Visionary character design
Mining through various Japanese fan blogs brings about two things in me: 1.) I soooo wish I could read kanji… and 2.) I find amazing scans of vintage manga covers, like the below! I believe these are all by the … Continued
The kunoichi of KAGE
Chisa Yokoyama and Airi Yoshihama and nifty in the highly recommended short film KAGE, now available for viewing online. Read about it in here…
KAGE now online
I was lucky enough to see the combat-intensive short film KAGE on the big screen at a film festival last year, but screenings in the U.S. were few and far between. You can however, watch it online at their bi-lingual … Continued
Enter the Menko
I absolutely adore the Japanese equivalent of our “cigarette cards” – menko. These collectible cards featured all sorts of popular media, celebrity actors and athletes, historical and nature subjects, etc. I scored a pile of these in 2006 and 2007, … Continued
Path of the Assassin, we’ll miss you…
Koike and Kojima’s astounding Path of the Assassin has ended with volume 15, released last month from Dark Horse Comics. To say the abrupt ending is unsatisfying would be an understatement, have to wonder if this was cancelled in Japan … Continued
Mexican lobby card – Ninja in the Dragon’s Den
It never really breached the Times Square grindhouse and werewolf circuits here in the States, but the Hong Kong / Japanese co-production Ninja in the Dragon Den was certainly an international hit. Here’s some totally original painted artwork from the … Continued
KAGEMARU vinyl figure
Going back ot the early 60’s, Mitsuteru Yokoyama‘s Iga no Kagemaru property spanned manga, a great live action movie, toys, trading cards and board games, and anything else that could bear a licensed image. You’ll see this shinobi superhero in just … Continued
Hair metal hero or Kabuki killer?
Images from a 1960 B&W adventure pic from Toei titled (draw a breath here) Hakuba Doji Nanbanji no Kettou Kanketsu Hen. Can’t get a good translation of that bulky title, but it’s along the lines of ‘case of the southern … Continued
A primer on the history of “NINJA”
(adapted from an article originally published on Ninja80.com) “Ninja” is a relatively modern word that has come to summarize a wide range of military practices, martial arts traditions and popular entertainment themes in one iconic black-hooded package. The black suit … Continued
Judy Ongg as KAGERO
Once upon a time, “Lone Wolf” himself Tomisaburo Wakayama got a little bored with normal swordfare, watched a few too many spaghetti westerns, and spawned a fantastic movie and TV franchise called Shokin Kasegi – The Bounty Hunter. The character … Continued