Ninja Captor is a Japanese tokusatsu TV series aired from April 7, 1976 to January 26, 1977 on TV Tokyo 12 Channel, produced by Toei Company, Ltd. This Sentai-esque series aired during the run of Shotaro Ishinomori's original Super Sentai series, Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and was notably first superhero team show produced by Toei under the Saburo Yatsude/Hatte pseudonym.
Daisuke Izumo graduates from the Wind-Demon Stealth-Army, a secret army aiming for the conquest of Japan. He instead escapes, and becomes the leader of the "Captor," a ninja team supervised by Mujin Tendou. The Captor team's mission is to battle the ninja sent out by the Wind-Demon General, Retsufuu Fuuma.
This show used to be considered by some to be a part of the Super Sentai franchise,note but was later excluded.
The Captor team:
- Daisuke Izumo / Fire-Stealth Captor 7 (Red):
- Keita Izumi / Wind-Stealth Captor 6 (Lime):
- Noboru Oyama / Gold-Stealth Captor 5 (Yellow):
- Dan Kurokawa / Ground-Stealth Captor 4 (Brown):
- María Sakurakoji / Flower-Stealth Captor 3 #1 (Pink):
- Miki Tendo / Flower-Stealth Captor 3 #2 (Pink):
- Sakon Shijo / Water-Stealth Captor 2 (Blue):
- Saburobei Fukuro / Thunder-Stealth Captor 1 (Orange):
Tropes:
- All Your Colors Combined: The "7 Captor Kick" sees all seven Ninja Captors coming together to finish off the enemy.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Like Super Sentai, each member is assigned a color.
- Defector from Decadence: Daisuke Izumo starts off a member of the Wind-Demon Ninja Army, but after seeing them harm children he decides that's a bridge too far and defects, becoming The Leader of the Ninja Captors instead.
- Dying Candle: Fuuma has a set of candles that burn for as long as his minions are alive. The flames grow larger when one is fighting the Captors.
- Elemental Powers: Each member is associated with an element.
- Playing with Fire - Fire-Stealth Captor 7
- Blow You Away - Wind-Stealth Captor 6
- Extra-ore-dinary - Gold-Stealth Captor 5
- Dishing Out Dirt - Ground-Stealth Captor 4
- Petal Power - Flower-Stealth Captor 3
- Making a Splash - Water-Stealth Captor 2
- Shock and Awe - Thunder-Stealth Captor 1
- Fire Is Red: Fire-Stealth Captor 7 is the red-colored senshi.
- Hypnotic Eyes: Daisuke hypnotizes a Mook to interrogate them in one episode using this method. His eyes glow red through his visor when he does this.
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: Like proper Sentai series, the Red hero is the leader of the team.
- Monster of the Week: Each episode has the team doing battle against an evil monster ninja sent out by the bad guys.
- Put on a Bus: After the Wind-Demon Ninjas are defeated, Maria leaves the Ninja Captors to go to America. In real life, Maria's actress left the show after its initial planned run.
- Sentai: Even if they're not officially a Super Sentai, Ninja Captor has the flashy transformation poses, group roll calls and color-coded team outfits to qualify as one genre-wise.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Subverted. Miki was already a supporting character before replacing Maria.
- The Smurfette Principle: Flower-Stealth Captor 3, who is pink like most Sentai heroines.
- Wall Crawl: Both the Ninja Captors and the villains display the ability to stick to walls and ceilings.
- Water Is Blue: Water-Stealth Captor 2 is the blue senshi.
- Wind Is Green: Wind-Stealth Captor 6 is the green senshi.
