We would feel a greater catharsis than in other cases when we see a young protagonist beat an elder and therefore bigger, stronger, and more cunning opponent, precisely because it is at least a very difficult task to achieve in our real world. But what if he/she can wield unthinkable, supernatural powers?
Ninjutsu as an Omnipotent Magical Power
Ninjutsu, or ninja skills, have been serving this function in juvenile fiction. Ninjutsu was not exclusive to child protagonists, of course. In the Edo period, some adult ninjas or thieves, though mostly villains, were depicted exerting black arts to fight foes; one of the most famous is Jiraiya, who manipulates a giant toad or transforms himself into one [fig.1].Fig.1. Jiraiya in Ukiyoe By UTAGAWA Kuniyoshi, Eight Hundred Heroes of Our Country’s Suikoden 12 (10 December 2014, at 01:22). Source: In Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.On the other hand, SARUTOBI Sasuke, as we have mentioned in Activity 2, is a boy ninja: at the age of 15, after being trained in ninjutsu by a master ninja for three years, he is picked out by the warlord SANADA Yukimura and comes to serve him as a retainer. It can be argued that this image of Sasuke has long been providing the archetype of ‘a boy who fights with adults’: with courage in heart and superpowers in hand, the youthful hero is destined to struggle with formidable enemies. Ninjutsu here functions as a kind of ‘power-boosting’ device for the hero, complementing the relative lack of strength. Compare him with the world-famous boy reporter Tintin created by Hergé in 1929 [fig.2]. Courageous and intelligent, he tackles secrets and plots with his own hand (sometimes powered by guns, though). This comparison helps us to notice how many of Japanese contemporary ‘battle’ narratives utilize the same pattern. Now we are going to look at some examples mainly (for the sake of convenience) from manga for boys.Fig.2. A book cover of “nanatsu no suishiyoukiyuu” (Les Sept Boules de cristal), 13th book of the series of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin) by Hergé ,originally published in 1948, Japanese version from Fukuinkan Shoten in 1983 Click to take a closer look
Ninja Boys in Japanese Manga
When it comes to ‘a boy ninja’ in Japanese manga and anime, we cannot omit the name of Sasuke in SHIRATO Sanpei’s Sasuke (serialized 1961-66 in Shonen). Though a child with a pretty face, he is an expert ninja using a variety of ninjutsu and fights with ninjas and warriors sent by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Shirato provides readers with detailed and seemingly scientific explanations of Sasuke’s ninjutsu, but in many cases, we can say, they are impracticable.In a still more magical vein is those found in ANZAI Nobuyuki’s Rekka no Hono’o (Flame of Rekka, 1995-2002 in Weekly Shonen Sanday), in which the hero Hanabishi Rekka, a contemporary ninja fan but able to produce fire with his hands, gets involved in battles of real-life ninja [fig.3]. In this story, we can find abundance of ninjutsu of making flame as a supernatural power and other magical objects.
When the magical items are imagined in a more specific form, they appear before us as ‘robots’. It can be said that the way was paved by the so-called God of Manga, TEZUKA Osamu. His Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom, or Astro Boy, 1952-68 in Shonen) [fig.15] depicts a humanoid in the shape of about 10-years-old boy (for he was created by Dr Temma as a surrogate for his son killed in a car accident), who, however, is atomic-powered and in possession of extraordinary abilities (of course superhuman) such as superpower and an ability to fly at high speed. What is poignant about him is that he is given emotion and conscience as well as superhumanly powers, which inevitably make him doubt his identity.Fig.15. Tetsuwan Atom, vol.1, cover page, by TEZUKA Osamu, Shogakkan 1999YOKOYAMA Mitsuteru’s Tetsujin 28-go (Iron Man No. 28, or Gigantor, 1956-66 in Shonen), in contrast, separates the boy protagonist and the robot, and makes the latter a giant[fig.16]. The giant robot is manipulated with a remote controller, regardless of the identity of the manipulator, that is, whether he/she is good or bad.Fig.16. Tetsujin 28-go by HIKARI-PRODUCTION/EIKENWhen the manipulator is put into the robot, we have the kinds of giant robot like NAGAI Go’s Mazinger Z (1972-73 in Weekly Shonen Jump) [fig.17]. The high-school boy protagonist, Kabuto Koji, one day finds a great robot in his grandfather’s laboratory placed in the basement of his house; it was built specifically to provide Koji with powers to stand against the terrible Dr. Hell, who aims at domination of the world with his robot troops.Fig.17. Mazinger Z, vol.1, p44, by NAGAI Go, Kodansha-mangabunko 1999At this point, we can see that this line of power boosting device visibly culminated in Gainax’s Shin-seiki Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion, aired in 1995-96 by TV Tokyo; comics by SADAMOTO Yoshiyuki, 1994-2013 in Monthly Shonen Ace and Young Ace)[fig.18].Fig.18. Shin-seiki Evangelion, vol.14, cover page, by SADAMOTO Yoshiyuki, Kadokawa-comics-A 2014The protagonist Ikari Shinji, a 15-year-old boy, is half forced, by his own father, to pilot a giant bio-machine, called ‘Evangelion Unit 00’, which synchronizes only to the chosen few’s nervous systems, in order to defend the world against Angels’ will to annihilate humanity. The Evangelion machines’ forcefield alone can penetrate the Angels’, thus making their pilots the only hope for humans under threat. The robots, moreover, seem to have their own will, or consciousness. It has often been said that Evangelion is a work to deconstruct the genre of Japanese giant robot anime, but it is also one of the latest descendants in the long lineage of supportive devices for struggling boys.
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