Ninja Hattori-kun (忍者ハットリくん, Ninja Hattori-kun) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Motoo Abiko (initially credited as Fujiko Fujio and later as Fujiko Fujio A) which was serialized between 1964 and 1988. It was later adapted into a television drama that aired on TV Asahi (then known as NET) from 1966 to 1968; an anime series by Shin-Ei Animation, airing on TV Asahi from 1981 to 1987; a video game by Hudson Soft; four anime films by Shin-Ei and a live-action film. A remake of the 1981 anime series was produced by Shin-Ei and the Indian animation firms Reliance MediaWorks and later Green Gold Animations which aired on TV Asahi and Animax from 2013 – 2015.
Plot
11-year-old Kenichi Mitsuba is an average kid who goes to elementary school and struggles with his studies. He is very stubborn and lazy, therefore always ending up frustrating his parents and teachers. He loves to find an easy way out of everything much to the annoyance of Hattori.
Meanwhile, a young ninja named Kanzo Hattori becomes best friends with Kenichi. Hattori becomes a part of the Mitsuba family along with his brother, Shinzo and his ninja dog, Shishimaru. Hattori helps Kenichi with his problems, constantly keeping an eye on him as a good friend. Yumeko is portrayed as Kenichi's love interest.
The main antagonists are Kemumaki, a Koga Ninja, and his ninja-cat, Kagechiyo. Kemaki always causes trouble for Kenichi and Hattori, sometimes inventing new devices to fight against Hattori but always ending up in mishap. Kenichi asking Hattori to take revenge is a recurring storyline present throughout many episodes. Although Hattori is a good friend, Kenichi sometimes fights with him 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, and Kōga Valley.
Characters
Main
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)
Hattori-kun, is the protagonist of the series, a little ninja who is named after his ancestor Hattori Hanzō. He is 11 years old and a skilled ninja despite his age who left his home in Iga to train in Tokyo, where he took up residence in the Mitsuba household. The show follows his many adventures and daily life living in modern Japan and his friendship with Kenichi Mitsuba. Both boys find a rival in Kemaki (Kemumaki in some dubs), another young ninja in Kenichi's class. Hattori-kun's main weakness is that he is terrified of frogs (Ranidaphobia) . He has strong beliefs on what makes a good ninja and reminds everyone of the same. Hattori-kun has signature swirls on his cheeks, wears a blue head covering at all times, and also has a quirk of saying ~degozaru or nin nin (ding ding in dubs) after almost every sentence. Hattori-kun has an ardent admirer, Tsubame. He wears blue coloured ninja robes with a red belt.
Kenichi Mitsuba (三葉 ケン一, Mitsuba Ken'ichi)
(voice: Masako Sugaya (1980s series), Tomomi Tenjinbayashi (2012 series); drama actor: Katsumi Takamiya, live-action film actor: Yuri Chinen)
A 10-year-old middle schooler who is very irresponsible, lazy and doesn't have much academic or athletic talent but enjoys photography. He has a huge crush on his classmate Yumeko, in the process of which he often gets into trouble with his rival Kemaki and convinces the hesitant Hattori to help him. He is not above tricking Hattori into lending a hand. Kenichi wears glasses and a cap.
Shinzō Hattori (ハットリ シンゾウ or 服部 心蔵, Hattori Shinzō)
(voice: Yūko Mita (1980s series), Yukiko Hinata (2012 series); drama actor: Shigeki Nakajō)
Shinzo is Kanzo's five-year-old younger brother who followed him to Tokyo. Being only an apprentice ninja he uses wooden weapons. His older brother Hattori is his role model. He can cry extremely loudly, stunning people and even causing them to faint. He helps Kanzo fight Kemumaki, sometimes using his loud crying to immobilise opponents. He wears red coloured ninja robes. His catchphrase is "shin shin".
Yumeko Kawai (河合 夢子, Kawai Yumeko)
(voice: Runa Akiyama (1980s series), Haruka Sato (2012 series), Yuka Iwahashi (2012 series))
Yumeko-chan, is a classmate and friend of Kenichi's. Both Kenichi and Kemaki have unrequited crushes on her, causing a rivalry between the two boys. Yumeko sees Hattori and Shinzo as brothers. She is a pianist and hates bell peppers. Yumeko appears in an episode of Perman as a cousin of Michiko. She wears a pink long sleeved dress and has her hair in a short cut with bangs.
Is a ninja dog living with Kenichi, who came along with Kanzo and Shinzo Hattori. He is often lazy and stubborn. Along with Shinzo, the two of them wind up doing mischief and creating trouble. He has an attack technique of turning in a fireball when provoked. He also has the ability to change form into any other animal. His fur is curly and yellow. Shishimaru's 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.
Is the antagonist of Ninja Hattori-kun. The 11-year-old ninja comes from the Koga village and hence is a sworn rival of the Iga native Hattoris. He lives alone in a small apartment with his ninja cat Kagechiyo. As per the Koga rules, his ninja identity is a secret, with only Kenichi and the Hattoris knowing about his dual life while he attends middle school as a normal student. His parents' whereabouts are unknown, but his mother is noted several times in the series, and once visited him while he was sleeping to cook him a meal. Kemaki is shorter than Kenichi but much better at school and sports than him. He isn't as good a ninja as Hattori-kun but never gives up trying to beat him. Despite being the main antagonist, he is actually a nice but lonely boy who sometimes helps out his rivals. He is also quite innovative, often making many new tools unlike Hattori who uses his traditional tools. Kemaki strongly adheres to his clan rules of never using ninjutsu for criminal acts, going so far as to temporarily excommunicate Kagechiyo for stealing an ice cream. He wears green colored ninja robes, is brown skinned and has his hair is a short ponytail.
Kagechiyo (影千代)
(voice: Eiko Yamada (1980s series), Ai Fukada (2012 series))
Is a talking ninja-cat of the Kōga-ryū clan. He serves as the supporting antagonist in the series. Usually, Kemumaki assigns significant tasks in his plans for Kagechiyo to carry out, but he often fails to succeed. This is because he doesn't receive enough training from Kemumaki and is often seen sleeping on the streets. Hattori notices him several times. He has a rivalry with Shishimaru. His fur color is black and white. He typically hides in the Mitsuba house to eavesdrop on Kenichi and his friends' plans, and afterwards, he informs Kemumaki about them, making him well-suited to being a spy. At times, he resents 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 by rubbing a shiny metal plate against his back. If he uses this attack too much, it will drain his energy, and he will feel weak.
Supporting
Aiko-Sensei (愛子先生)
(voice: Yōko Kawanami (1980s series), Ai Fukada (2012 series))
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.
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. He gave Kenichi his name, hoping for his son's good health.
The mother of Kenichi. She is a slim housewife who is busy keeping order of a house inhabited by six, including Shinzo who often wets his futon. She likes Tsubame and thinks that Kemaki is a good boy (not knowing of his ninja identity and pranking habit). Kenichi constantly stresses her out with his bad grades and his preference for playing over studying, making her lecture him.
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.
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.
Isa Yohi
A koga ninja girl who is a senior of Kemumaki and a frenemy of Hattori. First she start to fight Ninja Hattori. Later She also helps Hattori and His Friends. This character was appeared in 2012 Anime only.
Robert
An american ninja who is a student of Ninja Hattori. He learns only wrong Ninja techniques. Later these become very useful to him.
Saizo
An iga ninja boy who tries to achieve primary school certification. His power is creating a cloud and using for a transportation.
Gosuke
An iga ninja boy who tries to achieve Primary School Certification. His power is do anything within few seconds.
Surasuke
An iga ninja boy who tries to achieve Primary School Certification. His power is speed.
Old Grandma
Saizo Gosuke and Surasuke's adopted grandmother. She like them and take care him as grandsons. She also helps Hattori and Kenechi.
Kittu
Kiyo's Little Brother Cat. Kittu likes Kiyo and thought as a Big Brother. Kittu uses Ninja techniques also. Kittu mostly appears in the 2012 anime.
Momombe
An iga ninja squirrel who is a childhood friend of Shishimaru's. Momombe uses more ninja techniques than Shishimaru. Momombe mostly appears in the 2012 anime.
Inspector
A sub-inspector of Mitoriquaika City. He likes Hattori because Hattori and his friends help him to catch the thieves. He mostly appears in 1981 anime.
Jinzo Hattori (ハットリ ジンゾウ)
(voice: Tadao Futami (1980s series))
Hattori-kun and Shinzou'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 (1980s series), drama voice: Hiroko Maruyama)
A giant turtle monster ninja. He and Hattori are ninja partners.
Tai-chan
A baby who uses ninja techniques perfectly. He learned ninja techniques who taught by Hattori Kanzou. Tai-chan is mostly appeared in 2012 anime.
Toko
Yumeko's pet. Toko always likes Kenichi. So, it became a friend to Kenichi. Toko is appeared in 2012 anime.
Mimicky
Kiyo's enemy and Kemumaki's old pet. He copies everyone for his hungry. He ate free food who given by his owner who copied by Mimicky.
Ninja Eagle
An iga valley's messenger. It gives a message who was given by an iga valley's members to Hattori.
Pet Teacher
Kenichi's pet teacher was appeared in few Episodes of 2012 Anime.
Mokamaru
He is a high tech ninja. Hattori's old enemy. He uses computer ninja techniques to attack Hattori. He appears in the movie Ninja Hattori-kun: Nin Nin Furusato Daisakusen no Maki (Ninja Hattori - Home Town).
Green Frog
Kemumaki's pet. Kemumaki use this pet to beat Hattori's brave. Green frog is appeared in 2012 anime.
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.[3]
TV drama
It was made into a live-action TV drama. Aired from 1966 - 1968. This was a work of special effects sitcom. This drama was aired on TV Asahi and was divided into 2 seasons, first season aired from 7 April to 28 September 1966, second season aired from August 3, 1967 to January 25, 1968. Each season consists of 26 episodes, in total 52 episodes from 2 seasons.
The first anime series aired on TV Asahi in Japan from September 28, 1981 to December 25, 1987 for a total of 694 episodes and 11 special episodes, in total 705 episodes.
Amazon Prime Video India began streaming the series in English, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi in December 2016.[4]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.[5] Since May 15, 2020, Netflix no longer streams them. In Korea, from December 19, 2005, until the 5th season was aired on Talent TV (JEI Talent Broadcasting at the time of the first airing in 2005). became Currently, Nickelodeon is broadcasting New Ninja Hattori. The main character, the ninja Hattori Ganjo Hanzo (Tori), has a distinctive dialect accent and a 'nin nin nin nin nin' tone.
In Vietnam, the series was re-released by POPS Kids on digital platforms and YouTube with a Vietnamese dub version by Purpose Media from 2018 and 2022.[citation needed]
2013 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.[6] 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.[7] Shin-Ei Animation is currently[timeframe?] 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".[8][9]
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.[10]
Netflix, initially set to stream the Indian English dub of the first two seasons in early 2019,[9] began streaming them in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and India on December 22, 2018.[5] Since May 15, 2020, Netflix no longer streams them.[citation needed]
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,[11] while the second was released on November 2 that same year.[12]
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.[13]
^"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.
^"忍者ハットリくん DVD-BOX 上巻" [Ninja Hattori-kun DVD-BOX Volume 1]. Amazon (in Japanese). 31 August 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
^"忍者ハットリくん DVD-BOX下巻" [Ninja Hattori-kun DVD-BOX Volume 2]. Amazon (in Japanese). 2 November 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
^"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.
