Started the same year as Obake no Q-taro! A deep dive into the first episode of "Ninja Hattori-kun"! / Fujiko Fujio and Ninjas <Special Edition>

Fujiko Fujio and Ninjas was the title under which I have written four articles so far. You can find the past articles here...

As you know, "Obake no Q-taro" was a collaboration between Mr. Fujimoto and Mr. Abiko, and especially for the serialization in Weekly Shonen Sunday, they came up with ideas together. Therefore, choosing the theme of playing ninja for the first episode of Obake no Q-taro was (presumably) a joint decision by both Fujiko Fujio members.

"Ninjas" were featured in a significant number of manga, novels, and tokusatsu dramas from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, creating the appearance of a major ninja boom.

Although both Fujiko Fujio teachers had incorporated ninja motifs into their works, including "Obake no Q-taro," there may have been a demand for a story with a full-fledged ninja as the protagonist.

About 10 months after the start of the "Obake no Q-taro" serialization, a new ninja manga began under the name Fujiko Fujio in Shonen (published by Kobunsha). That work would later grow into Mr. Abiko's representative work, "Ninja Hattori-kun".

Incidentally, Sanpei Shirato's "Sasuke" was being serialized in "Shonen" at the time, and unlike "Hattori-kun," it was a serious ninja manga about confronting enemies, and the protagonist Sasuke was a Koga ninja.

As a later ninja manga, "Hattori-kun" adopted a life-comedy style like "Obake no Q-taro" and featured a young Iga ninja as the protagonist. It was likely intentionally crafted to avoid overlapping with "Sasuke" in terms of content.

"Ninja Hattori-kun" continued to be serialized until just before "Shonen" ceased publication (February 1968 issue), and it was also adapted into a live-action drama in 1966. It was said to be a period-drama style story filmed at Toei Kyoto, but I have not seen it.

Later, in the 1980s, a huge boom in Fujiko Fujio anime occurred, and "Ninja Hattori-kun" began re-serialization in 1981 in magazines like "Monthly CoroCoro Comic" as part of a simultaneous anime project.

The serialization continued until 1988, and it became Mr. Fujiko Fujio A's biggest hit.

I am of the generation that spent my childhood in the midst of the great Fujiko Fujio boom of the 1980s, so naturally, I enjoyed "Ninja Hattori-kun" from the time it was a daily anime program, and I also collected the original manga volumes.

It is hard to believe now, but at the time, I could not distinguish between the works of Mr. Fujimoto and Mr. Abiko at all. I recognized "Doraemon," "Obake no Q-taro," "Perman," "Hattori-kun," and "Pro Golfer Saru" all as "Fujiko Fujio collaborative manga," and I read them all voraciously and looked forward to the anime and movies.

I also watched collaborative movies where "Hattori-kun" and "Perman" appeared together with extreme excitement, as if it were only natural, but looking back now, I feel deeply moved that it was a miraculous collaboration.

Now, in this article, I will review the memorable first episode of "Ninja Hattori-kun." Since I have titled this series "Fujiko Fujio and Ninjas," I cannot simply skip over Hattori-kun!

First, let's review the main characters.

Hattori-kun's real name is Kanzo Hattori. He is from Iga, the home of ninjas, and is set as a descendant of Hanzo Hattori. By the way, Hanzo Hattori is the name of the family head that continued intermittently from the first generation in the Sengoku period to the 12th generation who lived until the Meiji era.

The name of the eldest son of the Mitsuba family, where Hattori-kun ends up staying, is Kenichi. He plays the same role as Shota in Obake no Q-taro, and could be called the other protagonist of "Ninja Hattori-kun".

Hattori-kun has family, friends, and rivals who appear as the story progresses. There is his younger brother Shinzo, his rival from the Koga school Kemumaki, the ninja dog Shishimaru who first appears in the 80s, and the ninja cat Chiyomaru, among many others.

Furthermore, Ninja Monster Jippou appears midway through, and he became a popular character second only to Hattori-kun.

In the first episode of this series, the meeting between Kenichi and Hattori-kun is depicted.

Hattori-kun's first appearance scene is surprisingly simple. When Kenichi is engrossed in watching a ninja tokusatsu drama on TV, a voice suddenly comes from behind him. When he turns around, a young ninja is sitting in the room before he knows it. Then, bowing politely, he says,

introducing himself. Kenichi, as if invited, replies with a greeting, "I am Kenichi."

When Kenichi asks where he came from, he says from outside the window. Since Kenichi's room is on the second floor, he is skeptical, saying "Eeeh!?"

Because Kenichi is making a fuss, his mom comes into the room asking, "Who are you talking to?" When Kenichi tries to introduce Hattori, he is nowhere to be seen.

Thinking "Where could he have disappeared to?", he tries to go to sleep in his futon that night, but then Kenichi finds Hattori-kun clinging to the ceiling. When he calls his mom in a panic, she jumps up, saying "Oh my!"

This "Oh my!" is a unique expression of surprise by A-sensei, similar to when he ate Matsuba's ramen in "Manga Michi".

Mom says, "Your family will be worried if you don't go home," and urges him to return, but Hattori says his home is in Iga, the home of ninjas. Iga Province is in present-day Mie Prefecture, which is a huge distance from Tokyo where Kenichi lives.

So, Kenichi suggests, "Let's let him stay the night," and Mom says, "It can't be helped," and prepares a futon for Hattori-kun as well. "I am grateful," says Hattori.

Note that Hattori-kun talks to Kenichi during this time using a string telephone. It seems he only speaks directly to Kenichi, which seems to be some kind of ninja code.

In his initial character design, Hattori-kun is portrayed as taciturn and difficult to read. This not only serves to highlight his friendship with Kenichi, but also has the effect of giving him an eerie impression to those around him by creating a sense of mystery.

Although Mom prepared a futon for him, Hattori-kun says, "This will do just fine," and falls asleep while clinging to the ceiling. While it is true that a ninja's special skill is being able to sleep anywhere, Kenichi finds it impossible to relax because he ends up sleeping while making eye contact with him.

The next morning, when Kenichi wakes up, Hattori-kun is nowhere to be seen on the ceiling. He glances at the futon next to him and sees someone who looks like Hattori-kun sleeping, with only their feet sticking out from under the covers.

Kenichi says, "I'll let him sleep for a while," and dashes out of the room into the hallway, which is like a world on ice. The floor is slippery, and as he slides along, he collides head-on with Dad, who is sliding from the opposite direction.

According to Mom, when she woke up this morning, the whole house had been cleaned until it sparkled, the rice was cooked, and miso soup had been made. Looking out into the garden, all the laundry was already hung out to dry. It seems someone had taken care of all the housework early in the morning. And with extreme care, at that.

When Kenichi returns to the room and pulls back the futon, the feet he thought were Hattori-kun's turn out to be a disguise made of a stick wearing tabi socks. That being the case, it could only have been Hattori-kun who finished the chores.

Dad, who is learning about Hattori-kun for the first time, cracks a pun, saying something like, "I don't know if he's a Shinzou or a Kanzo, but you can't just let people stay over without asking!" This type of pun is frequently seen in works by Fujiko Fujio (A).

Suddenly, a large amount of water pours down from the ceiling onto Dad. Thinking it might be a leak, he looks up, but it's sunny outside. Then, he sees Hattori-kun on the roof, carefully cleaning it by sprinkling water. He is wiping down the tiled roof with a rag while balancing a bucket on his head.

Hattori-kun gets his foot caught in the roof gutter and ends up dangling in mid-air. Fearing he might fall, Dad climbs onto the roof to grab him, but ends up slipping and falling off the roof himself.

Then, Hattori-kun descends to the ground at super speed and catches Dad as he falls. This incident causes Dad to soften his attitude and accept Hattori-kun.

However, Dad thinks Hattori-kun might be a runaway, so he considers reporting him to the police. Kenichi, who has finally made a ninja friend, begs him to hold off on reporting him for a while since he just arrived.

After that, at every meal, Dad brings up that they should report him to the police soon, but each time, Kenichi asks for an extension, begging him to let him stay just a little longer, just one more night.

Perhaps Hattori-kun's credibility had increased because Kenichi kept asking to be with him.

Now, at night, Hattori-kun says he will sleep on the ceiling again. I thought he had trained to be able to sleep anywhere, but he says he can only sleep on the ceiling. That said, from Kenichi's perspective, it's so distracting that he can't sleep himself.

So, he suggests laying out a futon on the ceiling. Specifically, he ties the futon to the ceiling with a rope so Hattori-kun can fit in between. He even places a pillow under his head, but since gravity is working in the opposite direction, it's questionable whether the pillow has any effect.

That night, Hattori-kun dreams that he is swimming using the Water Escape Technique.

The next morning. Water drips onto Kenichi's head. Thinking Hattori-kun is cleaning the roof again, he looks up, but it seems there is another reason... Kenichi cries out in surprise, "Aaaah!!" toward the ceiling.

Perhaps because he slept in a futon for a change, or because of the dream, or because his environment had changed, Hattori-kun had wet the bed. The wet spot was in the shape of a cross, and seeing it, Kenichi says,

he exclaims in admiration. Hattori-kun, wearing only his loincloth, blushes.

In Hattori-kun's first appearance, he suddenly shows up in Kenichi's room without any particular explanation and just ends up living there. Starting a story without clearly explaining the detailed settings is a characteristic of Fujiko A. sensei.

Furthermore, although Dad insisted many times that he should be reported to the police, this actually happens in the second installment, "Damn it! That Hateful Teacher!". This second episode is also the first appearance of the famous Koike-sensei, and I would like to introduce that as well if I have the chance.

So, I have done a review of a work by Fujiko Fujio A. sensei, which is rare. As for me, I have read quite a lot of A. sensei's works up to the 80s and have a lot I want to talk about, so I would definitely like to feature his works from time to time.