Series / Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger

Unknown to the people, unknown to the world, striking at evil from the midst of shadows!

Ninpū Sentai Hurricaneger ("Ninja Wind Squadron Hurricaneger"^note This was the first Sentai title to shorten the suffix "-ranger") is the twenty-sixth installment in the Super Sentai series, airing from 2002 to 2003. The Title Theme Tune was sung by Hideaki Takatori.

Upon the graduation day of Hayate Way Ninja Academy, an alien ninja clan called the Jakanja descend on the school and kill the entire student body. The only survivors are the three worst students: Yousuke Shiina, Nanami Nono and Kouta Bitou, who happened to be elsewhere doing remedial training.

Out of desperation, the three students are given the school's greatest honor so they can fight against the Jakanja: the power to become Hurricaneger.

Partnered with the Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider Ryuki before concluding its airing alongside the first episodes of Kamen Rider 555 in what would later be known as the Super Hero Time block.

Adapted into Power Rangers Ninja Storm.

In 2013, in a first for any season in the franchise, a V-Cinema special titled "Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger 10 Years After" was released, set 10 years after the finale and reuniting the team against a new enemy - Hurricane Dark.

Another V-Cinema titled Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger de Gozaru Shushuuto 20th Anniversary, set 10 years after the first V-Cinema, was released to theaters in June 16, 2023 and to DVD and Blu-ray on October 25.

The series can be streamed for free at Shout! Factory TV.

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Recurring Super Sentai tropes:

• Actor Allusion
  • Sandaaru (who is voiced by Shūichi Ikeda) has a tendency to say modified versions of Char Aznable's famous quotes, including says "Let's just see the capabilities of the Earth’s Karakuri Giant!"^note a nod to "Let's just see the capabilities of the Federation's mobile suit!".
  • Each of Shurikenger's human disguises are played by past Sentai actors, and whenever they transform into Shurikenger, they'll usually incorporate the henshin pose of the character they originally played.
    • Played with in regards to Kenji Ohba, who did Gavan's henshin pose instead.
  • In Ten Years After, Ikkou's musical group Junretsu includes Yusuke Tomoi, who doesn't appear in the special; they tell the audience he's apparently home with the measles and certainly not off fighting monsters as a green superhero — which he did ten years before as Kamen Rider Gills.
    • Junretsu actually exists in Real Life^note The name is written differently in Ten Years After, and features multiple Toku actors including Tomoi, Yujiro Shirakawa (Ikkou), Ryohei Idou (Kamen Rider Zolda) and Kazuyoshi Sakai (Gao Black).
  • Also in Ten Years After, Nanami's idol career was reaching its sell-by date, so to speak, and her manager was asking her to consider doing a Hotter and Sexier production. Which Nao Nagasawa already did, in Koichi Sakamoto's DTV movie Dimension Travellers.
• All Your Powers Combined: The team cannon, per usual.
  • Triple Gadget: Combination of the Hurricanegers' weapons. There are three possible arrangements of it, each with a different effect.
  • Double Gadget: Combination of the Gouraigers' weapons.
  • Victory Gadget: Combination of all of the above, once the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers work together.
  • Final Gadget: Combination of all of the above and the Ninja Misen in Ten Years After.
• Animal Motifs: The Hurricanegers, the Gouraigers and the Jakanja are each themed after a different animal.
• Bifurcated Weapon:
  • The Hurricanegers' Hayatemaru. Normally a katana, it can switch into a rifle when combined with its sheath.
  • The Shurikenger has Shuriken's Bat, like the Hayatemaru, where it is normally a katana, but it can switch into a baseball bat mode when it combines with its sheath.
• Brought to You by the Letter "S": "H" is for Hurricaneger.
• By the Power of Grayskull!: "Ninpuu - Shinobi Change!"
  • "Jinrai - Shinobi Change!" for Gouraigers.
  • And "Tenkuu - Shinobi Change!" for Shurikenger.
    • In all three cases, it's sometimes shortened to just "Shinobi Change!".
• Calling Your Attacks
• Color Character: Played straight for the Hurricanegers, another "[team prefix] [English color]" Sentai. Averted in the case of the Gouraigers, who are also red and blue, and the green-colored Shurikenger.
• Combination Attack: Chō Ninpō: Kage no Mai^note Super Ninpou: Shadow Dance
• Cool Bike: The Bari Thunder bikes for the Gouraigers. The Hurricanegers themselves rode horses or used hang gliders called Wingers.
• Crossover: Hurricaneger vs. Gaoranger this year, and they do it again with Abaranger next year, as is tradition.
• Custom Uniform: The uniforms look the same, except for stripes in their ranger color.
• Evil Plan: The goals of the Jakanja revolve around something known only as “it”. “It” eventually turns out to be an evil force which the Jakanja seek to invoke to recreate the universe into one with them as its rulers.
• Finishing Move: The Triple Gadget is used for finishing attacks. It's later upgraded into the Victory Gadget with the addition of the Gouraigers.
• Home Base: Oboro's workshop serves as the team's main base.
• Humongous Mecha
  • A Mech by Any Other Name: The Shinobi Machines, which were all Animal Mecha (except for the Tenkujin).
  • Combining Mecha: One for the Hurricanegers and another for the Gouraigers.
    • Hurricane Hawk + Hurricane Leon + Hurricane Dolphin = Senpūjin, which can transform into a lighter version called the Senpūjin Hurrier
    • Gourai Beetle + Gourai Stag = Gōraijin
  • Transforming Mecha: The Tenkūjin could transform between a robot or a helicopter.
  • Mecha Expansion Pack: In addition to the Gōraijin and the Tenkūjin, which could combine with the Senpūjin or with themselves, the team also has the Revolver Mammoth, an animal mecha that launched "Karakuri Balls", which were capsules that stored additional parts for any of the above mechas. Karakuri Balls No. 7 and 8 could combine into a support robot called Fūraimaru, while Balls No. 15, 16 and 17 formed an animal mecha called the Tricondor. The Revolver Mammoth also served as a steed for the Gōrai Senpūjin or the Tenrai Senpūjin.
    • Senpūjin + Gōraijin = Gōrai Senpūjin
    • Senpūjin + Tenkūjin = Tenkū Senpūjin
    • Gōraijin + Tenkūjin = Tenkū Gōraijin
    • Gōrai Senpūjin + Revolver Mammoth = Revolver Gōrai Senpūjin
    • Gōrai Senpūjin + Tricondor + Tenkūjin = Tenrai Senpūjin
    • Tenrai Senpūjin + Revolver Mammoth = Revolver Tenrai Senpūjin
    • Gōrai Senpūjin - Gourai Stag + Gao Shark + Gao Tiger + Gao Elephant = Gōrai Senpūjin Sword & Shield
    • Gōrai Senpūjin - right arm + Tenkūjin = Tenkū Gōrai Senpūjin
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Each episode is called a "Scroll"; titles are in "<Noun1> and <Noun2>"^note In Japanese, "<Noun1> to <Noun2>" format.
• Instrument of Murder: The Ninjamisen, which is based on a three-stringed instrument known as a Shamisen.
• Improbable Weapon User: All three of the Hurricanegers' personal weapons resemble weird objects.
  • Yosuke: Dry Gun^note It's meant to be a hairdryer.
  • Nanami: Sonic Megaphone^note It attacks using her amplified voice.
  • Kouta: Quake Hammer^note It's based on a squeaky mallet.
• In the Name of the Moon: The series' roll calls must be the longest ones in Super Sentai, considering each group has their own. But in retrospect, they're pretty awesome, owing to the poetic lines.
  • The Hurricanegers:
    Yosuke: "The wind howls, the sky rages; Air Ninja, Hurricane Red!"
    Nanami: "The water dances, the waves jump; Water Ninja, Hurricane Blue!"
    Kouta: "The ground quivers, the flowers bloom; Land Ninja, Hurricane Yellow!"
    Yosuke: "Unknown to the people."
    Nanami: "Unknown to the world."
    Kouta: "Striking at evil from the midst of shadows!"
    Yosuke: "Ninpuu Sentai..."
    All: "Hurricaneger!"
    Yosuke: "... has arrived!"^note "...A-sanjou!", in a theatrical way
  • The Gouraigers:
    Ikkou: "The darkness I face, the darkness I slice!"
    Isshu: "The light I face, the light I slice!"
    Ikkou: "The crimson lightning; Horned Ninja, Kabuto Raiger!"
    Isshu: "The azure thunderclap; Fanged Ninja, Kuwaga Raiger!"
    Both: "Gouraigers, at lightningspeed - arrived!"^note "Kenzan!"
  • Shurikenger:
    Shurikenger: "I am Ninja of Ninja. The luminous green bullet; Heavenly Ninja, Shurikenger - Arrived!"^note "Sanjou!"
• Make My Monster Grow: A couple of methods, actually:
  • If the monster was from Chuuzubo's private reserves, he'd load a scroll into Wendinu's bazooka, which she fired down to the destroyed monster on Earth.
  • However, if one of the monsters came from Sargain's group, he'd have Wendinu send down a "Copy Giant", a cybernetic torpedo that copied the monster's data and transformed itself into a duplicate of said monster.
  • Finally, if Satarakura was responsible for the evil plan of the week, Wendinu would send down a mask that, for all intents and purposes, did the same thing that Chuuzubo's scroll did, except it was a lot creepier.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Part of Hurricane Blue's costume.
• Monster of the Week: Space ninjas with different themes depending on who was sending them out. Chuzubo used animal/plant-themed monsters, Sargain used robots, Satarakura's were aliens themed on body parts, and Sandaaru had three mythical beast-based creatures.
• Mooks: The Magerappers; aliens with a knot of "hair" constantly in "rapping" motion. ...Don't ask.
• The Movie: Hurricaneger: Shushuuto The Movie
• Narrator: Hironori Miyata narrates the series.
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase
• The Psycho Rangers: The Gouraigers, ninjas from the rival academy of Hayate's Way who sided with Jakanja and oppose the Hurricanegers, at least until they turn good
• The Smurfette Principle: Hurricane Blue, a member of the main trio, who serves as Super Sentai's third female blue.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: The Jakanja invoke this with the Seven Dark Spears, who are ordered weakest to strongest from 1 - 7.
• Standard Evil Organization Squad: The Seven Dark Spears, the seven Co-Dragons of Tau Zant who lead the Jakanja’s forces into battle.
• Super Mode: Shurikenger Fire Mode, a rare Sentai moment where the Sixth Ranger gets the super mode instead of the main team.
• Supervillain Lair: Jakanja's Parasite Fortress Centipede, a castle-like ship that travels through space.
• Swiss-Army Weapon: The Gouraigers' Ikazuchimaru is normally a staff, but has two modes it can switch into: shuriken and shield.
• Theme Music Power-Up: The Hurricanegers' theme tends to play whenever they're transforming or about to defeat a Monster of the Week.
• Transformation Trinket
  • Hurricanegers: Hurricane Gyro
  • Gouraigers: Gourai Changer
  • Shurikenger: Shuriken Ball
• Villains Act, Heroes React: As is the norm for Super Sentai, we generally have the Jakanja sending out a MOTW with an Evil Plan Once an Episode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them.

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Tropes specific to Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger:

• Actor Allusion: All of Shurikenger's disguises are played by past Sentai actors.
• Analogy Backfire: In the Feud Episode, Hamster Headmaster tries to do the “a single twig breaks, but a bundle of twigs is strong” Aesop using a demonstration. But then, the bundle breaks even easier than the single twig, causing Yosuke and Kouta to take away that “a wooden twig breaks, so I have to become a steel twig”.
• Arc Number: Ten Years After has...well, 10.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: In episode 34 Wendinu grew to giant size after her monster was destroyed (and tricked by Shurikenger). She defeats the Hurricaneger and Gouraiger with ease.
  • Or she would've, had she not spotted the guy she developed a crush on (Yoshihiro Masujima in a special appearance) and left the fight.
• Back for the Finale: The Evil Will resurrects all Seven Dark Spears for battle against the Hurricanegers in the final episode. Luckily for the Hurricanegers, the Gouraigers (who were thought to have died in the episode before) turn out to be alive and return to help them.
• Beach Episode: #26 becomes one midway through after Nanami goes to the beach while on a date, complete with Furabiijo and Wendinu in bikinis.
• Becoming the Mask: Literally with Shurikenger, who forsook his face and name in order to become Shurikenger.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Furabijenu (the Monster of the Week of Episode 30) envision herself taking over Jakanja's leadership, claiming that she is 300% better her creator Furabijou, and accordingly, more ambitious.
• Body Motifs: Satarakura’s Masked Ninjas are each themed after a different body part.
• Breaking Old Trends: The first Sentai series to feature two separate Sentai teams in the Hurricanegers and Gouraigers.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: The show can go from funny ninja antics and randomness to a more serious and dramatic plotline, to back to funny ninja antics in a heartbeat. Although things slowly become more serious in the second half.
• Cosmic Chess Game: It turns out later on the Hurricanegers are receiving help from a mysterious “Gozen-sama”, who’s really an immortal woman named Kagura and the guardian of the Grieving Bow, to fight the Jakanja, who are following instructions from the Evil Will invoke it so it can destroy and remake the universe.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Both of the Gouraigers have one in which the morals that their father taught them were rage and hatred. They later find out that their father wanted them to fight each other in a death match in order for "that" to be born.
• "Day of the Week" Name: Each of the main Jakanja Seven Dark Spears are named after a different day of the week.
• Designated Girl Fight: Furabijo and Wendinu prioritized fighting Nanami/Hurricane Blue or targetting her with their Ninja Corp Monsters above the other Hurricaneger. Most notable in episodes 6 and 30 where all three girls are given the spotlight and end fighting.
• Disney Death: Yousuke in episode 32. Shurikenger in episode 49, who is revealed to have survived in Abaranger vs. Hurricaneger... Except not after all as revealed in the 10 Years After Special. Also, the Gouraigers were thought to be dead in episode 50 after self-destructing Gouraijin to take out Sandaaru, but appear alive before the Hurricanegers in episode 51 to aid them in their final battle against the Evil Will.
  • Though the Ten Years After special implies that Shurikenger might have survived in the VS universe, but not the Hurricaneger universe, as a new character named Tenkai becomes Shurikenger in his stead. In addition, Furabijo appears despite her death in Boukenger vs. Super Sentai. Basically, if you haven't kept up with the team-ups and Reunion Shows, then to make a long story short: even if someone else wore the suit on one occasion, the original Shurikenger has made too many post-series appearances, before and after Tenkai's sole appearance, to ignore.
• Doppelgänger Attack: Kouta's Chō Ninpō: Mai Jishi^note Super Ninpou: Dancing Lion
• Elemental Powers
  • Blow You Away: Yousuke
  • Making a Splash: Nanami
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Kouta
  • Shock and Awe: Ikkou and Isshu
  • Playing with Fire: Shurikenger
• Downer Beginning: The first episode has the Hayate’s Way students being massacred by the Jakanja, leaving the three future Hurricanegers as the only survivors.
• Earth/Wind Juxtaposition: Yousuke Shiina/Hurricane Red is a Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero with the power of air. Kouta Bitou/Hurricane Yellow is the team's strategist with the power of earth and prefers to plan rather than rush into battle like Yousuke.
• End of an Age: Hurricaneger is the last Sentai series to feature a To Be Continued end card.
• Evil Laugh: So many.... Not only is it Tau Zanto's habit, but pretty much all the other Seven Dark Spears have an opportunity to give in to wicked mirth. Satarukara is the biggest case of this.
• Eyed Screen: Well, with visors, usually when a finisher is used. This is because most of the time the Rangers are all in different cockpits, even when combined. But even in Tenraisenpuujin with everyone in one room, usually everyone's mask shot appears in a pattern around Shurikenger.
• Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Aliens, ninjas, alien ninjas (plus other modifiers), mystical ninja arts, Lost Technology, artifacts of doom and meteor showers carrying prophetic instructions. All in the same series.
• Freudian Trio
  • Id: Nanami
  • Ego: Yousuke
  • Superego: Kouta
• Gratuitous English: Shurikenger loves this. "HAY! STOP! EVERYBAADY!" It's a hint that a certain someone is Shurikenger in disguise. When he's disguised as a shrine caretaker (played by Kenji Ohba), then reveals himself, Kouta laments that he should've seen it coming, because the caretaker spews Gratuitous English.
  • Though that goes for the original Shurikenger. Tenkai doesn't say a line in English, even after taking up the mantle.
• Heel–Face Turn: Ikkou and Isshu start out as villainous supporters of Jakanja, briefly become Wild Card that fight all other sides and eventually turn good after being rescued from Chuuzubo's plot and seeing the errors of their ways.
• Highly-Visible Ninja: Averted some because of Oboro's robots that erase the memories of anybody who sees Hurricaneger in action.
• Homage: Hurricaneger pays tribute to Choujuu Sentai Liveman (the 1988 Sentai series) in many ways. It's the first Sentai series since Liveman to start off with three main members, the blue ranger is also a girl, the three main characters are students of an elite academy, their animal motifs are almost identical (a blue dolphin and a yellow lion, with a red hawk replacing Liveman's red falcon), two extra members are introduced mid-series (plus a third one), and the villains of both teams keep track of their members' performance based on the plans they execute.
• Hour of Power: Senpujin's Super Mode lasts only for a minute.
• Idiot Hero: The Hurricanegers start off as this, being the bottom ranked students at they academy and not having much interest in ninjutsu. They all eventually grew out of it.
• Idol Singer: Nanami. She has many trials and tribulations with this, including forming a girl group with Furabijou at one point. When she returns in Boukenger vs Super Sentai, she's achieved some degree of success.
• If It's You, It's Okay: After Furabijo says she'd like to be Sandaaru's girlfriend, Satarakura (who's a guy) says he'd like to be it too. It seems to be more driven by admiration of Sandaaru than sexual orientation.
• In Their Own Image: The Jakanja and the Evil Will’s end goal is to destroy the universe and create a new one with the Jakanja as its rulers.
• Karma Houdini: Sure, they might get beaten up a little and humiliated, but Wendinu and Furabijo have never been killed in the Hurricaneger universe (they even appear in Ten Years After assisting the new Big Bad). In the VS universe, Furabijo did die (twice!), but Wendinu was nowhere to be seen and never implied to have been killed off...
• Kill the Cutie: Poor Kagura gets murdered by Sandaaru for the Grieving Bow medal in a rather sharp turn.
• Land, Sea, Sky: The three Hayate Academy ninjas, with corresponding Animal Motifs. Paying homage to another Land, Sea, Sky trio — the three original members of Liveman.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Oboro has a robotic squad specilized in this so that civilians won't know of the Hurricanegers' exploits.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Furabijo and Wendinu respectively.
• Mythology Gag: The main trio borrows heavily from Choujuu Sentai Liveman in many aspects, such as the animal motif (red hawk, yellow lion, blue dolphin), being the last survivors of a special academy, and having slightly similar names (Yuusuke and Yousuke, Megumi and Nanami, Jou and Kouta).
  • Gouraisenpuujin is thus one to Super Live Robo, in that it involves two robots combining into one and both having lion heads on their chests and the legs of one of the robots becoming the arms of the combined form.
  • There's also similarities to Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the previous round of ninjas. The roll call is very similar, and the rangers are in separate cockipits even in the combined mecha (except one), like the Kakurangers were with the Hidden Great General (Kakure Daishogun).
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Jakanja are alien ninjas, and considered they've plundered multiple planets before coming to Earth, they may count as pirates too. The Seven Dark Spears being brought back as puppets by Tau Zant makes them zombies in a way, and since Sargain is a kabuki robot, he's technically a literal Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot.
• Oddly Named Sequel: This was the first Sentai series to shorten the "-ranger" suffix down to "-ger".
• Official Couple: Nanami and Isshu, presumably.
  • Ship Sinking: Although Nanami shot down Isshu's invitation to a date during Abaranger VS Hurricaneger and is later brought up in 10 Years After.
• The Power of Rock: The Ninjamisen, a combination shamisen/gun. Shurikenger gets the most usage out of it, but episode 35 sees the entire team give it a go.
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: A triple slash of the Hurricanegers are usually accompanied with "HU-RRI-CANE!"
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Hurricanegers are actually bottom of the class students. The only reason they made the team is everyone else was killed by Jakanja in the first episode. This doesn't apply to the Gouraigers.
• Shout-Out: The Hurricanegers' roll calls are all styled after kabuki theater. Satarakura is also based on a kabuki performer.
  • In Ten Years After, the new Monster of the DTV special is named Bat Zhe Rumba, a tip of the hat to a certain dancing Sentai airing that year.
• Sizeshifter:
  • Ikkou's Chō Ninpō: Maboroshi Kabuto^note Super Ninpou: Illusion Kabuto
  • Wendinu can also grow giant whenever she gets sufficiently enraged.
• Spit Take: Done by Ikkou when Isshu asked him about love.
• Super Mode: "Senpujin HurriUp!"
  • Senpuujin Hurrier is a rare example of a Super Mode making the robot smaller since it increases Senpuujin's speed.
• Team Pet: Mugensai spends most of the show as a hamster thanks to carelessly mispronouncing a ninpo.
• Theme Naming: The Seven Spears are all named after days of the week:
  • Sandaaru: Sunday
  • Manmaruba: Monday
  • Chuzubo: Tuesday
  • Wendinu: Wednesday
  • Sargain: Thursday
  • Furabijo: Friday
  • Satarakura: Saturday
    • Taking the first syllable of the three main Hurricaneger's family names gives you Shinobi.
• Three Plus Two: Three Hurricangers plus two Gouraigers. Plus one Shurikenger.
• Tie-In Novel: A novel was published in 2014, the year following 10 Years After, and written by Junichi Miyashita.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl:
  • Oboro (Ms. Fix It who usually indulges in geeky activities) and Nanami (Idol Singer who likes cute things, cooks well, etc). Even if Nanami is the one doing all the fighting.
  • Furabijo (feisty and immature) and Wendinu (elegant and obsessed with beauty) are this among the villains.
• The Unexpected: What toku movies will be released in 2013: A Go-Busters movie, a Kyoryuger movie, some Wizard movies, Super Hero Taisen Z... wait, a Hurricaneger reunion movie?
• Voluntary Shapeshifter: Yousuke's Chō Ninpō: Maboroshi Henge^note Super Ninpou: Illusion Change
• Walk on Water: Nanami's Chō Ninpō: Minamo Bashiri^note Super Ninpou: Water Surface Run
• Wham Episode:
  • Episode 21, in which the Jakanja get a new Dark Spear, Manmaruba reveals his Adult Form and Shurikenger makes his first apperance.
  • Episode 44 sees the reveal of the true identity of the Hurricanegers' mysterious benefactor, "Gozen-sama".
  • Episode 48. Kagura dies and Sandaaru claims the Grieving Bow, the other component the Jakanja need to enact their plans.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: The last we see of Wendinu and Furabijo in the series is them getting slashed and defeated in the Final Battle. In Abaranger vs Hurricaneger, it's revealed they were transported to Dino Earth and apparently stuck there. Furabijo then got called by Chronos in Boukenger vs Super Sentai (we don't know how a living Furabijo was pulled out of Dino Earth by Chronos' method of resurrecting dead villains, assuming the crossover wasn't given a Canon Discontinuity) and instantly got her life sacrificed. Wendinu... nobody heard about her. Both girls do return alive and well in the "10 Years After" special to add further complications onto it. Furabijo is never stated to have died and Wendinu's last known whereabouts being another dimension goes unmentioned, and it's suggested both were sight for ten years after their apparent deaths in the series finale. Oh, and in case you're wondering, both are perfectly fine at the end of the special and flee to parts unknown.

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