POWER RANGERS NINJA STORM Feels Like a Franchise Reboot
Well, the Disney era of Power Rangers has officially begun. I understand that there’s some disagreement as to whether it starts with Power Rangers Wild Force, but I’d argue that the true Disney era begins with Power Rangers Ninja Storm. This is when the show moved to New Zealand for filming and the overall tone and structure of the show changed. Now, I remember as a kid, Ninja Storm is when I started to stop watching Power Rangers. I watched a fair amount, but I don’t remember watching most of the latter half of the season. However, I just finished rewatching it and it was a trip.
First, I can understand why Ninja Storm is not necessarily seen as a favorite season by fans. I personally enjoyed it, but it is very different from the seasons leading up to it. There isn’t really much of an overarching story, it’s a lot less dramatic and leans closer to camp, etc. In all honesty, it feels like a return to the Zordon era (with the exception of In Space).
In Ninja Storm, we have our first Ranger team of three youths of indeterminate age. It feels like they’re supposed to be roughly 17-18 years old, but it’s never really explained or said. They’re each into a different extreme sport because it’s the early 2000s, and they also go to a Ninja Academy. One day, the three are late and the whole Academy’s student body is abducted by the evil Lothor while the sensei is turned into a CG guinea pig. This is a really weird choice in my opinion. I’m not really sure why they needed to turn him into a guinea pig, but they did. Well, the three then become Power Rangers, and they grow over the season to be slightly more grown-up versions of themselves.
Shane is the leader as the Red Ranger and has the power of Air, Dustin is Yellow with the power of Earth, and Tori is Blue with the power of Water. They’re fun characters, but nothing really sticks out to make them feel very well crafted. Well, they eventually have to fight the evil Thunder Rangers who turn out to be the new kids in town, Blake and Hunter. Eventually, Blake and Hunter become good and help the Ninja Rangers in fighting Lothor. Cam, the son of the sensei, is the technical genius who helps design everything, and he eventually becomes the 6th Ranger: the Samurai Ranger. Cam possibly has the best story of the characters as he has to deal with his father promising to his now dead wife that Cam would be safe and not be a Ninja Ranger, then he has to deal with learning how to have fun, oh, and he learns that Lothor is his uncle. There really aren’t that many arcs in the series, but Cam might have the most growth.
One of my complaints about Ninja Storm is the color palette. We get Red, Blue, and Yellow. Then, Navy and Crimson join the team. That’s so boring. We’ve added darker versions of colors we already have to the team? Why not have purple, gold, white, black, etc.? Cam’s fine as Green in all honesty. It’s just the colors of the Thunder Rangers is lackluster.
Something I appreciate about the show is that the Megazord upgrades make some sense. Cam is a tech genius and has been working on these for a while. When they suddenly have a new weapon or something, it’s because Cam finally finished getting it to work in some way. Speaking of Megazords, there is some of the modular design from Wild Force that I loved so much. For instance, there are times where Tori’s dolphin detaches and Cam’s Zord takes her place. It’s not as extensive as Wild Force, but it’s still a nice touch. A third plus is that the characters feel like actual people. They each have a hobby that they’re trying to excel at. One annoying thing about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is that they had a new hobby or campaign every episode it seemed. What couldn’t they do? Ninja Storm creates slightly more relatable characters as they have personal interests that aren’t constantly changing. The only catch is that they’re all into extreme sports (except Cam), which not every kid is into.
Let’s talk villains now. I know some people really don’t like Lothor. He’s not the best villain. However, if you think about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, he feels like a return to form with a campy villain. He’s funny and silly and ridiculous, but he’s still a force to be reckoned with. In the first episode, he wrecks the Wind Ninja Academy after all. However, he then talks about the proper way of being evil, a few more meta jokes, etc. He’s a fun villain in my book. Lothor’s generals are meh, but that’s to be expected. Zurgane is the most serious, and he knows it. He is constantly pushing for the destruction of the Rangers and really feels like Goldar reincarnated in a lot of ways. Lothor’s nieces are fun at times, but I often feel like they’re underutilized. They’re there for comic relief only, when they could’ve been so much more as teased in the final few episodes.
I want to say a few things about the Zords. They feel like a real hodge podge of things. The first three Zords are simple. They’re animals. Shane has the Falcon, Dustin the Lion, and Tori has the Dolphin. Then, we get Blake with the Beetlezord and Hunter with the Insectizord. Finally, Cam joins with the Samurai Star Chopper. What?! There’s no real cohesive theme between the Zords, and it’s a little bothersome. Maybe if Cam’s wasn’t so far out there it wouldn’t be as much of a deal to me, but it’s just meh.
If I had to pick a theme for Ninja Storm it would be extreme sports. Just kidding. Yes, there’s a lot of stuff around extreme sports, but one theme would be teamwork. Like other seasons of Power Rangers, the Rangers have to work together, but in Ninja Storm, teamwork is their greatest strength. Each of the Rangers participates in a solo activity as their main hobby. Motocross, surfing, skateboarding, or even computer programming are all isolated activities. However, the Rangers must then work together in order to defeat Lothor, who doesn’t work well with anyone. He sends his monsters or generals typically on their own against the team, and who always wins?
Ninja Storm is not my favorite season, but I feel like it deserves a bit more love. It may not be the greatest season, but it feels like a return to form for better or worse. It feels like Disney simply watched the Zordon era of Power Rangers and decided to recreate that specifically, because they did it pretty well with a shorter season and without flowing into multiple seasons. Of course, one of the big downsides of Ninja Storm is that there is no team crossover episode with Wild Force. The tradition is broken, and it really could’ve been fun. What do you think of Ninja Storm?
Current Power Rangers Ranking:
Power Rangers In Space
Power Rangers Zeo
Power Rangers Time Force
Power Rangers Beast Morphers Season 1
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 3
Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 2
Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Season 1
Power Rangers Wild Force
Power Rangers S.P.D.
Power Rangers Turbo
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy