Next Season, the Japanese Power Rangers Will Be Pirates

This image is the first released shot of the main characters of Japan’s next season of Super Sentai, or, as we know it in America, Power Rangers.  Your eyes do not deceive you.  Those are an assortment of “futuristic” cutlasses and flintlock pistols, and a background of nautical maps.

It gets better.

From Orends:

Their weapons are: GoukaiKen, a sword and GoukaiGun, a gun which they can use to fight their enemies! This season’s Red Ranger, GoukaiRed will pilot a pirate ship mecha called, GoukaiGalleon which they can use to form their gattai robo, GoukaiOh.

Yes.  Yes, it is a pirate ship that turns into a giant dude.

It takes years, of course, for the American show to catch up to the developments of its Japanese original, so we can’t necessarily expect it to ever show up on our own shores.  We’ll have to look to Japan for answers to questions like: Do the other Rangers also have their own ships?  Do the ships combine into an even bigger dude?  What kind of bad guys are they going to fight?  Can their mech swim?

And finally, the most important question of all: What does this development say about the ninja/pirate dichotomy?

We’ll take your essays on our desks by Monday.

(via Topless Robot.)