Low-Res Banner Reveals “Shuriken Sentai Ninninger,” 2015’s Super Sentai Series
While Power Rangers Dino Charge is right around the corner, standing quietly behind it is the next iteration of Power Rangers’ Japanese sibling show, Super Sentai. Long-rumored to be the ninja-themed Shuriken Sentai Ninninger (yes, that’s a small typo away from trouble), a very pixel-y, low-resolution banner image has been leaked and posted on RangerBoard.
Confirmed: Yes, it’s Ninninger and they are ninjas.
With 1994’s Ninja Sentai Kakuranger and 2002’s Ninpu Sentai Hurricanger, this is now the third ninja-themed Super Sentai series in the franchise (but certainly not the third to have ninjas at all, see: 1987’s Hikari Sentai Maskman). And, I like it!
Every year around this time the look of the next Super Sentai series is leaked in some form or another in very low-resolution images. This year is no different, but for once the costumes look pretty good despite the Windows 95-era image quality. The suit designs are expectedly a mix of Kakuranger, Hurricanger, and somewhat of a surprise, I see a little of 2009’s Samurai Sentai Shinkenger.
For the past few years I avoided Super Sentai due to incredibly dumb premises I couldn’t get past. I can definitely get behind plain, badass ninjas. Have you seen this year’s Ressha Sentai ToQger? If you frequent sites like Uproxx, you might have heard of it.
ToQger looks silly and goofy (and I’ve been told it really is, because Jesus Christ look at the picture above), and not in the charming ’66 Batman way either. 2013’s Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger mixed dinosaurs with samba dancing, which only makes sense in Japan. 2012’s Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters has been hailed as a storytelling masterpiece by my fellow peers, but I couldn’t stand the low-rent C-3POs each Ranger had as their companions robots.
On the topic of spandex color and genders, this is the first since 1985’s Dengeki Sentai Changeman to feature a female White Ranger and Pink Ranger. Retro! And, look, about that.
I know I’ve been serving as the sort of official/unofficial liaison between Geekscape and the Power Rangers fandom, and I hope you’ve been finding my job at that satisfactory thus far, but there are some nuances — like the gender/color combination as a thing to care about — that are totally normal to me but weird to you and that’s something I take for granted. Fans looking forward to what colors will be used and the gender of each Ranger has become something of a …thing to speculate. I can’t tell you why. It just is. Thanks for just going with it, I sincerely appreciate it.
Anyway. Unlike Dino Charge, which has TV promos online, toys already on shelves, and even a smart phone app to play with, Ninninger is still just away from arm’s reach. This pixel-feast of a banner is all we have. So stay tuned to Geekscape, we’ll post more information as soon as we know more.
