Ninja Fireball in Edo (1935)

• 45%
• 1935
• Animation
• Comedy
• Yoshi Tanaka

This anarchic 9-minute cartoon animation was one of at least three featuring the character of Ninja Fireball Boy, a young rascal whose adventures are depicted by director Yoshi Tanaka and artist Shichima Sakai in a continually morphing, highly inventive style reminiscent of Fleischer Studios. Various adversaries and creature such as bats and spiders join in the mayhem, which is driven along by a musical soundtrack from Yoshinobu Shiraki. Tanaka also made Ninjutsu Hintama Kozo: Kamishibai No Maki ("Ninja-Power Fireball Boy: Paper-Theatre Episode") the same year, followed no Hinotama Kozo: Sanzoku Taiji ("Fireball Boy: Bandit Extermination") in 1935. All three cartoons were Nikkatsu productions; Nikkatsu's animation department closed in 1935.