The Ninja Dragon
, better known for its international title as ''The Ninja Dragon'' (not to be confused with the 1986 Hong Kong film ''Ninja Dragon'' (1986) directed by Godfrey Ho), is a 1990 Japanese direct-to-video action film released by the Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. It was directed by Go Nagai, his third film as director and his first as a solo director. The film was produced by Dynamic Planning, Moby Dick and the Tohokushinsha Film Corporation. A Laserdisc version was also released in Japan. It was the first film starring Japanese rock musician Kenji Otsuki. It also features famous female Japanese wrestlers Cutie Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki, and also Japanese idol Etsuko Shinkoda. The film has cameos of Ken Ishikawa, Chiaki Kawamata, Shintaro Ko, Yoichi Komatsuzawa, Tokitoshi Shiota, Haruka Takachiho, Kunio Nagatani, Kaizo Hayashi, Fujiko F. Fujio, Mari Yagisawa and Tetsu Yano. A manga was also created by Go Nagai and Shinoyama Isami, and released as a single tankōbon on November 7, 19 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Go Nagai
, better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s manga and anime series such as ''Cutie Honey'', ''Devilman'' and ''Mazinger Z''. He is credited with creating the super robot genre and for designing the first mecha robots piloted by a user from within a cockpit with ''Mazinger Z'',Mark Gilson, "A Brief History of Japanese Robophilia", ''Leonardo'' 31 (5), pp. 367–369 68 and for pioneering the magical girl genre with ''Cutie Honey'', the post-apocalyptic manga/anime genre with ''Violence Jack'', and the ecchi genre with ''Harenchi Gakuen''. In 2005, he became a Character Design professor at the Osaka University of Arts. He has been a member of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize's nominating committee since 2009. Life Early life Go Nagai was born on September 6, 1945—in the Ishikawa Pr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Japanese Idol
An is a type of entertainer marketed for image, attractiveness, and personality in Japanese pop culture. Idols are primarily singers with training in acting, dancing, and modeling. Idols are commercialized through merchandise and endorsements by talent agencies, while maintaining a parasocial relationship with a financially loyal consumer fan base. Japan's idol industry first emerged in the 1960s and became prominent in the 1970s and 1980s due to television. During the 1980s, regarded as the "Golden Age of Idols", idols drew in commercial interest and began appearing in commercials and television dramas. As more niche markets began to appear in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it led to a significant growth in the industry known as the "Idol Warring Period." Today, over 10,000 teenage girls in Japan are idols, with over 3,000 groups active. Japan's idol industry has been used as a model for other pop idol industries, such as K-pop. Sub-categories of idols include gravure idols ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cutie Suzuki
(born October 22, 1969, as ), better known by her ring name , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who mostly wrestled for JWP Joshi Puroresu. In 1990 she was featured in an all female wrestling game based on her titled '' Cutie Suzuki no Ringside Angel''. Outside of wrestling she also took on numerous acting roles. Professional wrestling career On December 1, 1992, JWP Joshi Puroresu (JWP) introduced the JWP Openweight Championship, when Dynamite Kansai defeated Suzuki in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion. In November 1994, Suzuki competed at All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling event Big Egg Wrestling Universe. At the event, Megumi Kudo and Hikari Fukuoka defeated Suzuki and Takako Inoue. In 1995 at World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s World War 3 pay-per-view, Suzuki and Mayumi Ozaki were defeated by Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto (accompanied by Sonny Onoo) in a tag team match. The teams also competed the following night on ''Nitro''. Other media Suzuk ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Enix
was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . The name "Enix" is a play on the words "phoenix (mythology), phoenix", a mythical bird that is reborn from its own ashes, and "ENIAC", the world's first digital computer. The company merged with rival Square (video game company), Square in 2003 to form Square Enix. History Enix was founded on September 22, 1975, as Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese architect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima. The company initially published Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloids that advertised real estate. On February 5, 1980, Eidansha Boshu Service created a wholly owned subsidiary Eidansya Fudousan for the purpose of specializing in real estate trading and brokerage. Eidansya Fudousan took the name Eidansha Systems on August 18. 1981. The fol ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Light Novel
A light novel (, Hepburn: ''raito noberu'') is a style of young adult novel primarily targeting high school and middle school students. The term "light novel" is a ''wasei-eigo'', or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or, in English, LN. The average length of a light novel is about 50,000 words, and is published in the '' bunkobon'' format ( A6, 10.5 cm×14.8 cm or 4.1"x5.8"). Light novels are subject to dense publishing schedules, with new installations being published in 3–9-month intervals. Light novels are commonly illustrated in a manga art style and are often adapted into manga and anime. While most light novels are published only as books, some have their chapters first serialized monthly in anthology magazines before being collected and compiled into book format, similar to how manga is published. Details Light novels developed from pulp magazines. To please their audience, in the 1970s, most o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines such as ''Monthly Asuka'' and '' Monthly Shōnen Ace'', and entertainment magazines such as ''Newtype''. Since its founding, Kadokawa has expanded into the multimedia sector, namely in video games (as Kadokawa Games) and in live-action and animated films (as Kadokawa Pictures). History Kadokawa Shoten was established on November 10, 1945, by Genyoshi Kadokawa. The company's first publication imprint, Kadokawa Bunko, was published in 1949. The company went public on April 2, 1954. In 1975, Haruki Kadokawa became the president of Kadokawa Shoten, following Genyoshi Kadokawa's death. On April 1, 2003, Kadokawa Shoten was renamed to Kadokawa Holdings, transferring the existing publishing businesses to Kadokawa Shoten. On July 1, 2006, the pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tankōbon
is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ... term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or monthly List of manga magazines, manga anthology with other works before being published as volumes containing several chapters each. Major publishing Imprint (trade name), imprints for include Jump Comics (for serials in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and other Jump (magazine line), ''Jump'' magazines), Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Shōnen Magazine Comics, and Shogakukan's Shōnen Sunday Comics. Japanese comics (manga) manga came to be published in thick, phone book, phone- ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica ('' hentai'' and ''ecchi''), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at (), with annual sales of 1.9billion manga books and manga magazi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tetsu Yano
Tetsu Yano (Japanese 矢野徹 ''Yano Tetsu''; October 5, 1923 – October 13, 2004) was a Japanese science fiction translator and writer. He began to introduce to Japanese readers the works of US science fiction writers in the late 1940s. He was the first Japanese writer of the genre to visit the United States, in 1953. He took part in founding Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan (SFWJ, 日本SF作家クラブ) in 1963, and served as its president from 1978 to 1979. Yano was born in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture and grew up in Kobe. After studying at Chuo University for three years, he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army, serving two years and two months. After the war he made a living collecting trash on a US military base, where he became fascinated with the colorfully illustrated science fiction works thrown away by the soldiers. He learned to read English and eventually began translating science fiction. The works of Robert A. Heinlein, Frederik Pohl, De ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fujiko F
Fujiko is a Japanese name, Japanese feminine given name, usually derived from 藤 (''Fuji''), which means "Wisteria", and the suffix 子 (''-ko''), which means "child" or "child of". Notable people with the name include: *, a Japanese model and actress *, Japanese dancer *, the pen name of a duo of Japanese cartoon artists *, Japanese cross-country skier *, Japanese actress and fashion model *, Japanese artist *, Japanese novelist *, Japanese avant-garde artist *, a Japanese voice actress *, Japanese actress * Ingrid Fuzjko V. Georgii-Hemming, also known as Fujiko Hemming, a pianist of classical music Fictional characters *, a character in Monkey Punch's manga series ''Lupin III'' * Evil Rose (Fujiko Hinomoto), a character in the ''Rumble Roses'' female wrestling games References {{given name Japanese feminine given names ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kaizo Hayashi
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with '' To Sleep so as to Dream'' (1986). He is best known for his neo-noir '' Maiku Hama'' trilogy, ''The Most Terrible Time in My Life'' (1994), '' Stairway to the Distant Past'' (1995) and '' The Trap'' (1996). In addition to film, Hayashi served as creative director on the 2000 Konami video game ''7 Blades'' for the PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ..., and was director for two episodes of Power Rangers: Time Force. Partial filmography * * * * * '' Zipang'' (1990) * * * * * * '' Cat's Eye'' (1997) * ''Bolt'' (2020) References External links * * 1957 births Living people People from Kyoto Prefecture Japanese film directors Japanese screenwriters Writer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Haruka Takachiho
(born November 7, 1951 as in Nagoya, Japan) is a Japanese science fiction author and founder of Studio Nue. Takachiho is best known as the creator of ''Crusher Joe'', ''Dirty Pair'' and ''Dirty Pair Flash''. Helen McCarthy in ''500 Essential Anime Movies'' called him one of Japan's leading pulp novelists Takachiho established the anime production house Studio Nue in 1972, working as an anime producer and scenario writer, while still a student at Hosei University. He graduated three years later, in 1975, in social science. In 1977 Takachiho made his authorial debut with his novel "Crusher Joe: Rentai Wakusei Pizan no Kiki" ("Crusher Joe: Crisis on Solidarity Planet Pizan"). Two of Takachiho's stories have won Seiun Awards, "Daatipea no Dai Boken" ("Great Adventure of The Dirty Pair") for Best Japanese Short Story in 1980, and "Dirty Pair no Dai Gyakuten" ("The Dirty Pair Strike Again") for Best Japanese Novel in 1986. He held the title of Executive Secretary of the Science Fiction ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |