25 years ago…
First we had the 30th Anniversary of The Octagon, now… Monday to be exact… American Ninja is 25 years old. Working on a nice long love-letter to Cannon’s post-Kosugi franchise right now. Stay tuned kids!
KAGEMARU board game
I have no idea what this game was (some sort of sliding-type deal from a kids’ magazine, with punch-out tokens) but man is the character art laced throughout the board amazing or what?
The Holy Grail of ninja statues
In 1990 (about a half a decade too late) The Franklin Mint produced this rather striking 12″ porcelain statue entitled “The Shadow Warrior” sculpted by Sum Nakamura. It is rare as hell now and sells for unreasonable prices on the … Continued
Yet somehow it works…
So how many different schools of character design can you have in one anime? The early 60’s TV version of Shirato Sanpei‘s re-imagining of Sarutobi Sasuke sure did probe that question:
Eight sides of THE OCTAGON
I really love The Octagon. I loved it as a stupid kid in black pajamas back in the day and I love it now. It is an unsung hero of the 80’s American genre, the biggest non-Kosugi entry into the … Continued
Everything I Needed to Know About Ninjutsu I Learned from Carlos Ray Norris, I
A guest column by MATT WALLACE in honor of THE OCTAGON‘s 30th Birthday! Chuck Norris has taught me a lot. He taught me not all men with mustaches who lived in the 70’s did porn. He taught me that it’s … Continued
Let us now begin an intimate weekend with Chuck and Kyo…
Tomorrow marks the 30TH (!!!) Anniversary of the release of The Octagon! Holy shit I’m old… Rarely credited with starting the American ninja craze of the 80’s, this jewel of the Chuck Norris crown beat Enter the Ninja to theaters … Continued
DEATHWISH with throwing stars!
Its was a dog-eared, dime-store novel world where a man was a man, a woman was a victim waiting to happen and the road to revenge was a street washed in blood. Violent and lurid men’s adventure novels go back … Continued
Chiba as Hanzo by Marusan
Retro-styled like a kid’s vinyl toy from the 60’s, this 10″ figure of Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo from Kage No Gundan (aka Shadow Warriors) is absolutely BOSS! I’m not a big fan of boutique vinyl and the high-end collector … Continued
Deadliest park rangers and tour guides ever…
Via the English-language section of the Iga-Ryu Ninja Museum, some nifty photos of the park and museum performers, staff and crew: Good to know there are dedicated groups out there keeping the sensationalized, movie-inspired, historically corrupt image of the shinobi … Continued