is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young

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 ...

from the Iga province called Kagemaru (absolute

shadow A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, ...

), nicknamed Kabamaru (

hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

's mouth) for his insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja

sensei Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who c ...

, Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather's acquaintances. The plot deals mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

lifestyle after spending a childhood in the mountains, him developing feelings for his guardian's granddaughter, and how he finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two

private school Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

s. ''Igano Kabamaru'' has been adapted to an

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 ...

series and a

live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

film.

Plot

Kabamaru was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandfather , who trained Kabamaru and another young orphan, in the ninja arts. 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 takes a liking to Mai, but she finds his coarse manners and endless appetite embarrassing and repulsive. Kin'gyoku School and Ōgyoku School have been bitter rivals for almost half a century, largely due to the rivalry between the wealthy and influential families of , head of the Ōgyoku student council, and , a student council member at Kin'gyoku. Kabamaru becomes an unwitting pawn of the student council members in their various machinations. Complicating matters is the return of Kabamaru's onetime friend, now rival, Hayate. Hayate reveals to Kabamaru that he used him in order to escape from Saizō and leave his past in the mountains behind. He urges Kabamaru to forget their friendship and stay in the mountains. Maejima extends his control over the student councils of other schools, forming secret "assault squads" there and enlisting members of criminal gangs to do his dirty work. Shizune enlists Kabamaru to help him in the fight against Ōgyoku. Mai visits Ōgyoku School to personally talk to Maejima and ask him to stop, but Maejima's goons mistake her as Shizune's accomplice and capture her. News of Mai's kidnapping and Shirakawa'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. During the fight, Kabamaru strikes Hayate in the

shoulder The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...

and causes him to fall in the water. Just as everyone thinks Hayate has drowned, he emerges from the water, along with grandfather Saizō, who 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 newfound feelings to Kabamaru and they promise to meet again.

Characters

*Kabamaru Igano:

Ryūsei Nakao , known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer from Tokyo. He is attached to 81 Produce and worked under the name of . He is married and has a son and a daughter. His voice tends to land him in the roles of characters w ...

** Young Kabamaru:

Masako Nozawa is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. Throughout her life, she has been affiliated with Production Baobab, 81 Produce and self-owned Office Nozawa; she is also affiliated with Aoni Production. Her late husband, Masaaki Tsukada, wa ...

*Mai Ookubo:

Mai Tachihara is a Japanese actress. She appeared in '' Ring: Kanzenban'', the 1995 TV movie adaptation of Koji Suzuki is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the ''Ring'' novels, which have been adap ...

*Hayate Kirino:

Hideyuki Tanaka is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo who is attached to Aoni Production. He is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He is most known for his roles in ''One Piece'' (as Donquixote Doflamingo), ''Dokaben'' (as Tarou Ya ...

** Young Hayate:

Eiko Yamada is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Hisamura worked under her maiden name before her marriage and for a long time afterward, so that name is still often used, even among fans. She is currently affilia ...

*Shizune Mejiro: Akira Kamiya *Saizō Igano: Kenichi Ogata ** Young Saizō: Ryūsei Nakao *Ran Ookubo:

*Suu Matsuno:

*Vice Principal:

Yūsaku Yara is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo, Japan. He is affiliated with Vi-Vo. His real name is , and his former stage name was . He is best known for his roles in ''Saint Seiya'' as Sagittarius Aiolos, ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' as H ...

*Kaoru Nonogusa:

Youko Asagami Yoko and are Japanese feminine given names. ''Yōko'' is sometimes transliterated as Yohko and Youko. The name ''Yoko'' is almost always written with the kanji (''ko''), meaning "child". The syllable ''ko'' is not generally found at the end ...

*Shirakawa:

Daisuke Gōri was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. Throughout his life, he was attached to TV Talent Center Tokyo, Yoshizawa Theatre School and then Mausu Promotion; he was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. ...

*Shū Maejima:

Akio Nojima is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Nishitōkyō, Tokyo. His sons, Hirofumi Nojima and Kenji Nojima, are voice actors and his other son Satoshi is a nature writer. He was formerly affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperat ...

*Futaba Mejiro:

Kenjirō Ishimaru is a Japanese actor and TV narrator. He is best known for his role in Kamen Rider series ''Kamen Rider Den-O'' as the owner of the DenLiner. He has also appeared in multiple competitions of ''Sasuke'' as a competitor and during that time has ...

*Kaname Mejiro:

Shigeru Chiba , known by the stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, talent and sound director from Kikuchi, Kumamoto. He is affiliated with the talent management firm 81 Produce. He is most known for the roles of Yoshihiro Kira from '' JoJo's Bizarre ...

Media

Manga

The Igano Kabamaru manga was serialized in

Bessatsu Margaret , or for short, is a shōjo manga magazine published monthly in Japan by Shueisha since 1964. Serializations Current *''Fujishiro-san Kei'' – Yuki Nojin *'' Ima Koi: Now I'm in Love'' – Ayuko Hatta *''My Special One'' – Momoko Kōda * ...

from 1979 to 1981, with total 12 volumes of books released. In 2015 a new manga sequel of Igano Kabamaru was released, titled "Igano Kabamaru Sorikara" (伊賀野カバ丸★そりから) serialized in "Monthly YOU" magazine.

Anime

The anime series was produced by

Group TAC was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including p ...

and

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

. The 24 episodes were broadcast in Japan by Nippon Television between October 20, 1983, and March 29, 1984, every Thursday from 19:00 to 19:30. Despite that in Japan there was low popularity, it acquired immense popularity in Greece. One main reason for this was the low quality of English-based dubbing often called "so bad that it's actually good", but it nevertheless impacted the growth of anime in the country.

Film

A live action film based on the plot of the manga and the anime was released on August 6, 1983, directed by

Norifumi Suzuki , was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He is best known for the '' Torakku Yarō'' series. Biography Suzuki was born in 1933 in Shizuoka. He dropped out of Ritsumeikan University's Department of Economics, and subsequently joined To ...

. It starred

Hikaru Kurosaki , also known as ''Space Wolf Juspion'', is a Japanese tokusatsu television series and part of the Metal Hero Series franchise. Produced by Toei Company, it was originally broadcast from 15 March 1985 to 24 March 1986, running for 46 episodes. Th ...

as Kabamaru,

Kumiko Takeda is a Japanese actress. Personal life Takeda was married to an American from 2000 until divorcing in 2016. She currently lives with her daughter in San Diego. Filmography * ''Shuffle'' (1981) - Girl in playground * '' High Teen Boogie'' (1982 ...

as Mai, Sanada Hiroyuki as Shizune and

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor 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. Born in Fuku ...

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).

References

External links

* * {{Group TAC 1979 manga 1983 anime television series debuts 1983 films Group TAC Japanese comedy films Live-action films based on manga Ninja in anime and manga Shōjo manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Films directed by Norifumi Suzuki Films scored by Kentarō Haneda