Takao Saito‘s rather fun manga Kage Gari was turned into a veeeery grim, nigh-emo film in 1972. Whereas the trio of vengeful “Shadow Hunters” in the books are sort of a jaunty, anti-shinobi three musketeers, in the film they are … Continued
Well, folks. I TRIED. I really did try to write a fair, even, and generally supportive piece on KAMUI GAIDEN. But seriously… how can it possibly live up to the source? This is even more compounded by some terrible effects, … Continued
OK, so the Kamui Gaiden manga had a major pedigree in Japan, and its ground-breaking U.S. release separated the men from the boys of late-craze ninja fans. So why are we just getting a movie now? The “Island of Sugaru” … Continued
Just before the holiday, I got a screener of Funimation‘s 2-DVD release of Kamui Gaiden, allegedly the most expensive ninja movie ever made, and one that has received about as wide an array of responses as I’ve ever seen. Epic. … Continued
Continuing some gift giving ideas, these for the bookshelf: We’ve highlighted Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda‘s Ninja Attack! before, but I wanted to give it a brief review now that I have it in hand. This may quietly be one … Continued
Is there a more perfectly 80’s manga creator than Buichi Terasawa? His art – augmented by then fledgling computer graphics – oozes MTV, Nagel, neon, hair products. His samurai wore suit jackets with the sleeves pulled up; traditional garb filtered … Continued
While the legacy of Shotaro Ishinomori‘s Henshin Ninja Arashi (aka Transforming or Metamorphosis Ninja Arashi) lives mainly in tokusatsu TV nostalgia and vinyl collectibles of one decade or another, for me the manga holds the most charm. Packed with monsters, … Continued
I probably need a real Shirato Sanpei fan here. These scans are from a 1967 manga I scored in a lot, one of which was described only as “Wolf Boy.” I was hoping for some Wolf Boy Ken tie in, … Continued
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
If you’re like me and can’t wait for Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda‘s Ninja Attack!, there are some excepts up on the English-language Japanese e-magazine Metropolis. Kodansha International’s Ninja Attack! True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws is due in … Continued