Iga no Kabamaru
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
created by Yu Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young ninja
from the Iga province
called Kagemaru (absolute shadow
), nicknamed Kabamaru (hippo
's mouth) for his insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja sensei
, Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather’s acquaintances. The plot deals mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an urban
lifestyle after spending a childhood in the mountains and how he finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two private school
s.
Igano Kabamaru has been adapted to television and film.
Kabamaru is in his adolescence when his grandfather dies. At his funeral, he meets an elderly lady called . Saizō was Ran's first love and he had asked her in a letter to take care of his grandson when he died. Kabamaru follows Ran back to Tokyo, where he is to stay in her house and attend Kin'gyoku (Golden Rules) School, of which Ran is the headmistress.
On arriving, Kabamaru meets , Ran's granddaughter, who has lived with her, ever since the death of her parents. Kabamaru instantly takes a liking to Mai, but she finds his coarse manners and endless appetite embarrassing and repulsive. These feelings are shared by Kingyoku’s Vice Principal, who nevertheless tolerates Kabamaru’s antics out of loyalty and a secret infatuation with Ran. Ran herself is blinded by Kabamaru’s striking resemblance to Saizō and sees everything Kabamaru does as charming.
Soon after arriving in school, Kabamaru inadvertently saves some students from being bullied by an older student called Cirakawa. Cirakawa is a member in a secret student society which includes in its ranks , the beautiful head of the student council. Its real leader, however, is , a rich and popular bishōnen
student whose weak facade actually conceals a powerful whip-wielding fighter. All the girls have a crush on him, including Mai. Shizune’s gang is intent on antagonizing another school called Ōgyoku (Topaz Rules). However, negative feelings of varying intensity exist between most students of both schools.
The second reason is the rivalry between the wealthy and influential families of Shizune Mejiro and , head of the Ōgyoku student council. The two families vie for control over the whole of Japan, and their children have moved that conflict onto the school grounds.
, Kabamaru’s favourite delicacy.
Shizune, aware of Kabamaru's physical prowess, convinces him to participate in the annual inter-school long distance relay race. At the day of the race Kabamaru manages to take the lead and almost wins, but a few metres before the finish line he is startled by a shuriken
thrown at him from an unseen Hayate, who is now unwillingly in the custody and employ of Sū. Kabamaru realizes that Hayate is in the city and starts looking for him, excited at the thought of reuniting with his childhood friend.
A few days later, Maejima receives an invitation to a date by a person he assumes to be Mai. To his dismay, he actually meets with a flirtatious Sū, who has read Maejima's love letter and thinks it was meant for her. Maejima comes to the mistaken conclusion that Kabamaru is the mastermind behind the dormitory attack and has deliberately created the love letter misunderstanding to mock him. Later that night, he disguises himself and attacks Kabamaru with a bat but ends up injuring Shizune in the arm instead. He also begins training students in martial arts to act as his bodyguards against future assaults.
Shizune learns about Maejima's actions and considers them a preparation for an all-out attack against Kin'gyoku. He asks Kabamaru to train him and his friends in the ninja arts so they can fight back, but Kabamaru's popularity and Ran's enthusiasm over his involvement lead to the entire school volunteering for ninja training in the Iga mountains, ruining Shizune's covert plans.
Hayate, who has been ordered to put Kabamaru out of commission, is unwilling to harm him directly, so he anonymously contacts Cirakawa and manipulates his dislike for Kabamaru. He gives Cirakawa drugged candy and instructs him to deliver them to Shizune, both knowing that Kabamaru is certain to devour them first. Cirakawa is then supposed to attack the sleeping Kabamaru. The plan almost works, but Kabamaru offers one candy to Ran, who later faints in the middle of the road. Hayate rescues her from being run over, which leaves him conflicted between the loyalty to his old friend Kabamaru and the grateful Ran on one side and his duty to his employer, Mrs. Matsuno, on the other.
A few days later, Kabamaru is taking a nighttime stroll when he is suddenly challenged by shuriken and throwing knives. He dodges all of them and Hayate finally shows himself to him. In the conversation that follows, Hayate reveals to Kabamaru that he essentially used him in order to escape from Saizō and leave his past in the mountains behind. He disguises his guilt and self-loathing by urging Kabamaru to forget their friendship and stay in the mountains. He then escapes in the darkness, leaving behind an upset Kabamaru, who nevertheless still considers Hayate his friend.
The following day, Kabamaru instructs everyone to stay indoors because a blizzard
is imminent. Regardless, Shizune and his clique head outside to train and are later joined by Ran and Mai. A snowstorm indeed comes, and Ran and Mai are separated from the group and from each other. Ran is rescued by Saizō, who reveals himself to her and later returns her to the temple, but Mai is rescued by Kabamaru, who takes care of her in a nearby shack while the storm blows over. It is this incident which causes the two teenagers to begin acknowledging their true feelings for one another.
Elite School Union, seeking to dissolve it, expelling Kin'gyoku from it, and form a new Union controlled by Ōgyoku. Finally, he enlists members of criminal gangs to do his dirty work. Shizune learns about all this but is not too concerned, until Maejima challenges him to a one-on-one motorbike race after realizing Mai is in love with Shizune. Kabamaru secretly frustrates Maejima's attempts to cheat and Shizune emerges victorious.
This event makes Shizune take Maejima seriously. He resumes training his gang and in the process Mai and Ran separately deduce his true nature. Soon after, Maejima succeeds in dissolving the Kantō Elite School Union, effectively canceling the inter-school baseball championship. The leader of the Kin'gyoku Baseball Team visits Maejima to ask him to restart the championship, but Maejima thinks he is a spy and has him viciously beaten up. This infuriates Shizune, who now plans to attack Ōgyoku rather than defend against it.
Shizune enlists Kabamaru to help him in the fight against Ōgyoku. Mai overhears the conversation and tries to prevent the conflict. Meanwhile, Sū forces Hayate to battle Kabamaru. While Hayate has some qualms about fighting his friend, he also believes this will give him closure
, letting him forget his haunting memories and start over. When Mai visits Ōgyoku School in a last-ditch attempt to calm things down, Maejima's goons capture her and also attack Cirakawa. Hayate intends to use Mai's kidnapping to anger Kabamaru into fighting him.
News of Mai's kidnapping and Cirakawa's injury reach Shizune, along with a one-on-one challenge from Maejima at the docks. This time, both cheat by bringing their gangs with them and an all-out confrontation between the students and staff of the two schools ensues. This is cut short when Hayate challenges Kabamaru, revealing himself as Mai's kidnapper. Kabamaru's rage temporarily overcomes him, and they begin fighting. Kabamaru's anger soon fades, however, and his obvious distress over fighting his best friend reaches out to Hayate, who stops his attack in the last minute. Kabamaru instinctively counterattack
s, injuring Hayate in the shoulder
and causing him to fall in the water.
Just as everyone thinks Hayate has drowned, he emerges from the water in the arms of the Buddhist statue from the temple. The statue removes its disguise and reveals himself as the chef of the yakisoba restaurant Kabamaru has been visiting during the entire series. He then removes this disguise as well to reveal the ugly old man Kabamaru recognizes as his grandfather Saizō. Finally, he reveals that this is also a disguise he had been using around Kabamaru, discarding it to reveal his much handsomer true self. Saizō explains that he faked his death to introduce Kabamaru to the second stage of ninja training and the responsibilities of an adult. Hayate and Kabamaru, now reconciled, decide to return with Saizō to the mountains to continue their training, but not before Mai expresses her feelings to Kabamaru and they promise to meet again.
in which the characters gather to celebrate the conclusion of the story, only to be interrupted by The Author, a "cameo" of Yu Azuki. The Author reminds them that they still have to play the big baseball game between Kin'gyoku and Ōgyoku. The action immediately warps to the baseball field and a surreal match ensues, featuring ninja baseball techniques, Nazi and Native American
baseball players and a battle between the mecha
s of the Kin'gyoku Vice Principal and Maejima (Gojira
and King Kong
respectively.)
This fight is cut short by Saizō in the guise of the Buddhist statue, who spirits the mecha away and commands the school rivalry ended before departing in a flying saucer
. All this is a ninja illusion
, which fools even Kabamaru and Hayate. This angers Saizō, and the series ends with him chasing his two students, berating them for their incompetence.
. It starred Hikaru Kurosaki as Kabamaru, Kumiko Takeda
as Mai, Sanada Hiroyuki as Shizune and Sonny Chiba
as Saizō.
The plot centers around a five part competition between Kabamaru representing Kin'gyoku School, and Hayate representing Ōgyoku School. The five events are falling from a height on a balloon (Kabamaru wins), swimming (Hayate wins), throwing shuriken while horseriding (Kabamaru wins), food eating contest (Hayate wins - Kabamaru is disqualified because he missed an olive
) and remaining on the roof of a car driven by a student of the opponent school (Kabamaru wins after being promised 1,000 plates of yakisoba noodles by Shijune).
and countries in the Arabic peninsula. It has attained the status of cult
classic in many of these regions, in part due to its extravagant characters and plot.
For Greek and Cypriot fans, a key element that adds to the show's notoriety is its poor dubbing
. Translated from Japanese into Greek through English, the dub has many instances of awkward, word-for-word, or completely erroneous translation (such as referring to noodles as pasta
, calling a baseball bat
by the word for the mammal
bat
, or referring to a shuriken
as a "knife".) The actors' performance is also sub par, featuring bad to non-existent lip-synching, the repeat of a phrase over the characteristically long-winded original Japanese, an actor dubbing two characters in the same scene using the same voice, and speaking in a monotone or a low voice while the animated character is shown yelling. Viewers generally feel that all this makes the dub hilarious rather than insufferable.
In the Arabic version two different actors provided the voice of Kabamaru himself, the first 10 episodes with one actor and the remaining ones with another.
In France, the dubbing was correct but the adaptation was quite unrefined and the show was only released on vhs
.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
created by Yu Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
from the Iga province
Iga Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today western Mie Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Iga bordered on Ise, Ōmi, Yamato, and Yamashiro Provinces.-Geography:...
called Kagemaru (absolute shadow
Shadow
A shadow is an area where direct light from a light source cannot reach due to obstruction by an object. It occupies all of the space behind an opaque object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, or reverse projection of the object blocking the...
), nicknamed Kabamaru (hippo
Hippo
A hippo or hippopotamus is either of two species of large African mammal which live mainly in and near water:* Hippopotamus* Pygmy HippopotamusHippo may also refer to:-Given names:...
's mouth) for his insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja sensei
Sensei
' is a Japanese word that basically means "person born before another." In general usage, it means "master" or "teacher," and the word is used as a title to refer to or address teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers, CPA and doctors, politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority...
, Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather’s acquaintances. The plot deals mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an urban
Urban culture
Urban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
lifestyle after spending a childhood in the mountains and how he finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two private school
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
s.
Igano Kabamaru has been adapted to television and film.
Introduction
Kabamaru was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandfather , who trained Kabamaru and another young orphan, in the ninja arts. While Saizō took care of the two children, he was also a very strict teacher, punishing incompetence or disobedience with physical violence. The two children eventually tried to escape, with Hayate suggesting they split up. Kabamaru was recaptured, but he refused to reveal his friend’s whereabouts to Saizō. Hayate watched, hidden, and finally made the decision to take advantage of the opportunity and flee. This choice haunted him ever since.Kabamaru is in his adolescence when his grandfather dies. At his funeral, he meets an elderly lady called . Saizō was Ran's first love and he had asked her in a letter to take care of his grandson when he died. Kabamaru follows Ran back to Tokyo, where he is to stay in her house and attend Kin'gyoku (Golden Rules) School, of which Ran is the headmistress.
On arriving, Kabamaru meets , Ran's granddaughter, who has lived with her, ever since the death of her parents. Kabamaru instantly takes a liking to Mai, but she finds his coarse manners and endless appetite embarrassing and repulsive. These feelings are shared by Kingyoku’s Vice Principal, who nevertheless tolerates Kabamaru’s antics out of loyalty and a secret infatuation with Ran. Ran herself is blinded by Kabamaru’s striking resemblance to Saizō and sees everything Kabamaru does as charming.
Soon after arriving in school, Kabamaru inadvertently saves some students from being bullied by an older student called Cirakawa. Cirakawa is a member in a secret student society which includes in its ranks , the beautiful head of the student council. Its real leader, however, is , a rich and popular bishōnen
Bishonen
is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth ". The equivalent English concept is a "pretty boy".The term describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man whose beauty transcends the boundary of gender or sexual orientation...
student whose weak facade actually conceals a powerful whip-wielding fighter. All the girls have a crush on him, including Mai. Shizune’s gang is intent on antagonizing another school called Ōgyoku (Topaz Rules). However, negative feelings of varying intensity exist between most students of both schools.
The rivalry
Kin'gyoku School and Ōgyoku School have been bitter rivals for almost half a century and compete fiercely in everything, from athletic competitions to which school has the most expensive clock tower. The reason for this is twofold: first, the rivalry between Ran and Ōgyoku School's headmistress, Sū Matsuno. Both Ran and Sū used to be best friends until they met Saizō and fell in love with him. Saizō secretly went on excursions with both of them, desiring the food baskets the girls brought to him. When the truth was revealed, the girls asked Saizō to choose one of them but he turned them both down, as by ninja tradition he could only marry a ninja. Unable to be angry at Saizō, the two girls turned against each other.The second reason is the rivalry between the wealthy and influential families of Shizune Mejiro and , head of the Ōgyoku student council. The two families vie for control over the whole of Japan, and their children have moved that conflict onto the school grounds.
The long distance relay
Shizune initially considers Kabamaru an interfering pest, so he orders him dealt with. After Cirakawa fails to crush Kabamaru with force and Kaoru fails to charm him with her beauty, Shizune decides to win him over, bribing him with food and particularly yakisoba noodlesYakisoba
', literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates in China. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen...
, Kabamaru’s favourite delicacy.
Shizune, aware of Kabamaru's physical prowess, convinces him to participate in the annual inter-school long distance relay race. At the day of the race Kabamaru manages to take the lead and almost wins, but a few metres before the finish line he is startled by a shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
thrown at him from an unseen Hayate, who is now unwillingly in the custody and employ of Sū. Kabamaru realizes that Hayate is in the city and starts looking for him, excited at the thought of reuniting with his childhood friend.
The rivalry escalates
After some Ōgyoku students are caught spying on the premises of Kin'gyoku, Shizune has Kabamaru and Kaoru attend a party hosted by Ōgyoku in celebration of their victory at the long distance relay in order to spy on Maejima. During the night, Kabamaru and Kaoru infiltrate the Ōgyoku dormitories, but only discover that Maejima has a crush on Mai and has written her a love letter. This infuriates Kabamaru, who attacks Maejima and flees, accidentally dropping the love letter in Sū’s office.A few days later, Maejima receives an invitation to a date by a person he assumes to be Mai. To his dismay, he actually meets with a flirtatious Sū, who has read Maejima's love letter and thinks it was meant for her. Maejima comes to the mistaken conclusion that Kabamaru is the mastermind behind the dormitory attack and has deliberately created the love letter misunderstanding to mock him. Later that night, he disguises himself and attacks Kabamaru with a bat but ends up injuring Shizune in the arm instead. He also begins training students in martial arts to act as his bodyguards against future assaults.
Shizune learns about Maejima's actions and considers them a preparation for an all-out attack against Kin'gyoku. He asks Kabamaru to train him and his friends in the ninja arts so they can fight back, but Kabamaru's popularity and Ran's enthusiasm over his involvement lead to the entire school volunteering for ninja training in the Iga mountains, ruining Shizune's covert plans.
Hayate, who has been ordered to put Kabamaru out of commission, is unwilling to harm him directly, so he anonymously contacts Cirakawa and manipulates his dislike for Kabamaru. He gives Cirakawa drugged candy and instructs him to deliver them to Shizune, both knowing that Kabamaru is certain to devour them first. Cirakawa is then supposed to attack the sleeping Kabamaru. The plan almost works, but Kabamaru offers one candy to Ran, who later faints in the middle of the road. Hayate rescues her from being run over, which leaves him conflicted between the loyalty to his old friend Kabamaru and the grateful Ran on one side and his duty to his employer, Mrs. Matsuno, on the other.
Excursion in the Iga Mountains
Kin'gyoku School goes for fitness training in Kabamaru's homeland, the Iga mountains. Hayate follows them, spying for Sū. They camp in an old abandoned Buddhist temple which has a statue that, according to Kabamaru, comes alive during the night. Indeed, while everybody sleeps, Shizune sees the statue moving. Ran determines from various clues that the statue is, in fact, Saizō, meaning that he is still alive. She keeps this to herself, certain that Saizō has his reasons.A few days later, Kabamaru is taking a nighttime stroll when he is suddenly challenged by shuriken and throwing knives. He dodges all of them and Hayate finally shows himself to him. In the conversation that follows, Hayate reveals to Kabamaru that he essentially used him in order to escape from Saizō and leave his past in the mountains behind. He disguises his guilt and self-loathing by urging Kabamaru to forget their friendship and stay in the mountains. He then escapes in the darkness, leaving behind an upset Kabamaru, who nevertheless still considers Hayate his friend.
The following day, Kabamaru instructs everyone to stay indoors because a blizzard
Blizzard
A blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong winds. By definition, the difference between blizzard and a snowstorm is the strength of the wind. To be a blizzard, a snow storm must have winds in excess of with blowing or drifting snow which reduces visibility to 400 meters or ¼ mile or...
is imminent. Regardless, Shizune and his clique head outside to train and are later joined by Ran and Mai. A snowstorm indeed comes, and Ran and Mai are separated from the group and from each other. Ran is rescued by Saizō, who reveals himself to her and later returns her to the temple, but Mai is rescued by Kabamaru, who takes care of her in a nearby shack while the storm blows over. It is this incident which causes the two teenagers to begin acknowledging their true feelings for one another.
The final confrontation
In the meantime, Maejima extends his control over the student councils of other schools, forming secret "assault squads" there. He also tries to exert control over the KantōKanto region
The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. The region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba, and Kanagawa. Within its boundaries, slightly more than 40 percent of the land area is the Kantō Plain....
Elite School Union, seeking to dissolve it, expelling Kin'gyoku from it, and form a new Union controlled by Ōgyoku. Finally, he enlists members of criminal gangs to do his dirty work. Shizune learns about all this but is not too concerned, until Maejima challenges him to a one-on-one motorbike race after realizing Mai is in love with Shizune. Kabamaru secretly frustrates Maejima's attempts to cheat and Shizune emerges victorious.
This event makes Shizune take Maejima seriously. He resumes training his gang and in the process Mai and Ran separately deduce his true nature. Soon after, Maejima succeeds in dissolving the Kantō Elite School Union, effectively canceling the inter-school baseball championship. The leader of the Kin'gyoku Baseball Team visits Maejima to ask him to restart the championship, but Maejima thinks he is a spy and has him viciously beaten up. This infuriates Shizune, who now plans to attack Ōgyoku rather than defend against it.
Shizune enlists Kabamaru to help him in the fight against Ōgyoku. Mai overhears the conversation and tries to prevent the conflict. Meanwhile, Sū forces Hayate to battle Kabamaru. While Hayate has some qualms about fighting his friend, he also believes this will give him closure
Closure
Closure may refer to:* Closure used to seal a bottle, jug, jar, can, or other container** Closure , a stopper* Closure , the process by which an organization ceases operations...
, letting him forget his haunting memories and start over. When Mai visits Ōgyoku School in a last-ditch attempt to calm things down, Maejima's goons capture her and also attack Cirakawa. Hayate intends to use Mai's kidnapping to anger Kabamaru into fighting him.
News of Mai's kidnapping and Cirakawa's injury reach Shizune, along with a one-on-one challenge from Maejima at the docks. This time, both cheat by bringing their gangs with them and an all-out confrontation between the students and staff of the two schools ensues. This is cut short when Hayate challenges Kabamaru, revealing himself as Mai's kidnapper. Kabamaru's rage temporarily overcomes him, and they begin fighting. Kabamaru's anger soon fades, however, and his obvious distress over fighting his best friend reaches out to Hayate, who stops his attack in the last minute. Kabamaru instinctively counterattack
Counterattack
A counterattack is a tactic used in response against an attack. The term originates in military strategy. The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy in attack and the specific objectives are usually to regain lost ground or to destroy attacking enemy units.It is...
s, injuring Hayate in the shoulder
Shoulder
The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle , the scapula , and the humerus as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder make up the shoulder joints. The major joint of the shoulder is the glenohumeral joint, which...
and causing him to fall in the water.
Just as everyone thinks Hayate has drowned, he emerges from the water in the arms of the Buddhist statue from the temple. The statue removes its disguise and reveals himself as the chef of the yakisoba restaurant Kabamaru has been visiting during the entire series. He then removes this disguise as well to reveal the ugly old man Kabamaru recognizes as his grandfather Saizō. Finally, he reveals that this is also a disguise he had been using around Kabamaru, discarding it to reveal his much handsomer true self. Saizō explains that he faked his death to introduce Kabamaru to the second stage of ninja training and the responsibilities of an adult. Hayate and Kabamaru, now reconciled, decide to return with Saizō to the mountains to continue their training, but not before Mai expresses her feelings to Kabamaru and they promise to meet again.
Finale
The conventional storyline ends on the second to last episode. The series finale is a self-parodySelf-parody
A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating his or her own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions .Sometimes critics use the...
in which the characters gather to celebrate the conclusion of the story, only to be interrupted by The Author, a "cameo" of Yu Azuki. The Author reminds them that they still have to play the big baseball game between Kin'gyoku and Ōgyoku. The action immediately warps to the baseball field and a surreal match ensues, featuring ninja baseball techniques, Nazi and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
baseball players and a battle between the mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
s of the Kin'gyoku Vice Principal and Maejima (Gojira
Gojira
Gojira is a heavy metal band formed in 1996 in Bayonne, France. The band was known as Godzilla until 2001. Gojira is composed of Joe Duplantier on vocals and guitar, his brother Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass...
and King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
respectively.)
This fight is cut short by Saizō in the guise of the Buddhist statue, who spirits the mecha away and commands the school rivalry ended before departing in a flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
. All this is a ninja illusion
Illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, revealing how the brain normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. While illusions distort reality, they are generally shared by most people....
, which fools even Kabamaru and Hayate. This angers Saizō, and the series ends with him chasing his two students, berating them for their incompetence.
Characters
- Kabamaru Igano: Nakao Ryuusei
- Mai Ookubo: Tachihara Mai
- Hayate Kirino: Tanaka Hideyuki
- Shizune Mejiro: Kamiya Akira
- Saizō Igano: Ogata Kenichi
- Ran Ookubo: Yamada Eiko
- Suu Matsuno: Nozawa Masako
- Kaoru Nanokusa: Asagami Youko
- Futaba Mejiro: Ishimaru Kenjirou
- Kaname Mejiro: Chiba Shigeru
- Young Kabamaru: Nozawa Masako
- Young Hayate: Yamada Eiko
- Young Saizō: Nakao Ryuusei
Episodes
| Episode # | Title | | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Appearance of a Fascinating and Earnest Ninja" ｢面白まじめジャ忍者参上｣ (Omoshiro Majime Ja Ninja Sanjō) |
October 20, 1983 |
| 2 | "The Unexpected Star!?" ｢思いがけずに人気者!?｣ (Omoigakezu ni Ninkimono!?) |
October 27, 1983 |
| 3 | "One Fight! Yakisoba D" ｢ファイト一発!ヤキソバD｣ (Fight Ippatsu! Yakisoba D) |
November 3, 1983 |
| 4 | "Sweet Mai and Kabamaru-kun" ｢スイート麻衣せんカバ丸君｣ (Sweet Mai Sen Kabamaru-kun) |
November 10, 1983 |
| 5 | "White-eyes Discovery Story" ｢目白発見伝｣ (Mejiro Hakken Den) |
November 17, 1983 |
| 6 | "The Worrysome Transformation Game" ｢思い悩んで変身ゲーム｣ (Omoinayande Henshin Game) |
November 24, 1983 |
| 7 | "The Yakisoba Runner's Lonliness" ｢焼きそばランナーの孤独｣ (Yakisoba Runner no Kodoku) |
December 1, 1983 |
| 8 | "Anecdote! The Pair from the Village of Shinobi" ｢外伝!忍びの里の二人｣ (Gaiden! Shinobi no Sato no Futari) |
December 8, 1983 |
| 9 | "It Can Enchant! The Scent of Kunoichi" ｢魅せます!くの一かおる｣ (Bakasemasu! Kunoichi Kaoru) |
December 15, 1983 |
| 10 | "Jigsaw Love on Christmas Eve" ｢聖夜のジクソー・ラブ｣ (Seiya no Jigsaw Rabu) |
December 22, 1983 |
| 11 | "Secret Formula! The Antidote of Revival" ｢秘伝!生き返りの妙薬｣ (Hiden! Ikikaeri no Myōyaku) |
December 29, 1983 |
| 12 | "Dokkiri, the Guardman" ｢どっきり・ザ・ガードマン｣ (Dokkiri the Guardman) |
January 5, 1984 |
| 13 | "Don't Hug Shizune on the Bed" ｢ベッドで沈寝を抱かないで｣ (Bed de Shizune o Idakanaide) |
January 12, 1984 |
| 14 | "Chance Encounter Starlight" ｢めぐり逢いスターライト｣ (Meguriai Starlight) |
January 19, 1984 |
| 15 | "Shocking in Iga" ｢アキレチック・IN・伊賀｣ (Akirechikku in Iga) |
January 26, 1984 |
| 16 | "Justice of the Siblings of the Shinobi Village" ｢忍びの里の兄弟仁義｣ (Shinobi no Sato no Kyōdai Jingi) |
February 2, 1984 |
| 17 | "You Are Troubled, Mai, LOVE" ｢悩みます・麻衣・LOVE｣ (Nayamimasu Mai Love) |
February 9, 1984 |
| 18 | "The Man Who Calls Upon the Storm!" ｢嵐を呼ぶ男!｣ (Arashi wo Yobu Otoko!) |
February 16, 1984 |
| 19 | "Mai's Detective Story" ｢麻衣の探偵物語｣ (Mai no Tantei Monogatari) |
February 23, 1984 |
| 20 | "A Classified First Love! Ran's List" ｢㊙初恋!ラン・スー表｣ (Maruhi Hatsukoi! Ran Sū Hyō) |
March 1, 1984 |
| 21 | "Secret Technique! Mystery of the Yakisoba Baseball" ｢秘術!焼きソバ野球の怪｣ (Hijutsu! Yakisoba Yakyū no Kai) |
March 8, 1984 |
| 22 | "Raging Mai's Jack" ｢嵐の麻衣ジャック｣ (Arashi no Mai Jack) |
March 15, 1984 |
| 23 | "Showdown in a Night Fog! A Man's Choices" ｢夜霧の対決!男のケジメ｣ (Yogiri no Taiketsu! Otoko no Kejime) |
March 22, 1984 |
| 24 | "That One Day Which Is Called Sayonara Day" ｢いわゆるひとつのサヨナラDAY｣ (Iwayuru Hitotsu no Sayonara Day) |
March 29, 1984 |
Film
A live action film based on the plot of the manga and the anime was released in 1983, directed by Norifumi SuzukiNorifumi Suzuki
', also known as Norifumi Suzuki, is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his works for studio Toei , especially the Red Peony Gambler and Truck Yarō series.Suzuki was born November 26, 1933 in Shizuoka...
. It starred Hikaru Kurosaki as Kabamaru, Kumiko Takeda
Kumiko Takeda
, born August 12, 1968 in Shizuoka, Japan is a Japanese actress.-Filmography:* Big show! Hawaii ni utaeba * 24 jikan dake no uso - Yukari Sakai* Ghost School: Teacher Mako's Head...
as Mai, Sanada Hiroyuki as Shizune and Sonny Chiba
Sonny Chiba
, also known as Sonny Chiba, is a Japanese actor, singer, film producer, film director and martial artist.Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience.- Early life :Born in Fukuoka, Fukuoka,...
as Saizō.
The plot centers around a five part competition between Kabamaru representing Kin'gyoku School, and Hayate representing Ōgyoku School. The five events are falling from a height on a balloon (Kabamaru wins), swimming (Hayate wins), throwing shuriken while horseriding (Kabamaru wins), food eating contest (Hayate wins - Kabamaru is disqualified because he missed an olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
) and remaining on the roof of a car driven by a student of the opponent school (Kabamaru wins after being promised 1,000 plates of yakisoba noodles by Shijune).
Reception
Besides Japan, the anime has been distributed in France, Italy, Greece, CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
and countries in the Arabic peninsula. It has attained the status of cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
classic in many of these regions, in part due to its extravagant characters and plot.
For Greek and Cypriot fans, a key element that adds to the show's notoriety is its poor dubbing
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
. Translated from Japanese into Greek through English, the dub has many instances of awkward, word-for-word, or completely erroneous translation (such as referring to noodles as pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
, calling a baseball bat
Baseball bat
A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the game of baseball to hit the ball after the ball is thrown by the pitcher. It is no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces , but it...
by the word for the mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
, or referring to a shuriken
Shuriken
A shuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that was generally used for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
as a "knife".) The actors' performance is also sub par, featuring bad to non-existent lip-synching, the repeat of a phrase over the characteristically long-winded original Japanese, an actor dubbing two characters in the same scene using the same voice, and speaking in a monotone or a low voice while the animated character is shown yelling. Viewers generally feel that all this makes the dub hilarious rather than insufferable.
In the Arabic version two different actors provided the voice of Kabamaru himself, the first 10 episodes with one actor and the remaining ones with another.
In France, the dubbing was correct but the adaptation was quite unrefined and the show was only released on vhs
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
.
Trivia
- In the last episode, the ball that goes in orbit, destroys the spaceship of Captain HarlockCaptain Harlockis a fictional character created by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto.Harlock is the archetypical romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as he is taciturn, rebellious, stoically fighting against totalitarian regimes, whether they be earthborn or alien...
. - In the last episode, Suu-obaba floats across a crowd of people. Amongst the crowd is Zenigata from Lupin IIILupin III, also known as Lupin the 3rd, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of Monkey Punch. The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of...
and Yabuki Joe from Ashita no Joe.