Everything old is new, but old, but newly old, again, again…
It is the summer of 1984, and I am baffled. Hiroyuki ‘Henry’ Sanada has been with me through every phase of my ninja fandom. Desperately hungry for ANYTHING ninja in the mid-80s and as pasted to HBO as any other … Continued
Gerald Okamura is My Co-Pilot
The advent of the 80s ninja craze saw all sorts of established martial artists from the 1970s transition from various arts to the explosively profitable and high profile modern ninjutsu of both dojo and screen — Sho Kosugi and Mike … Continued
REVIEW: The Cannon Film Guide
If there’s one speck of light in the dark months of the pandemic shutdown, it’s been some great quarantine reading for fans of Cannon Films, and that continues with Austin Trunick‘s The Cannon Film Guide Volume 1: 1980—1984. After an … Continued
TIMELINE UPDATE: How Ninja Conquered the World
Years in the compiling, months in layout, and updated a few times now via feedback from fans around the globe — VN‘s now famed timeline has been updated again with some corrections, additions and newly discovered goodies. From the 1960s … Continued
Talking 60s Shinobi
Tony Stella is an astounding painter whose brush work beckons to a previous era of movie poster glory. He’s also a must-genre film buff with a decades-ling passion for 1960s ninja films, and there’s a genuine exuberance in every word … Continued
Revelations on the silent-era ninja boom from an unlikely source
We’ve recently been blessed with the book Carnal Curses, Disfigured Dreams by Japanese cinema researcher Kigami Jigoku Kobayashi, and it inadvertently provided some jaw-dropping insight into the depth and breadth of ninja movies going back to the 1910s and how … Continued
Life stories of the Cannon-eers
As we enter a second month of shutdowns and quarantines (if we live in one of the smart spots of the world, that is) one’s ‘to-be-read’ book stack is probably dwindling. So it’s a great time to check out the … Continued
“Only a ninja can kill a ninja” and COVID19 is a virus, so…
If you’re reading this, COVID-19… the ‘Rona… has affected your life. You’re cooped up inside. You’re not changing clothes as often as you should, but who cares. You’re exhausting your to-be-read stacks and streaming queues. Frantically cleaning up the background … Continued
Shintaro in color
The Samurai was Japan’s first major ninja export to the English-speaking world, bringing the adventures of invincible sword-slinging detective Shintaro and his shinobi-sidekick Tonbei the Mist to millions of fervent fans in Australia in the mid-1960s and generations of followers … Continued
Some 1985 Ninja Apparel
Some of the most concise and enduring memories of those of us who lived through the 1980s ninja craze are mail order ads. By the middle of the decade, mail order ninja suits, weapons, posters and books nearly crowded the … Continued