Shout Factory Announces American Release Of ‘Ninja Sentai Kakuranger’

When Shout Factory released Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger on DVD last year, it was a move that made a lot of sense. It was, after all, the source material for the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and the release came at a time when nostalgia for MMPR was at an all-time high. There was a new line of toys, talk of a cinematic reboot, even needlessly thorough episode guides of the series, so clearly, the demand was there. When they followed it up with Gosei Sentai Dairanger, that made sense, too --- even though it was chopped up for use in America, it was the source of Tommy's return as the White Ranger, and answered a lot of questions.

Now, however, it looks like we might be getting to the point where American Super Sentai releases are a thing unto themselves. This week, Shout Factory announced the upcoming release of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger on DVD, for the first time in America.

Admittedly, Kakuranger was a show that was as source material for Power Rangers, but only in the form of the 10-episode Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers miniseries that ran between MMPR and Power Rangers Zeo, and that might actually be the low point of the series. Kakuranger itself, on the other hand, sounds pretty great:

Four hundred years ago, there was an epic battle between the great ninjas and the Youkai, mythical monsters who can summon lightning and grow into giants. The ninjas defeated the Youkai and sealed the Youkai Commander Nuarihyon and his Youkai energies in a cave protected by the “Seal Door.” In the present, one of the few remaining Youkai tricks Sasuke and Saizou, descendants of the ancient ninjas, into freeing the Youkai trapped behind the “Seal Door.” Now, it is up to Sasuke, Saizou and three other descendants of the great ninjas to come together and become the Kakurangers in order to defeat the Youkai and save the planet!

As for what this means for future releases, that remains to be seen, but it does seem like Zyuranger and Dairanger have been successful enough to continue carrying on with the shows of the Power Rangers era. Personally, I'm hoping this means that we finally get to see the more comedic Carranger (the basis for Power Rangers Turbo)  but I'd also really love to get something like Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, the first series. And, of course, if Sentai is successful enough, maybe we'll get some Kamen Rider over here, too.

So basically what I'm saying here is that we all need to buy four or five copies each of this thing to make sure I can keep watching Japanese TV shows made for babies.

Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: The Complete Series is set for release on May 17.