Ninja Bugeichō


Ninja Bugeichō: Kagemaru Den is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato. It was published as between December 1959 and October 1962, in seventeen volumes. The series incorporates historical materialism, realistic drawings, and allegorical themes that made it popular among the youth of the sixties.
Shirato's manga was adapted into a film, titled Tales of the Ninja, which was directed by Nagisa Ōshima and released by Oshima Productions in Japan in February 1967.

Publication

Written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato, Ninja Bugeichō was published by as from December 1959 to October 1962, with a total of 3000 installments.
Toho published the last two volumes on November 20, 1962; Shogakukan published the series in long term, first published a redrawn twelve hardcover volumes in Golden Comics from August 10, 1966, to January 10, 1967; the company published a "completely restored edition" from April 25, 1970, to April 20, 1971, in nine volumes; later republished the series from April 20 to December 20, 1976, in seventeen volumes; a deluxe edition published from June 5 to July 5, 1983, in two volumes; a new edition published from June 20, 1993, to January 10, 1994, in eight volumes; and the company republished the eight volumes from June 10, 1997, to October 10, 1997; a new edition published from September 6, 2009, to May 31, 2010, in seventeen volumes.

Themes

Ninja Bugeichō is a historically based ninja-themed manga that captured the attention of students and intellectuals in the 1960s. This violent epic tale set in Japan's "Warring States" period was seen by many readers and critics as a thinly veiled allegory for the ongoing Anpo protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty. Regardless of Shirato's true intentions, the manga seemed to correspond to the feelings and experiences student protesters were going through at the time, and Ninja Bugeichō developed an avid following among left-leaning student activists. Because its adult themes and graphic violence, Ninja Bugeichō has been cited as one of the first examples of, or serious manga aimed specifically at adult audiences rather than children.

Adaptation

A film adaptation, also titled Ninja Bugeichō in Japanese, was directed by Nagisa Ōshima, and was released in Japan by Oshima Productions on February 15, 1967. A CD was released on September 20, 2000, by Pony Canyon; on November 29, 2008, the film released in a keep case by Books Kinokuniya; and on June 25, 2011, the company re-released the movie as a standalone. Rather than being an animated adaption, Ōshima decided to simply shoot the panels of the manga in order, adding narration and employing zooming and panning techniques.