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2 – Books and Manga

8 Feb 2010

Swordgirls of BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

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

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL, Hiroaki Samura, kunoichi
11 Dec 2009

MANGA KAMISHIBAI is full of ninja and maskedmen!

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

I was already down with owning Eric Nash‘s Manga Kamishibai: The Art of Japanese Paper Theater, a great look at the all-but-extinct art of panel-art based itinerant pop-theater. Imagine an actor gathering dozens of kids around a portable wooden box … Continued

22 Nov 2009

ONE HUNDRED!

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 2 - Books and Manga, 3 - Toys and Merch, 4 - Collectibles, 5 - Art and Advertising, 6 - History and Martial Arts, 7 - Ninja Miscelany | 2

It takes 100 ninja to properly celebrate the 100th post on Vintage Ninja! Since going live in June, enthusiastic response from readers and thousands of visits from every continent on the globe have given me a real sense of connecting … Continued

13 Nov 2009

ZANPEI KUMOTORI

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0

Takao Saito, best known as creator of Golgo 13, was also responsible for two ninja manga: Kage Gari in the 70’s (the Shadow Hunters, which also spawned two films), and Zanpei Kumotori in the 80’s. The latter featured a Connery-esque … Continued

Kage Gari, Takao Saito
4 Nov 2009

Antique Japanese theatre mags

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 0
19 Sep 2009

Sonosheets from Japanese eBay – Part 2

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga, 4 - Collectibles | 0

And a few more awesome sonosheet sets from Japanese eBay: See more of these 70’s Flexi-Discs, in all genres, at the great Pink Tentacle blog.

Lion Maru, Phantom Agents
16 Sep 2009

Sonosheets from Japanese eBay – Part 1

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga, 4 - Collectibles | 0

It’s not that you can’t win auctions over international eBorders, but it’s a bit logistically tough – there’s the kanji barrier, shipping rates, communication delays over the dateline, etc. and so forth. All these are excuses enough to keep me … Continued

Akakage, HENSHIN NINJA ARASHI, Red Shadow
10 Sep 2009

Meaty thighs and a taste for steel. She’s a keeper!

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 1

Great art by prolific shinobi manga magnate Mitsuteru Yokoyama. Someone throw my a translation, will ya… apart from the headline kanji for ‘ninja’, what are the subheads and copy here?

Mitsuteru Yokoyama
27 Aug 2009

Kunoichi cover girl

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga, 6 - History and Martial Arts | 0

Via Robert Grunzanki – cover from the 1988 ninjutsu book Shononki, possibly the only female cover from the 80’s craze books. That mission gear is pink or purple, as she’s actually a tour guide / theme park character from the … Continued

25 Aug 2009

A great collection of ninjutsu books

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga, 6 - History and Martial Arts | 1

I highly recommend browsing the cover collections and article reprints hosted by Robert C. Gruzanski on a memorial site to his father, renowned knife thrower and author of Ninja Weapons: Chain and Shuriken, Charles Vincent Gruzanski. Charles Gruzanski trained with a who’s … Continued

Masaki Hatsumi

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Welcome to VINTAGE NINJA — dedicated to old ninja movies from Japan’s 60s boom to the 80s American exploitation craze and beyond, with a ton of vintage toys, comics, and sharp pointy stuff thrown in for good measure.

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50+ Japanese ninja movies reviewed

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