Once upon a time, there was a ground-breaking Japanese TV series called Onmitsu Kenshin (or Onmitsu kenshi), starring Koichi Ose as Shintaro, wandering samurai detective protecting his half-brother the Shogun from various conspiracies and assassins. It was popular in Japan, but when … Continued
TORMENT is not having enough wall space to display all the cool art and vintage posters in your collection, and friends, I am a tormented soul. I’ve got enough ninja movie posters to wallpaper my place twice over, more than … Continued
This really is the best time ever to be a ninja fan in the U.S. – Animeigo’s releases going strong! We have a permanent BUY link at the left for these titles.
Sepia-tone 2-sided flyer for the Ryutaro Otomo ninja vehicle Maboroshi Kurozukin Yamine Toku-Kage (can’t confirm that title or translate, although the words for black hood, phantom, and shadow are in there…) from Singapore – possibly late 60’s? Enjoy some whacked-out … Continued
Okamoto Kihachi‘s (Sword of Doom, Kiru!) 1963 ninja classic Sengoku Yaro is a real blast – a superb mix of comedy and combat, peppered with some rather outré fight scenes, a jazzy score by Masaru Sato that keeps you on your toes, and a super … Continued
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
Chisa Yokoyama and Airi Yoshihama and nifty in the highly recommended short film KAGE, now available for viewing online. Read about it in here…
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
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
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