Unknown to the people, unknown to the world, the shadows that combat evil blast back onto our screens for a 20th anniversary celebration.
Well, it’s finally here. The movie that all Hurricaneger fans have been waiting for since it was first teased in 2022: Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger de Gozaru! Shushuuto 20th Anniversary.
As made obvious by the title the movie has released twenty years after the original Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger TV series in 2003 and ten years since the 10 YEARS AFTER film in 2013. The next instalment of the Hurricaneger’s story features the main characters of the series – Shun Shioya (Yousuke Shiina/Hurricane Red), Nao Nagasawa (Nanami Nono/Hurricane Blue), Kohei Yamamoto (Kouta Bitou/Hurricane Yellow), Yujiro Shirakawa (Ikkou Kasumi/Kabuto Raiger), and Nobuo Kyo (Isshu Kasumi/Kuwaga Raiger) – reprise their respective roles, in addition to Edo period versions of their characters in a story that transcends time and space. The special was written by Keiko Tani, and directed by Katsuya Watanabe, who also directed Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger: 10 YEARS AFTER.
Plot Summary
In the Edo period, ninjas of the Hayate Style – Takanosuke (Shioya), Nami (Nagasawa), and Kyotaro (Yamamoto) – and ninjas of the Ikazuchi Style – Ikkaku (Shirakawa) and Ichiga (Kyo) – are guarding Teruhime, are confronted by Oiranda and Aunja of the Ura Seven Spears. Teruhime is being escorted by the two Ikazuchi Style ninjas when they were attacked. They are after Teruhime’s Tensho Stone, a stone that is said to be capable in destroying the world. Just when all hope seems lost, Hurricaneger and Gouraiger travel back in time from the future, and are now engaged in a fierce battle to save the world!
Review
I don’t know about anyone else but I am a huge fan of Hurricaneger, so I was super excited to watch this movie. That said, going into it, I was kind of confused as the movie doesn’t really do a great job of explaining that the Edo period versions of the characters aren’t actually Hurricaneger. I think they are supposed to be their ancestors but, again, it’s not really talked about till later on in the movie and, even then, it’s brushed over quickly.
The film opens with the three ancestors on a mission to retrieve a golden stamp. However, they are ambushed by the ancestors of the opposing school, whom fans will recognise as the Kasumi brothers. Losing the stamp brings shame upon the three, meaning that, although they are skilled ninjas, no-one will hire them for high ranking ninja related jobs thus forcing them to only take on amateur low rank jobs. I kind of liked this aspect of the plot, it harkens back to the first episode of the main series, which shows the ninjas having great talent but lacking the drive to actually try. Twenty years later, their sensei begs for the three to be given a chance on a new high ranking mission, despite himself having some doubts about their competence.
Reluctantly, the three are tasked with finding out who broke into the castle town treasury. As the three reunite, they hear a disturbance and discover a portal opening. Inside we see the villains for the movie, singing a chant about uniting some gems to grant a wish… Thanos much? 😂
One, two, three, four, when all are united your wish can be granted. When the wish is granted to hell you go!
A geisha styled woman holds up a yellow gem, revealed to be the kinetic gem with the power of teleportation, and transforms, revealing her villain form and calling herself third spear – Oiranda. The villains are set upon by the palace guards, who obviously stand no chance. One is killed whilst the other is mind controlled into telling Oiranda the location of the soaring gem, with a princess named Teruhime. The villains then depart to locate her and the gem.
Meanwhile, all this has been observed by the three ancestors, who conclude that the monsters must be the ones who broke into the treasury. The three are then tasked with finding the princess (who is out at a Kabuki show) and informing her protectors of what has happened. As you might expect, her guards are revealed to be the two Ikazuchi ninjas. The message is dutifully passed on to the Ikazuchis, who proceed to berate them just as Oiranda and her crew appear. The Ikazuchis manage to escape with the princess but are ambushed by fourth spear – Aunja, whom is bodyguard to Oiranda.
Ah, Sanjou!
The two brothers fight Aunja but are easily defeated. The Hayate three watch on, cautiously, and the princess is captured by Oiranda. She gloats that bringing the four gems together will give her the power to bring forth a “lovers suicide.” Just as it seems the villains have won, the princess swallows the gem and is then saved by our familiar heroes, Gouraiger, followed soon after by the three Hurricanegers.
It is at this point the ninjas finally ask the question we have all been waiting for… “who are those people and why do they look like us?” It is, basically, explained that they are their ancestors and now it’s official, I guess.
Hurricaneger and Gouraiger then battle the mooks, whilst the five ancestors and the princess watch on. Using the five part victory gadget, they blast Oiranda and Aunja but the blast doesn’t do much damage. Oiranda then uses the power of the crimson gem to attack, stating that the ninjas are no match for the likes of her. Undeterred, Hurricaneger and Gouraiger strike back with their Chou Ninpou Dance of Shadows attack and retreat with the ancestors and princess whilst the villains are distracted.
The group share a fun moment, with the present day ninjas showing their ancestors their futuristic weapons before getting down to the nitty gritty. They use a device to communicate with Oboro in the future, as well as her new assistant, Moeru. Oboro explains how she developed a device to send the team back 200 years but that it’s only temporary, meaning they only have about an hour left in the past. Furthermore, the program is ‘buggy’ and so they could be warped back to the future at any time. They should, therefore, remain in their suits as out of them time travel could destroy them. That’ll save some CGI.
Hurricaneger and Gouraiger transform and ask the princess for her soaring gem to destroy it. Oboro explains the origins of the four gems and how if all four are gathered that an ultimate wish can be granted. She also explains each gems individual power:
- Blue – Time Travel
- Yellow – Teleportation
- Red – Fire Power
- White – A Key Stone (Uniting the other gems’ powers to grant the wish)
The team then explains who Oiranda and Aunja are, as well as the reason why they came to the past looking for the soaring gem – the gem was destroyed in 2023. Orobo further explains that Oirandas grand scheme is a ‘lovers suicide’ and the only way to stop her is for the gem to be destroyed. The only issue is that the gem is currently in the stomach of the princess so she will have to poop it out… not my words, they actually tell her this in the movie… as, if the gem isn’t destroyed, the world will end and the future will disappear. The princess runs off in embarrassment but is captured by Aunja.
The Ancestors Are On Their Own
Whilst pursuing her, the ancestors get into a squabble about their current situation. Meanwhile, Hurricaneger and Gouraiger’s time in the past is up and, unfortunately, they have to travel back to 2023. In their last moments before the portal opens, they encourage the ancestors to stop fighting each other and learn to work together. They must be honest about their feelings, admit they are each just jealous of the other and ask their hearts what they should do. The ancestors are left alone but manage to come to the same conclusion: to save the princess, they need to work together and combine their talents and skills.
Meanwhile, Oiranda and Aunja, have the princess in their grasp. Using the yellow gem, Oiranda opens a portal and is able to remove the gem from the princess’ stomach without the need for defecation. Thank Daizyujin for that! With all the gems assembled, Oiranda begins the process of granting her ‘lovers suicide’ wish. Tauzant is revealed to be the lover that Oiranda is so desperate to be reunited with, after he was destroyed by the team at the end of the main series.
The ancestors arrive just as a portal opens in the sky. Whilst the Ikazuchis take the princess the safety, the Hayates come up with a plan to stop Oiranda and Aunja. As the Hayates are about to be killed by Aunja, the Ikazuchis return, having been released from their duty by the princess, and fight alonside the Hayates as an official team up.
The newly formed team struggles to battle against Aunja as Oiranda begins to power up her ‘lovers suicide’. At the last second, Younosuke is able to grab the soaring gem and the team retreats, temporarily thwarting Oirandas plan.
Assistance From The Future
Meanwhile, in 2023, Hurricaneger, Gouraiger, Oboro and Moeru watch on. While the present day team themselves are unable to go back and help, Moeru is able to send something special into the past to help.
Using their ninja tricks and ability, the ancestor team are able to fend off the mooks for a while but, eventually, they’re caught by Aunja. Oiranda uses the crimson gem to attack the group and, just as it seems like they are done for, a special gift from 2023 arrives: a Hurricane Gyro and a new special Shinobi Medal, allowing Younosuke to transform into OoEdo Hurricane Red.
With his new power, Younosuke is easily able to defeat the mooks and Aunja, and the ensuing explosion also shatters the soaring gem. Enraged, Oiranda takes on a CGI spider monster form which Younosuke easily defeats. Oiranda and the gems fly off into the universe and the Gyro falls from Younosuke’s wrist, also vanishing.
The ancestor team is praised for their victory and the two schools come to a truce, whilst still having a playful rivalry. The present day team also celebrates as the danger is over.
My Thoughts
For me, Sentai anniversary specials always have one big issue: they tend to use a lot of their supposed best features in the trailers so we, the audience, aren’t really surprised by much when viewing the movie after it’s released. Basically we knew who the bad guy was, we knew there was going to be a new powerup form. However, with all that being said, this special was a solid one. There were a few parts at the beginning and in the middle where you could definitely feel a dip in the story and also I found the villains to be kind of weak, both their characters and their actual reason for trying to destroy the world.
More positively, I loved the interaction between the past and future teams. The scene in which the ancestors were admiring the “futuristic weaponry” stood out to me since this is a 20 year anniversary so to us, the audience, those weapons are pretty old school. I found that kind of ironically funny.
I will always love seeing those suits. Even in the Donbrothers mini prequel/add on, seeing the suits used again got me all giddy.
For my biggest gripes with this special, it has to be said that a lot of the characters hardly did anything. Beyond Younosuke getting the power up, the five ancestors did very little. I feel, personally, that if they could have sent all five of them a changer into the past (even temporarily) it would have greatly improved the movie .
Secondly, the addition of an assistant/apprentice for Oboro was great (she can’t do this tech stuff forever) but the poor actress got maybe six lines throughout the entire movie. I feel like her character could have been explored just a little bit more. Likewise, the princess character, I felt like she brought nothing to the plot. At first, I thought she would be the typical ‘magical girl’ character but she really did nothing other than be there for the Ikazuchis to have something to do.
The CGI SPIDER! I know that Sentai movies don’t have a huge budget but, come on, this is a 20 year special for one of their more beloved series! They could have at least got a real suit made for the final monster form.
Finally, and this is my biggest gripe with this movie, WHERE WAS SHURIKENGER? I’m aware he died in the main show but he’s come back multiple times since then. Also, he doesn’t have a human form so they easily could have brought him in, even if it were just for a few minutes.
Overall, a decent offering. Did you agree with any of my thoughts? Did you disagree? Was I a bit harsh with my complaints? Let me know on social media or in the comment section below.
Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger de Gozaru! Shushuuto 20th Anniversary is available to purchase now on Bluray and DVD. Have you watch the movie? Join the conversation!
