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Old 10/31/16, 02:02 AM   #1
Spoony Spoonerson
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Join Date: 05/21/17
Posts: 3
Default Season 3 Ninja Suits Theory.

Season 3 is definitely my favourite series of PR for a few reasons, such as: plot, pacing, Ninjor, Zords and nostalgia. But while there's so many things I love about that season, one thing always stood out: the damned ninja powers. They were supposed to be this halfway hybrid between civilian and morphed, but on analysis there's pretty much no in-universe reason for them to exist. As for real life, I don't think we ever got a confirmation from anyone who worked on the show, fans have pretty much assumed two leading motives:

1. They Existed To Sell Toys: Okay, this is the most believable reason why Saban would invent another suit for the rangers to wear, as it's another toy to sell. Especially as this is the season that gave us Shark Cycles, Alien Rangers and THAT metallic armour, it's almost impossible not to imagine it was done with toys in mind. Even if the toys did have badass weapons they never got in the show, but I digress...

2: They Existed To Tone Down Violence: Another very likely reason. Season 3 opened with a very much toned down version of Lord Zedd along with a new comic relief villain to cement it, but easily copied hand-to-hand combat was always the most controversial aspect of the show back in the day. Season 3 removing a lot of the punches and kicks in favour of dispatching enemies with "wacky hijinks" could very easily be seen as a move to please the soccer moms.

There's another possible motive I've been thinking of, but I've not seen discussed:

3: They Existed to Save Money:

So go with me on this. By the time Season 3 rolled around, Saban had burned through most of the Sentai footage, forcing more and more of the show to be American-made. Saban is not known for their (his) generous spending. The previous year, half the cast walked out over disputes about how little they were earning against the insane hours they were working. By changing the pre-morph fights to be stunt guys in ninja suits, Saban cut the workload of the main cast, meaning they'd essentially get paid the same for the less hours they worked. I've no evidence to suggest it was intentional, but the way it was done made the American footage cheaper to produce, as well as minimising any further contract disputes. It's a win win. The only loser is the audience who loved the kickass fight scenes.

I'm sure in reality the reason was a combination of the above motives rather than just one, but it's an idea that's only just occurred to me.
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