WATARI, THE NINJA BOY

Secret conspiracies? Bloody ninja battles? A little boy wielding a giant axe? This is a kids movie?! Yes it is and what’s more, WATARI, THE NINJA BOY is among the most inventive and exuberant children’s films ever made, a frenzied sugar rush of a fairytale laced with socialist subtext. Sanpei Shirato, on whose manga WATARI is based, routinely smuggled Marxist messages into his ninja tales and here they collide with poppy graphic experiments and just about every conceivable special effect in the universe.

Rival ninja clans are locked in a bitter feud. To swell their dwindling numbers, children are being kidnapped and forced to train as warriors. Into their midst arrive two wanderers, a one-legged old man and his grandson, the amazing Watari (Yoshinobu Kaneko), whose mystical super-skills put most grownup ninjas to shame. As Watari sets out to avenge injustice he discovers a conspiracy against all decent ninjas that runs far wider than he could have imagined!

Few movies translate the giddy delights of manga quite so exhilaratingly as this one. Sadao Funatoko’s film is imagination-in-motion: a heady riot of vibrant colours, elaborate effects, amazing editing and furious fight choreography set to infectious pop jazz ballads. This is where ninjas go to hell!

“A truly staggering feat of imaginative filmmaking.” - Justin Decloux