In sixteenth century Japan, throughout the Iga province, rival ninja clans the Momochi and Fujibayashi are locked in a bitter feud, fuelled by the so-called “Code of Death.” This situation has been deliberately concocted by clan chieftain Sandayu Momochi and his opposite number to keep all the ninjas of Iga divided and under their control. Momochi’s right hand man, Sir Joko claims to deplore his cruelty but the killings continue. To swell their dwindling numbers, children are kidnapped and forced to train as ninjas in camps scattered across the territory. Into their midst arrive two wandering ninjas, a one-legged old man and his grandson, the amazing Watari (Yoshinobu Kaneko), whose mystical super-skills put most grownup ninjas to shame.
Driven to investigate strange goings on, feisty Watari befriends lanky young ninja in training Kazura, as they swap top ninja tricks. Kazura’s sister Tsuyuki and her boyfriend Kojiro want to quit the ninja life and get married. Surprisingly Chief Momochi agrees to give them the chance, provided they carry out one last assassination attempt on the lord of Samire Castle. This turns out to be a trick sending them into the clutches of the cackling, colour-coded “Six Iga Ninjas”, each of whom wields an outlandish superpower. As Watari sets out to avenge this injustice he discovers the conspiracy against all decent ninjas runs far wider than he could have imagined.
Secret conspiracies? Bloody ninja battles? A little boy wielding a giant axe? This is a kids movie?! Why, yes it is and what’s more, Watari Ninja Boy is among the most inventive and exuberant children’s films ever made, a frenzied fever dream of a fairytale laced with a smart socialist subtext. Sanpei Shirato, on whose manga this film was based, routinely smuggled Marxist messages into his ninja tales. Shirato’s stories about plucky ninja kids leading peasants in revolt against cruel feudal warlords struck a chord with the student movement in Japan at the time. It was not uncommon to see them waving copies of his manga during protest marches. He adapted many of his works into anime including Ninja the Wonder Boy (1964), Sasuke (1968), and his most celebrated epic Legend of Kamui (1969), while none other than Nagisa Oshima brought Shirato’s Manual of Ninja Martial Arts (1964) to cinematic life as literally a series of filmed comic panels.
With Watari Ninja Boy, Shirato seems to be drawing parallels between the insane “Code of Death” and the blind loyalty to imperial might that led an entire generation to sacrifice their lives in the Second World War. Screenwriter Masaru Igami - who penned another children’s classic in the superhero franchise Kamen Rider (1971) - weaves a tangled web of conspiracies, counter-plots and conflicts between shadowy ninja clans that grows confusing at times, but draws together quite satisfactorily by the eventful finale which includes such memorable twists as two characters unmasked as the same man. The film was an early directorial credit for Sadao Nakajima, better known for his unique style of hysterically violent yet conversely sentimental yakuza movies like Escaped Murderer from Hiroshima Prison (1974) and Unofficial Story of Ando and Family (1980). By far Nakajima’s most celebrated achievement were his Japanese Godfather (1978) movies starring Toshirô Mifune, although these are less well known in the West than the atypical science fiction romp Cyber Ninja (1988) he co-directed with genre hero Keita Amemiya.
Few films translate the giddy delights of the manga medium quite so beguilingly as this one. Nakajima’s film is quite literally manga-in-motion: a heady riot of vibrant colours, elaborate optical effects, amazing editing and furious fight choreography set to an infectious pop jazz ballad. In spite of the often fanciful set-pieces (including a surreal sequence set in haunted temple full of giant cats and a fiend who draws Watari into a parallel world where he is attacked by cartoon moths!), Nakajima does not sugar-coat the harsh, violent life led peasants in the sixteenth century. There are a number of shocking deaths including those of young children. Nevertheless the tone is predominantly upbeat.
It is easy to see why the character of Watari was so appealing to young children. He is a pint-sized powerhouse able to outfox enemies with his dazzling ninja tricks, including the ability to disappear at will, breath fire or sling shuriken at machinegun speed! In spite of his tender age the little ninja boy exudes an aura of cool akin to Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name, whether nonchalantly playing his flute or wielding his mighty axe against men twice his size. Nakajima also stages a winning ninja song and dance number (choice lyrics: “Even though the ninja code is sometimes tough, we can still relax together. Let’s sing and dance!”) where Watari demonstrates the full breadth of his awesome powers as he grows to giant size, conjures a rainbow and makes it rain bubbles and candy upon the cavorting children. Child star Yoshinobu Kaneko delivers an ebullient performance. He went on to star in the popular ninja fantasy-cum-superhero series Red Shadow, several episodes of which were re-edited into three bogus Watari sequels including The Magic Sword of Watari (1970).
