Power Rangers Ninja Storm - History of Power Rangers

NOTE: With apologies if this ends up needing to be taken down and then reuploaded again.
History of Power Rangers is a series where Linkara looks at every season of the show and offers critical analysis!
The History of Power Rangers explores the ways of the ninja, which includes giant bee weapons and ancient ninja electric guitars. Also, the Rangers don’t team up and the villain is less-than effective.
atopthefourthwa...
Logo by Fábio Fontes: fabiofontes.com/
Originally uploaded March 11th, 2011.
#historyofpowerrangers #powerrangers #linkara

[@dardrex777]

Hey Linkara as a stuntman who knows people that worked on these seasons I can explain the union status fairly easy. The timeline works like this. MMPR seasons 1 and 2 were non union as saban was pretty cheap and why actors were typically unknowns. Once the movie was in production and they kept the cast everyone had to be union gmail union status was from MMPR3 until Wildforce. Once they moved to NZ it has been non union since so that they can get the tax breaks of the country and low cost while being allowed to keep the union out of controlling them. So PR has not been union since. I hope that clears it up.

[@huntergamer69420]

Neat

[@simonbennett158]

So JDF let go of his union status AND moved to NZ to save the show in Dino Thunder? That’s amazing

[@dardrex777]

@@simonbennett158 JDF hasn’t been union for a long time. If you stop paying your dues you are let go of SAG union (he joined before SAG and AFTRA joined). So I don’t think he’s been union since Forever Red. Now there is a tricky thing with union members in non union projects. Sometimes people just do it and don’t get caught. Some people put in the SAG paperwork to allow union people to be on a non union project and they just pay them under the table or fill out tax loophole things. There are also SAG members that go FICORE like Johnny Yong Botch where he can do union and non union. There’s a lot of FICORE actors that were part of American PR shows. That’s another work around.

[@dardrex777]

@@simonbennett158 also JDF didn’t move to NZ. He was flown and lodged for Dino Thunder and he negotiated for a certain amount of episodes. It’s why there are episodes he’s not on camera to get around that. Mixed with the fact he didn’t want to be away from his family for too long. When you are flown out for a project they lodge you in a hotel for months. By the time he came back he was no longer union since he stepped away from acting and probably stopped paying his dues. Union status is paid into. If you stop paying you lose it.

[@saiyan4414]

I was going to say Jason David Frank didn't stay in New Zealand the whole time. Also there were a handful of episodes that if I remember correctly he did voice over for So he could go back home to spend time with his family.

[@MarcAquino1095]

Fun fact - the actress who plays Tori, Sally Martin, would co-star in the Disney Channel Original Movie ‘Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior’ which was filmed in New Zealand and had a lot of the same crew as Power Rangers at that time.

[@BaronSengir1008]

It was actually a decent movie, too...

[@DigiRangerScott]

Even a handful of the cast members, like James Gaylyn and Geoff Dolan. Even future yellow Ranger Anna Hutchison

[@Pikatwig16]

And the character she played in it was named Tory.

[@peggyliepmann5248]

@@BaronSengir1008 Disney Channel had some pretty good stuff for a while. The Halloweentown movies and Pixel Perfect spring to mind.

[@BaronSengir1008]

@@peggyliepmann5248 I liked Can of Worms, Luck of the Irish, and The Thirteenth Year... The ones that came out around then were a lot better than most of the ones that came in later years... After a certain point, they all became musicals...

[@maxmeidl4909]

The Ninja Storm team really did feel like a big wholesome friend group that most of us, myself included, wanted to be a part of. The same can also be said for both the Time Force and Wild Force groups.

[@amazonstorm]

Honestly, Ninja Storm has probably the best cast chemistry in the entire franchise. Everyone just clicked together

[@DasNordlicht91]

the best Power Ranger teams are the ones who feel like they could conceivably be friends even outside doing their superhero stuff.

[@easilydistractedauthor]

"Yeah, no one should laugh at a comic book geek, anyway. It's not like one could ever be funny." Self-deprecating humour is the best humour. Awesome as always, Linkara!

[@TheBandit025Nova]

Especially say Comic Book Guy is the savior of the universe

[@DigiRangerScott]

RIP Grant McFarland, the best Sensei in a Luchador mask Also, 20 years in New Zealand, so much of its acting population comes through here, so many gathering multiple roles, that we root for them professionally just as much as the main characters

[@deterlanglytone]

I never even looked at the credits. So this went unnoticed. Probably why he wears the mask in the other role so we can't clearly compare the two.

[@dnmstarsi]

Ngl, while Luthor isn't a good villain and Lewis had a lot of valid points why he sucks, I enjoyed the joke of a main villain.

[@IdentifiantE.S]

🕊️

[@the1magageneral323]

@@dnmstarsi Lother is motivated by revenge as explained in the Samurai journey. Still you are right that they could have done a better job writing his character.

[@dnmstarsi]

@@the1magageneral323 I know that but that doesn't make him good or alike.

[@hyungyuchoiboi1179]

Gotta love how Cam was the first one to activate Super Samurai Mode less than a decade before the SAMURAI rangers 😂

[@marlonclark1896]

yeah

[@BigAmericanGirlFan]

I mean, both Cam and Mia's last names are Watanabe and Cam's mother is supposed to come from a Samurai family. Maybe Kanoi took her last name and Cam is related to a Samurai ranger as well

[@marlonclark1896]

@@BigAmericanGirlFan maybe

[@stephenholloway6893]

Would have been interesting given the gap between the 2 seasons that if Mia was Cam's younger sister or was a daughter of one of Lothor's nieces. Assuming the nieces were older then Cam of course.

[@KamenRiderHellhound]

The sensei turning into a hamster was a thing the Sensei did in the source material to avoid being captured because he was apparently a MASTER of that ... he just stayed the hamster because he is legit forgot the words to change back ... apparently.

[@michaelnally2841]

I think the bigger reason was because both the sensei and Lothor were played by the late Grant Macfarland so probably to make it a little easier.

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

@@michaelnally2841and I thought Johnny YoungBosch voicing two characters fighting and voicing their Persona abilities in an anime was hard, bro almost got stuck fighting himself in live action 😂

[@michaelnally2841]

@@gabrieldevoogel6225 I mean that’s what stunt doubles and editing tricks are for

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

@@michaelnally2841 oh I know I’m just making jokes because it’s funny and contextualizing to learn be played Lothor and Sensei because it makes sense to not have him do both live action on set every time

[@gokairedwillcipher]

Oh Sentai😂

[@maxmeidl4909]

Producers: We want the series to be more cost-effective. Also Producers: We want a CGI guinea pig in the series.

[@stephenholloway6893]

To be fair the mentor in the sentai was a similar animal.

[@batsaubattler3200]

I like this response

[@maxmeidl4909]

@@batsaubattler3200 thank you

[@batsaubattler3200]

@@maxmeidl4909 your welcome

[@chanceycakes]

Every time I hear about Hexagon I think "man, what a great concept that could have been for Lupinranger VS Patranger" 😂

[@joserobertosolismerlin5527]

So do i

[@Karthikkun2805]

?

[@UnderlordZ]

@@Karthikkun2805 The 2018 season of Super Sentai featured two separate teams that fought against each other as often as they fought against the monsters, as well as a deep-cover Sixth Ranger who had different suits for working with each team.

[@JennyBlaze253]

I was actually thinking that with this current rewatch of the video. Particularly when it came to talking about the green ranger being a Deep Cover Operative and my first thought was "Wait, isn't that basically a more in depth version of Noel?" Honestly I feel if we went down that route the show wouldn't have been so bleh.

[@gokairedwillcipher]

I can see it

[@tyforestreacts]

I grew up on this season and Dino Thunder. Mostly the latter, but I remember seeing the finale of Ninja Storm and being completely blown away by it. Of course, I see how silly it all is as an adult, but it still introduced me to the concept of “Wait… they lost their powers… and AREN’T getting them back?!” Ninja Storm still holds that special place in my heart.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Remember next season they somehow got their powers back only for the teamup. The Samurai amulet only had enough power to gave them one more battle despite them morphing multiple times during the two parter. Sure they were evil in most of the two parter and had two power disks, (other than Blake Hunter, and Cam) but still regarding the first 3 if that are the case then how the evil power disks worked if they wasn't attached to the amulet?

[@parachpbama4372]

One of the greatest seasons ever imo

[@andersoncontreras183]

​@@stephenholloway6893 dude it's power rangers logic is thrown out the window like a super bouncy ball into traffic 😂

[@stephenholloway6893]

@Anderson Contreras I'm aware of that. It still doesn't mean that at least it should be asked and discussed on how those disks might have worked.

[@andersoncontreras183]

@@stephenholloway6893 true it was most likely left on the cutting room floor

[@FrostyMac]

I think one thing to note about the “they can only be destroyed at their most powerful” is probably in reference not to the rangers themselves, but to their POWERS. You could shoot dustin in the head, sure, but they could just give his morpher to someone else, so it’s smarter to destroy their powers too

[@skibot9974]

I was thinking that too but after you shoot Dustin couldn’t you just shoot the morpher too

[@luishernandezsoto]

​@@skibot9974 That's a good point.

[@yoshistarhunter]

​@skibot9974 counter point, as shown here, destroying the morphers doesn't destroy the powers directly. Could be a wobbly morphing grid thing of overloading their powers through death thst severs that set of power from the grid entirely.

[@Razdasoldier]

Agreed. I think it is a grid feedback thing. ​@@yoshistarhunter

[@The_EB_Consortium_Arc]

Seeing two rangers in similar colors to the main team was interesting and engaging! Plus, Crimson and Navy are unique colors to the season.

[@BaronSengir1008]

The only other season I can think of with 2 red Rangers was Time Force... (Technically Ninja Steel had 3 Red Rangers, but those ones all had the same identical power source so I don't think they count...)

[@michaelcinelli4120]

And we almost had a Gold ladybug Ranger

[@MarkGuerrero-cz9bh]

Too bad there is no gold thunder ranger (no official one at least)

[@danielgraham1082]

@@MarkGuerrero-cz9bh the closest we got was in akibaranger

[@jordanhunter3375]

I understand they often use purple for the evil/lone wolf rival Rangers, but why have they not used an orange Ranger yet?

[@shelbybayer200]

It's called the Wind Academy cause the original Sentai show was Literally speaking Hurricane rangers With Red being Basic Storms, Blue being Water based storms and Yellow being Sandstorms

[@nyhtfall1969]

oh wow i never thought about it liked that

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

@@nyhtfall1969that’s where the name Ninja storm came from, it was easier to use that name then to try and figure something out as snappy as Hurricaneger for sentai

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

I’m not criticizing you; I’m criticizing the Sentai: aren’t ALL storms “water based?” Since there’s water in the air, after all.

[@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec]

@@JamesAdams-nd1tdThey count tornado storm differently

[@SuperHothead14]

…huh.

[@JustHayden61400]

The fact that Linkara has somehow yet to incorporate his own interpretation of the ancient ninja electric guitar into Atop The Fourth Wall completely escapes me. What also escapes me is the video Linkara used for the bit of "Help Me Rhonda" was upscaled which properly showed the colors a lot better, so why he didn't use that particular video also escapes me. But I still love this all the same.

[@williamgreci8219]

Interesting. I never really thought about that before. But how would it work? At the moment, the only suggestion I have to offer would be giving Ninja Style Dancer something to help him set the music for whatever fight he ends up in.

[@JustHayden61400]

@@williamgreci8219 Ninja Style Dancer stole it from The 90's Kid.

[@williamgreci8219]

@@JustHayden61400 Got it.

[@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec]

@@williamgreci8219 Out of universe reason, the Japanese power ranger use it as a regular traditional guitar would. The sixth ranger radiates America extreme spirit so much it override the guitar to sound like an electric guitar. If you want to use that reason into power rangers...Cam inner rock roll was seal before he comes across the guitar.

[@williamgreci8219]

@@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec Got it.

[@Rocky-c2o8m]

Here’s a fun fact for the Dino thunder video. When Connor compares Tommy to Batman it’s actually a regency to the fact that James Napier who played Connor is actually the grandson to Alan Napier who played Alfred in the Adam West tv series

[@stephenholloway6893]

That and he cameo in this season's final episodes as his "twin brother".

[@Silkl4sh]

I really like lothor and sense of humor in this season. Lothor had a reason to be crazy, cause his army is made of rouges. During his time being banished, not only did he meet pure evil characters but sarcastic and funny as well. I like it.

[@Xidphel]

"his army is made of rouges" Yeah, I'd go insane too if my army was comprised only of Rouge the Bat.

[@anderson9244MLG]

@@Xidphel it would be heaven for me if that's the case

[@maxmeidl4909]

Honestly, the villains in the sentai are far worse (from an acting perspective)

[@Silkl4sh]

@@maxmeidl4909 I watched 3-4 sentai series. Despite plots being more mature Sentai villains are dull. Just japanese guys trying to say bad and cruel lines in rubber suits.

[@maxmeidl4909]

@@Silkl4sh that makes sense from what I have seen

[@jameelscott8785]

Thanks man. It's crazy how you've been putting these out for so long that now the official episodes are up to watch on KZbin as well.

[@blockyround2160]

I wasn't expecting a HoPR episode redo today! I'm so happy! Thanks for the hard work you always put into your docs!

[@IdentifiantE.S]

Yes finally ! 😄

[@emperorholocron8278]

My favourite season of Power Rangers and the most underrated. They actually felt like a family and made me feel like I was part of the team. I’d do anything to give them a follow up Season ❤️

[@MrCUTigerB]

Doug Sloan has gone on record saying the Ninja Storm cast was one of the most beloved he ever worked with. There was such a warmth and genuineness that poured onto the camera.

[@emperorholocron8278]

@@MrCUTigerB I’ve heard of Doug before! What does he do?

[@KingCasual1986]

Fun fact: in the Japanese version, Hurricaneger, the Green Ranger, Shurikenger, was voiced by the current Japanese voice of SpongeBob!

[@Razdasoldier]

Now you know why he throws hands with sandy so well.

[@jeremydale4548]

And now I can't get that image out of my head. Wonderful.

[@Carnagevenomtoxin]

To be fair if Cam stopped Lothor from being banished in the past then that would cause all sorts of fun paradoxes.

[@declanmckenna6854]

I could only imagine Master Green sighing and doing the eye pinch if that happened.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus had Cam did stop him in the past then they wouldn't be any need for the Power Rangers unless an new threat occurred that took over Lothor's spot.

[@JCBro-yg8vd]

Cam, you can't do that! The future will be changed! You'll create a time paradox!

[@TheBonkleFox]

​@@declanmckenna6854"Fuck, I'll get the Time Force again."

[@jeremy1860]

As much as I love thinking back to the shows themselves, I admit hearing all the background stuff that went on behind the scenes is just as fascinating to me 😊

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

I think the lack of a consistent theme among the villains stems from the possibility that Lothor would have cobbled together his forces from random unaffiliated soldiers as he made his way through space.

[@ThomasFishwick]

I always forget that this is the start of the Disney era. The series evolved a lot under their... Care? Watch? Stewardship? Hard to describe really. The production team, while taking a huge budget cut, really did pull off some good series during this time. With most of production in New Zealand there wasn't a lot of the micro management that usually dooms TV aimed at young people. As such a lot of the storylines were able to mature. Taking us from the more comedic and light hearted, such as here to the post apocalyptic hell-scape that was RPM!

[@skibot9974]

Under their payroll

[@NIDELLANEUM]

what I find it funny is that Disney pulled off really good seasons... while they couldn't care less about Power Rangers! Their whole plan was to just air reruns of the previous shows, but the ratings were still decent enough to justify making new adaptations, and thus new toys. This is why the last year of their era was just reruns of Mighty Morphin

[@s4xtt]

Shane's brother's appearance is actually a hallmark in Ranger's history as he was especially proud that Shane is the red ranger which shows that not only civilians know of the rangers but their detail and red is usually the team's leader

[@RiderNexus]

I think I can understand why Lothor was so comedic even if he didn't work all the time From In Space to Wild Force, we dealt with a LOT of main antagonists with a LOT of baggage that was pretty heavy for the show Astronema, Trakeena, Ransik and Master Org were by far the most complex and darker main antagonists we've had up to this point, so I can understand they wanted a break from those kind of characters for a season

[@amazonstorm]

Yeah honesfly, he was refreshing after that string if Villians

[@RiderNexus]

@@amazonstorm I personally liked him, I get the criticisms, but I think he's funnier and more effective of a villain than most do

[@willembirgel6530]

This season was my introduction to the show (barring the MMPR and Turbo movies, which were at my local video store before those stopped being a thing). Looking back now I am surprised I never questioned how fighting Lothor turned the Sensei into a cgi animal. Or the "can't be destroyed outside of their ranger form" thing. Guess I just wasn't thinking about that kind of thing as a kid.

[@janicehuang2626]

Same, this was the first season I watched from episode 1. When I was younger, I used to catch some episodes of the original MMPR. So it holds a special place for me.

[@romdan7136]

So, to answer the Cam Time travel questions 1: Time is like a river, constantly flowing. What Cam is doing, like for many time travelers, is essentially going back in the flow to an earlier point, leaving a point exactly where they left. When Cam comes back to the present, the world basically unachors itself and the flow continues. 2: The reason why Lothor's ship wasn't affected was because the time-stoppage affected Earth *specifically*, not the space around Earth. So Lothors ship would be unaffected since he's in orbit *above* Earth

[@luishernandezsoto]

That makes sense especially the 2nd point.

[@SJ_RANKS]

20 years later and I freaking love ninja storm

[@shadowlinkbds]

Well was wondering when we would see more of the remaining reuploads of power rangers. They're always welcomed no matter when they come out.

[@InkAndPoet]

"What happened to him in the depths of space that made him this way?" My guess is space madness.

[@gokairedwillcipher]

He went space mad way before Keith Allura Hunk Pidge and Lance (iykyk)

[@Mobysimo]

Seeing how he was banished, I think Lothor became a goofball because he went insane after years alone in the void of space in a little energy bubble

[@clarktooncrossing3975]

Wow, was not expecting a new HOPR today. What a pleasant surprise! ^^ For the record, that Hexagon story idea could work now, assuming Netflix gives Power Rangers the budget to pull it off. That said, some elements definitely need some rewriting. Rest in Peace, Tommy.

[@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec]

Or use the right season to adapt like Lupin vs Pat.

[@ParsnipPizza]

I'm gonna be honest, I like the lighthearted tone. It never goes as far as "This material is stupid and that's whats funny", they tried to write funny lines, and I think they hit more than they missed

[@ParsnipPizza]

I like Lothar! Every PR villain is gonna have a batting average of like .109 in terms of real success, he's just hyper aware of how much and how tedious the failure gets.

[@ForrestFox626]

I'd say more 50/50

[@CaptainAvenger1993]

Ah yes the season of Power Rangers that gave us the Ancient Ninja Electric Guitar!

[@someone_one_one]

Tubular!

[@TheRedMage01]

And it sounds like that in the Sentai when played by Shurikenger (Cam's counter part) due to being an expert but sounds like a traditional shamisen when played by the others due to them being novices.

[@daltonwilliams1723]

Looking back, it’s clearly designed to resemble a shamisen. It’s just easier to say its a guitar for a more wider audience

[@firepuppies4086]

I'm not even sure it's the first time it happened in Toku... Like, Phoenix Wright had one. Later

[@OmegaX9]

@@TheRedMage01 so even in the Sentai, it was a guitar?

[@maverickcassidy3974]

I will always get a laugh at “Punch anyone not wearing a primary color”

[@TuxKamen]

I have to say, I actually enjoyed Lothor and his 4th wall breaking ways. From his first real joke (breaking up his nieces arguing, then turning to the screen and saying, "And they wonder why I have acid reflux.") to the crack he made in the stinger shot, I always enjoyed his antics, and his plan

[@MrCUTigerB]

The final four episodes represent a case of having their cake and eating it too with Lothor. We got to spend a whole season with PR’s equivalent of Dr. Evil, only to find out by losing every week, he was actually winning. And it works.

[@Gautiy]

"Another one!! When will they run out of colors?"

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus "What did you expect? He wasn't going to get smaller."

[@maxmeidl4909]

Yeah, I’d argue that the villains in ninja storm suck a bit less than their sentai counterparts. Lothor might be a buffoon, but at least he doesn’t have the disadvantage of being literally stuck to a chair. And as for Kapri and Mariah’s sentai counterparts (whatever their names were) are god- awful, from an acting perspective.

[@amazonstorm]

@@stephenholloway6893Thats one of my favorite lines! I crack up just thinking about it 😂😂😂

[@williamgreci8219]

The point Lothor made about not attacking the rangers in civilian form could have worked if expanded upon with the right flashbacks or exposition. Like, if he studied the Ninja Storm Ranger powers and their source during his time at Wind Academy and learned about some detail that made the powers harder to destroy when not in use. Or maybe building up the resources and connections that let Lothor launch his attack on his former school involved some other party who only helped if he played by whatever rules the benefactor set.

[@Igarappappa]

Or maybe if the powers aren't destroyed then they can just find make new Rangers or something. I'm just guessing.

[@williamgreci8219]

@@Igarappappa Possible.

[@stephenholloway6893]

My guess is that if Lothor did destroy them in civilian form then the powers could be passed to new students or 3 people at random. Otherwise if he destroyed them with the powers intact then he could in theory destroyed the powers and remove their connection to the morphing grid permanently. There is logic in both point of views but I wished that Lothor could explain why he didn't attack them in civilian form in order to try and take the powers.

[@williamgreci8219]

@@stephenholloway6893 I see.

[@DepressyDuck]

Thank you so much for continuing to redo and reupload the old iterations of this series. It truly is greatly appreciated.

[@coreylineberry8557]

Well, talk about a surprise! And a welcome one, to boot! And there's only four more left, with Dino Thunder (a personal favorite of mine,) SPD, Mystic Force, and RPM. Keep em coming and we'll be here, Linkara!

[@saiyan4414]

how would you figured he would stop at RPM?

[@coreylineberry8557]

@@saiyan4414 Because he's done every series (Neo-Saban and Hasbro) after.

[@saiyan4414]

@@coreylineberry8557 considering he was trying to redo each season into a full one episode retrospective as opposed to multiple episodes, he still has a while to go.

[@gabrieldevoogel6225]

@@saiyan4414no he wanted to remake them not from being multiple parts but to raise the quality and stop copyright claims

[@fullmetalmasify]

>gets notification Oh hey, a Power Rangers season that I watched each time a new episode came out (though i always really liked the design of the blue ranger outfit; it always screamed cool to me)

[@tykamen5588]

35:27 To be fair, whenever shurikenger used it (Cam's Japanese counterpart) it sounds nothing like a shamisen and sounds more like an electric guitar so you're not too far off off with that.

[@rossy9095]

I’ve watched every episode of HOPR about 100 times… so I love when the remakes come out to see what if anything has been added. But this was one was all about one thing; “the ancient ninja electric guitar”. Please never stop these 🙏

[@pandy4395]

I'm pretty sure the reason why they use household appliances as weapons is because real ninjas from the ega clan used farming tools and turned them into weapons, since a single short sword would have cost as much as a gun in those day.

[@SaberToothPortilla]

If that was the intent, that'd be a slick reference, but even then, only one of the weapons seemed particularly good for that idea, that being the hammer. And if the idea was using *modern* appliances that obviously aren't weapons as weapons, which could also be fun, then the other two work, but the hammer doesn't. It just seemed kinda... random? Whichever way you slice it.

[@GambeTama]

Ya, it was kind of sad that the show couldnt recognize that hammers were rendered obsolete in 2002 with the advancement of week old big league chew. The sentai staff really should have tried harder to remember how far we've advanced :P

[@CosmicPlatonix]

The ninja repurposed farming tools as weapons less because of the price of a true sword, and more because only upper-class samurai warriors were permitted to own true swords. It's like the scene in Lord of the Rings where the Fellowship are required to disarm before meeting Theoden, but Gandalf gets to keep his Staff because it's "just a walking stick".

[@pandy4395]

@@CosmicPlatonix true that

[@muigokublack6487]

To quote a certain senator: "A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one" I love Ninja Storm. I liked how it didn't take itself too seriously. Honestly one of my favorite episodes is "The Wild Wipeout" where Tori gets sent to a mirror universe there Lothor is good and the rangers are evil. I thought the team worked rather well together and Cam's journey to becoming a ranger was nice to see. Oh yeah, and the theme song rocks. I always get amped up when I hear that first chord after "Three who would become". Honestly outside of Overdrive, the Disney Era had some banger seasons like Mystic Force, Jungle Fury, and RPM.

[@ForrestFox626]

I loved The Wild Wipeout! It's one of my favorite standalone Power Rangers episodes!

[@muigokublack6487]

@@ForrestFox626 I also loved the episode "I Love Lothor". This season just had way too many good episodes like the one where Hunter is looking after a kid who has the phone used to grow monsters and summon Kelzacs. Just plain fun.

[@ForrestFox626]

@@muigokublack6487 I love All About Beevil, Beevil being one of my favorite Monsters of the Day.

[@kylewestmark8517]

It's so strange that we've made it here when it comes to the HoPR redos since the original was when I first discovered HoPR. Back when I primarily listened to these episodes as background material while playing a game since the visuals are not as important in my eyes. And also where I rediscovered my love of Power Rangers. Can't wait for Dino Thunder which is still my personal favorite series.

[@combatking0]

After having recently watched Hurricanger, it's interesting to see what was re-used from the Sentai, what was altered and what was outright added. For instance, the sensei being a guinea pig seems to be an alteration of the sub-plot of the Hurricangers' mentor transforming himself into a hamster to avoid being captured in the first episode. The helmets opening is re-used from the Sentai while Lothor is an original character. The ancient ninja electric guitar is based on a traditional Japanese string instrument, the shamisen. When played by the sixth ranger, the instrument does sound like an electric guitar, but when played by any other ranger it sounds like a shamisen, explained as a result of their difference in skill. Hurricanger also has multiple ninja academies, and while there are drop-outs, there are ninja robots who are supposed to erase their memories of the academies. There's an episode about a drop-out who slips through the net and opens a restaurant.

[@alex_-yz9to]

Robot ninja memory wipers

[@andersoncontreras183]

Alright I need a website to watch this please

[@camtho7117]

@@andersoncontreras183Its on Tubi

[@coreylineberry8557]

​​@@camtho7117Also should pop up on Twitch or Pluto through Shout Factory TV. Specifically TokuSHOUTsu.

[@mudjumper]

Hell yeah, I’m glad you’re still doing these remasters

[@MrCUTigerB]

I admit to a fondness for Lothor. With a series as long running as Power Rangers, it’s nice to have villains with different flavors and styles to them. With Ninja Storm being a more offbeat light-hearted style series (less “Austin Powers,” more “Kim Possible”), he fit it like a glove. Say what you will about the evil space ninja, but at least he was self-aware that he was silly and played up on it in a Dr. Evil style. That gave him a charm that I found refreshing after the string of hyper serious villains we’d had - Diabolico, Ransik, Master Org. It made for a nice change of pace. And what separates him from, say, Grumm in SPD is that you could never take him lightly in a fight. He single handedly beat down the team. His ninja beams destroyed a Battilizer in one shot. He took on next season’s big bad (Mesogog) and held his own for a minute.

[@Lightspeeds]

He's like the Shredder in the 1987 series.

[@estebangutierrez160]

I got a funny new Power Rangers idea now that you reminded me. Austin Power Rangers, and the morphing call, "It's Groovy Time baby".

[@maxmeidl4909]

Yeah, I’d argue that the villains in the sentai are far worse than their American counterparts. Lothor might be a buffoon, but at least he doesn’t have the disadvantage of being literally stuck to a chair. And as for Kapri and Mariah’s sentai counterparts (whatever their names were) were god-awful, from an acting perspective.

[@maxmeidl4909]

I always saw Cam at the beginning of Ninja Storm as a brilliant way to eventually set up the three extra rangers because the opening narration only speaks of "three chosen above the others". So, if there are going to be three more, then it should be more than just "Here's your morpher, now off you go". And even with all its ups and downs, it worked.

[@seanbourdier8756]

This is my fav season of Power Rangers outside of the classics. A real turn your brain off and enjoy kind of season. Everything just clicked for me, the theme, the suits, the reduce team at first, the diversity in who is what color (if I'm not wrong this is the first time a woman is the blue ranger and a man is the yellow ranger and its nice when the red ranger is something different ), I enjoyed some of the jokes. My favorite line is during a fight, and Dustin asks who they should be fighting, and Shane says, "Anyone who isn't a primary color." I don't know, gets me every time. Thank you for recovering this one. I've seen your whole timeline and was bummed when this one wasn't covered that well. I've learned through watching your vids about Saban Era, disney Era, neo Saban Era etc. Now I'm starting to know why the thunder collection hasn't covered it. I'm rambling, thanks again.

[@jonoave]

Same. This was my favourite PR season after the classic MMPR, and this got me back into PR after sort of falling out after MMPR S2. I started following the PR again and even watched Lost Galaxy. There was something about the warmth and chemistry of the cast that really sold them as friends, and I think the season did a great job in incorporating the nostalgia of MMPR with some silly gags, balancing the charm with some really cool concepts and actions. And there were some brilliant episode like Shane and Cam's focus.

[@rickychapman3377]

fun fact water walking and wierd weapons are totally ninja things (the water walking was done with special shoes at night) ninja weapons were everything from guns (yes ninjas use guns thare are famous ninja snipers) to sharpened coins and towels also the straw dummy thing is also a ninja thing the sadow clone technique from naruto is also inspired by the same thing ( it was done at night withe multiple ninjas waring the same outfit and rufly the hight) just some fun facts

[@maxmeidl4909]

I think the reason why they introduced the thunder rangers so early (mostly the fault of Hurricanger footage) is because they had to quickly make up the well-known 'team of 5 rangers’. But, Hunter and Blake are not meant to be seen as ‘extra’ rangers, that was saved for Cam, and why I enjoy his arc later in the series. They are meant to be the ‘two remains’ of the Wind & Thunder Academy and having them join early on allows them to feel like one whole team. And again, they would go on to introduce Cam’s arc. So, I have to view the Bradleys as the ‘fourth and fifth’ rangers.

[@AussieDragoon]

Wow, and just about a week about I rewatched all of the Saban Era HOPR's on a whim. How serendipitous.

[@Alexdluffy2451]

13:32 well it actually does makes sense if you give it thought. It was established that the Sensei has shape shifting power being able to turn to a bird ect. You make note of it when he is introduced. So when both him and Lothar clashed. The energy must have screwed up his powers so he transferred in to Guinea pig but it got stuck mid through transformation and Lothar’s dark Magic locked him in that form hence why he’s a Guinea Pig he’s unable to transform back and when Lothar Hit him again it unlocked his ability to Transform back

[@JustHayden61400]

That was always the theory I had.

[@estebangutierrez160]

Or maybe, The Sensei and Lothor are from the Lion Galaxy like Mick from Ninja Steel.

[@Alexdluffy2451]

@@estebangutierrez160 I could definitely see them retcon it to be like that but at the time it was made the explanation I gave seems like the right answer

[@RabblesTheBinx]

Random thought I just had: It's not called Ninja Wind because it's not _only_ about the Wind Rangers, it's called Ninja _Storm_ because it's about the Wind Rangers _and_ the Thunder Rangers.

[@KhanhNguyen-mh5ec]

Funny thing is the shamesen also play like rock guitar in the Sentai series because apparently, Mr Ninja of Ninja is an American weeb...Who knew Disney actually do their homework

[@henryblack1925]

THIS was my power rangers!! I remember waking my mom up super early so we could watch it in the tv in her bedroom! Shocked to hear it was only one season!

[@Ralloris]

Taking into consideration when this season aired and the fact that mmpr/zeo/turbo, lightspeed, wild force, and ninja storm all take place in different cities (if not countries), it actually makes sense that a comic book might be the only exposure they could have gotten about power rangers. Especially as students of a hidden ninja academy. The news wouldn't believe someone coming from Angel Grove with a story about monsters, but a comic book publisher would take that story and publish it.

[@AT4W]

Theoretically every Power Rangers season takes place primarily in California.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Even in the finalie you can see the United States flag in a few scenes not the New Zealand one. Plus it was called the US Action Games plus next season practically confirmed that the season took place in California in Thunderstorm.

[@elijahbegay4716]

Fun fact: Lothor’s Zord was actually The Final Form of Boss Tau Zant from Ninja Storm’s Sentai Counterpart Hurricaneger!

[@AeonKnigh432]

Nice! I've watched some VERY LEGAL reuploads of this video, so it's nice to see it officially posted. Unfortunate that it has to start on such a sad note.

[@AeonKnigh432]

I was going to ask if you were going to cover "Once and Always" and then I realized that was a stupid question, and of course you're going to cover it

[@AT4W]

Good on you for that realization! It'll be in the Cosmic Fury video. =)

[@DirectorOfChaos9292]

​@@AT4Wlove your remasters of your old HOPR vids

[@MrRobot1984]

Always happy to see these. Also glad I’m not the only one who remembers Prince Gasket is still out there waiting.

[@StormSage13]

To be fair, at 20:13 Lothor doesn't say a "ranger can only be destroyed" he's saying "a ranger's powers" so it could be implied he's thinking long con. Sure, he could destroy these 3, but what's stopping another trio from assuming the Wind Ranger powers and continuing the fight? Sure, he has all the ninja students, but there are other veteran rangers out there who could assume the power as well as Cam.

[@Dylan-cu4ty]

I didn't know the Red Ranger committed suicide from this season. And we just lost David Jason Frank not to long ago. Fuck man.

[@AkutomiNamikaze]

This season is definitely a mixed bag, but it still holds a nice nostalgic place in my heart. Cam and the Thunder Rangers have some of the best ranger designs in the series' history, the zords are memorable and made for fun toys, and the cast were (mostly) pretty likeable in their roles. Weird point of order though: who did Lothor marry? He has two nieces that aren't related to Cam, so he definitely got married, but is she still alive? Or did he get a divorce, in which case, why is he keeping the nieces around if he no longer has a familial connection? And wait, why does he suddenly care about family at all when he has literally tried to kill his own brother and nephew multiple times??? Why is my nose suddenly bleeding?

[@Maswartz226]

Honestly if they ever did adapt Lupinranger vs Patranger it'd be perfect for the Hexagon concept.

[@royshaheer]

Or Kingohger can be viable substitute

[@RabblesTheBinx]

They wouldn't be able to use either of the two Rangers they wanted to.

[@MarkGuerrero-cz9bh]

Make it an SPD sequel set in 2045 Sky mentoring the Patrangers Jack mentoring the Lupinrangers

[@theblackwidower]

@@RabblesTheBinx Yeah, one's dead, the other's probably going to jail for fraud (if he hasn't already). But there are plenty of other former Power Rangers who can fill the same role. Adam and Zack come to mind, which would be especially poetic to see them butting heads since they both wore the same suit at one time. Also, Carter Grayson, Wes Collins, Scott Truman or Dillon (though for those two you'd probably need a very good reason for them to be there since they're from another universe). Who else? Taylor Earhardt, Nick Russell (bring in a bigger storyline explaining what the whole 'light' thing was about), Karone, Casey Rhodes, Lauren Shiba (especially since she drew the short straw in her season. Seriously, she deserved better.)... they could all work. I'm focusing on those who could (in theory) operate as decent leaders. There's always wiggle room in these things. Besides, imagine if they were going to go ahead with the Hexagon in 2003, and everything was set except Jason David Frank had to bail suddenly because of personal reasons. Would they just cancel the whole season? Or would they try to make it work with a different Power Rangers actor like Steve Cardenas?

[@EntertainmentFan11]

@@theblackwidower Wait, who's going to prison for fraud?

[@skibot9974]

Thinking about it maybe what Lothor meant about “having to destroy them in their Ranger forms” was him worried if they kill the rangers unmorphed than their morphers can just be passed to somebody else

[@ImperatorMatthew]

32:26 The Song is called: A Force is Coming by Smasthrax

[@SageofStars]

20:12 I think they mean that, if you don't beat them WHILE they're Rangers, then the power can just be given to someone else, and thus, the problem is they'll just keep coming back. Something that does have some basis in the lore of prior seasons. In fact, they destroy the powers by going after the icons they use to power the morphs(Coins, Sabers, Morphers, etc), but never seem to do it by going after them directly, unless they're not after the Rangers AS Rangers, but as people, like how Astronima's forces targeted them because of the coming day when Dark Spector took over the universe.

[@coreylineberry8557]

18:48 That rollercoaster, in the Sentai, is actually the Intamin creation known as Thunder Dolphin. I think the reason it was used for the Sentai was the fact that at the time the coaster was new and Sentai does a lot of stuff at Tokyo Dome City in Tokyo, including the Super Sentai Hero Action Live show. The more you know, huh?

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus we see the dome for Power Rangers in both Turbo and Time Force.

[@maxmeidl4909]

Speaking of Tokyo, I believe that the blue ranger in the sentai was born there.

[@larrychilders6599]

So it's like the flamingos in Zyuranger

[@epictoe7179]

The *real* Ninja Power Rangers, hell yeah

[@DirectorOfChaos9292]

Ninja Storm had a great opening theme, I liked the zords/megazords and even the Thunder Rangers

[@KirbyCisntNT]

I always thought Lothor's "a ranger's power can only be destroyed when they're in their full ranger form"-remark to be a more literal hint at his plan: not just kill the rangers just to have predecessors showing up again and again that will keep bugging him, but sestrying the actual powers for so good, so they can't get passed down to others.

[@MarkGuerrero-cz9bh]

in the sentai the Goraigers don't make their presence known to the Hurricenger until episode 7 and the conflict does last a few more episodes. Cam is actually a composite character. Oboro, the sensei's daughter and the team's tech support and Shurikenranger, the ninja of ninjas (not a samurai). He doesn't really have an in person actor, he is morphed most of the time and when he isn't he is disguised as a civilian in the episode, with every disguise being played by a former sentai actor

[@Pikachu2Ash]

Gonna Put up a spoiler warning for people who wanna watch Huricanger PLEASE TURN BACK IF WANT A SPOILER FREE EXPEREINCE>>>>>>YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Also the Goraigers were at first evil but then you later find out why, because their father entrench a very cold and negative outlook onto them because he was corrupted by the will to awaken what the show refers to as "it" Therefore the Goraigers originally had a mission to find "it" but eventually only abandoned their quest when they found out that one of the ways to awake "it" involved one brother killing the other (since obviously the Goraigers are brothers) and that causes a real divide between them as the younger of the two brothers was chilled by this revelation. Eventually they do team up with the Hurricanegers against the villains (before that they were just either playing both sides against each other and picking sides, usually the villains, or just choosing to be the main villain for the episode) but even after becoming their allies, their cold nature still remains for a few episodes and they don't even really consider the Hurricanegers to be their allies let alone friends. After some huge dust settles (including the whole heroes being separated and the whole thing with the evil plant like substance turning the crisom red ranger crazy) they do become more willing to support the heroes but from the shadows (as they put it) but even then it takes almost the whole series (even after Shurikenger joins them) for them to almost completely rid of their negative outlook on society and the planet itself. They are very complex characters and It's a shame American and to a lesser extend Canada, doesn't have the same standards for kid shows because it would have been cool for us to get this version of Hunter and Blake instead, but it's understandable why it would be hard to adapt this kind of plot for Ninja Storm.

[@ztyran]

Sadly Grant McFarland, Lothor's actor died in November 2018.

[@tommysokolik5744]

Im so happy you redid this. I was literally wondering when you were going to and this popped up. Thank you linkara

[@MrDOCTORDERPY]

One thing I didn't know until recently was that lothor and Sensei were both played by the same actor

[@chrishansen8119]

I would argue the use of their main weapons (hammer, megaphone, hair dryer) is actually a decently smart nod to how often ninjas had to improvise with things that weren’t considered weapons, but tools.

[@SegaNintendoGuy64]

R.I.P to both Pua Magasiva & Grant McFarland.

[@lorirose2893]

I love power rangers ninja storm and I'm so glad the video is out as I've been waiting since your announcement in November. That being said I'm very thankful for the effort and research you put into these videos, I learn something new everytime. One of my favorite moments of the season is when Choobo steals the rangers party supplies and the ensuing dialogue. Hunter- "Give us back our stuff." Choobo- "Make me." Dustin- "Okay." Fight breaks out lol.

[@RaphBlade7]

10:48 - Ninja's walking on water is actually based Mizu gumo (Japanese: 水蜘蛛, lit. 'water spider') a device that supposedly allowed Ninjas to walk on water! One description of a device was worn like a harness around the hips and had small air pockets to keep the ninja afloat. Another description says that two were used and worn like shoes. The pockets were usually made of animal hide.The Mythbusters tested another mizu gumo design made of wood and rope, which was attached to the feet was tested. This was deemed to be 'busted' for walking on water, though possibly effective for rice paddies or marshy areas. Ninja Murasaki of the Red Ribbon Army used a Mizu gumo to cross some water during his fight with Goku inside Muscle Tower in Dragon Ball, while water walking is a common superhuman feat that Ninjas with more esoteric or supernatural abilities in popular fiction utilize such as Naruto & its successor series Boruto! So yeah, it's not strange to see such abilities in a Power Rangers season using footage from a ninja themed Super Sentai series!

[@angelorael6186]

After Jungle fury came out I like to imagine the reason he became a hamster is because it's his animal spirit and the power clash caused his spirit to go haywire similar to rj and his wolf spirit.

[@KGKSkull]

So, here’s the coolest facts about the original Sentai. The man who sang the theme song, hideaki takatori, is part of a band and he has he own KZbin channel, and he’s been doing covers of the power rangers themes, yes, a Japanese singer is doing covers of the English themes, AWESOME

[@OurKindofEntertainment]

It's funny how seasons that aren't that great like Turbo, Ninja Storm or Lightspeed Rescue have some of my favorite megazord designs (and in some cases names) in the entire franchise.

[@SsSESsS]

It's always awesome to see another upload from you Linkara.

[@mewdreamer]

I was so surprised and excited to see that you uploaded another HOPR video. I really enjoy your HOPR videos. I only vaguely remember watching bits of this season. Luthor's outfit always threw me off since his mask does make him look more like a Mexican wrestler than a ninja, even with how ninja seems to mean anything in this season. I remember thinking that the ending was pretty decent. I'm looking forward to your new version of your Dino Charge video too.

[@dewottmaster7720]

Soooo, do you have any updates on when the Dino Thunder video will be done? Lost Galaxy to Wild Force were pretty much back-to-back.

[@OmnicidalClown1992]

Another actor in Ninja Storm that sadly passed away was the one who played both Lothor and the rangers' guinea pig mentor, Grant McFarland.

[@Bagster321]

How happy it is to see this pop up in my subscription box! Thanks Linkara!

[@CGrascal]

The master transforming is also a thing in Hurricanger. In that version however, the Hurricanger's sensei, Hinata, messed up doing a ninja spell and ended up taking on a hamster form. In that version, they use a real hamster running around in a cage and animatronics for close up shots.

[@maxmeidl4909]

Really? Wow. I guess the power rangers version did the smart decision of using a cgi guinea pig instead of an animatronic.

[@jamesatkinsonja]

Really appreciate the work you put into these videos. Having a new HOPR is a very nice surprise.

[@vegaskullkid4503]

20:13 I think what Lotor means when he says this is that in order to destroy a Ranger’s powers then they have to be morphed when they kick the bucket. Which makes sense otherwise they’d just get someone else to be that ranger instead of the one that got killed.

[@TheRedMage01]

The thing with "Ninja Electric Guitar" is it sounds like that in the Sentai, Ninja Storm is based on when it's played by Shurikenger (Cam's counterpart) But sounds like a traditional shamisen when played by the other rangers due to Shurikenger being an expert and the others being novices at playing it.

[@DigiRangerScott]

Happy 20th anniversary Ninja Storm!

[@romdan7136]

I'd actually argue Lothors color scheme is 3: Red, Black, and Silver. With some small exceptions.

[@silvertheduelistpilotofata0131]

14:42 maybe there's a Men in Black esque organization that wipes the memories clean and even rebuilds the city, including the abandoned warehouse district

[@theblackwidower]

So, I assume he's going to be re-releasing the Dino Thunder video next, which I guess means it'll be the third video in a row where he'll feel obligated to open by mentioning something tragic about one of the Rangers. Hooo bui.

[@thomasfleming8131]

16:38 Now that you point it out, I've got two reasons. In universe, its safer to leave the helmet on in case another enemy shows up, so the visors opening lets them express themselves with minimal risk. The other is that these helmets don't have obvious latches to open like the MMPR ones, so maybe the implication is that you have to use ninja clothing magic to take them off and put them back on again. Edit: As for Lothar, I feel like him being a comedic main villain might have worked if he had shown how personally dangerous he was when he took to the field. Zed sitting on his throne for most of the season worked, but not so much for Lothar.

[@jdzencelowcz]

I think Lothor meant destroying the powers as well as the rangers, if they're bumped off while unmorphed, Cam could just give the morphers to someone else.

[@ForrestFox626]

Didn't stop Dino Fury Red's return

[@YourUncleBenis]

Come to think of it, didn't one of the Ninja Turtles also refer to Power Rangers as "comic book" during the In Space crossover? Must be a ninja thing.