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Watari (manga)

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Watari
First tankōbon volume cover, published by Shogakukan
ワタリ
GenreAction, Drama[1]
Manga
Written bySanpei Shirato
Published by
ImprintShōnen Magazine Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original runApril 25, 1965 – September 10, 1967
Volumes7
Live-action film
Watari Ninja Boy
Directed bySadao Funatoko
Produced byHirooki Ogawa
Written by
  • Shunichi Nishimura
  • Masaru Igami
Music byHirooki Ogawa
StudioToei Company
ReleasedJuly 26, 1966 (1966-07-26)
Runtime86 minutes
Budget¥66.54 million

Watari (Japanese: ワタリ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from April 1965 to September 1967, with its chapters collected in seven tankōbon volumes as of October 1972.

Shirato's manga has been adapted into a live-action film titled Watari Ninja Boy, was released by the Toei Company in Japanese theaters in July 1966, and was a huge box office success. It was the second most expensive film in the second half of 1965 and the first half of 1966 with ¥66.54 million budget. the film inspired numerous filmmakers to create ninjutsu period dramas with Special effect technology.

Publication[edit]

Watari manga first appeared on the cover of Weekly Shōnen Magazine No. 21 (May 1965), art by Sanpei Shirato.

Written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato, Watari was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine in three periods with a total of 111 installments.[2] The first period was published from April 25, 1965, issue,[3][4] to February 27, 1966, issue.[5][6] The second period was published from April 10, 1966, issue,[7][8] to December 11, 1966, issue.[9][10] The third period was published in the magazine's February 12, 1967 issue,[11][12] and finished in the September 10, 1967, issue of Weekly Shōnen Magazine.[13][14]

Several publishers published the series in long term, first Kodansha published seven volumes in Magazine format Released from July 18, 1966, to December 23, 1967,[15] and published in tankōbon volumes from August 10, 1972, to October 10, 1972; from November 20, 1969, to March 10, 1970, and republished it again in two other time periods; first from July 20, 1977, to November 30, 1977, and the second time, from April 6, 1988, to August 6, 1988, in five volumes. From November 20, 1969, to March 10, 1970, Akita Shoten published Watari in two time periods published; first in "Sanpei Shirato Selection" volume 14 to 16, only two out of three part that serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine; and second time in "New edition of Sanpei Shirato's anthology" in three volumes published on January 10, 2010. Shogakukan published the series four times in new edition, first, the seven volumes from October 20, 1983, to October 20, 1984, the second time, in four bunkoban volumes from June 20, 1995, to September 20, 1995, and third time from August 10, 1998, to September 10, 1998.[16][17][18]

Adaptation[edit]

An live-action adaptation film titled Watari Ninja Boy[a] produced by Toei Company, was released in Japanese theaters on July 21, 1966.[19] After its release, Toei Company announced that they had intention to continue making special effects films in the future, and a sequel was planned to be made as a TV series, but Sanpei Shirato, who was not satisfied with the film, rejected it, and it was quickly made into the special effects TV period drama titled Kamen no Ninja Akakage that aired from April 1967 to March 1968, based on the original work by Mitsuteru Yokoyama.[16][20]

A DVD was released on November 21, 2004, by Toei Company.[16]

Production[edit]

The film was directed by Sadao Funatoko, who shot the film version of The Samurai at Toei Kyoto in 1964, it was written by Shunichi Nishimura and Masaru Igami, who were responsible for the setting and script of The Samurai.[21] Kaneko Yoshinobu, who plays the role Watari, was a big fan of the original manga, and was in Kyoto at the time of filming The Secret of the Urn, when he heard that Watari was being adapted into a film by Toei Company, he wanted to be in film.[22] Kaneko had only intended to play a supporting role, but was chosen as the lead.[22][23] Filming lasted three months, so Kaneko lived in Toei's women's dormitory during the filming period with her mother.[22] The film was produced with ¥66.54 million, it was the second most expensive film in the second half of 1965 and the first half of 1966 after Miyamoto Musashi: Ganryû-jima no kettô [ja] with ¥79.66 million.[24]

Influence[edit]

Watary inspired numerous filmmakers to create ninjutsu period dramas with special effects. At a time when period dramas were already on the decline, and with Following the film's success, Watari caused many films to be made in this genre and director of the Cinematography Shigekyo Okada decided to reviving period dramas with Special effect technology and led to the production of Ogôn no tozokô [ja] , Kairyu daikessen [ja] and Black Ninja.[25][26][24]

Reception[edit]

Watari manga became a huge success as soon as it entered in Weekly Shōnen Magazine,[27] and the live-action film was a huge box office success,[28][26][20] it was the second most expensive film in the second half of 1965 and the first half of 1966.[24]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Japanese: 大忍術映画ワタリ, Hepburn: Daininjutsu eiga Watari

References[edit]

  1. ^ ワタリ. Mangapedia [ja] (in Japanese). Voyage Group. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  2. ^ ワタリ. asa8.com (in Japanese). Retrieved June 26, 2024. ワタリ （全111回）
  3. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1965年 表示号数18. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  4. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 18. Kodansha. 1965. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  5. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1966年 表示号数8. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  6. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 8. Kodansha. 1966. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  7. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1966年 表示号数14. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  8. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 14. Kodansha. 1966. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  9. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1966年 表示号数49. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  10. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 49. Kodansha. 1966. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  11. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1967年 表示号数7. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  12. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 7. Kodansha. 1967. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  13. ^ 週刊少年マガジン 1967年 表示号数37. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved June 25, 2024.
  14. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 37. Kodansha. 1967. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  15. ^ ワタリ. asa8.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  16. ^ a b c ワタリ. Sanpei Shirato's official blog (in Japanese). March 6, 2008. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  17. ^ 秋田書店 新装版 白土三平選集. asa8.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  18. ^ 「白土三平選集」全16巻予約でイラスト手ぬぐいが. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). Natasha, Inc. April 1, 2009. Archived from the original on June 28, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  19. ^ 大忍術映画ワタリ. asa8.com (in Japanese). Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  20. ^ a b "匿名座談会 正月興行はこれで行こう 五社が衆知をしぼった企画 作る側と観る側の今と昔". 映画時報 (in Japanese) (November 1966 issue). 映画時報社: 33.
  21. ^ "スタジオ速報 『東映、日活も特撮映画製作に乗り出す』 東映=『ワタリ』 日活=『ガッパ』『レイゴン』". 近代映画 (in Japanese) (1966 (Shōwa era 41) June issue). Kindaieigasha Co.,Ltd: 213.
  22. ^ a b c Harumi Ishibashi 2013, p. 109, Searching for Heroes: An interview with Yoshinobu Kaneko
  23. ^ "Cast Interview Yoshinobu Kaneko". king kong vs godzilla completion. Hobby Japan. September 24, 2021. p. 86. ISBN 978-4-7986-2566-9.
  24. ^ a b c "Toei, the production and distribution industry". Movie yearbook 1967 edition (in Japanese) (January 1, 1967 issue). Jiji Press: 211.
  25. ^ "〈娯楽〉 東映時代劇はこれで行く 新たに三路線を敷き"魅力ある作品"で巻き返し". Yomiuri Shimbun evening edition newspaper. The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings. October 27, 1966. p. 12.
  26. ^ a b Eiga Himitsu Editorial Department, ed. (2017). 漫画+映画! 漫画原作映画の現在地. 映画秘宝セレクション (in Japanese). Yosensha Co., Ltd. p. 58. ISBN 978-4800312792.
  27. ^ もくじ [Contents]. Weekly Shōnen Magazine (in Japanese). No. 21. Kodansha. 1965. Table of contents. Archived from the original on June 27, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024. (日)本)じゅ)う)で)す)ご)い)人気)の)3)大 傑)作)ま)ん)が)! 少年マガジン 50円 ワタリ白土三平先生の忍術まんが たちまち大ひょうばんの
  28. ^ "タウンヒットした"グロと殺リク"の漫画". Shūkan Shinchō (August 6, 1966 issue). Shinchosha: 13.

External links[edit]

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