NINJA CAPTOR vintage vinyl
I’m not especially familiar with the 1976/77 Toei tokustatsu property Ninja Captor, but I do like the character design. The elemental-themed costumes combined garishly decorated crash helmets, superhero utility belts and go-go boots with primary-colored mesh that evoked ancient armor. I … Continued
KAMUI GAIDEN, comic roots vs. adaptation-itis after a decade of digital ninja (part 3)
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
KAMUI and a Decade of Digital Ninja (part 2)
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
Christmas with Kamui and a Decade of Digital Ninja (Part 1)
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
Something I bought for myself LAST Christmas…
When you’re a niche geek within an already geeky niche you tend to do your own gift shopping. My session of retail therapy last holiday season was these: While I’m not the biggest tokusatsu fan out there, I do like … Continued
One that got away…
This 15×20″ Nakazuri size original Japanese market release poster for Kairyu Diakessen – beloved to us as Magic Serpent – just went for about a bill on eBay. Having overspent this holiday season, I tapped out of the bidding early. … Continued
Retro shinobi smut – best gift idea of the year.
Pink Eiga is a company that cares about its smut, smut that was lovingly crafted by people who cared, back in a day when people cared about what they whacked it to… Ya’ hear that, you damn kids with yer … Continued
The ‘Hunt’ for superb custom figures ends here!
You’re not going to find better custom 1:6 scale figures and weapons than Hunter Pig‘s incredible one-of-a-kind offerings. If I was loaded, whoooo boy… HunterPig (aka IronCrossHunter on eBay) is particularly gifted in weathering and ‘battle damaged’ armor and clothing, … Continued
New books for the discerning shadow reader
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