Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (Ninja Squadron Kakuranger ) is the eighteenth installment in the Super Sentai franchise, airing from 1994 to 1995.
400 years ago, a band of Yōkai battled a group of ninjas, led by the legendary Sarutobi Sasuke. He and four other ninjas sealed the Yōkai away behind a magical door. In the present day, the Yōkai are set free when two of those ninjas' descendants, Sasuke and Saizō, are tricked into opening the door. Now, they and the three descendants of the other ninjas must put the Yōkai away as the Kakurangers.
This is the first Super Sentai with a Ninja motif; its characters are also compared to the leads of Journey to the West. It was also the first Sentai to feature a female as its leader, and the first to have a non-human ally as a New guy.
The Members are:
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Sasuke / Ninja Red: The hot-blooded Hero of the story.
.Tsuruhime / Ninja White: The Load and the Smart Guy. Dispite Sasuke being the Main Character she controls the group.
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Saizō / Ninja Blue: The Tagalong kid He thinks he's all that.
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Seikai / Ninja Yellow: The Big Guy, Big Eater, and Heavy Sleeper.
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Jiraiya / Ninja Black: The Lancer. American. Speaks Gratuitous English astoundingly well.
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Ninjaman: The New Guy. a disciple of the Sanshinshō who was imprisoned in a magic bottle after he was tricked into attacking humans. He can enlarge himself to fight giant Yokais and has the ability to transform into
Samuraiman when angered.
The Villians are Youkai Army Corps were sealed away 400 years ago by the Kakurangers' ancestors and have now changed their forms to keep up with the times. Most Youkai have a human form (sometimes distinguished with bizarre markings on their faces) and use the Ninja Arts themselves. When defeated, they summon a lightning made of human despair and misery to strike them, causing them to grow into giants.
The Members are:
.Daimaou: The Big Bad, A 1,200-year-old youkai who took over as the new Youkai leader, having his son Junior set up preparations for his coming into the human world by gathering children's souls to open the Demon-Seal Gate that confined Daimaou at bay, then gathering the souls of every human in the airborn district to speed-up the process. However, though Super Kakure DaiShogun destroyed the Seal and canceled the ceremony, thus setting all victims free, the Seal reformed itself and Daimaou emerges, turning the altar into his base of operations before later using a giant flying skull castle with wing-like ears as his lair. He later declared the time of darkness, creating Daradara to aid him to drown the world in darkness before Daradara was destroyed. After his brother and sister were defeated, Daimaou was the only Youkai left to deal with the Kakurangers. However, Daimaou, being the embodiment of all evil, couldn't be destroyed or his influence would spread worldwide. In the finale, when he grew giant, the Sanshinshou and Ninjaman used their powers to shrink him, allowing the Kakurangers to seal him back into the cave where the other Youkai are/were entombed.
.Gasha Dokuro: The Commander, Prince of the Youkai, the son of Daimaou, Gasha Dokuro made himself known to the Kakurangers in the guise of Young Noble Junior, a bleached blonde leather punk with a guitar that can turn into a chainsaw and a love for Death metal rock and classical music. In Episode 23, he revealed his true form to the Kakurangers and, in Episode 24, he managed to defeat them in battle. In his true form, usually evoked when he gets pumped up about something, Gasha Dokuro is a skeleton Youkai wearing an army helmet, half of his body is white while the other half matches his helmet and is camouflage.
Extremely effective, he has had a long staying power than most Youkai and less than his father, who contacted Junior and demanded plans for his release. Junior carries it out, defeating the Juusho Fighters and stopping them from summoning Invicnible Shogun before using his power to take the skull-like altar he created on a building and the surrounding district into the sky beyond the Kakurangers' reach. From there he used his music to turn those trapped on it into stone to serve as materials for Daimaoh's revival. While Gasha Dokuro appears to be completely heartless to even his lackeys and more relentless in combat, he does have some respect for the Kakuranger, as seen when he allowed his Dorodoros to give water to the Kappa-ized Seikai and Saizou to fight Nue. Once all the Kakurangers had obtained the Shinobi Scrolls, Junior assumes his true form to battle the Chounin Beasts, and was overpowered by them until Hakamenrou intervened.
The fact that he had to be saved by the very human whom Daimaou prizes above him, drove Junior to uncover Hakamenrou enlisting Sandayuu to help stage his fight. After mortally wounding Sandayuu, Junior assumes his true form and overpowered the Kakurangers at first until Tsubasamaru gives Sasuke the Hikarimaru to defeat Gasha Dokuro. But Gasha Dokuro refused to accept defeat and enlarges, fighting the Chounin Beasts once again with the gear he had Yagami commission for him. But the tables turned when the team form Kakure DaiShogun, and then SuperKakure Daishougun, stripping off his gear before destroying him. Soon after, Daimaou states that Gasha Dokuro was no more than a pawn who was no longer needed in the Youkai's ultimate plan.
.Dr. Yugami: Evil Genius, A Youkai scientist who created replicas of Youkai monsters from kidnapped children for Tengu. After Tengu's defeat, Yugami came under the services of Junior, providing the Youkai prince with mechanical weapons and armor for the other Youkai serving him. He appeared to cheer Gasha Dokuro on during the final stages of their plan until he was horrified to see his master destroyed. He was killed by a slim piece of the Demon Sealing Door which was shattered by Super Kakure Dai Shogun in episode 31.
.Hana no Kunoichi Gumi: The Yōkai's All-Female band of fighters; their names are Ayame, Sakura, Suiren, Yuri, and Ran. They were once ordinary cats until transformed by Gasha Dokuro.
Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:22 pm
