UltraRob Posted December 24, 2008 Report Share Posted December 24, 2008 Has anyone here watched this yet? I'm on the second DVD of the Shadow Warriors (Kage no Gundan) boxed set and I can't get enough! I already ordered more through an e-bay seller ($30 a season for English subbed DVDs if you find the right guy) and I'm totally in love with this series! Sonny Chiba is like the Japanese William Shatner- stick him in the right role and he's a coolness god! And this is definitely the right role! The story itself is about a team of Ninja from a clan that's fallen into disfavor going on special missions for the Shogun's guardian. The show itself comes across like a weird mix of Lone Wolf and Cub and Mission Impossible (the TV series) and takes a bit of getting used to, but once you hit the third episode it rocks so hard you won't want to see it end! From a gaming perspective picture this: Set during the Tokugawa era, the clan is scattered across Japan in teams of five, each team member with a "secret ID" they use to survive, gather information, and as a cover while their team engages in covert ops. One week it's a plot against the local lord that will bring war if it succeeds, the next rogue ninja from their own clan come to town to make war on their rivals, and the next they must infiltrate a corrupt magistrate's office. The possibilities are endless, and the action is fast and furious. (And I've only been talking about the real show! ) If you see this sitting on your DVD store shelf I high recommend grabbing it, especially since there won't be any more printings of it as the company distributing it recently went under. Rob P.S. The link above says the series takes place during the 1500's, but it's wrong. The rest of the writeup is pretty accurate, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamamura Posted December 24, 2008 Report Share Posted December 24, 2008 Re: Shadow Warriors: The Best Ninja-Hero Source Material Ever Has anyone here watched this yet? I'm on the second DVD of the Shadow Warriors (Kage no Gundan) boxed set and I can't get enough! I already ordered more through an e-bay seller ($30 a season for English subbed DVDs if you find the right guy) and I'm totally in love with this series! Sonny Chiba is like the Japanese William Shatner- stick him in the right role and he's a coolness god! And this is definitely the right role! The story itself is about a team of Ninja from a clan that's fallen into disfavor going on special missions for the Shogun's guardian. The show itself comes across like a weird mix of Lone Wolf and Cub and Mission Impossible (the TV series) and takes a bit of getting used to, but once you hit the third episode it rocks so hard you won't want to see it end! From a gaming perspective picture this: Set during the Tokugawa era, the clan is scattered across Japan in teams of five, each team member with a "secret ID" they use to survive, gather information, and as a cover while their team engages in covert ops. One week it's a plot against the local lord that will bring war if it succeeds, the next rogue ninja from their own clan come to town to make war on their rivals, and the next they must infiltrate a corrupt magistrate's office. The possibilities are endless, and the action is fast and furious. (And I've only been talking about the real show! ) If you see this sitting on your DVD store shelf I high recommend grabbing it, especially since there won't be any more printings of it as the company distributing it recently went under. Rob P.S. The link above says the series takes place during the 1500's, but it's wrong. The rest of the writeup is pretty accurate, though. It also has very good fight sequence but that what happens when you attend Sonny's school. I enjoy the series greatly. the fun thing to notice is that Hattori's little band of warriors exemplifies idealized Yakuza mythology (both in philosophy and jobs). Given the interview with Sonny at the end, I would have to say I have a pretty good guess on his political leanings. But I digress, it is a fun series and great source for a heroic Ninja campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraRob Posted December 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2008 Re: Shadow Warriors: The Best Ninja-Hero Source Material Ever It also has very good fight sequence but that what happens when you attend Sonny's school. I enjoy the series greatly. the fun thing to notice is that Hattori's little band of warriors exemplifies idealized Yakuza mythology (both in philosophy and jobs). Given the interview with Sonny at the end' date=' I would have to say I have a pretty good guess on his political leanings. But I digress, it is a fun series and great source for a heroic Ninja campaign.[/quote'] You know, I hadn't caught that bit about the Yakuza, but you're completely right! They are the idealized Yakuza group on pretty much every level, they're just lacking the tatoos (which would be pretty stupid for Ninja to have). I think this is mostly because that was a natural archetype for the producers to draw upon when creating this little fictional clan. We don't really know how real ninja cells operated, so they used the idealized Yakuza to kind've fill in the gaps. One of the things that most made me think this is a "ready to game" setup was the established existence of identical cells in each city in the episode "The Woman Disappeared Into the Port on a Foggy Night". There's literally no reason one of those cells can't be the PCs in a game, just pick a place on a map of Japan and go! Instant game! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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