Shounen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru

Year 1963 was completed basically in 100%, next one caused more propbelms tho, animes are rarely available unfortunately, the bigger suprise I had when I found whole Shounen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru in one place and even found original dvd from some ebay third party seller (I actually hope I'll receive it, quite expensive shit).
Well, entrance to 1964 was quite very enjoyable, with great enjoyment and some decent art quality and nice setting. Very well done 65 episodes...

STORY: 8
Quite strong rating, but well, it's one more of the 'first ever' animes. This time it's ninja shounen subgenre (yer all know Naruto, right?).
Story ... of young ninja Fujimaru on his way to find his family and gaining secred ninja knowledge from an ancient tome is well written, quite reliable and very much enjoyable. The samurai/ninja era japanese setting is great by itself. Everything starts with yourg mc being kidnapped by an eagle and shortly after is resqued by samurai named... Sasuke, yeah, u right. The samurai takes him as his disciple and teaches him... ninjutsu and multiplication technique that allows Fujimaru to create multiple shadows to confuse his enemies... yeah, you're completely right on your thinking now. As the story goees on mc decides to find his lost mother and fins the ancient Ryuen Tome that contains forgotten ninja techniques. His biggest enemy is Japusai, master of fire techniques that's as well after the ancient scroll.
Pretty good piece of story and most importantly it's not too long, perfect for the story.

ART: 7
That's one of the highest ratings in 60s animes I gave so far. There's 2 main reasons why, no.1 - Hayao Miyazaki and Yasuji Mori and no.2 - it's one of the best looking animations from the time and well, many animes from 70s and even 80s were much worse. Toei Animation animators did great job, early Miyazaki is already very focused on the backgrounds while character designs showing his later works. That combined with Moris's maestro works giving true great quality that back in the day would deserve true max score in art quality. Today of course it's nowhere near being even good, however it's much easier to handle than most animest from the 60s. I loved designs, especially of the main characters and great background works are great until this day, especially in remastered version.

SOUND: 6
Another nice suprise, well recorded seiyuu voices, nice syns and quite easy to understand without much downs at all. Same goes to OST, which was guite enjoyable mix of traditionad japanese music with some epic instrumetalisations, didn't like opening and ending songs tho.
Overall as for 60s show it's the first time I was able to understand everything without bigger propblems, record were clear and well preserved. Good job.

CHARACTER: 9
The strongest part of the show. Main character, Fujimaru, strong and talented ninja with great character develompment and well psychological backstory. Precedessor of all young ninja/samurai mc's. Smart, bit childish, greatly talented, with BIG heart. So far one of my favs in genre. His sensei, Sasuke is your very typical 'sensei' in every way u can think of. Powerful, strong and quiet. With great influence on mc and finally has taken the role not only of his mentor but as well father he never had. Amazingly written character tho. And finally my favourite, the bad bastard Japusai. Imagine your typical mc enemy, add to that tons of great story where u actually starting to understand and like the guy. And don't get me wrong, his motivations are just as evil as they can be, no crybaby backstory, well, his backstory's great tho. And well, he's master of fire (AANG - I KNOW FROM WHERE U TOOK THESE INFLUENCES FINALLY).

ENJOYMENT: 8
I just loved it, great story, great characters and suprisingly well watchable even today. One of the titles that actually survived the tome without much harm. Even for people that doesn't like old titles this one should be quite enjoyable. Some great ninja shounen, not the best, but definitely over the average and well - influencing af, just watch Naruto again after this show.

OVERALL: 8
Strong 8, no mistake. Great piece of history again, but this time much better preserved and enjoyable by young people now. Shame it's almost forgotten. Shame and disgrace (64 bloody ratings!), what's even bigger disgrace is it's score, barely reaches 6,0 with incredibly low amount of ratings. Shame on u mal users, shame again.
One of the biggest, if not the bigger title for the genre of all time, influential and well, it's the first one after all. Suprisingly well even today. Nothing to be worry about. It's your typical, good shounen at it's finest.

I wish that ine day animes like this one will be well recognised and praised by modern society, especially without animes like that your favourite genres could look completely different. One piece of true history and as I can see it's remembered again only by mentioning is terrible articles like 'First Anime Series of Every Genre (Well, 10 of Them Anyway)', the heck. Go for it while it's still available.

And lemme go for next 1964 title, see ya'll soon with another review.

少年忍者風のフジ丸 if you like martial art anime and especially the subject of "ninja", you should watch this TV series, which is the first to be based on a manga by Shirato, Sanpei. The black and white adaptation by Toei Animation (then Tōei Dōga) can without doubt be called the forefather of today's martial arts anime.

Story: simple, classically structured, but the narrative is well done (8/10)
The story can be roughly divided into two parts.
Episodes 1 to 28 are based on the original work “Kaze no Ishimaru [風の石丸] by Okamoto, Noboru better known by his pen name Shirato, Sanpei. The story takes place in the time ... of feudal Japan and begins inconspicuously with a young woman who works in the fields. She has left her little son – Fujimaru in a basket in the cool shade of a tree, suddenly a big eagle kidnaps the baby. Fortunately, a ninja master saved the baby and takes him as his disciple. Years later we re-meet Fujimaru, who has grown up and has been accepted into the Ninja clan Fūma. Under the guidance of the ninja master, Fujimaru not only learns how to create large hurricanes to sweep his opponents off his feet, but can also use ninja-magic and become familiar with ninja-weapons, and so become a well-trained ninja. All of these skills are in great demand, as three feudal lords are at war in the country and are fighting for possession of the "Book of the Smoking Dragon (Ryuen Book)". The unique scrolls contain the secret of special techniques and Fujimaru wants to protect them from access by the wrong people. But he has not yet been informed of an even more important goal and an even greater desire that will drive him forward.
From episode 29 to episode 65 (last episode), Shirato's notation as the original author has disappeared, instead Nashio Kidani and Souji Fukuhara have been named as creators of the series for episodes 29-51 and 52-65. Also the supporting characters Mika and Taro are renamed Midori and Tasuke respectively, while the main character remains unchanged. Fujimaru faces other villains, such as the ninjas from Nanban and the ninja Haguro.

Characters: In accordance with the epoch, good character development (7/10)
Personally, what I liked about the anime was that the subject of "ninja" has been treated seriously. Most ninja anime, such as "Pyun Pyun Maru" or "Ninja Hattori-kun" are more geared towards comedic entertainment. The cast of Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru is well described and its characteristics fit well into feudal Japan, and all characters have an influence on the development of the story. The base and the characters are simple, but very well staged, similar to maybe "Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran", but this anime has the theme "Samurai" as a base and is rather comedic.
Fujimaru:
He appears naive at first, but gains strength and foresight under the influence of the other characters. His development as a ninja, which is faced with obstacles and difficult decisions and yet keeps a sincere and good heart, is well portrayed. In addition to his companions, his opponents Japusai, the Iga Ninja and others drive his development and he decides to search for the scrolls himself to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands.
Sasuke:
For me, the most interesting figure in the cast, who is brought into a very difficult conflict by the Fuma clan. He has brought the foundling Fujimaru into the clan and now has the task of killing him. The decision he made and implemented in a fight with Fujimaru is a turning point. On the one hand, Fujimaru gets a new goal based on previously unknown information about its mother, and on the other hand it becomes clear that Sasuke is not just a teacher and friend, but rather behaves like a father.
Mika/Midori:
One might criticize that she has been simply designed, but it does not do her justice. Her behaviour is in keeping with the spirit of the times and her support is often a great help to Fuji-Maru.
Japusai:
He is a prime example of an opponent. He doesn't need a reason to be malicious or to do something bad. His goal is simply to rule the world. He does everything necessary to achieve this goal, regardless of losses. He is refreshingly vicious, without shyness or remorse, just plain evil. It's a bit of a shame that he also looks visibly evil. If he were a good looking opponent, he would be the role model for Morow, Hisoka of Hunter x Hunter. But unfortunately no.

Visuals: good Art and Animation for the times (7/10)
The list of participants of the art and animation department reads like a "how is how" of the later very famous animation artists. In the early 1960s, the anime industry was still in its infancy. The animated films were traditionally made with Cel animation, which is a very elaborate process and you also need a lot of experience to avoid colour deviations. For testing purposes, a colour version of the first episode was created, but in the end the series was only broadcast in black and white. The art is good for a TV series from the 60`ies. The life in Japan during the time of the Tokugawa Shogunate is detailed, a lot of attention was paid to historical details, so that the series is overall very realistic. The anime doesn't have the typical bigeye style yet, which goes back to the works of Tezuka, Osamu (e.g. Astro Boy) and will become more and more popular in the following years. But the animal character designs can't keep up with the "Koneko no Rakugaki" anime that Mori, Yasuji drew in 1957 in terms of detail and cuteness. On the other hand, one also have to take into account that this is a TV production with 65 episodes, which was usually realized with a lower budget.
Surprisingly, the animation is better than expected in many parts. The realized action sequences, which are based on the manga by Shirato, Sanpei, are very good and just as exciting as the manga. Shirato's Manga sets the standard for the unfolding of action scenes. During the fight, shuriken are thrown, manriki chains are used, ninja kamas as well as traditional swords. In addition, until the 28th episode, the final part of the show was a live action mini special "Shinichi Ninjutsu", in which Hatsumi, Masaaki explaining Ninjutsu to the audience with Chiyoko Honma as the listener. A nice plus.

Sounds: decent BGM, good VA, OP & ED a matter of taste (7/10)
The BGM was arranged by Hattori, Kouichi and consists of classic orchestral elements. The music sounds rather typical and is not very noticeable. But I like the fact that the music was not disturbing or exaggerated. It is background music, it should underline certain moments but not be omnipresent so that there is enough space for sound effects and the dubbing. So the music is fine for me.
The OP "Shōnen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru" is performed by the Nishi Rokugo Boy's Choir and was initially also used as an ED. The title is basically an advertising element for the sponsor Fujisawa Pharmaceuticals (Astellas Pharma since 2005; Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturer). For this reason, the title of the original work "Kaze no Ishimaru" was changed to Fujimaru for the anime and the name of the company was even sung at the very end of the opening theme song, which makes the context clear.
The ED "Tatakau Shōnen Ninja" was later recorded and has received a total of three modifications, the first version uses the ED video (still picture) from the first half, the song is a chorus, the second version is a moving picture with a chorus and the third version is a new video in the second version and expanded to 2 choruses.
Regarding the voice actors, I particularly liked the interpretation of Kato, Midori as the voice of Mika / Midori. Her voice and interpretation of the role matched the figure very well. Overall, I found the synchronization work very good.

The series is not easy to get, I know, but it is highly recommended for fans of the genre. A beautiful anime with a balanced mix of genuine historical weaponry, credible martial arts and superhero magic. Moreover, they added a short vignette at the end with explanations of a Ninjutsu Grandmaster as well as live-action footage about the art of Ninjutsu. As far as I'm concerned, a real plus point of the series.

As always, thanks for reading and have fun watching.