is a Japanese superhero

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

featured in several manga and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, as well as live-action movies and TV shows. Akakage first appeared in the 1967 TV series, ''Kamen no Ninja Akakage'' which was produced by Toei Company Ltd.

Character

Akakage is a

who wears a red-and-black costume and a stylized red mask. He was created by Japanese manga artist

Mitsuteru Yokoyama was a Japanese manga artist born in Suma Ward of Kobe City in Hyōgo Prefecture. His personal name was originally spelled , with the same pronunciation. His works include ''Tetsujin 28-go'', ''Giant Robo'', '' Akakage'', ''Babel II'', '' Sal ...

. His adventures are set in

Feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inve ...

, where Akakage and his ninja sidekicks, and fight evil warlords. The ninjas use their superhuman fighting powers and high-tech gadgets to defeat these warlords in a genre referred to as daikaiju, in which protagonists combat a range of humanoid monsters.

1967 Tokusatsu series

, was produced by Toei Company Ltd., and aired on KTV and

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

from April 5, 1967, to March 27, 1968, with a total of 52 episodes (divided into four segments). Akakage was played by Yuzaburo Sakaguchi, Aokage was played by Yoshinobu Kaneko and Shirokage was played by

Fuyukichi Maki was a Japanese actor. He worked in TV and film from 1951 to 1997. His birth name was Nobuyuki Okamura (岡村信行). He was born in Ōdate, Akita, Japan."The Japanese Filmmaker's Encyclopedia, Actor ed., Volume 2" Kinema Junposha, 1996, p. . ...

Development

This was Toei's first color

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

superhero show and Japan's first color live-

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

ninja TV series. Aokage's footage from the series was used to create several ''Watari'' films with the titles like ''The Magic Sword of Watari'' (not to be confused with the unrelated 1966 film ''Watari, Ninja Boy'').

Plot

The story is set in the late sixteenth century when Japan was in the midst of a long period of civil wars. While some seek to unite Japan in order to bring peace, there are others who encourage conflict in order to bring more power to themselves. Akakage, Aokage, and Shirokage are all good

s working for those who seek peace and unity and battling against evil ninjas and their daikaiju (giant monsters). Aka-Kage, made by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, is a ninja who wears a red-and-black costume and a stylized red mask. His adventures take place in Feudal Japan, where he and his ninja sidekicks Aokage (青影^? a little boy) and Shirokage (白影^?an old man) fight evil warlords, wizards, and daikaiju using high-tech gadgets (a blatant oddity in a period setting).

Characters

*Akakage is the best swordsman of the three and a master of disguise. The crystal in his mask fires an energy beam. Akakage appears on the scene proclaiming "Akakage Sanjō!" *Aokage is a young boy who plays with explosives and uses a chain weapon. *Shirokage is armed with a pole weapon and flies using a large kite.

1987 anime series

is the

remake produced by Toei that aired on Nippon Television from October 13, 1987, to March 22, 1988, with a total of 23 episodes. The complete series was released on DVD by Toei Video on June 10, 2015.

Video game

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

was created based on the anime version. It was released in 1988, by Toei, for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit Third generation of video game consoles, third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redes ...

. The game music was composed by J-Walk.

2001 live-action film

is a loose remake of the original ''Akakage'' series. It was released in 2001 and was directed by

Hiroyuki Nakano is a Japanese film director. Filmography * ''Watching People'' (1989) * ''Spiritual Earth: Aloha Wave'' (1995) * '' Samurai Fiction'' (1998) * ''Pop Group Killers'' (2000) * '' Red Shadow'' (2001) * ''Stereo Future'' (2001) * ''Slow Is Beautifu ...

. It stars

Masanobu Andō is a Japanese actor. Ando has appeared in films such as Takeshi Kitano's '' Kids Return'' (1996), Kinji Fukasaku's '' Battle Royale'' (2000), Takashi Miike's '' Sukiyaki Western Django'' (2007), and Chen Kaige's ''Forever Enthralled'' (2008). He ...

in the title role. The story, characters, and their costumes were, however, re-designed from scratch.

References

External links

*
Akakage
at Vintage Ninja * {{Toei Animation 1967 Japanese television series debuts 1987 anime television series debuts 1988 video games 2000s Japanese films 2001 films Fictional ninja Film superheroes Japanese action films Japanese drama television series Japan-exclusive video games Live-action films based on manga Mitsuteru Yokoyama Ninja in anime and manga Ninja fiction Fuji TV original programming Nippon TV original programming Video games about ninja Nintendo Entertainment System games Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Superhero television shows Tokusatsu television series Toei tokusatsu Toei Animation television