is a Japanese television tokusatsu series broadcast by TV Asahi. The series is the eighteenth installment of Super Sentai. Directed by Yoshiaki Kobayashi, Taro Sakamoto, Takeshi Ogasawara, Katsuya Watanabe, Shohei Tojo and Hiroshi Butsuda, it stars Teruaki Ogawa, Satomi Hirose, Hiroshi Tsuchida, Shu Kawai, Kane Kosugi, Akira Sakamoto, Kenichi Endō, Takayuki Godai and Sanyūtei Enjō. It aired from February 18, 1994 to February 24, 1995, replacing Gosei Sentai Dairanger and was replaced by Chouriki Sentai Ohranger. The name given to this series by Toei for international distribution is Ninja Rangers.
Action footage from the series was used in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. The core Zyuranger costumes from Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and the Kiba Ranger costume from Gosei Sentai Dairanger were mainly used in the third season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers while the core Kakuranger costumes were used in Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers. In January 2016, Shout! Factory announced that they would release "Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: The Complete Series" on DVD in North America. Kakuranger was released on DVD in North America on May 17, 2016. This is the third Super Sentai Series to be released in North America. In addition on May 22, 2017, Shout! streamed the series on their website. From 2024 to 2026, the series was available in North America on Tubi.
Plot Four hundred years ago, the ninja and the Youkai had a great war. The legendary Sarutobi Sasuke and four other ninjas sealed the Youkai Commander Nurarihyon and all his Youkai's energies away in a cave protected by the "Seal Door". In the present, one of the few remaining Youkai, Kappa, tricks Sarutobi Sasuke and Kirigakure Saizo's descendants, Sasuke and Saizou, into releasing the Youkai by opening the Seal Door. Now these two, joined by three other descendants of great ninjas, become the Kakurangers to fight the reinvigorated Youkai with the aid of the Three God Generals. However, the Kakurangers have their work cut out for them as the Youkai are slowly being united under one banner.
Characters
Kakurangers The eponymous Kakurangers are each named after a legendary ninja and master of the ninjutsu. Outside of battle, they run a mobile crepe shop with the sentient food truck. Their special team attack is the via the .
The team utilizes coins in conjunction with inro-like devices to transform. While transformed, each member carries a ninjatō, while allows them to perform the finisher, a handgun, which can be reconfigured into the dagger, and a , which can combine with either their personal weapons or a grappling device, as their sidearms. By combining their motorcycles, they form the to destroy human-sized Youkai.
/ The 26 year old descendant of Sarutobi Sasuke and the team's agile second-in-command. He is a dirty-minded, reckless hothead whose faults are outweighed by being good-hearted and loyal. While looking for his Shinobi Scroll, Sasuke's time with Reika allows him to gain a resolve to protect all life on Earth from the Youkai. He has a little cousin named Kosuke. He corresponds to Sun Wukong.
During the events of the web-exclusive anniversary special Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles, Sasuke travels all over Japan to help good Youkai live in human society.
As Ninja Red, Sasuke wields the shuriken. He also rides the thresher shark-themed , which forms the Shark Driver's projectile. Later in the series, he acquires the short sword.
/ The 15 year old (16 during Part 2 of the series) team leader and the twenty-fourth protector of the Seal Door. She descended from the feudal lords who eagerly answered the call to fight the Youkai, and was named after Ōhōri Tsuruhime. She comes off a strong girl with a displeasure of her upbringing as a rich girl. She is looking for her missing father Hakumenro. She once fought alongside two other girls, Yukiyo and Tsukiyo Yamazaki, as a member of the Punishment Sailor Sisters. While looking for her Shinobi Scroll, Tsuruhime underwent a test of her character to understand her position as team leader. She corresponds to Xuanzang.
During the events of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Tsuruhime was originally supposed to grant the Great Power of the Kakurangers to the Gokaigers, which was Ninjaman. However, the Gokaigers managed to discover and release Ninjaman before being approached by her. She then decided to allow Ninjaman to grant the Great Power to the Gokaigers, impressed at the fact that they found and freed him on their own.
During the events of the web-exclusive anniversary special Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles, Tsuruhime runs a children's home.
As Ninja White, Tsuruhime wields the two-pronged dagger.
/ The 22 year old descendant of Kirigakure Saizō. He is an easily flattered man who thinks he is a lot smarter than he really is. He likes to help other people, making him popular among children, though he is unlucky in most things. He is constantly chattering and his way of talking is a little feminine. He corresponds to Sha Wujing.
During the events of the web-exclusive anniversary special Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles, Saizou still runs the team's mobile crepe shop with Nekomaru.
As Ninja Blue, Saizou wields the water gun. He also rides the hammerhead shark-themed , which has a sidecar for Tsuruhime that forms the front of the Shark Driver's ramp.
/ The 24 year old descendant of Miyoshi Seikai. He refused to battle at first, but changes his mind when he saw Rokurokubi kidnap children. He is driven by his desire for food, sleep, video games, and women. He is indecisive, but inherits unusual strength from his ancestor. He corresponds to Zhu Bajie.
During the events of the web-exclusive anniversary special Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles, Seikai is a successful and wealthy antique dealer.
As Ninja Yellow, Seikai wields the . He also rides the sawshark-themed , which has a sidecar for Jiraiya that forms the back of the Shark Driver's ramp.
/ The 20 year old descendant of Jiraiya. He is a Japanese-American ninja from Los Angeles trained by his guardian Gali after his father, who was a police officer, was killed by the Youkai (but was later revealed to by Gali himself). Jiraiya stands out among the characters because he speaks English frequently (which at first caused both teasing and confusion with the other team members), thoughe learns Japanese as the show progresses. He is a big fan of Japanese ninja movies. In his first appearance, Jiraiya was helping the Youkai. In reality, he did so to steal four scrolls, previously stolen by Azukiarai, to allow him and three of the other Kakurangers (Sasuke already had his) to become Beast Generals. He expresses a cowboy/surfer persona. He is the pure fighter of the group. Although he knows Earth-based Ninja Arts, he prefers to fight with his martial art skills. While looking for his Shinobi Scroll, Jiraiya was forced to battle Gali, who revealed himself as the man who killed his father and served the Youkai. After the battle between them, Jiraiya learned why Gali did it, as well as hoping the former would kill him. The deaths of Zashiki-warashi and the two men he had known since childhood gives Jiraiya a reason to fight the Youkai. He is the only member with no corresponding Journey to the West character, but Yulong the horse also has no corresponding Kakuranger character.
During the events of the web-exclusive anniversary special Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: Act Three - Middle-Aged Struggles, Jiraiya works as a USA paranormal investigator.
As Ninja Black, Jiraiya wields the .
Allies Ninjaman , despite being a bit of a high-strong klutz, is the blue-colored pupil of the Three God Generals who battles the Youkai a millennium ago. However, after being tricked by Daimaou into hurting humans on the notion that they were Youkai in disguise, he gets sent into space within a Jar of Seals that only those of the Tsuruhime line can shatter. Upon returning to Earth, Ninjaman is found by Junichi and his sister Mitsuko before the three find themselves attacked by the Youkai Bakuki under orders from Daimaou to capture Ninjaman to become the Youkai leader's retainer. Luckily, once freed by Tsuruhime, Ninjaman becomes an ally to the Kakurangers. After Daimaou's defeat, he departs with his masters and says goodbye to the Kakurangers. However, this time resulting from not holding back, Ninjaman is sealed again for a few decades before being freed by the Gokaigers and helping them receive the Greater power of his Kakuranger friends.
As a ninja master, Ninjaman wields the katana and possesses a wide array of Ninja Arts at his command, including the , and size manipulation to aid his mentors and the Kakurangers in their fights. He can also ride on the .
Whenever a Youkai calls him a , Ninjaman gets angry enough to change into his true form, , via the command . In this form, he combines the Ninja Sword and its sheath to form the . His finishers is this form are the via explosive energy spheres formed from his rage and the via the Samurai Javelin.
During the events of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, Ninjaman was freed from a pot by the Gokaigers. Once freed, he decided to observe the Gokaigers to see if the team was worthy of the Greater Power of the Kakurangers. Eventually they impressed him enough to grant them the Greater Power, which turned out to be himself.
Kōshakushi The is a kimono-wearing anchorman who served as the series narrator. During episode 39, the Kōshakushi and his news crew wanted to know more about the Kakurangers, getting into their personal lives. But they followed a pair of Dorodoro to Junior's mansion, learning of Nopperabou's revival ability until Daimou sensed them and sicced the Dorodoro on them. While the others escaped, the Kōshakushi was caught and thrown off a bridge, though he managed to survive.
Sandayu Momochi is a ninja master who instructs the Kakurangers on their abilities and is considered dangerous by the Youkai. Being a former student of Hakumenro, Sandayu aided the Kakurangers when Gasha Dokuro set up the beginning phase of Daimaou's resurrection, warning the Kakurangers they are not ready to face him. But the Kakurangers refused to accept that and are quickly defeated before Sandayuu had Tsubasamaru bring them the Wind Illusion Castle to see the Three God Generals, revealing their origins and that obtaining the Shinobi Scrolls are needed to stop Daimaou. While Tsuruhime was looking for her Shinobi Scroll, she is found by Sandayuu and taken to her family's mansion. There, Sandayuu uses her quest as a test to prove her worth as the Kakurangers' leader and heir to her family legacy, providing her with karakuri replicas of her teammates. He briefly meets with Hakumenro, whom he was working with, to rescue Tsuruhime when Hakumenro fought her. However, Junior learned of this and impaled Sandayuu with his own katana. Sandayuu lived long enough from the wound to tell the team to form Kakure Daishogun during their final fight with Gashadokuro and give them his final words.
Zashiki-warashi is a Youkai mushroom child who uses mushrooms to perform spells and wants to make children happy, pursued by Junior who planned to turn him evil. Though Ninja Black attempts to protect him from Gashadokuro, Zashiki-warashi turns him in and undergoes a ritual to turn him into an evil version of his true form. Attacking the city in his enlarged form, Zashiki-warashi overpowers the Beast General Fighters until hearing the cries of the children he befriended manages to restore him to normal. However, horrified at what he done to the city, Zashiki-warashi attempts to fight Gashadokuro and is mortally wounded. Found by Jiraiya, Zashiki-warashi turns back into a mushroom.
Zashiki-warashi's human form is portrayed by while his Youkai form is voiced by .
Reika