Henshin menkos
Scored a few more menko cards, these feature some surprisingly ON-model art and photo collage work.
Swordgirls of BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
I’ve loved Hiroaki Samura‘s out-of-the-box manga Blade of the Immortal for it’s entire loooong run, but the latest volume (still coming out in trades from Dark Horse) starts a new storyline featuring some masked goons rather familiar to fans of … Continued
Completely off topic, but… damn!
Had this image for a long time, with no real home for it, so I’ve decided to stretch the envelope a bit. No ninja-nutritional-value here whatsoever, but hey, she is a girl with swords…
SAMURAI SPY – Quick Close-Ups
Wrapping up our 4-part look at the visual qualities of Masahiro Shinoda’s Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke Evidenced by the previous entries in this series, director Masahiro Shinoda and cinematographer Masao Kosugi were out to baffle the viewer visually as much as … Continued
SAMURAI SPY – Theatrical Combat Posing
The 3rd of a 4-part look at the visual qualities of Masahiro Shinoda’s Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke Without knowing even the decade they’re from, you can date ninja films from the way the actors and stuntmen move and pose. In the … Continued
SAMURAI SPY – Use of Shadow (and Light) to Obscure Characters
The 2nd of a 4-part look at the visual qualities of Masahiro Shinoda’s Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke Last time we established the agenda of director Masahiro Shinoda and cinematographer Masao Kosugi to mirror the confusion and conflict of Sasuke with an equal … Continued
SAMURAI SPY – Geometry and Lines in Composition
The 1st of a 4-part look at the visual qualities of Masahiro Shinoda’s Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke It doesn’t take long to realize that director Masahiro Shinoda and cinematographer Masao Kosugi were up to something different in Samurai Spy. Different for … Continued
A visual breakdown of SAMURAI SPY (intro)
It was the Summer of 1984, the height and heat of the American craze. Revenge of the Ninja was running on HBO, Ninja III: The Domination was about to hit theaters, Spanish-dubbed episodes of Lone Wolf and Cub ran on … Continued
Color campaigns for B&W classics
When discussing 60’s B&W ninja flicks, the Shinobi-no-Mono series is THE genre-defining series. The movie posters, however, relied on strong reds, greens and blues to catch the consumers’ eye, and are some of the only color reference for the props … Continued
THIRD NINJA is first rate
More pretty B&W shinobi action today, courtesy of Toshikazu Kouno‘s 1964 Toei actioner Daisan no Ninja (The Third Ninja). Brief synopsis (anything longer would be spoiler-heavy): Two competing ninja, one an obedient servant, the other an upstart looking for a … Continued