Sarutobi Sasuke

Sarutobi Sasuke (猿飛佐助) was a famous legendary ninja in the Japanese folklore. He is generally believed to be a Meiji period fictional creation based on the historical ninja Kouzuki Sasuke (上月佐助), although some argue for his actual existence.

In folklore

Sarutobi, meaning 'monkey jump', is written with two kanji; saru (猿) is the character for 'monkey', and tobi (飛) is the character for 'jump'. He was known for his monkey-like agility and quickness, especially in trees. Many depictions portray him as having been orphaned and raised by a band of monkeys, therefore giving rise to the monkey-like abilities.

Sasuke is commonly listed as the member/leader of Sanada Ten Braves, a legendary group of ten ninja that supposedly assisted the warlord Sanada Yukimura at the battles of Osaka Castle during the final phases of the Japanese civil war, and he is by far the best known and most popular among them. When appearing with Kirigakure Saizō, one of his fellow Ten Braves, he is often thus contrasted with his best friend/arch-rival, who usually has an elegant, or at least clean-cut, appearance and magic-like ability. Sasuke is generally said to be a Kōga ninja, whereas Saizō is an Iga ninja. As such, when the two appear together, they are almost always depicted as arch-rivals and later, after being recruited to the Sanada cause, best friends. (This rivalry parallels the Iga-Kōga rivalry and the Hattori-Fūma rivalries in ninja fiction.) It is said he fell in battle against the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Siege of Osaka in the summer of 1615; however there is no historical record of this. Another possible fate of Sarutobi Sasuke tells of a mission to infiltrate Tokugawa Ieyasu's stronghold during 1615 and, having caught his foot in a bear trap, cut it off at the ankle to escape; realizing that he would be unable to complete his mission, he took his own life rather than be captured.

In popular culture

File:Shōnen Sarutobi Sasuke poster.jpg

Poster for the groundbreaking anime film Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke (1959)

As Sarutobi Sasuke is most likely a fictional character created for popular consumption in the first place, he could be said to exist only within popular culture. Whatever the case, his image has been very influential in ninja fiction, in which he is usually portrayed as a young boy. The character was immortalized in contemporary Japanese culture by the popular Tachikawa Bunko (Pocket Books) children literature between 1911 and 1925, as well as in Sarutobi Sasuke, one of the more famous gag manga by Shigeru Sugiura from the 1950s (followed by Shonen Jiraiya).

He is the titular character of the films such as Ibun Sarutobi Sasuke (known in the west as Samurai Spy), Sânada Daisûke to Sarutobi Sasuke, Sarutobi no Ninjutsu and Sarutobi Sasuke Senjogadake no Himatsuri, as well as of several other movies simply named Sarutobi Sasuke in 1918, 1919, 1922, 1966 (the last one also known as Ninja Spy). He is also the lead character in the musical film Brave Records of the Sanada Clan. Toei Animation's second full-length movie was Shônen Sarutobi Sasuke, dealing with Sasuke's childhood, which was followed by a TV series. This film was also the first time when both Sasuke and anime were introduced to the western audience (in 1961 as Magic Boy), although all the references to him being a ninja were removed in the English-language version. He is also the titular character of an anime series Manga Sarutobi Sasuke, of the video game Ninja Boy Sasuke, and of Sampei Shirato's 1962 manga, as well as of the manga series I am Sarutobi! by the "father of the modern manga" Osamu Tezuka two years earlier.

The adult Sarutobi Sasuke is a character in the anime and manga series Samurai Deeper Kyo, in which he serves Sanada Yukimura as the leader of the Ten Braves - the same role he has in the manga BRAVE10 and in the film Kamen Rider Den-O: I'm Born!. Sasuke also appeared in the historical anime and manga Shura no Mon (serving Sanada Tsubura), in the taiga drama series Tenchijin, in the anime Sanada Ten Braves and in the film Goemon. In the video games Sengoku Basara and Sengoku Basara 2 (and the anime based on them), he is portrayed as a laid-back but cunning ninja, aiding Yukimura. In the film Shogun Assassins (Sanada Yukimura no Bouryaku) Sasuke is even treated as an literal, anthropomorphized monkey ninja. In the Super Sentai series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, the main character Sasuke is a direct descendant of Sarutobi Sasuke, as it is in the case of Ecchan in the manga and manga series Sarutobi Ecchan.

The very name Sasuke became something of a default ninja moniker: the sports entertainment show known in the other countries as Ninja Warrior is titled Sasuke in the original Japanese version, while Great Sasuke is stage name of the Japanese professional wrestler Masanori Murakawa. Various ninja characters by the name of either Sasuke or Sarutobi appear in the anime series Gin Tama and Ranma 1/2, the video games Captain Commando, Ehrgeiz, Gotcha Force, Kessen (a female ninja), Ninja Master's -Haoh-Ninpo-Cho-‎ (where he is the progaonist), Samurai Warriors and Suikoden II, in the Legend of the Mystical Ninja video game series (a robot ninja), and in the trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh!. His legacy is also almost omnipresent in the anime and manga franchise Naruto in which several characters are named after him, including Sasuke Uchiha, Asuma Sarutobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konohamaru Sarutobi, and a character actually named Sasuke Sarutobi (Hiruzen Sarutobi's father). In the parody series Ninja Nonsense all of the male ninja are named Sasuke.

See also

• Sarutobi
• Sasuke

External links

• Template:Tvtropes
• Sarutobi Sasuke - Vintage Ninja