2011 Japanese film
Ninja Kids!!!
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/42/Ninja_kids.jpg/220px-Ninja_kids.jpg) Japanese film poster for
Ninja Kids!!!
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Directed by
| Takashi Miike
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Written by
| Yoshio Urasawa
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Based on
| Nintama Rantaro
by Amako Sobei
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Produced by
| Atsushi Terada
Hiroshi Hattori
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Starring
| Seishiro Kato
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Cinematography
| Nobuyasu Kita
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Edited by
| Kenji Yamashita
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Music by
| Yoshihiro Ike
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Production
company
| |
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Distributed by
| Warner Bros. Pictures Japan
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Release dates
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Running time
| 99 minutes
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Country
| Japan
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Language
| Japanese
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Box office
| $3,436,468
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Ninja Kids!!!
(
忍たま?太?
,
Nintama Rantaro
)
is a 2011 Japanese family-oriented comedy film directed by
Takashi Miike
. The film is live-action adaptation of the Japanese
anime
series
Nintama Rantar?
. The film stars
Seishiro Kato
as Rantaro who is sent to a ninja training school by his parents. During the summer, they are challenged by a group of rival ninjas which culminates in a race to ring a bell on top of a mountain.
Ninja Kids!!!
had its world premiere at the
New York Asian Film Festival
on July 3, 2011 and was released theatrically in Japan on July 23 where it was the fourth-highest-grossing film in its opening week.
Plot
[
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]
Set in the
Muromachi period
in early 16th-century Japan, the young ninja Rantaro (
Seishiro Kato
) is born into a family of low-ranking ninjas. Rantaro is sent by his father and mother (
Shido Nakamura
and
Rei Dan
) to attend the six-year course at a Ninja Academy run by Denzo Yamada (
Susumu Terajima
). Rantaro's homeroom teacher is Hansuke Doi (Takahiro Miura) and head of the Ninja Girl classes at the school is Shina Yamamoto who appears as either a beautiful young woman (
Anne Watanabe
) or an older woman (
Tamao Nakamura
). After going home to his parents' farm for the summer holidays, Rantaro is joined by his schoolmate Shinbei (Futa Kimura) but they later decided to stay with Kirimaru (Roi Hayashi) and teacher Doi. One day, some Usutake ninjas arrive at the house of flamboyant hairdresser Yukitaka Saito (
Takeshi Kaga
) and his son Takamaru (
Takuya Mizoguchi
) in order to kill both of them. Yukitaka and Takamaru used to belong to the Uuetake clan, but Rantaro and his friends aim to save them by joining a contest that ends with a race to ring a bell on top of a mountain.
Cast
[
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]
[1]
Release
[
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]
Ninja Kids!!!
had its world premiere at the
New York Asian Film Festival
on July 3, 2011.
[1]
[2]
It premiered in Canada at the
Fantasia Festival
on July 16, 2011.
[3]
After the premiere, negotiations were reported to be underway with a major production company for an American remake of the film.
[4]
It had its theatrical premiere in Japan on July 23, 2011.
[1]
It was the fourth-highest-grossing film on its opening week in Japan grossing $1,060,634.
[5]
It has grossed a total of $3,436,468.
[5]
Reception
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]
Ninja Kids!!!
has received generally positive reviews.
Screen Daily
gave a positive review, praising the film's energy while noting that "the film may enchant or completely turn off a viewer with its bizarre attempt to give the characters the exact same looks as their animated counterparts"
[6]
Tradepaper
Variety
gave the film a favorable review stating that it had "joyous energy that propels its pint-size protagonists through a rapid-fire succession of slapstick gags, each more outrageous than the last."
[7]
Film Business Asia gave the film a seven out of ten rating, noting that "in the second half, the film loses its initial playfulness and becomes more like rote silly comedy".
[1]
Andrew Chan of the
Film Critics Circle of Australia
writes, "'Ninja Kids!!!' is a massive disappointing effort from such a capable director. Sure some fun can be had and the class of kids are fun to watch, but it is only a manner of time before the same antics you once fall for, becomes quite frankly annoying and eventually regrettably bored."
[8]
Sequel
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]
On July 6, 2013, a sequel was released, called
Ninja Kids!!! Summer Mission Impossible!
(
忍たま?太? 夏休み宿題大作?! の段
,
Nintama Rantaro Natsuyasumi Shukudai Daisakusen! no Dan
)
.
Notes
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Elley, Derek (August 8, 2011).
"Ninja Kids!!!"
.
Film Business Asia
. Archived from
the original
on July 26, 2013
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
"Ninja Kids!!! (Japan, 2011) : NYAFF11"
.
New York Asian Film Festival
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
Bottenberg, Rupert.
"Ninja Kids!!! : Cinemabox & Ubisoft Present Fantasia 2011"
.
Fantasia Festival
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
Blair, Gavin J. (August 30, 2011).
"Takashi Miike's 'Ninja Kids' Set For Hollywood Remake"
.
Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
August 30,
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"Nintama Rantaro (Ninja Kids!!!) (2011)"
.
Box Office Mojo
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
Lee, Edmund (August 2, 2011).
"Ninja Kids!!! : Review : Screen"
.
Screen Daily
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
Scheib, Ronnie (July 19, 2011).
"Variety Reviews - Ninja Kids!!! - Film Reviews - N.Y. Asian - Review by Ronnie Scheib"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
August 9,
2011
.
- ^
Andrew Chan (29 August 2012).
"Ninja Kids!!!"
. [HK Neo Reviews].
External links
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]