Nintama Rantarō
| Nintama Rantarō | |
 | |
| Genre | Comedy, Action, Adventure |
|---|---|
| Anime | |
| Studio | Ajia-do Animation Works |
| Released | 1993 – present |
Nintama Rantarō (忍たま乱太郎, Rantarō the Ninja Boy) is a Japanese anime series based on Sōbē Amako's manga Rakudai Ninja Rantarō. It was produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and originally broadcast on NHK. It is aimed at young children, featuring the adventures of Rantarō and his friends and teachers at Ninja school. The fact that glasses are worn by one of the main characters is probably anachronistic. The manga references other Japanese media personalities such as Ken Shimura.
Cast
- Rantaro Inadera (猪名寺乱太郎,, Inadera Rantarou) : The main character, a first grade boy who is aiming to become an excellent ninja. Unfortunately, he often gets distracted and prefers to goof off with his friends Kirimaru and Shinbei.
- Seiyū: Minami Takayama
- Kirimaru Settsuno (摂津のきり丸,, Settsuno Kirimaru) : One of Rantaro's best friends. He is an orphan who lost his family and home and now makes a living doing various part time jobs. When school isn't in session, he lives with Doi.
- Seiyū: Mayumi Tanaka
- Shinbei Fukutomi (福富しんべヱ,, Fukutomi Shinbei) : A rich merchant's son, who quickly became friends with Rantaro at the beginning of the series. He's a bit slower when it comes to thinking, and often has to be corrected by his friends.
- Seiyū: Teiyū Ichiryūsai
- Hansuke Doi (土井半助,, Doi Hansuke) : Rantaro's main classroom teacher. He often loses patience with Rantaro and his classmates due to their inability to pay attention. Ironically, his personality resembles Iruka Umino, another ninja teacher who is voiced by the same voice actor.
- Seiyū: Toshihiko Seki
- Denzo Yamada (山田伝蔵,, Yamada Denzou) : Rantaro's other teacher. He serves to teach the actual techniques and trains the lazy first graders. Denzo tends to lose his patience faster than Doi. He also shows unnatural fondness in disguising himself as a woman, usually with disatrous results.
- Seiyū: Chikao Ohtsuka
- Shinzaemon Tobe (戸部新左エ門,, Tobe Shinzaemon) : Shinzaemon Tobe is another teacher at the school, who occasionally appears from time to time. He's a sword instructor who is skilled, but if he doesn't have his daily meals, he loses the strength to even pick up the sword.
- Seiyū: Hirohiko Kakegawa
- Natsunojo Ando (安藤夏之丞,, Andou Natsunojou) : Ando is the first grade teacher for another class. He often calls Rantaro's class lazy and unproductive, comparing them to his class which seem to do nothing but study all day, thus getting good marks on their tests.
- Seiyū: Kan Tokumaru
- Shina Yamamoto (山本シナ,, Yamamoto Shina) :The teacher of the female nintamas, she alternate between the form of a young woman and an old lady
- Seiyū: Yūko Kobayashi, Masako Katsuki (movie)
- Headmaster (学園長, Gakuenchou)
- Seiyū: Mahito Tsujimura
- Hemu-Hemu (ヘムヘム) : A dog skilled in ninjutsu, he is the long time companion of the head master. Also in charge of ringing the school bell
- Seiyū: Ginzō Matsuo→ Bin Shimada
- Shozaemon Kuroki (黒木庄左ヱ, Kuroki Shouzaemon) : Rantaro's classmate and first year Hagumi's class president.
- Seiyū: Mami (eps. 1~11)→ Saori Higashi (eps. 12~)
- Isuke Ninokuruwa (二郭伊助, Ninokurawa Isuke)
- Seiyū: Chie Satou
- Kingo Minamoto (皆本金吾, Minamoto Kingo)
- Seiyū: Kumiko Watanabe
- Kisanta Yamamura (山村喜三太, Yamamura Kisanta) Rantaro's classmate, collects slugs as a hobby.
- Seiyū: Tomiko Suzuki (eps. 1~11)→ Saori Sugimoto (eps. 12~)
- Danzou Katou (加藤団蔵, Katou Danzou)
- Seiyū: Hiroko Emori
- Torawaka Satake (佐武虎若, Satake Torawaka)
- Seiyū: Yūko Kobayashi
- Sanjiro Yumesaki (夢前三治郎, Yumesaki Sanjirou)
- Seiyū: Hiroko Emori
- Heidayū Sasayama (笹山兵太夫, Sasayama Heidayuu) Heidayuu likes traps and has his entire room rigged with them.
- Seiyū: Akiko Muta
- Denshichi Kurokado (黒門伝七, Kurokado Denshichi)
- Seiyū: Yuko Sato
- Sakichi Ningyō (任暁左吉, Ningyou Sakichi)
- Seiyū: Kikumi Umeda
External links
- Nintama Fansite - Fansite with character descriptions, pictures, and videos.
- Nintama Rantarō ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Ninjitsu Gakuen - a Nintama Rantarou fansite that contains information on the plot, the anime and manga, and detailed character summaries.
- NHK - The official Japanese website.