Akakage

Akakage (赤影, Red Shadow) is a fictional Japanese superhero featured in several manga and anime, 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..

"Red Shadow" redirects here. For other uses, see Red Shadow (disambiguation).
Kamen no Ninja Akakage
DVD Poster
仮面の忍者 赤影
Manga
Written byMitsuteru Yokoyama
Published byShogakukan
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen
Original run1966 – 1967
Television drama
StudioToei
Original networkKTV, Fuji TV
Original run April 5, 1967 – March 27, 1968
Episodes52
Anime television series
Directed bySusumu Ishizaki
StudioToei Animation
Original networkNippon TV
Original run 13 October 1987 – 22 March 1988
Episodes23
Game
Kamen no Ninja: Akakage
DeveloperShouei
PublisherToei Animation
GenreAction
PlatformFamicom
ReleasedMay 20, 1988
Live-action film
Red Shadow: Aka Kage
Directed byHiroyuki Nakano
Released2001

Character

Akakage is a ninja who wears a red-and-black costume and a stylized red mask. He was created by Japanese manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama. His adventures are set in Feudal Japan, where Akakage and his ninja sidekicks, Aokage (青影, Blue Shadow, a little boy) and Shirokage (白影, White Shadow, an old man) 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

Kamen no Ninja Akakage (仮面の忍者 赤影, Masked Ninja Akakage), was produced by Toei Company Ltd., and aired on KTV and Fuji TV 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 (younger brother of fellow child actor Mitsunobu Kaneko of Akuma-kun and Giant Robo fame) and Shirokage was played by Fuyukichi Maki.

Development

This was Toei's first color tokusatsu superhero show and Japan's first color live-action ninja TV series.[1] 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).[2]

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 ninjas 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

Kamen no Ninja Akakage (仮面の忍者赤影, Masked Ninja Akakage) is the anime 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
Famicom's game logo

A video game was created based on the anime version. It was released in 1988, by Toei, for the Famicom.[3] The game music was composed by J-Walk.

2001 live-action film
Main article: Red Shadow (film)

Red Shadow (RED SHADOW 赤影, Reddo Shadō Akakage) is a loose remake of the original Akakage series. It was released in 2001 and was directed by Hiroyuki Nakano. It stars Masanobu Andō in the title role. The story, characters, and their costumes were, however, re-designed from scratch.

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References
  1. Kamen no ninja Aka-Kage (1967)
  2. The Magic Sword of Watari (1970)
  3. 忍者ゲーム 【ファミコン】 (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2011-07-05.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
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