Saturday, July 30, 2011

Elements of a Girl Power Episode



At least once a season, there will be a "girl power" episode. In this episode, the heroine(s) will be the spotlight. The episode will focus on them, and they will own the boys after kicking the MOW's ass by themselves, and/or prove they are just as good as the guys. This will happen in every girl power episode.


Some series have had more than one girl power episode. A good example would be Flashman, Carranger, Megaranger, or Dekaranger, which have more than one girl power episode. Dekaranger even had its own girl power ending.

How they get to that battle, though is different depending on series.

The following are common traits in girl power episodes.


The girls are at each others' throats, or one girl is jealous or fed up with another girl. A good example of this could be Carranger, in which Natsumi and Youko were at each others' throats, and it escalated to the point that both of them exited the cockpit of the mecha in a huff. In Megaranger, Chisato was fed up at Miku's hyperactive behavior during their annual school trip, during which Chisato would feel the brunt of her antics. Then Miku gets hit by an evolution ray, and becomes "Super-Miku," and much calmer, intelligent, and considerate. She then overhears Chisato saying that she prefers "Super-Miku" better, causing her to question herself, and wanting to stay evolved, even though the evolution rays were having a negative effect on her body, and her body was rejecting them. In Dekaranger, Umeko was jealous because she thought Jasmine was better than her (also, Umeko thinks of herself as the leader of the Dekarangers, much like Dwight Schrute thinks he's the Assistant Regional Manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton), and starts acting like her, and pretending to have ESP powers. In Goseiger, Moune is fed up with Eri's airy behavior, and its revealed that despite being the youngest, she still has a motherly-like attitude and wants to protect the impulsive Eri.



Another factor is the isolation of the male team-members from the female team members. In Flashman, the girls were up against the MOW, while the rest of the team-members were on a train. In Dekaranger, and Go-onger, the MOW caused the men to be incapacitated. In Shinkenger, the men had the men in spandex full-body spandex on their backs (okay, they were some mythological monster, but it's funnier to say they are guys in zentai suits).

Sometimes the MOW will be female, like when Chisato and Miku (who I think were arguing) faced off against Nejeyellow and Nejipink (who were also arguing) resulting in the death of Nejipink.

The girls will usually have their own special attack, like Houka and Urara's in Magiranger, when they started singing the closing credit song, and pulled up pom-poms.

1 comment:

  1. Does Girl Power episodes exist when the girl is the sole woman of the team? EG: TimePink, GekiYellow...

    And of course every pre-Bioman ladies EVER.

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