Skip to Main Content
Vintage Ninja Vintage Ninja

Shirato Sanpei

27 Sep 2010

Whut-up with this WOLF BOY?

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

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

Shirato Sanpei
10 Sep 2010

WATARI press stills (Part 2)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

Pre-pubescent axe-weilding hero Watari goes through standard shinobi like shit through a goose, but things get a lot dicier when he encounters a  bizarre rogues gallery of super-powered villains. Further Reading: I wrote a short plug for this film on … Continued

Maki Fuyukichi, Shirato Sanpei, Watari
9 Sep 2010

WATARI press stills (Part 1)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 2

Scored some 4×6″ B&W press stills from Toei’s 1966 mess of a masterpiece Watari the Ninja Boy (Daininjutsu eiga Watari). Depending on one’s previous knowledge of the Shirato Sanpei manga and where you stand on magical superhero ninjutsu vs. grim … Continued

Maki Fuyukichi, Shirato Sanpei, Watari
18 Aug 2010

Yet somehow it works…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 5 - Art and Advertising | 0

So how many different schools of character design can you have in one anime? The early 60’s TV version of Shirato Sanpei‘s re-imagining of Sarutobi Sasuke sure did probe that question:

Sarutobi Sasuke, Shirato Sanpei
21 May 2010

GARO exhibit in NYC!

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

The highly regarded alt-manga blog Same Hat! Same Hat! has some photos up of the amazing GARO exhibition at the Center for Book Arts in NYC. I haven’t studied up much on GARO, but it seems to me (from a … Continued

kamui, Shirato Sanpei
16 Aug 2009

GARO covers by Shirato Sanpei

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

GARO was an eccentric, cutting edge alternative to traditional 60’s manga, and had an effect on a generation of readers akin to what Heavy Metal did for us in the U.S. in the 80’s. It’s backbone was Shirato Sanpei’s re-imagined … Continued

kamui, Shirato Sanpei
13 Jul 2009

FUJIMARU book-n-record (PART 2)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 4 - Collectibles | 0

The adventure continues… Fujimaru had a rather large friend from above his whole life – a giant eagle. It was all part of a well-balanced mix of genuine historical weaponry and credible martial arts with superhero-like powers and outright magic. … Continued

Fujimaru, Shirato Sanpei
10 Jul 2009

FUJIMARU book-n-record (PART 1)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 4 - Collectibles | 0

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 Joe, Frankenstein and Planet of the Apes comic book / … Continued

Fujimaru, Shirato Sanpei
30 Jun 2009

Airborne combat in LEGEND OF KAMUI

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

With the movie pending, 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 and severe manga in the 80’s. Kamui … Continued

kamui, Shirato Sanpei
19 Jun 2009

Visionary character design

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 2 - Books and Manga | 5

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

Shirato Sanpei

Posts navigation

« 1 2

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.

Read the Definitive History:

Categories

  • 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
  • 8 – News & Notes

Pages

  • About us
  • Contact
  • Some Commonly Used Terms
  • Welcome…

Tags

80s martial arts supply ads Akakage AMERICAN NINJA CASTLE OF OWLS Enter the Ninja Five Element Ninjas Generic toys Hattori Hanzo Henry Sanada HENSHIN NINJA ARASHI Hiroki Matsukata Jiraiya Jubei Yagyu Kagemaru kaiju kamui Kosugi kurozukin Lion Maru Maki Fuyukichi Masaaki Hatsumi menko cards Mitsuteru Yokoyama Monsters and Masks 2009 Monsters and Masks 2010 Monsters and Masks 2011 Monster vs. Ninja Month Raizo Ichikawa Red Shadow REVENGE OF THE NINJA Ryutaro Otomo Samurai Spy Sarutobi Sasuke Shaw Bros. Shinobi no Mono Shirato Sanpei Sho Kosugi Thai press kits The Samurai toad magic tokusatsu Tonbei VHS art vintage magazines vintage photos

©2020 Vintage Ninja/Keith J. Rainville