Lost & Found in Translation

Lost & Found in Translation is the ninteenth episode of Power Rangers: Dino Thunder. It is a tribute to Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, as well as the Super Sentai franchise in general.

Synopsis
When Conner, Ethan, and Kira find a show about Power Rangers in Japan, Conner is appalled at its portrayal of them. Meanwhile, the Japanese Power Rangers must go up against a money hungry monster named Ka-Ching.

Plot
Late at night, at the Cyberspace, Conner and Kira arrive following the sound of the TV turned on, and find Ethan watching it. He explains that, thanks to the new satellite antenna bought by Hayley, they now have access to over 900 different channels from the entire world. Conner, not as enthusiastic as him, reminds Ethan they have a social studies assignment to do. As he starts to leave, Ethan, surfing through the channels, finds a Japanese show depicting the Power Rangers. While Kira is enthusiastic and Ethan, curious, Conner is skeptical about it because, as it is not an American program, they would portray the Rangers very inaccurately. Even so, he stays when Kira convinces him to keep watching so as to back up his claim.

The first scene shows the Japanese Rangers, in their civilian forms, cooking some curry, when the Blue Ranger comes in and reads in a newspaper of baseball player Whacker Wilson's visit to Japan. He complains about American athletes being greedy, then offers to make curry for his teammates when the Red Ranger complains about the Yellow Ranger's curry being too spicy.

At this point, Conner, outraged, turns off the TV, complaining that the Rangers on the TV look nothing like they do, even when Ethan reminds him that no one really knows who the Rangers are. Kira points out that different things don't necessarily amount to bad work, and Ethan, who states to have liked his counterpart despite the glaring difference, turns the TV back on.

At the villains' lair, they plot against the Power Rangers with a plan revolving around bad hair - specifically mushroom heads which, while old-fashioned, is stated to be evil. Though Conner is visibly annoyed by this, Kira finds herself amused.

In the next scene, the Blue Ranger's curry is ready - an odd dish with a pineapple in the middle. The other Rangers try to dodge it by giving it to a friend of their, Mr. O'Shaughnessey, to eat it, but he soon passes it on to Mikey, the Black Ranger, who eagerly and unsuspectingly eats it. He soon gets sick, as the emergency alarm flashes. Due to his sickness, Mikey is unavailable to fight, so the other three Rangers go on to fight, asking their friend to "clean up after him" when he is done.

In the next scene, the monster - an improbable combination of "mushroom, bear and ATM machine", as Conner points out - is wreaking havoc on the city. While Conner comments on the absurdity of the creature, Kira is quick to shoot him down by reminding him of the monsters they've been fighting themselves. The monster, called Ka-Ching, uses his mushrooms to grow mushroom head wigs on people and make them greedy. The Power Rangers soon show up to stop the monster, morphing into action, surprising Ethan and Kira as to the morph's accuracy. Conner meanwhile comments they will finally get some action. Ka-Ching has plans for the Rangers involving turning them into the Wig Rangers, complete with an imagine spot. Conner, outraged, thinks they are making fun of them and decides to leave. Even though the others try to convince him to stay, he goes, but Ethan knows he will return because he forgot his backpack.

On the TV, the Rangers are saved by a bystander, who uses a baseball bat to rebound one of Ka-Ching's mushrooms back at him, growing a mushroom head on him as the Triptoids laugh at him. After the monster leaves with the Triptoids, the Blue Ranger recognizes the bystander as Whacker Wilson, the baseball player. Whacker, who has an injury on his back that prevents him from playing, is searching for a famous chiropractor who lives in Japan, called Kenny Yukito, who happens to be the Blue Ranger.

Sure enough, Conner comes back, and decides to get back to watching it, as Kenny is fixing Whacker's back. The Yellow and Red Ranger are nearby, commenting whether Whacker plays only for the money or he likes the sport. After Kenny is done with his job, Whacker is so grateful that he tries to convince him to use his talents to become wealthy, but he turns him off, explaining that being the Blue Ranger is what's most important to him. When Ka-Ching shows up and fools Whacker into getting attacked by him, Conner gets enraged with the writers making American sports heroes appear gullible and self centered, going so far as to block the TV from Ethan and Kira's view. Kira says he is overreacting because it's just a TV show, and he doesn't even know if the entire series is like this, and Ethan suggests he watches it to the end and only form a concrete opinion then. Begrudgingly, Conner accepts.

Back to the show, Whacker Wilson tries to push a lot of money onto Kenny, who steadfastly refuses, until he notices there's a mushroom wig on Whacker, who reveals he won lots of money in a home-run derby by bribing the pitcher, and keeps trying to state the point that only money can make one happy, something which disgusts Kenny further as he throws Whacker's money away. And it appears that Whacker's not the only one being affected: the wigs are making everyone money hungry. Kenny tries to make Whacker come to his senses, but Ka-Ching punches him away and shoots enough coins to bury him. At this point, Conner's interest seems to get piqued, and it grows steadily when Kenny transforms into the Blue Ranger and breaks out of his predicament as the other Rangers join him.

As the Power Rangers face off against Ka-Ching's money attack, the Red Ranger makes an inappropriate joke about getting paid by the monster, something Conner actually finds funny. The Black Ranger shows up to help, bringing giant piggy banks to catch the money with. However, Ka-Ching's attack proves to be too much for them and they are struck down. Just then, Whacker comes by again offering his money bags. Remembering how Whacker batted Ka-Ching's mushroom before, Blue Ranger pitches his piggy bank to Whacker, in hopes that he really does love baseball more than money. Suddenly, Whacker whips out his bat and bats his piggy bank back, straight into Ka-Ching, who gets knocked unconscious. He soon wakes up and strikes the Rangers viciously, prompting them to use the Z-Rex Blaster to destroy Ka-Ching. Conner gets caught up in the excitement of the Power Rangers' victory, admitting that it was "cool" after all and thus changing his opinion about the Japanese Rangers, with Kira making the point that they are not much different from themselves - it's just a matter of perspective.

The next day, Conner gets to write his social studies paper: he has written about the proximity between Japanese and American cultures, having caught a rerun of the episode as he explains to Ethan and Kira that he did so from his standpoint as a spectator: starting out skeptical, but getting into it later ("without getting too specific", as Ethan adds). The adventures of the Power Rangers continue in Japan, as other youngsters at Cyberspace come to watch them.

Cast

 * James Napier as Conner McKnight
 * Kevin Duhaney as Ethan James
 * Emma Lahana as Kira Ford
 * Koichiro Nishi as Red Dino Ranger (unmorphed)
 * Shou Tomita as Kenny Yukito/Blue Dino Ranger
 * Aiko Ito as Yellow Dino Ranger (unmorphed)
 * Kaoru Abe as Mikey/Black Dino Ranger
 * Michi Nishijima as Young Girl
 * Kouen Okumura as Mr. O'Shaughnessey
 * Eri Sakurai as Bad Red Girl
 * Kasumi Suzuki as Little Evil Girl
 * Samuel Pop Aning as Whacker Wilson
 * Jamie Linehan as Red Dino Ranger (voice)
 * Jorgito Vargas, Jr as Kenny Yukito/Blue Dino Ranger (voice)
 * Morgan Reese Fairhead as Yellow Dino Ranger (voice)
 * John Barker as Mikey/Black Dino Ranger (voice)
 * Helena Easton as Young Girl (voice)
 * Stuart Devenie as Mr. O'Shaughnessey (voice)
 * Angela Shirley as Bad Red Girl (voice)
 * Leslie Phillips as Little Evil Girl (voice)
 * Jermaine Turner as Whacker Wilson (voice)
 * Greg Johnson as Ka-ching (voice)