Ninja Hattori-kun

Ninja Hattori-kun (忍者ハットリくん), known as Ninja Hattori in some countries, is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko A. Fujio which was serialized between 1964 and 1988. It was later adapted into a television drama that aired on TV Asahi from 1966 – 1968; an anime series by Shin-Ei Animation, airing on Asahi from 1981 – 1987; a video game by Hudson Soft; two anime films by Shin-Ei and a live-action film. A remake of the 1981 anime series produced by Shin-Ei and the Indian animation firms Reliance MediaWorks and later Green Gold Animations has aired since 2013.

This article is about the manga and anime. For the video game, see Ninja Hattori-kun (video game).
Ninja Hattori-kun
Ninja Hattori-kun CD cover
忍者ハットリくん
Manga
Written byFujiko A. Fujio
Published byKobunsha
Shogakukan
MagazineShōnen (1964 – 1968)
Various Shogakukan kids magazines (1981 – 1988)
DemographicShōnen, kodomo
Original run1964 – 1968
1981 – 1988
Volumes16
Television drama
Ninja Hattori-kun
Ninja Hattori-kun + Ninja Monster Jippou
Directed byShoichi Shimazu
Written byHisashi Inoue
StudioHiroki Ogawa (1st season)
Akira Yuyama (2nd season)
Original networkTV Asahi
Original run 1966 – 1968
Anime television series
Directed byFumio Ikeno, Hiroshi Sasagawa
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Original networkTV Asahi, Japan Net TV
English network
Deepto TV, MBC3, Nickelodeon India, Super RTL, WB Channel
Original run September 28, 1981 – December 25, 1987
Episodes694 + 11 special episodes
Anime film
Ninja Hattori-kun: Nin Nin Ninpo Enikki no Maki
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 13, 1982
Runtime35 minutes
Anime film
Ninja Hattori-kun: Nin Nin Furusato Daisakusen no Maki
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 12, 1983
Runtime53 minutes
Game
Ninja Hattori-kun
DeveloperHudson Soft
PlatformNES
ReleasedMarch 5, 1986[1]
Anime television series
Ninja Hattori-kun Returns
Directed byTetsuo Yasumi
Produced byTakahiro Kishimoto
Satoshi Kaishō
Kei Mizutani
Motomichi Araki
Written byTetsuo Yasumi
Music byRahul Bhatt
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Reliance MediaWorks
Original networkAnimax
TV Asahi
English network
Nickelodeon
Original run May 13, 2013 – present
Episodes104
Related

Plot

11-year-old Kenichi Mitsuba is an average kid who goes to secondary school and struggles with his studies, he is very stubborn and is very lazy and therefore always ends up frustrating his parents and teacher. He loves to find an easy way of things much to the annoyance of Hattori.

Meanwhile, a little ninja named Hattori Kanzo becomes best friends with Kenichi. Hattori is now a part of the Mitsuba family along with his brother Shinzo, and his ninja dog, Shishimaru. Hattori helps Kenichi with his problems, and constantly keeps an eye on him, as a good friend. Yumeko is portrayed as Kenichi's love interest.

The main antagonist Kemumaki, a Koga Ninja and his ninja cat Kagechiyo. Kemumaki always troubles Kenichi. Kenichi asks Hattori to take revenge as a recurring storyline in many episodes. Although Hattori is a good friend, Kenichi sometimes fights with Hattori due to misunderstandings created by Kemumaki. Sometimes Jippou, Togejirou and Tsubame help him.

There are five main locations in the series: Tokyo City, Shinto Temple, Iga Province, Iga Mountains, Kōga Valley.

Characters
  • Kanzo Hattori (ハットリ カンゾウ or 服部 貫蔵, Hattori Kanzō)
(voice: Junko Hori, drama actor: Kōtoku Nomura, drama voice: Kazuo Imakura, live-action film actor: Shingo Katori)

A.k.a. Hattori-kun, is the protagonist of the series, a little ninja named after Hattori Hanzō. He is 11 years old and 40 kg and is 140 centimeters tall. He is the boy who usually contests Kemumaki when he performs mischief. Hattori's main weakness is that he is afraid of frogs; this often leads him into trouble and becoming helpless around a frog environment. He wears blue coloured ninja robes, with a red belt. He always explains what a good ninja does and what others should also do. His powers can be compared to a master ninja. He also has a strange habit of saying ~degozaru or nin nin (ding ding) after almost every sentence. His girlfriend seems to be Tsubame.

In the Indian (Hindi,Gujarati,Marathi,Tamil, Telugu,Kannada,Malayalam,Bangla and English) versions, Hattori is sometimes his first name and sometimes his last name (along with Shinzo's) it changes between episodes, an inconsistency.
  • Kenichi Mitsuba (三葉 ケン一, Mitsuba Ken'ichi)
(voice: Masako Sugaya, drama actor: Katsumi Takamiya, live-action film actor: Yuri Chinen)

Is a 10-year-old boy who goes to middle school and is poor in his studies. He likes Yumeko, however also Kemumaki is always after her. He also tricks Hattori to help him in any situation, even in extreme ones (e.g. in one episode, he wanted training to become a full-fledged ninja). He also does not follow his mother's instructions properly and often gets a severe scolding from his mother. Though he doesn't study well, he has a good habit of helping others. He is always the victim of Kemumaki's mischievous plans.

  • Shinzō Hattori (ハットリ シンゾウ or 服部 心蔵, Hattori Shinzō)
(voice: Yūko Mita, drama actor: Shigeki Nakajō)

Shinzo is Kanzo's younger brother. He uses weapons made from wood. He is a ninja-in-training who learns to be a good ninja, like Kanzo. He wears red coloured ninja robes. Shinzo seems to have a good heart and sticks to being loyal to his brother and sometimes gets excited when others are excited. Some of the times, Shinzo tricks Hattori to giving him things. He is also known to cry very loudly, disturbing people and even fainting them. He is also very powerful for his age, at 7 years old. He helps Kanzo fight Kemumaki, with his real weapons and control his loud crying (which immobilizes opponents from attacking) and bites the head of the opponents.

While Kanzo is referred to as "Hattori", Shinzo is usually called by his first name, where his surname is inconsistent in the Indian versions.
  • Shishimaru (獅子丸)
(voice: Kenichi Ogata)

Is a ninja dog living with Ken'ichi, who came along with Kanzo Hattori and Shinzo Hattori. He is a casual behaving dog who at times becomes lazy and stubborn. Along with Shinzo, the two of them wind up doing mischief and creating trouble. He has an attack of turning in a fireball when provoked. He also has the ability to change form into any other animal. His fur color is yellow. His ninja mark on his forehead is very important for him as it is an identification of him as a ninja. He loves to eat all kinds of delicious treats, especially a fish sausage, or chocolate roll.

  • Tsubame (ツバメ)
(voice: Fuyumi Shiraishi)
(cast: Moses Chan <Chan Ho:陈豪/Cantonese by TVB>)

A.k.a. Tsubame-ko, is a kunoichi and classmate of Hattori-kun. She likes Hattori and always wishes to marry him. She has a dislike for Kemumaki and Kagechiyo. She wears pink coloured ninja robes. She seems to own a recorder, a clarinet, a flute, a piccolo and a bassoon, five woodwind instruments. She was the wife of Ikkyu-san.

She is called Sonam in the Indian version.
  • Kemuzo Kemumaki (ケムマキ・ケムゾウ, Kemumaki Kemuzō)
(voice: Kaneta Kimotsuki, live-action film actor: Gorie)

Is the antagonist of Ninja Hattori-kun. He, along with his cat Kagechiyo (Kemuzo), always are the ones who cause trouble. Strength-wise, he has competition with Hattori and Shinzo. He is 11 years old and is shorter than Kenichi but a lot more fitter and stronger than him. He competes with Kenichi for Yumeko-chan; however when he uses one of his ninja techniques in order to win, Hattori usually steps in to save the day. He wears green colored ninja robes. Only Kagechiyo, Kenichi and the Kanzo family know about his dual life that he's a ninja like Hattori while he joined Kenichi's school as a normal boy in the middle of the series. His parents' whereabouts are unknown, but his mother is noted several times in the series.

He is called Amara in the Hindi dub, but retains his name in the Indian English dub.
  • Kagechiyo (影千代)
(voice: Eiko Yamada)

Is a talking animal-ninja of the Kōga-ryū, Kagechiyo is the helping antagonist in the series. Usually Kemumaki gives a big task in his plans for Kagechiyo to carry out, which he often does not succeed in. This is because he doesn't get enough training from Kemumaki and is seen sleeping on the streets. He is noticed by Hattori several times. He is seen to have a rivalry with Shishimaru. His fur color is black and white. He normally hides in the Mitsuba house to hear Kenichi and his friends' plans and afterwards informs Kemumaki about them, acting more like a communication device. Sometimes he hates Kemumaki for his strictness and imagines living a life of luxury as a normal cat in some episodes. He enjoys eating fish. He obtains an attack of static electricity on rubbing a shining metal plate against his back. If he uses this attack too much then it will drain his energy, and he will feel weak.

He is called Kiy'yo or Keo in the Indian versions.
  • Yumeko Kawai (河合 夢子, Kawai Yumeko)
(voice: Runa Akiyama)

A.k.a. Yumeko-chan, is the girl who is sincere, She likes Kemumaki and Kenichi, who usually causes disputes between Kemumaki Kemuzo and Kenichi Mitsuba. She also attends the same middle school as the two, and she is also the one who causes most of the problems of the plot as both Kemumaki and Kenichi fall in love with her and want to attract Yumeko. Most of the time she appears to be confused. Yumeko seems to be in touch with Hattori sometimes. Yumeko sees Hattori as a big brother and Shinzo as a little brother. She is also seen to like Kenichi. And sometimes people mistake her relationship with Hattori as a romantic one, though in some episodes they are seen to show romance. She is also known to play piano fairly well and hates bell peppers.She appears in an episode of Perman as a cousin of Michiko.

  • Aiko-Sensei (愛子先生)
(voice: Yōko Kawanami)

One of Kenichi's teachers. Koike-sensei has a crush on her. The subject she teaches is unknown. Though in many episodes she is shown teaching the class music.

  • Jinzo Hattori (ハットリ ジンゾウ)
(voice: Tadao Futami)

Hattori-kun and Shinzo's father. He also appear in Perman, when he fights with Perman.

  • Jippo (忍者怪獣ジッポウ, Ninja Kaijū Jippō)
(voice: Junpei Takiguchi, drama voice: Hiroko Maruyama)

A giant turtle monster ninja. He and Hattori are ninja partners.

  • Koike-Sensei (小池先生)
(voice: Issei Futamata)

Kenichi's teacher, also appears as a ramen chef in Obake no Q-tarō and sometimes appear as a cameo in Doraemon where he eats ramen. He frequently scolds Kenichi similar to when Nobita is scolded by his teacher in Doraemon. He is caricatured after animator Shin'ichi Suzuki. He also appears in the cartoon "Biriken" and "Ultra B" as Michio's father.

  • Kentaro Mitsuba (三葉 健太郎)
(voice: Yuzuru Fujimoto, drama actor: Teizō Muta)

Kenichi's father. He usually smokes and comes from his office late in the evening. He likes eating and golf a lot. Though a rather plump man, in some of the episodes, his size seems to change, going from stouter to slimmer.

  • Ama Mitsuba
(voice: Yukiko Nashiwa, drama actor: Chiharu Kuri)

The mother of Kenichi. She likes Tsubame and thinks that Kemumaki is a good boy (she has no idea about his dual life). She also appears in an episode of Doraemon, in one of Doraemon's dreams.

  • Professor Shinobino (シノビノ博士, Shinobino Hakase)
(voice: Reizō Nomoto)

A professor who lives in the United States and invented Togejiro.

  • Togejirou (トゲ次郎, Togejirō)
(voice: Hiroko Maruyama)

A cactus having supernatural powers is sent by Professor Shinobino from the United States. Shisimaru does not like Cacto-chan and loves to compete with him.

He is called Cactochan in the English and Hindi version.

Media

Manga

The first manga series was published in Kobunsha's Shōnen in 1964 and ended in 1968. A second manga series was published by Shogakukan in various kids magazines like CoroCoro Comic, Televi-Kun and others from 1981 to 1988.[2]

Anime
Main article: List of Ninja Hattori-kun episodes

1981 anime series

The first anime series aired on TV Asahi in Japan from September 28, 1981 to December 25, 1987 for a total of 694 episodes.

Amazon Prime Video India began streaming the series in English, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in December 2016.[3] Netflix began streaming the "fifth season" (53 episodes) of the Indian English dub in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India on December 22, 2018.[4]

2012 anime series

In January 2012, Nikkei announced on its website that a remake of the anime series under production by Indian production company Reliance MediaWorks and Shin-Ei Animation.[5] The announcement was part of a move to produce several remakes of popular anime television series to be broadcast across television stations in the Asian market to counteract Japan's stagnating domestic anime marketplace due to its declining birthrate.[6] Shin-Ei Animation is currently collaborating with Green Gold Animation to produce new episodes of the series. Yūichi Nagata, producer at Shin-Ei Animation, stated that the current collaboration will be between Shin-Ei's "creative content" and Green Gold Animation's "quality of skills in animation making and diligence".[7][8]

The new series began airing in India and Indonesia on May of the same year, as well as China. It premiered on Animax in Japan on May 13, 2013.[9]

Netflix, initially set to stream the Indian English dub of the first two seasons in early 2019,[8] began streaming them in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India on December 22, 2018.[4]

Home media

The 1981 anime series was released on two, nine-disc DVD box sets by Columbia Music Entertainment in Japan. The first box set was released on August 31, 2005,[10] while the second was released on November 2 that same year.[11]

The Japanese dub of the 2012 series was released on a five-disc DVD box set, under the title Ninja Hattori-kun Returns (忍者ハットリくんリターンズ), by TC Entertainment, Inc. on July 11, 2014 in Japan.[12]

Live-action film

A live-action film named "Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun, the Movie" was released in 2004.

See also

References
  1. "Ninja Hattori-kun: Ninja wa Shuugyou de Gozaru no Maki". UVL. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  2. "心不全はごめんでござる！『忍者ハットリくん』と啓発プロジェクト開始！" (in Japanese). The Japanese Circulation Society. Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  3. "Amazon Prime Video partners [with] Japan-based TV Asahi Corp for exclusive anime content streaming". CIOL. November 25, 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-04-23. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  4. Ressler, Karen (December 24, 2018). "Netflix Streams English-Dubbed Ninja Hattori Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  5. ：日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). Nikkei.com. 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
  6. Loo, Egan (2012-01-14). "Ninja Hattori-kun Comedy Anime Gets Remake in India". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  7. Ressler, Karen (December 5, 2018). "Shin-ei Partners With India's Green Gold for More Ninja Hattori Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  8. "Japan's Biggest Kids' Show Ties Up With India's Green Gold Animation". Dailyhunt. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  9. "アニメ「忍者ハットリくん」25年ぶり新作が放送決定！インド共同制作の逆輸入版！" [The new animation "Ninja Hattori-kun" will be broadcast for the first time in 25 years! Reimported version co-produced in India!] (in Japanese). February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on June 29, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  10. "忍者ハットリくん DVD-BOX 上巻" [Ninja Hattori-kun DVD-BOX Volume 1]. Amazon (in Japanese). Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  11. "忍者ハットリくん DVD-BOX下巻" [Ninja Hattori-kun DVD-BOX Volume 2]. Amazon (in Japanese). Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  12. "忍者ハットリくんリターンズ" [Ninja Hattori-kun Returns DVD-BOX] (in Japanese). TC Entertainment, Inc. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
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