Army of Three 7: Ninja Medias - Dos and Don'ts

What the hell are Ninjas? Why they became so popular in the west these days? Actually Ninjas has blended into western culture for quite some time already (remember this shit? or this cool thing?), but personally I think it was this punk who brought the Ninja hype in the west up to the level it is today.

Who are they? You could probably find out about Ninjas here and there on the internet. And you might like or dislike these Ninja stuffs, but what I'm going to show today are little examples of Dos and Don'ts for the uses of Ninjas.

DO(s)

Cute/Fun Ninjas



I love this trailer of Mini Ninjas from IO and Eidos. It has cute looks, nice animations, good overall look and fun to watch (and hopefully fun to play too).

Although this is not likely the first image that came to my mind when I heard the term 'Ninjas', but a lot of people (especially kids) loved, still love, will love these kind of ninjas. There are a lot of cute and fun ninjas out there ranging from old school types to modern ones. Here are some examples...

Hattori-kun: This cute ninja by Abiko Motoo or Fujiko Fujio (A) from Fujiko Fujio Duo had captured many young hearts (a lot have become middle-aged or elderly people by now) since the 60s' to late 80s'. They (both manga and anime) were really fun, funny and had a lot of things to teach young kids.

TMNT: This cartoon about turtle ninjas, ratman, pigman, rhinoman, slimy brain, cyborgs and a cool villain called Shredder was one of the most favorite TV shows among children in the late 80s' to early 90s'. Its easy going tone and cool fighting sequences made this show a fun and memorable action-comedy cartoon.

Jubei-chan: Although it's an anime about a girl who possesses the power of Yagyu Jubei, a samurai, but she looks more like a ninja (and definitely fights like one). Secret of lovely eyepatch? Hell yeah, this is one lighthearted and fun ninja-ish anime to watch.

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Serious ninjas and Ninja's Don't after the jump
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Deadly Ninjas



So these are the ninjas which appeared in my mind. The deadly ninjas or assassins, the people living in the darkest shadow of history performing dirty and lethal tasks. This type of ninjas reminds you of what these people really are. Here are a few examples...

Iga vs Kouga: Classic rivalry between these 2 clans shown in Shinobi and Basilisk series (video shown above) are the example of how dangerous and deadly these ninjas could be. These tragic love stories full of political agendas, surreal techniques and incredible amount of blood and gore might change the way you think of ninjas.

Assassin Ninjas: As long as they are ordered to kill, it doesn't matter if they are androids or not. Ninja Warriors and Robocop 3's Otomo are those ninjas with any cool stuffs (like Titanium Endoskeleton?) but magical abilities.

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DON'T(s)

Ninjas WTF?!?



Bad example of the exploitation of ninjas in pop cultures, just because kids these days like ninjas as well as pirates doesn't mean putting them into the same environment, let alone doing some sports, would succeed. I really wonder whose magnificence idea was this? Or were they just responding to people's needs? If you're about to point fingers at this game's developer, I'd say wait until you've seen forum post like this. Seriously I've been seeing a lot of these questions for many years now, Ninja vs anything from worm to cowboy to even Chuck Norris!!!, why don't they throw in Jesus or even better, the Earth into the combination also?

Coming up this summer,
- Ninjas vs Cowboys: Bank Robbery
- Ninjas vs Nerds: Hacking Battle
- Ninjas vs Pimps
- Ninjas vs Gangstas
- Ninja vs Moms
... the list goes on.