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The original manga was a classic ninja story, but the TV Tokusatsu adaptation was the first color production and gained popularity with its anything-goes world featuring monsters, UFOs, and more.
00:21In the late 1960s, when signs of a ninja boom were beginning to appear in children's television programs, Akakage, the Masked Ninja, was a fantastical children's program that incorporated a wealth of modern technology and content into a period ninja drama, different from anything that had come before.
00:46Now, let's take a look at this work.
00:51The original author of the masked ninja Akakage was Yokoyama Mitsuteru, who also wrote Tetsujin 28-go, and a total of 52 episodes were aired from 1967 to 1968.
01:12This time, I'll start by introducing the characters.
01:16The protagonist of this work is Akakage, whose father is Kage Repusai, an author of the prestigious Kage clan of Hida ninjas. He is the best ninja in Hida, wearing a red scarf and a red mask, and uses a variety of ninjutsu techniques that overwhelm other ninjas.
01:35Among his ninja techniques are the ability to fire destructive rays by placing his fingers or sword on the trail on the forehead of the mask, investment techniques to identify enemies, and flying techniques.
01:49Also, when disguised as an ordinary person, he would remove his mask and reveal his true face.
01:58Acting alongside Akakage are Shirokage and Aokage.
02:03Shirakage, the man with the white scarf, was an elderly and veteran ninja, skilled in spear-wielding ninjutsu and in controlling a giant octopus, described as a shadow that flies around while wailing its siren.
02:20Throughout the play, there are many scenes where he gives advice and plans strategies for Akakage.
02:26Aokage wears a blue and reddish-purple polka dot scarf, but as a ninja he is still a young ninja in his infancy and uses a sword and a chain stamp as weapons.
02:44He had a carefree and fun-loving personality, and his catchphrases included "It's okay," "I get it," and "I understand."
02:56The Masked Ninja, Akakage is made up of four parts, and we will start by introducing the first part, the Kinmekyo arc.
03:07The story of the Kinmekyo chapter begins with the Kinmekyo religion, a religion that uses mysterious magic and claims that a terrible curse will befall those who do not enter into the divine realm, expanding its influence in the southern part of Lake Miwa.
03:20Toyohisa Tokichiro, later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi, summoned ninjas from Hita through Takenaka Hanbei to uncover the secrets of the Kinme sect.
03:32Akakage and his friends head out to investigate and learn that Kinmekyo is a religious group based in Kasumi Valley, with a giant stone statue of Kinme as its guardian deity, and that they are trying to take control of people through the power of religion.
03:49Therefore, Akakage and his men head to Kasumidani, but Koga Genyosai, a Koga-ryu ninja and a prayer leader of the Kinme sect, orders his subordinates, the Kasumidani Seven, to eliminate Akakage and his men.
04:06These seven men all had distinctive appearances and wielded mysterious magic, controlling monsters such as giant toads, bats, and one-eyed creatures.
04:16However, Akakage and his men defeat the Kasumidani Seven one by one and reach Kasumidani, where they corner Harayosai, but the giant golden-eyed statue comes to life and attacks, allowing Harayosai to escape.
04:33Afterwards, Harayosai moved to Kyoto and tried to take control of the Kinmekyo religion by using Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, to spread the word, but was thwarted by Akakage and his men, as well as Yamihime, who had betrayed Harayosai.
04:51So, Harayosai then hypnotizes the people and makes them attack Shirokage and Aokage, and at the same time, Akakage is dropped into the hole made by the golden-eyed statue.
05:05After dealing with the obstacles, Hara Yosai uses the Golden-Eyed Statue to attack Mount Hiei, where Ashikaga Yoshiaki is, but Akakage appears in the control room.
05:18In fact, Akakage had pretended to fall into the hole in order to investigate the mechanism behind the Golden-Eyed Statue.
05:25Then, because Akakage destroyed the inside of the cockpit, the Golden Eye Statue and the people hypnotized by it also became still.
05:39Meanwhile, Hara Yosai learns that Akakage has planted a bomb in the Golden-Eyed Statue, and uses a sabotage technique to try to blow up Akakage along with the bomb.
05:51A deadly battle continues inside the Golden Eye Statue, but Akakage narrowly escapes the explosion, and Hara Yosai is thought to have died with the explosion of the Golden Eye Statue.
06:04The Golden-Eyed Statue disappears, and the people wake up from the hypnosis and send off Akakage and the others who saved them.
06:12The second part, the Manjito arc, begins one night when Oda Nobunaga is attacked by unidentified ninjas at a merchant's house in Sakai, along with Deuce's money.
06:28At that moment, Akakage appears, introduces himself as Manji Tower, and then escapes with Deuce's money using a mysterious rescue flying object, or fortress weapon, called Dai Manji, which appears from the water.
06:44This Manjitou is a ninja group formed by Takagahara Yosai, who was thought to have died in the Kinmekyo arc, and they were trying to obtain the three pieces of Gearman's gold - Deuce's gold, Satan's gold, and Maria's gold - which contain the secret of a massive energy source invented by the Southern Barbarian Pedro.
07:08Learning of his ambitions, Akakage and the others pursue Manjito, but Genyosai sends the Manjito Seven to eliminate them.
07:19The Seven Manji Towers are senior-ranking ninjas, each with their own personal color and a manji mark on their forehead.
07:29The weapons and equipment used by ninjas are also distinctive, and a wide variety of ninjas appear, including those who can transform into giant flying squirrels, those who can freely change their body size, those who use disguises and poison, and those who fly and attack using beach umbrellas.
07:47After a fierce battle for the gold, Akakage obtains three pieces of gold and, inspired by the fates each piece represents, heads to Ryugashima in the Seto Inland Sea.
08:00However, when they arrive on the island, they are attacked by Genyosai, who had been following them, and Hakukage is shot and Aokage is taken hostage.
08:09Later, Akakage guides Mizusaki to Ryugashima, an island at the bottom of the sea, and enters the island with Genyosai through Pedro's grave, which is the entrance to the island.
08:23It turns out that inside the island there is an artificial sun and people live there, and the scientist Pedro welcomes Akakage and Genyosai.
08:33When Pedro reveals that this artificial sun is the secret to the three gold pieces, Genyosai, recognizing his advanced technological skills, attempts to kidnap him in order to use them for the Manji Tower.
08:51Seeing Akakage and Genyosai fighting, Pedro, who hates violence, decides to ride the Daimanji and go with Genyosai as a peaceful solution.
09:02However, the bomb that Hakukage had planted in the Daimanji exploded, and Genyosai and Pedro, along with the Daimanji, were transformed into a tree figure of the sea.
09:15Akakage and the others leave the island, happy that Genyosai has died, but also feeling regret at the death of Pedro, who was the victim of Genyosai's death.
09:26The third part, Negoro, begins with the infamous warlord of Yamato Province, Yuri Danjo, requesting the assassination of Oda Nobunaga from Anma Shido, the leader of the Negoro Ninja.
09:44Afterwards, Negoro makes a promise to take over the world of night if he succeeds in assassinating the Emperor, and Danjo leads his troops to Kyoto, where he commits evil deeds and torments the people in the city.
10:14Aiming, many times, puts you in dangerous situations.
10:19A distinctive feature of the Negoro arc is that the 13 Negoro members use a variety of illusions and child-like techniques, while also controlling six monsters or monsters to attack Akakage, Nobunaga, and his men.
10:33There are six monster beasts, and six ninjas belonging to the Negoro 13 carry them with them, enlarging them and controlling them using their own control methods. However, there are also monster beasts that can be controlled by anyone if they steal the Okarino, which is the controller.
10:54In addition, the motifs of each monster beast are mainly based on creatures that live in Japan, and their weapons include breathing fire and spraying acid and poison.
11:07Now, defeating the 13 Negoro ninjas one by one, they approach Kyoto together with Nobunaga, but after a fierce battle with the Negoro ninjas, their soldiers become few and their guards become thin, and then a giant orbit appears and kidnaps Nobunaga and Aokage.
11:28Nobunaga and Aokage are held captive at the Anmyoji Temple in Negoro Village, but Kido persuades the man and woman who are about to kill them, and uses them as bait to defeat all of Akakage's subordinates, and plans to kill him.
11:45The plan was to use the Law of Yomi to summon the souls from the coffins of the six defeated and dead controllers of the monster beasts, revive the six monster beasts once again, and have them attack Akakage.
12:03When the revived monster beasts attack, Akakage uses his ninja technique, Shadow Clone, to transform into three people and fight back, but he is no match for them.
12:13Meanwhile, at Anmyoji Temple, Hakukage was fighting with a man and a woman to save Nobunaga and Aokage, who had been captured.
12:23Then, Nobunaga, freed from captivity, cuts down the man and woman, and Aokage blows up the six coffins, nullifying the law of Yomi.
12:34After defeating the monster beast, Akakage defeats Kido, bringing an end to the battle with the Negoro Ninja.
12:41Afterwards, Akakage and the others prayed for Nobunaga's safe journey to Kyoto.
12:48The fourth part, the Makaze Arc, begins with the Makaze ninjas, led by Makaze and Raimaru, sending monster beasts to attack and annihilate Hita, the village of Kage, the hometown of Akakage and his friends, in an attempt to obtain the Golden Mask.
13:09Akakage's father and the village chief, Reppu Matsuri, is also killed by Raimaru, but he has already entrusted the golden mask to Aokage's sister, Kagero, the only person who knows the mystery of the golden mask, and helped her escape from the village.
13:26When Akakage and his men heard of the strange happenings in the village, they rushed to the village, only to find that everyone had already been wiped out.
13:33However, Akakage and his men think that Akakage and Kurokage have escaped the village with Kagero and the Golden Mask, so they chase after them.
13:45After this, Akakage and his men engage in a deadly battle with Makaze, the thirteen ninjas, and the monster beasts, while also fighting over the Kagero and the Golden Mask, but the battle continues to be a draw, with each side only able to secure one side.
14:04Meanwhile, Makaze and the thirteen ninjas are defeated one after another, and traitors like Saruhiko appear, and the Makaze ninja, and Raimaru as well, are gradually pushed into a corner.
14:20However, Makaze finally obtains both the Kage-ro and the Golden Mask, and tells Akakage and the others to come to Jigokudani.
14:29In Jigokudani, Raimaru was waiting for Akakage and Hakukage, holding Aokage and Kagero hostage.
14:40When Akakage and the others arrive, the Golden Mask tells them that if they do not tell him the secret, he will take the lives of Aokage and Kagero, who are being held captive on a cliff.
14:50At that moment, a second Akakage suddenly appears on the cliff and rescues Aokage and Kagero, and the other Akakage, who is actually Shirokage disguised as Akakage, steals the golden mask from Raimaru, causing the dummy of Shirokage to fall off his horse.
15:11Akakage and his friends successfully secured the golden mask and the Shadow Corridor and escaped, but the golden mask was stolen again by Dekka Deka Touma, who had disguised himself as Aokage, and they were trapped inside Jijigora's body along with Aokage, who had already been imprisoned.
15:31However, when Aokage chants the spell for the Golden Mask that he heard from Kagero long ago, the Golden Mask grows huge and crushes Raimaru underneath.
15:42Wanting to be saved, Raimaru releases Akakage and the others from Jijigora's body and, by crying, is saved. However, they soon reveal their true nature and betray Akakage, using Jijigora and the five monster beasts that were stored inside Jijigora's body to attack Akakage.
16:04Kagero, who was left alone, noticed that Akakage was surrounded by six monster beasts and in a desperate situation, and when he chanted a spell on the golden mask, a beam of light was fired from the giant golden mask at the monster beasts, wiping out all of them.
16:28And Raimaru, who had become one with Jijigora, also died.
16:34The scene changes, and Aokage receives a mask from Akakage and puts it on, excitedly, but Hakukage teases him, calling him a masked ghost.
16:46The show ends with Akakage, wearing a golden mask, telling everyone that for the best of the village and that his friends from the village are returning to Matsudaira, and then hurrying off on his journey with a smile on his face.
17:00Now, let's take a look at Akakage and his friends in action.
17:06The man in the red mask is a mysterious person.
17:31I don't know what his face looks like, but his eyes are bright and cool.
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