is said rather quickly (even for a dubbed cartoon) and doesn’t seem to fit into the flow of the conversation. All the other “I’m not dead” statements are the same way, and the pictures that accompany them in #5 and #6 seem equally out of place, either displaying no background whatsoever, or displaying an entirely different background than the rest of the scene.

Then, going back to #1, in one of the very first episodes (maybe THE very first episodes) we see Zarkon pitting helpless looking (and obviously organic) slaves against his evil minions (who are explained to be robots in later episodes, but I’m fairly sure no mention of this fact is made in the episode I’m talking about now). Also, the one exception that I mentioned above also takes place relatively early in the series. So, what does it all mean?

Most likely, the original Japanese version included some fairly dark and disturbing scenes (like Zarkon’s arena and the fire rain episode, and even the hostage crisis), but, when it was shipped to the states, somebody in the chain of command panicked and backlashed, forcing the introduction of several extra scenes and lines of dialogue designed to insure this was an entirely “kid friendly” show. I think it’s also safe to assume that some scenes have been removed entirely from the translated version. If anyone speaks Japanese, can get their hands on the original version, and has WAY too much time on their hands, they can check this phenomenon out for themselves and see whether or not I’m right (I’m fairly certain I am).