Americans Hate Tingle: Western fans consider this the worst Sentai series. In Japan however, it was voted higher than Kamen Rider Den-O and Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger in a popularity poll and came second to only its immediate predecessor in terms of Sentai seasons.
Anti-Climax Boss: Kibaoni is simply defeated by Kyuemon distracting him while the Ninningers hit him once with the regular finisher. Just to be fair, the entire conflict of the series is about the Ninningers' feud with Kyuemon instead of Kibaoni himself.
Kyuemon being Gengetsu's first born son. It does say something when even he admitted that he couldn't believe it himself. However, Gengetsu later explained how it came to be—he gave birth to Kyuemon through a concubine and used his Youkai power to send him 444 years forward.
Masakage actually being a tiny monster piloting a human-sized robot is also one since it's never been foreshadowed in the slightest. It doesn't help when his Power Rangers counterpart General Tynamon, actually had a lot of foreshadowing prior to the reveal and was even revealed earlier than Masakage.
The theme song, which sounds like a throwback to the old Sentai songs akin to Dobutsu Sentai Go-Busters. Bonus points for the stupidly catchy ending song.
Star Ninger's theme, Star Ninger ☆ Party Night!! Gives us a more country rock vibe that matches the character perfectly.
Star Ninger's transformation theme. The banjos are GLORIOUS.
Lion HaOh and the Chouzetsu power-up's "Chouzetsu Lion HaOh", sung by Yukio Yamagata himself.
All of the combination themes can either be this or they can be a serious ear worm.
The two songs we got in Gekiatsu DaiOh's debut. One seems to be an orchestral/opera remix of Shurikenjin's theme, while the other seems to be an orchestral/opera remix of the main theme.
Say what you want about the quality of the summer movie, but the triumphant music that plays when the Lord returns to his human form and the victorious music that plays in the Shurikenjin Dino fight is amazing.
Any of Mavro's themes in Ninninger vs. ToQger, especially whenever the music gets extremely fast-paced.
Base-Breaking Character: StarNinger in spades. Some fans thought it was a different and original take on the Sixth Ranger trope and as a homage to Kaiketsu Zubat, to Ninja Black, and to Shinken Gold. Others thought that a cowboy ninja who fights with a guitar sword and transforms with a burger would be better off as a way to show future creators how they can really screw up a possible good character.
The first fight with Kappa turns into a sumo wrestling match for no reason at all. This is especially true for people who do not know that the traditional Kappa is skilled in sumo arts.
#28 has the Ninningers infiltrate a kindergarten by being turned into toys - Takaharu (SHS vinyl) gets seperated from the others, leading to Fuuka (battery-operated puppy), Nagi (Tonka truck), Kinji (toy guitar) and Kasumi (anime fashion doll) making their way across the playground - and stopping to play on the swings and slide.
Growing the Beard: The series started its way to move away from being a Takaharu-fest into developing on its own solid series around Episode 27, when Kinji got the Chouzetsu Henge for the first time, which is then followed with mostly everyone else getting their versions (except Fuuka), and it also marks the time that Takaharu stopped pushing himself into the spotlight way too much, and not to mention lessening his obnoxiousness and not overuse his Catchphrase too much. However, this improvement on the heroes side does nothing to lessen people's disappointment with the rest of the show.
While exploring her imagination, Kagura once dressed in a pink Ninja costume while marathoning ninja movies. Fast forward a year, and her successor is the first Pink in a Ninja Sentai with a train.
There was no yellow ranger in Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger because the producer felt that yellow was too feminine a color for males. Two years later, we have a male yellow ranger.
What makes it even better is that the Yellow Ranger of the very next series is also male.
Previous scans stated that AoNinger and KiNinger can also use Chozetsu Shoubu Changer like AkaNinger. Come #22 when the former and StarNinger tried to use it, but were denied access by it.
On the same subject, there was outcry that the girls aren't going to get the same deal as the boys. On the same episode, Fuuka unwitting activated the Chozetsu Shoubu Changer, albeit as her (in civilian form) enarmored with Cho AkaNinger's parts completed the lion crest as a hairpin.
In the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode "Crystal of Nightmares", Bulk & Skull dreamed that they were Power Ranger-like heroes with Skull having a hot dog morpher and Bulk having a Cheeseburger morpher… 23 years later Starninnger happens to actually have a morpher shaped like a cheeseburger due to being a American Cowboy Ninja.
Yoshi Sudarso's cameo in Shinobi #34, in which he's rescued by and briefly interacts with AoNinger, has become all the more amusing (and sweeter) when it was revealed AoNinger's American counterpart would be played by Yoshi's brother Peter.
In Zyuohger vs Ninninger, Takaharu meets his Kid from the Future but there's zero indication if the mother was his childhood friend Kikyo. No wonder she defected to the Bugsters...
Mexicans Love Speedy Gonzales: StarNinger is very stereotypically Americannote A cowboy, bull rider, rock star, and surfer who loves cheeseburgers and selfies, but a number of American fans think that the over-the-top use of the stereotypes crosses from offensive to just plain awesome.
Seasonal Rot: The series went from a cool ninja series with varied mecha to a show with problematic plot pacing and execution, strangely inactive main villains, too much focus on Takaharu and the worst toy sales in Sentai history since Timeranger and Gekiranger. It appears to have become the go-to punching bag of the franchise.
Seeing a little kid crying over her slain mom in #1 is a pretty somber sight.
Kinji's backstory and why he wanted to become Yoshitaka's disciple. His father and older brother were killed by Western Yokai Wolf Man, and at some point eventually, he became impressed with Yoshitaka's skills, thus his gradual progression into StarNinger, hoping to avenge/revive his family with the End Shuriken. His motivation for revenge is among one of the reasons for the low amount of trust Yoshitaka had of Kinji at first.
After Kyuemon told her of Mangetsu's death, Ariake became so distraught that her tears became a wave strong enough to bring back Gengetsu. Even so, she spends about three episodes after still jaded from his death. By the time MomoNinger and StarNinger defeated her, she begged Mangetsu to forgive her for failing to avenge him, and by that point Gengetsu absorbed her to gain more power.
After Kyuemon backstabbed him and took both the End Shuriken and an empty shuriken he gave him, Yoshitaka revealed to his family that he died from fighting Gengetsu in the past and it was that End Shuriken that allowed him to live for many years and seal the villain. After Yoshitaka faded and getting attacked by Sakuya Kyuemon, the others lay there with mourning looks from seeing Yoshitaka die as Kyuemon and Gengetsu left, not helped by the fact that Takaharu screamed afterwards.
By the end of the series, Kyuemon's backstory was very much this. The reason for wanting the End Shuriken and why he took being Yoshitaka's disciple was to bring back his family (AKA the Kibaoni Army Corps), where all the other Ninningers sympathized with him, especially Kinji who compared both of their scenarios of wanting their families back with the End Shuriken's power. Minutes later, Gengetsu arrived and attacks all of them, then grabbed Kyuemon towards his neck, claiming that he was yet another of his pawns and never actually cared about him, then absorbing him as Kyuemon tried to reason with him.
Quite a few of the mecha had surprisingly minimal screen-time despite having ample opportunity and no story reasons for absence:
Paonmaru, UFOmaru, and Surfermaru, despite having been introduced before the show's 20th episode were quickly overshadowed by Lion HaOh. UFOmaru fairs a little better, but other than minor appearances, they hardly appear in battle, being present for 8, 9, and 6note even less for mecha combinations episodes respectively out of 47. Likewise, after these three auxiliary mecha appear, the throne swapping gimmick is shelved for the duration of the show, with none of the other introduced mecha capable of showcasing it.
StarNinger's Bison King only appeared for 15 episodes despite debuting as early as episode 9.
HaOh Gekiatsu DaiOh, the team's strongest mecha and had no drawbacks to usage, appeared in 3.
A toyline example with the named but never seen in-series combination of Rodeomaru used in place of Shinobimaru to form Shurikenjin Texas. Why this as well Bison King's possible OtomoNin combinationsnote besides Drago never appearing are a riddle for the ages.
Despite BisonKing Surfer existing in the toyline, Bisonking never combined with Surfermaru for some reason.
Many people were disappointed that the Western Youkai only last an episode for each one.
Despite essentially becoming a Dragon Ascendant, many fans thought the revelation that Kyuemon being both Tsumuji's old classmate and Kibaoni's son were revelations that would have been more impactful earlier in the story, rather than keeping them hidden for long periods of time.
In a case of wasting a perfectly good powerup, Super Starninger. It only appeared for 5 episodes, and wasn't used in any of the crossovers, not to mention that despite Kinji obtaining the form by getting his werewolf side under his control, the design doesn't reflect it at all.
Taken further in the Hyper Battle DVD, where the revival of fallen monsters includes Dorodoros and Magerappas!
October takes the guest ninjas beyond Super Sentai with the return of the ninja Metal Hero, Jiraiya. Not to mention the cameo of Yoshi Sudarso, aka Koda, the Dino Charge BlueRanger in the same episode.
Viewer Gender Confusion: Kyuemon exhibits this trope by looking feminine and being voiced by a woman, but clearly having the distinction that he's a male via flashback. (It's not a part of his attempt to disguise his identity either- nobody in-universe is surprised by his gender.) It's never brought up until, of all things, the 'returns' post-series movie. When a woman played by Kyuemon's voice actor is possessed by Kyuemon himself, a resurrected Mangetsu says "Can it be? Big brother was always... big sister? This leaves Kyuemon to indignantly yell "I'm a man!" to comedic effect, since he's in the body of a pretty girl at the time.
Vindicated by History: Though it still isn't particularly held in the highest regard, the current consensus is generally that the show wasn't as bad as people made it out to be while it was airing and that it's a debatably enjoyable show.
. Touch the shooting star!