There were a hundred or more movies and TV shows delivering a consistent, almost branded, ninja idiom in Japan during their 60s craze. Entering 2026, we have access to more of that astounding vintage media than ever before, and posterity … Continued
We’ve been basking in a Golden Age of 1960s-era Japanese ninja media becoming available for the first time in English, and this awesome run continues with a bang as AnimEigo is now shipping the 3-disc blu of Shirato Sanpei‘s 1968 … Continued
Originally published in two parts — July 2009 Growing up in the pre-home video era often meant the only way to relive your favorite movie or TV property was the now extinct book-n-record. I positively wore out my GI Jo Adventure … Continued
Dateline: Hollywood, CA — 9-14-2014 It’s not often I talk ninja cartoons with college educators, but today was the exception. Jonathan M. Hall, a Japanese film scholar from Pomona College screened three episodes of Shirato Sanpei shinobi TV treasures at the … Continued
Originally published June 2009 With the movie [now in wide release], I’m re-reading and re-loving Shirato Sanpei‘s second run of Kamui manga. The godfather of ninja comics debuted the character in 1964, then re-imagined the property as a more grown up … Continued
Shirato Sanpei‘s manga epic Ninja Bugeicho had dozens of characters, and hundreds more victims of these characters, too. Being a ninja comic, he could have gone the easy route and just hooded-up most of these people, lessening the burdens of … Continued
These brush illos were used as chapter breaks in reprint collections of Shirato Sanpei‘s Ninja Bugeicho.
From the art book companion to the 1969 animated Kamui theatrical compilation film and 26 episode TV series. Some great designs here by Shuichi Seki, faithful to the Shirato Sanpei manga originals but with that rough, sketchy look popular in … Continued
So-called “Motion Comics” released on DVD and partially-animated graphic novels adapted for tablet devices are familiar now, but go back a few decades and experiments in using still art in moving media are less frequent, and with mixed results at … Continued
Depending on what school of thought you believe, the stereotypical ‘Ninja-To’ is either pure myth propagated by popular media or martial tradition traced back centuries in Japan. Well, if EITHER of those is true, then you’d think the short, straight … Continued