Translated a cute little 5-i scene from the first run of Ninmyu 13. Enjoy!
This is my first time translating something that isn't a little comic, so please excuse any errors. I'm just an amateur ehe
I'm so endeared by the way the actors portray their characters in myu, but specifically Yamaki's Heisuke, both in this scene and in general. He's so great at showing Heisuke's airheaded and somewhat socially unaware nature and his HUGE love for tofu that bleeds into everything. go my little autistic boy!!!!!! plus he's soooo cute in this scene with the apron....
Long time no update!! I've been busy. Doing things. Going places. Playing Deltarune. Flowery, ohhh, Flowery... err. Anyways. Note for future self eventually rereading this: I hope we got a grip and are feeling better. Do your best!!
This travel log took me forever lol. But I did want to archive it properly... At least it's the last part!!! Whew!! If you read all of this thank you so much. Let's continue on from last time!!
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
My first stop of the day was Shioe Susanoo Shrine, located in the Shioe area. It was a holiday so the opening hours were short and weird so it was a bit tricky to choose a right time to visit... Glad I still made it though.
As the name suggests, Susanoo-no-Mikoto is enshrined here, along with Tamayori-hime.
Getting closer to the offering box to put in my usual 5 yen coin in (I literally keep 5 yen coins in a separate pouch just for shrines and temples visit...), I noticed that it's shaped like a biiiig abacus! Sooooo so cool!
Monji should collect committee budget money this way.
Inside the main building are various donations, notably: a plaque featuring 1-ha drawn by Amako, another large abacus, a fukuro-yari spear and a Huuuuge ema featuring Monjirou also drawn by Amako herself.
Wow!
Due to damage, the main building was rebuilt in 2014, and to celebrate the completion several abacus associations from the Kansai region donated the large abacus mounted on the wall, the abacus on the donation box, and the spear. Amako donated the 1-ha plaque and the Monjirou ema.
Historically, Amagasaki has been a big commerce hub in the area, with merchandise transiting to Osaka, Kyoto, etc. Then, the abacus was an essential tool to do business, so knowing how to use one was a valuable skill to have. Of course, in modern times it fell out of fashion when calculators and computers became a thing. In 2004, in an effort to revive the use of the abacus, Amagasaki was the first city to experiment with its school curriculum and introduced abacus lessons in elementary schools. It seems it had a positive impact on improving focus and mathematics skills for students!
As such, Amagasaki has a special relationship to the abacus ; and of course, Shioe Monjirou does too, so it makes the local shrine of the Shioe area the perfect place to celebrate this tool, doesn't it?
The ema you can buy there feature either Tamayori-hime or an abacus design. Many people left Nintama related illustrations and wishes!
The weather was decent for once, so I took the opportunity to walk through Chikamatsu Park, in the Kukuchi area. The statue represents Chikamatsu Monzaemon, a famous playwright who lived in the area.
I was moved to see beautiful ichihatsu iris flowers were in bloom all over the park.
Their deep purple-indigo color reminded me of the fifth years, and I thought it was great timing because Chikamatsu Park also features this:
A very cute manhole cover featuring Kukuchi Heisuke and his beloved tofu. ...The tofu blocks' faces are so so cute... It seems it was installed there in 2021!
The next stop would take me in the Nanamatsu area, but before that I needed lunch lol so I made a quick stop in a cafe called Kissa Cute. It's located in the Tsugiya area, so if we're in Tsugiya, then...
Wow! This small cafe boasts a really impressive collection of Nintama goods on display. Mostly Tsugiya Sannosuke and third years related, too! So so cute. The staff was super friendly and the food was good as well. I was in a hurry but I wish I stayed longer to enjoy more of the atmosphere and the menu lol.
And here we are, Nanamatsu Hachiman shrine.
As the name implies, it's dedicated to Hachiman, god of war and deified spirit of legendary emperor Ojin.
The local history goes that samurai commander Minamoto no Yorinobu was moved by a child pleading for help back when the region was poor and life difficult for local farmers. He decided to renovate the small local shrine into Nanamatsu Hachiman shrine, where a single pine tree stood. To mark the occasion and to mark these grounds as holy, he had 6 additional pine trees planted, and it's how the area got its current name, Nanamatsu (literally, "seven pine trees").
Of course, because of its name, it's a popular pilgrimage spot for Nintama fans. The shrine sold ema featuring art of Nanamatsu Koheita from 2010, but sales were discontinued. It started again with new art in 2026 though, so now a bunch of little Koheitas are hanging on shrine grounds holding people's wishes... cute.
Interestingly when I approached the booth to buy my own ema, the priest there was very cold lol- "Are you here for the ema? If you want one you have to donate and pray first." (honestly, there's no such rule that you have to donate and pray at a shrine, but well...) Threw a coin, bow, bow, clap, clap, bow, and back to the booth. I assumed he was either bothered by otaku coming here for Nintama without regards for the shrine itself? Or didn't want to deal with my foreigner self lol. I felt a bit petty so I started asking a lot of questions about the shrine, and shinto, and somehow he relaxed and ended up a lot more chatty and amicable! He even went to the back of the hall to bring back prayer tools to show me lol. Thank you so much!!!...
And so I got my Koheita ema... cheerfully shouting "Ike don!", and holding a suzu bell staff, whose sound repels evil and attracts happiness (Mr Priest, thank you for the kind explanations and for showing me the real thing lol.).
There are actually two designs available, on the other one he's holding a ritual sword and 厄除 yakuyoke (warding off evil, warding off misfortune) is written on it.
But well, when I think of Koheita, his loud voice comes to mind, and I guess like the sound of suzu bells, his cheerful IKEDON! repels misfortune and attracts happiness, so to me it's the best fit and I ended up choosing this one!
I went a bit out of order with these posts, because after this I headed to Osaka lol, but I already covered that in another post. So let's flash-forward to my last day in Amagasaki.
I didn't plan to at all, but Chouji recommended it in the video shown at Amagasaki Castle's theater, so I went to the "World Money Box Museum", which is actually an annex to the Amagasaki Shinkin Bank Museum next door. This local bank has a museum dedicated to its personal history, the local history of Amagasaki, and then this annex dedicated to coin banks.
Admission is free, and you get to look at piggy banks from Japan and all over the world from different eras. It features familiar characters of course, and also coin banks of Ama-chan and Shin-chan, mascots of Amagasaki designed by Amako, with two copies on display signed by her.
I was moved to see my beloved Donald Duck next to Amako's sign and art lol.
The staff was so nice and excited to talk and showcase the collection. A man excitedly showed me the pieces from France they had haha. Staff will also activate coin banks with mechanisms to show guests. Some of them are pretty impressive karakuri!
(I was so moved because one piece of their collection was a Star Wars coin bank with a moving and talking figure ; my father used to have this exact model and it terrified me as a child. Memories...)
I'm an idiot and I didn't take a pic, but it seems the building the museum is in used to be the actual Amagasaki Shinkin Bank, so the part of the collection centered on Japanese pieces is behind a thick, heavy metal door ; did it used to be the bank's vault?
Muromachi money tied to a string. Kozeni kozeni~
Again, the main building focuses on the history of Amagasaki Shinkin Bank as a company and the history of Amagasaki city. Admission is also free and it's definitely worth a look.
On top of coins they have a lot of every day life items like abacus, inrou, pipes... Above official documents, grand swords and armors and scrolls, I find these kind of displays the most interesting personally.
Well, weapons and armors on display are still really, really cool lol.
A military fan and a gandou: a bell with a rotating candle holder and a reflecting mirror inside, it basically works as a flashlight once you light a candle inside. I took a picture because Monjirou uses this exact kind of light in the second Nintama movie, so I got excited seeing it.
And my last expedition in Amagasaki took me to a tofu shop called Kema Tofu Oomoto, pretty far from everything else but well ; I had to, right?
(Actually, that day I visited the Amagasaki Shinkin Bank museums in the morning, headed to Takarazuka by bus, and managed to go back to Amagasaki by bus stopping near Kema, the area where the shop is. So I got lucky because I didn't plan that in advance hahaha.)
Well... It's a tofu shop. I know tofu is perceived as a bland food, a replacement for meat, especially in the west, but personally I love it. When you see it as its own thing rather than a meat substitute you open yourself to so many delicious dishes... please give tofu a chance.... (suddenly possessed by the spirit of Heisuke) Anyways- supermarket tofu is good and all, but tofu from a dedicated tofu shop is something else entirely. So if Amagasaki has a famous tofu shop, I want to try it!
Like many others spots, I somehow lucked out and avoided the crowds (When I had left the shop, a bus stopped right in front of me and a flock of girls holding Amanazo pouches and a lot of Nintama goods hanging from their bags came out. The tiny shop got crowded fast...! I got lucky truly...)
Anyways, I had learned that people were more or less embracing the local otaku tourism here ; and I guess, to counterbalance my experience at Nanamatsu Hachiman shrine, here the staff was SO enthusiastic, it was a bit overwhelming for me! But I'm super grateful for their welcome and kindness.
The goods left behind by guests on display are so much lol. I literally didn't know where to look! It's a total treasure trove and museum for Nintama fans.
The shop owners even got art and signs from Amako, featuring Kema Tomesaburou! I was thinking back about the Amagasaki Castle movie where Tomesaburou was trying to pick a fight with Heisuke.... aren't you friends? Tofu friends? lol. So cute. I got some delicious agedashi tofu to eat in the store.
The tag on products also feature Kema lol. The shop owner gave me an extra clean sticker tag to keep as a souvenir, I'm grateful. Sadly I don't think I could have kept refrigerated tofu back home with me, so I got soymilk donuts as a souvenir. Those were great!
Wait- I almost forgot! On my last night in Amagasaki, I finally got to try Amagasaki champon, the local dish! It was showcased in the Amagasaki Castle movie by Koheita and Shinbei, and I wanted to specifically eat the one from the restaurant shown in the movie. They never name it in the movie per se, they just said the name of the dish. But I really wanted to eat the same champon as Koheita, you see. It was important... Some google no jutsu later, I found the restaurant : it was actually very close to my hotel lol.
I had went a previous day, but I came too late and it was about to close (it closes pretty early! like 7:30PM iirc?), so I'm glad I managed to come in time on the last day.
Amagasaki champon~~~!! at a small, but delicious restaurant called Tenyuu.
It's a hot noodle dish topped with vegetables, meat and shrimp, all in a thick ankake sauce. It's......... Very filling!!!! And delicious! I did my best to finish my bowl with all my ikedon determination!!
It's the kind of very small restaurant visited by locals, and I suspect their customers are either tired older men going there for dinner after work and, brightly dressed women guided here by Koheita...
Because when I entered the restaurant, the lady brought me to the table right next to this.
Reiji's sign!!!!!!!!! Kyaaaaaa!!!!!!! Errr. Sakagaki Reiji's (Koheita) and Mita Issa's (Shinbei) signs, displayed inside the restaurant!
And so I happily slurped my noodles while staring at Koheita...... Mission accomplished.
Phew, and that's how I hit the 30 images limit. I ended up covering things out of chronological order, so the pics of the way back home are in this post.
Honestly, before coming I was nervous about a lot of things ; did I book enough time to spend in Amagasaki? Or maybe too much? Are things accessible? Is my Japanese good enough to go around?
But honestly everything went well, moving around is relatively easy and the city Really wants to promote tourism so you're easily guided to point of interests lol. I had the recurring experience of people being basically "what is a foreigner doing here" in more-or-less sensible ways, but mostly everyone was kind, welcoming and eager to talk about the city, its culture and history. I learned a lot!
In the end, I'm glad I didn't attempt Amanazo ; it gave me time to freely explore the city without pressure. ...And it gives me an excuse to come back eventually!!
Genuinely so happy I got to go, ugh. I love Nintama!!!
How many part is this going to be... I'd make these posts longer if it wasn't for the picture upload limit. Sorry!
Anyways, still on the same day I visited Amako Soubei Manga Gallery, Amagasaki Castle and the Museum of History, I finished the day strolling through various outdoors locations.
Nakazaike Park. Another pointing at names in excitement moment.
I really wanted to go to the next destination, but I also felt like a huge weirdo being there so I didn't linger. Nearby, in an unassuming residential area, among many unassuming houses, is a much bigger, imposing house that stands out because of its castle-like roof and walls ; it's Amako Soubei's current office!
Honestly, if I were in her shoes, yeah, I'd also get myself a castle. Truly a queen. She has all my respect and admiration.
Three familiar faces are carved in stone at the entrance. So lovely.
Well... again, I didn't want to linger there and be weird lol, so I quickly left.
The next stop was Teramachi, the "temple town" of Amagasaki. When the first Amagasaki Castle was built, during Edo, they needed space so temples had to be relocated. For convenience, all the city's temples and shrines (11 Buddhist temples, 2 Shinto shrines) were gathered in the same walled area, and it's how Teramachi came to be.
When I visited, it was in the middle of holidays so a lot of places were closed, and I couldn't do the stamp rally in Teramachi that features art of the Seven Lucky Gods drawn by Amako Soubei.
These Seven Lucky Gods are really famous, so I'm sure you've seen them before. One of them is Daikokuten, god of wealth and prosperity, so I'm sure Kiri-chan favors this one in particular. He also appears in the third Nintama movie above Tenki's desk. (gratuitous Nintama Trivia moment) I guess their most famous representation is all of them gathered on a treasure boat, a picture you see a lot during the New Year! Anyways, they're a happy, merry group, so Amako's round and cute artstyle fits them really well I think.
The weather was bad that day so I kinda gave up on taking pictures, but I regret it. The temple that stood out the most to me was Kanroji Temple, because it featured many representations of phoenixes, notably a golden one on the roof which I took a terrible picture off lol. Because of the name Kanroji, a few people drew the character Kanroji Mitsuri from Kimetsu no Yaiba on ema. It was cute to see her here.
Another big onigawara, and a cute komainu guarding the roof.
After that, I walked to the nearby Kanda-nakadori shopping street, because it features that same art of the Seven Lucky Gods on a glass dome on the ceiling. The area has a lot of shopping street arcades with a retro feel, maaaany Showa-vibes shops to visit, so even without buying anything it's a treat for the eyes.
But on my way there, the front of a cafe caught my attention?!
Rikichi-san! Doi-sensei! Kumigashira!
How cute! It's a coffee shop called coffee roaster Hyakumanryo. On top of many beautiful cakes and biscuits, they sell adorable Maybe-Nintama themed cookies lol (NHK ninja, please look the other way!). I chatted a bit with the clerk and got some biscuits and canelés to go.
The designs are so cute, aren't they? I'm especially a big fan of the Black Eagle Squad cookies: Oshitsu's mask and a coelacanth... so cute. And delicious. But so cute it feels like a shame to eat them!
In Amagasaki, you truly can't ever escape ninja. And I found the dome finally!!
At this point it was early evening but I had walked a lot today since morning, and my head was full with information it kinda felt like my head was about to burst. I also....... Neglected to eat anything all day....... (I had many cookies in my bag I was still refusing to eat lol) so I was already out of juice. I figured since I was on an empty stomach the time was perfect to have a certain famous bowl of noodles, and no, I don't mean Amagasaki chanpon, but one that was kind of a long walk away from my current location so I finally caved in and took a bus instead of walking there lol ; getting me to the Ohama-cho area of the city, home of a certain udon restaurant.
Fuusha...kazeguruma... no sato? I dont know how to read the store name. I am so so sorry. But it's Windmill Village in English!, or more simply known as, "Ohama udon."
It's a famous place for Nintama fans, of course because the combination of an udon restaurant located in Ohama brings Ohama Kanemon to mind. When I visited, it was just a bit before Golden Week officially started (My work circumstances made it so that my holidays started earlier than most people), and it was still a weekday, so I was the only person there. The shop is so small, just a counter with a few seats in front of the owner managing the shop and cooking by herself, so it made me soooooooooo nervous.
I didn't mention it before, but during my trip whenever I talked to someone I often got the same reaction of "What are you doing here?", because they don't get a lot of foreign tourists, especially tourists who aren't asian (I mean, technically I live in Japan, but...), and everyone's surprise doubles when they learn I'm here because of Nintama. I kinda sticks out like a sore thumb and feel self conscious about it lol ; so I felt nervous spending a meal face-to-face with one single person. Unlike many others brightly colored shops covered in Nintama-related decorations, this one was much more humbly decorated - the feeling was very cosy though, it's the kind of small noodle shop I expect to be frequented by locals rather than an otaku-pilgrimage site. I felt this way about other places in Amagasaki too, because I managed to visit outside of peak tourist season, I had this thought of "I have a hard time imagining this place full of excited girls otaku" lol. It's a curse and a blessing: I could enjoy places without crowds, but it made me stick out more and I had nowhere to hide! Just me and my ninja plushies against the world...
So yeah, all that to say at first I was too shy to bring out the oshikatsu gear and I figured I'd be fine enjoying my udon quietly because I was starving lol. I didn't want to bother the lady with loud otaku stuff after all.
But I guess she could smell the nerdery oozing from me because she asked first if I was a nintama fan. And then we chatted and chatted and I felt more at ease...
So Kan-chan got to get out of my bag.
I was so hungry I devoured that thing lol. It was really good! The broth is light in a good way, in that it clings to ingredients but is easy to eat. In early May the weather was still just pleasantly warm so I could enjoy it hot. It was really good!
It'd feel weird sharing personal conversations, but I'm glad the shop owner kept me company and I greatly enjoyed listening to her. Also, it was the time at which Nintama aired on TV, so we got to watch a new episode in real time together lol.
After the meal I ordered a drink, and I just thought of getting some tea, but she suggested some Nose cider instead. I was so confused because I didn't know what it was, so I was just... "Nose...?" "Yeah, like Nose Kyusaku's Nose." Thank you ma'am, but that still doesn't help : later on I googled it, and it's cider produced by Nose Shuzou, a local brand from Osaka. Well sorry! i'm so sorry I'm an idiot foreigner and I didn't know!!!!!! And she made it the indigo color of the 5th years' uniform~ Sooooo cute!
Last thing: her picture isn't allowed online, but the cat in the store is so cute and friendly...
....This post is a disaster. I barely wrote about temples but I wrote lines and lines about noodles. Oh well.
After that I went back to the hotel and got a well deserved early sleep~
I got to think a lot about the relationship between local businesses and institutions VS otaku tourism. How most people seemed to embrace it more or less (I mean, given the omnipresence of ninja figures and nintama in the city, I assume they count on kunoichi money a lot. I saw more shops putting Nintama merch on their storefront that I didn't take pictures of). I wondered if all the locals felt that enthusiastic about it? How was it during peak tourism season? How do they feel about being crowded by nerds when their place technically isn't officially related to the franchise? In the end so far I only had positive experiences talking to everyone, so I guess I was kind of worrying over nothing. I guess I'm also old and from an era where otaku stuff, even more so for women, was embarrassing and to be hidden ; so I always feel terribly self-conscious about these things until I'm hit with that "huh, things have changed" realization. Wow, oshikatsu is trendy and encouraged by businesses nowadays huh. They're putting the handsome ninja men in castles and museums to attract crowds nowadays, huh....
Times have changed.
There's a whole consumerist aspect to oshikatsu I don't like much, but in this context, if it attracts crowds to smaller local places and make them thrive, I guess it's a good thing.
I want to start a new post for a new day, but I haven't hit image limit yet, so here's a real life "Where Fuwa Raizou Goes, Hachiya Saburou Follows" moment. Feast for the eyes, truly.
And more "pointing excitedly at familiar names" moments.
Imafuku Park! Yay! There is absolutely nothing of note here, but I still went, yay!!! Actually, there is a microscopic Imafuku Hachiman shrine there. I prayed to become a reliable person.
Thank you for reading! Next time we're going to temples!
Last time I talked about the Amako Soubei Manga Gallery, and I posted signs from Doi and Rankirishin's musical actors. I had forgotten to include signs from the sixth years at the same location, so here they are. Watanabe Kazuki's (Monjirou) sign is so cute. Watanabe Kazuki is so cute.
A lot of signs are scattered through the city lol it's fun hunting them.
Anyways! It was early in the day when I left the gallery, so I headed for the nearby Amagasaki Castle next.
Close to the castle is this fun postbox topped with a small Shachinoko! It's actually a miniature model of those you can find on the roof of Amagasaki Castle. Shachinoko are half carp, half tiger monsters that supposedly live in the sea ; because they're associated with water, they often decorate the roof of castles in pairs (one male, one female) as a way to protect them from fire.
And there it is! Amagasaki Castle! Or well, its keep. .....I only had bad weather the entire trip, what bad luck. Anyways ; especially when you compare it to the huge Osaka Castle I posted about earlier, it looks really small, doesn't it?
This castle has really interesting history. There already was a small Amagasaki Castle in Sengoku ; but the Amagasaki Castle in the shape we know dates from early Edo. Sadly, new legislation of the Meiji era caused most of the castle's buildings, stones etc to be destroyed or repurposed. The land where the castle used to be progressively got used for various city buildings, housing, and such: nowadays, there's a public school where the honmaru (the innermost bailey on castle grounds) used to be.
In 2015, Anbo Akira, founder of the regional electronics store Midori Denka, donated funds to the city to rebuild the castle keep. Many others joined in donating, and the new castle keep opened in 2018. Of course, its location is slightly different than the original, since modern buildings were built on the old castle site. But it gives Amagasaki Castle an interesting scenery, lodged in between all sorts of modern buildings.
It's made of concrete, and has very interesting architecture ; the original keep had 4 levels, and the exterior of the new building accurately shows that. But inside, there are actually 5 floors.
Heisuke shows you a Shachinoko, and the scenery from the fifth floor of the castle. Screens in front of the windows let you compare the scenery from the early Edo period and today's! (Edo's sky was bluer, sniff)
This is what struck me the most with Amagasaki ; there's a strong wish to uncover local history and make it accessible to all. The building is modern, and doesn't pretend otherwise. It's not just a simple look-alike reconstruction of the original castle, and it uses modern technology to enable visitors to live history. It doesn't shy away from pop culture (ninja, so many ninja...), and uses a lot of props so we can touch, feel historical items, and eventually feel closer to history. I really loved that.
It's something you find a lot in Japan I think ; because of various circumstances like earthquakes, fires, air raids etc a lot of majestic ~historical sites~ are actually very modern reconstructions (how many times I saw signs in temples pointing out the whole thing was rebuilt a dozen times throughout its history...). Where I come from, we're lucky to have a lot of old buildings, and it's not rare to walk into a church or something from the Middle Ages for example ; so I think a lot of people would feel "cheated" walking into a castle that was actually built between 2015 and 2018... But as long as people are made to remember the past, then history is preserved, isn't it? I guess that's the whole Ship of Theseus problem lol. Anyways ! It's something that occurred to me after visiting Osaka Castle ; it's much bigger and majestic that Amagasaki's, much more historically relevant too. But its austere exhibits under glass left much less of an impression on me than Amagasaki Castle's exhibits, and in the end I feel like I learned and memorized a lot more there. Does it make sense...?
(I'm so sorry for all the Osaka Castle slender in these posts. It's great, okay. I don't deny it. I need to visit again when I'm not physically and mentally exhausted...)
When I talked about not shying away from pop culture, this is what I mean. They... lean a lot on ninja tourism. As they should! It's fun. I'm not gonna pretend Nintama didn't take me here, so give me a ninja drink in the ninja vending machine, sure.
More signs from myu's cast and Ookano Kousuke (Rikichi's voice actor in the anime) and ?!?!?!...
I was sooo surprised lol. There's a part of the castle with large mirrors and props like samurai armor and noble kimonos you can put on to take pictures. But they also had... replicas of Ninmyu costumes! I'll be honest, I really, really, really wanted to try them. But I'm traveling alone, and I would have been too shy to ask a staff member to take my picture lol. Ugh... A kind lady at a certain udon shop told me I should go back to the castle and try them on, but in the end I didn't have time to go back, sorry I failed you, and thank you for encouraging me ;_; But well. That means I have to go back at some point, right?
Bigger replicas of the shachinoko. It's cute that they always go in pairs. It reminds me of how Raizou is associated with onigawara, a kind of decorative and protective roof decoration, in the second movie. Are shachinoko Raizou and Saburou in essence?....... <- There is sounin everywhere for those with the eyes to see.
Hinawajuuu!! Matchlocks, matchlocks! I got so excited seeing it and holding it. It's so heavy!!! I thought it made a lot of sense how obsessed with muscle training Torawaka is after holding one lol. The sign explains how matchlocks work, and how they took time to reload so matchlock users were organized in squads taking turns shooting in a line, then giving space for the next line to shoot, etc etc. But you always listen to Shousei-san, so you already knew that, right?
The katana was also surprisingly heavy! They also had bows, arrows and spears on display.
I'm not sure where to write this lol, but during Sengoku, Amagasaki Castle was occupied by the Hosokawa clan, whose emblem consists of a circle surrounded by eight more circles. When I saw it I was reminded of the crest on Tasogaredoki Jinbei's helmet in the second movie, but his only has 7 circles instead of 9. Looks like the Shichiyou emblem rather than the Kuyou emblem and its 9 circles. Boo....
The interesting story of Yamamoto Bunnosuke Kanemitsu, a captured soldier who came to be called Zannen-san ("Mr Unfortunate" or "Mr Regrettable") after his death : before committing suicide, he said "How unfortunate that I was caught. If you ever feel unfortunate, come visit me and I'll grant your wish", a statement that brought huge crowds to his grave. I Just Thought It Was Interesting.
There are a lot of exhibits I didn't show, so I really recommend going there if you can! It was genuinely a lot of fun.
On my way to the exit, as I was looking at old samurai armors, I somehow heard Sorihashi's distinct voice in his role as Isaku coming from further away?! Turns out there's a theater room inside the castle, and it plays two movies alternatively. One tells the history of Amagasaki narrated by the rakugo performer Katsura Yoneda, through a fictional story where Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Edo period playwright (celebrated in Amagasaki in his dedicated Memorial Museum and statue located in Chikamatsu Park) visits the city.
The second movie is actually an introduction to various points of interests in Amagasaki presented by the Ninmyu cast! They introduce places, most of them I ended up visiting so I'll talk at length about them later.
There might have been a warning to not take pictures inside the theater. Maybe. Or not. My memory fails me. I am very sorry. Hopefully the audience of this blog remains three people and Amagasaki City doesn't send their ninja to get me.
It was such a nice surprise seeing them lol. I was like "Doi is standing where I was standing an hour ago!!!!". It also felt very exciting to me personally because as you may know, I translated a lot of Nintama for fun, and I often think about how this and that should be translated in English. Nintama is not licensed in English, so there's very little officially translated stuff out there. ...Well, there is the third movie on Amazon Prime, but I'm getting a stomachache just thinking about it, so let's not. Surprisingly, the whole movie inside the castle was subbed in English! It was fun noticing all the translation choices. No one wants to tackle translating moso moso, huh.
For the sake of archiving, I'll summarize the movie here. If you don't care or don't want to be spoiled, skip the indented text.
The movie begins in front of Amagasaki's castle keep. Doi tells Rankirishin that since they slept in class, they are now on a special field trip to catch up on what they missed. He begins with a short lecture on Amagasaki's local history, then tells the boys it's time to explore. They run off in different directions without waiting for Doi, who spends the rest of the movie looking for them.
Cut to Kirimaru walking by himself, when he stumbles upon Amagasaki's Piggy Bank Museum. The name naturally gets him very excited, so he goes inside and meets Chouji there. He introduces the museum, owned by Amagasaki Shinkin Bank, and showcases some of the many coin banks from the collection, notably one with an intricate karakuri design. Kirimaru asks what Chouji is doing here, and he replies that he's on a secret mission.
Cut to Rantarou, meeting Monjirou doing some gingin training in Teramachi, the "temple town" of Amagasaki, where all the temples were relocated during the Edo period when the castle was built. Monjirou introduces the temples inside, and the stamp rally featuring Amako Soubei's art of the Seven Lucky Gods that everyone can take part in. ...Then he makes Rantarou run and squat across Teramachi.
Next, Shinbei finds Koheita in a restaurant. IIRC, the restaurant is Not named in the video, but my own google-no-jutsu made me find out it's called Tenyuu, near Amagasaki Hanshin station. Together, they enjoy Amagasaki's local specialty dish, ankake champon: a big bowl of piping hot noodles, vegetables, meat and seafood in a thick starchy sauce.
Kiri-chan, still looking for treasure, meets Senzou in Amagasaki's Museum of History. Senzou introduces some of the exhibits, notably octopus traps from the Kofun period preserved in "perfect shape, just like me". To which Kirimaru says "You're comparing yourself to octopus pots...?" haha.
Rantarou meets Isaku at Amagasaki Fishing Park, where Isaku is struggling to catch a fish before his line breaks. He shows Rantarou how there's a fishing booth where you can catch seasonal fish and staff will cook it in front of you to eat. They end up fishing together, and Rantarou successfully catches a big fish! But as Isaku tries to put it in a basket, it ends up escaping... what bad luck.
Shinbei finds Tomesaburou picking a fight with Heisuke! After getting closer, Shinbei realizes it's not the real Heisuke, but the manhole cover decorated with Heisuke's face that was installed in Chikamatsu park, in the Kukuchi area of the city.
Rankirishin finally reunite, and they enjoy dango together. Doi finds them, and as he's about to scold them, the three run into the Kaimei government building, where the Amako Soubei Manga Gallery is located. They all go "Oh my gosh it's pictures of us!" lol so cute.
They reunite with the sixth years here, whose secret mission was to find a snack for the headmaster...
They settled for the nintama dorayaki (sandwich pancake in the subtitles haha) sold at the gallery's souvenir shop, and as Isaku wants to show it to Rankirishin, he notices he's not holding unto them anymore.
…Shinbei took them and is eating them. The end!
What a cute video that was! After watching it, I had more places I wanted to visit so I had to alter my plans a little lol. I knew about some of these places like Teramachi, but if Koheita tells me to go eat some ankake champon then of course I have to go. If Chouji says go to the Piggy Bank Museum I will say Of Course Chouji...
But after some shopping in the castle's souvenir shop, the next stop was the Museum of History, introduced by Senzou in the movie.
Interestingly, it opened in 2020 in a building that used to be the municipal high school for girls, so the layout is interesting. ...Amagasaki likes to repurpose schools into museums, it seems.
Some of the classes are left intact so it's fun to walk around.
As I said before, only the castle keep was rebuilt, but Amagasaki Castle used to be larger. You can find a model of what the honmaru used to look like in the museum. It's difficult to see because of the glass, but the keep is located in the top right corner.
In short, even though the castle keep, or tenshu, represents the castle, it's not the entirety of the castle. Usually, Japanese castles have the honmaru, the main bailey, or the most well guarded area at the center of castle ground, with the first layer of fortifications and moats. The area within the second layer of fortifications was the ninomaru, then the third the sannomaru, etc.
Those area were also called honkuruwa, ninokuruwa, sannokuruwa. Because many names used to be topographical in nature, it's likely Ninokuruwa Isuke got his family name because he had family living in that part of a castle?!
A cool samurai armor, and a Sugoroku game in the back! I like these! I wrote about them on this blog before! (getting excited about the wrong thing) And an onigawara decorative roof tile, sporting the 9 stars emblem used by the Matsudaira and Hosokawa.
The perfectly preserved octopus traps from the Kofun period that Senzou mentioned. A sign says that one of them is decorated with a picture of a deer and invites visitors to find it. Challenge accepted.
Kakukaku shikajika, found it!
The museum is made very accessible to children, I assume it's a popular destination for school field trips lol. As a result, the explanation signs are in fairly easy Japanese and has some fun pop quizzes here and there.
Question 1: What was this used for?
A. As a tool for making medicine
B. As a big spinning top.
If you're a member of the Health Committee, you should be able to answer this.
Question 2: What was this used for?
A. As a box to put in mosquito repelling incense
B. As a kotatsu
Question 3: What was this used for?
A. As a piggy bank
B. As a tool for shaving bonito flakes
...All sorts of funny signs like that.
And that's how I hit image limit, so this is where we'll stop for today. Next time I'll talk about more museums (I promise Chouji, we WILL see those coin banks!!!), and hopefully have space for more lol. I wonder how many parts this will take. As usual, thank you for reading this far!
Part 4: Amagasakiiiiii, and Amako Soubei Manga Gallery!!
This post is part of my longer trip in Osaka/Kyoto/Hyougo. I spent most of my time in Amagasaki so it will get dedicated posts but for everything else I did refer to previous posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Amagasaki! It's a city north-west of Osaka, and the main purpose of my trip. Because it's where Amako Soubei, the author of Rakudai Ninja Rantarou, the comic that inspired the anime Nintama Rantarou, lives! There's a lot of Nintama-related tourism to enjoy here, and beyond Nintama it's a lovely city which puts great effort promoting its local history and culture. If you're into sports, which I am not, the famous Koushien stadium is close by.
I was asked to do a guide for visiting Amagasaki, so at first I thought I should post about it on my dedicated Nintama blog... in the end I decided not to ; I'm no authority on how to spend your trip here, there are a lot of things I didn't see, and in the end those are the memories of my trip that I want to share diary-like. That being said, if you have any question or if I can help in any way, feel free to message me and I'll try my best to answer.
Anyways! Amagasaki. It's a bit confusing at first because it has two stations named Amagasaki located at different places in the city ; one is owned by JR and the other by Hanshin. The inn I stayed at was close to the Hanshin Amagasaki station, but I came from my Shinkansen stop at Shin-Osaka station, so I arrived at JR Amagasaki.
And there was the very famous sign, featuring many familiar names!
That was part of the fun visiting the city ; characters and places in Nintama are named after local toponyms, so wherever I went, I'd see familiar names on signs lol. The additional pro to this is that it makes reading bus stops and such very easy, because I'm usually not good at reading kanji...
Also, seeing multiple women stopping in front of the sign to take pictures excitedly while passerbys were just a bit confused was fun as well haha.
Since I was at the JR Station, before making the trip to the other side of the city where Hanshin Amagasaki station is I took a little detour to the Village Vanguard store in Q's Mall. Village Vanguard is a chain of stores you find all across the country selling pop culture goods, and they're known to decorate with cute handwritten, fannish signs. The Amagasaki one goes all out on Nintama, look at those big hand drawn signs!! Good job staff!!
...I didn't buy anything.
Anyways, now I was on my way to the inn ; there's a shuttle bus connecting the two stations, but I was in a good mood so I took the long walk there. If I remember correctly it took about 40 minutes? It would probably take less without luggage lol. The area between the two station is named Kinrakuji-cho! It felt exciting seeing Kinrakuji written on signs.
And here's the inn I stayed at, Takeyaso. I already talked about it in a previous post, but it's an extremely small inn with a retro feel. Peaceful jazz music plays in the background throughout the day, and there's a bar on the first floor. The second floor has a shared kitchen space.
The staff can speak English and is very friendly and accommodating, and they're also... used to Nintama fans making the pilgrimage here lol.
Oho! Fans left behind so many cute souvenirs. It was heart-warming to see. There are Hachizaemons on both floors of the inn!
The next day, I headed to the Amako Soubei Manga Gallery. It's located very close to the Hanshin station, inside the Kaimei government building which used to be a school, so the layout of the building is pretty interesting lol.
The hallway welcomes guests with colorful kakemono featuring the nintamas' names. Online, I always saw pictures of the upperclassmen, so I was pleasantly surprised to see underclassmen got flags too.
Heisuke and Hachizaemon plushies are posing in front of their respective flag. Dairi next to one another!
Signs from Ninmyu 14's actors for Kirimaru (Fukuda Ryuusei), Rantarou (Makino Minato) and Shinbei (Mita Issa), along with Doi (Ikko) are displayed in the entrance as well! So cute! The boys' drawings are so cute but I'm a fan of Ryuusei spelling out Kiri-chan's signature laugh, "ahe ahe ahe ahe~". Ikko drew angry vein marks and wrote: "Oshieta hazu da~!!"
Kousaka Jinnaizaemon! Kyaaaa!!
The gallery features, of course, original pages and illustrations from Rakuran. Amako uses a lot of thick, flat tints of paint, so it's great seeing her illustrations up close and notice the texture of the paint applied. I love how simple yet expressive her art is, and how it manages to convey both the influence of children gag manga and classical Japanese art ; it's in the way the characters pose, emote, the way their hands are drawn... I guess in general, I deeply respect artists who can convey such a rich heritage in an art style that looks, at first glance, "simple."
The desk on which she drew during Rakuran's publication.
In addition to her comics and illustrations, the gallery features some ninja tools! Go-shiki mai, the five colored rice used to convey secret messages. Shuriken in various shapes (Shihou, roppou, happou shuuuuriken! 🎶), yatate, a case carrying ink and a brush, makibishi, caltrops, and the iconic houroku hiya, earthenware hand grenades!
The building itself is really fun ; it has a hidden (somewhat lol) revolving door, and a hidden character hiding on the ceiling. I got to see a kitty cat, but it seems visitors got to see a certain kusemono on other days...!
Back to the entrance, where the souvenir shop is. Actually, I visited the gallery twice during my trip ; once at the end of April, and again at the beginning of May. The second time, I took a picture of the calendar because I was happy to see this Class Presidents/Accounting Committee illustration lol. Samon and Sakichi's loach dance is an unforgettable sight.
The entrance ticket for the gallery is in the shape of a bookmark, and you tie a ribbon on it in the color of your choice between all the nintama's uniform colors ; the first time I went with the sixth years' deep green, and the second time with the fifth years' indigo. I guess that if I come back eventually (I want to... I will!), I'll pick the fourth years' purple haha.
There IS an incentive to come back, and a super cute one at that. The clerk showed me a faithful recreation of Doi's attendance book, in which I could register my name. I was also asked to pick a stamp card, and there are a LOT of designs to choose from because there's one for every nintama student lol. I went with one of my favorite first year, Hikoshirou from the i-class, so my stamp card says Imafuku! It seems you can get freebies the more you visit, so I'm all the more motivated to come back... how can I say no to freebies......(Kiri-chan's money face)
Yes, there's a souvenir shop. Yes, I am weak. But it's mostly stuff you can only find at the gallery! So I had to, okay. In particular, I'm a fan of the big P.E Committee towel, and the "Zatto Konnamon's Instant Miso Soup" (because "instant" is sasatto dekiru, sasatto dekirumon, zatto konnamon... get it...) with komatsuna leaves, so it features Komatsuda Yuusaku on the packaging lol. It ended up being really good for instant soup...! (It's like those freeze-dried cubes that dissolves in water, the kind you find at Muji).
On my second visit (they were sold out the first time I visited!) I got matcha and azuki beans financiers in a lovely box themed with the sixth years. There's a print mistake on Isaku's hair tie! Fuun da... Well, it's in character so I'm not upset about it lol.
The freebies I was given this time was a card and a map of Amagasaki decorated with Rakuran characters and the IRL places they were named after. It ended up being convenient to have!
You can visit Kukuchi, Shioe, Inadera, Kema, Zenpouji, Shimosakabe, Tsugiya and many more. Wawow... I also did visit Sonoda. It was peaceful and the Oomagatoki and Tasogaredoki armies were nowhere to be seen.
Oh right, before I forget. The tourism office near the station is also worth a visit. You can start the city-wide ARG Amanazo from here (this time I didn't because I arrived in the middle of holidays, a lot of places were closed, and I wanted to freely visit places rather than focusing on the game... but I want to try a future edition for my next trip!) and see a few fun Nintama things here too ; notably cute doodles left behind by fans, and signs from Ninmyu actors.
Shout out to the person who left the cute picture of Kingo and Ibuki. You have absolutely perfect tastes.
I'll detail my next destination in the next post because I'm getting closer to the image limit. I'll use the pics I have left to show off a very cute sweets shop near Hanshin station that I happened to walk by on my way back from the gallery. Unlike many stores in the city, this one doesn't technically feature any Nintama decoration so I don't think it's a popular spot for fans, but I think it's important to pay attention to all the city has to offer, and there's Nintama everywhere for those with the eyes to see lol. I especially recommend it if you're a true man of the sea...
Chidoriya Souke! It's a chain found in the Kansai region, so it was my first time encountering it. It's named after chidori, the plover bird, who can fly through strong winds and high waves and thus became a symbol of perseverance.
It's the emblem of the Hyougo Navy in Nintama, and since this shop offers a lot of sweets in the shape of that chidori I had to stop by haha. I enjoyed deliciously sweet manjuu with a cold hojicha the staff offered, which was very appreciated after my walk... I brought back some chidori-shaped sablés with me! .....It made me feel like I was cheating on the iconic Kamakura pigeon sablés. Forgive me. I am a lover of all birds.
Ok, actually, the chidori pattern isn't that rare to encounter. Even the waves-and-chidori pattern. But still, every time I see it somewhere, I get excited and point, "Hyougo suigun!". And that's how I ended up with waves-and-chidori towels and coasters and this and that at home...
That's it for this time! We're going to Amagasaki Castle in the next post! Thank you for reading this far!
Lyrics for Tasogaredoki's intro song from Ninmyu 16
Please don't read if you want to avoid spoilers for Myu16.
Sadly, I don't have the pamphlet, so I don't know the title. Bear in mind that I also don't have official lyrics, so this is all by ear. I'll come back to this post to edit it when I have them!!! Be careful!
Japanese, romaji, and English lyrics under the cut. Please read my notes also.
闇に紛れ地獄さまよう
yami ni magire jigoku samayou
Hidden in the darkness, wandering in hell,
月影さえ背負うことなく
tsukikage sae seou koto naku
With not even the moonlight shining on our back,
敵によりて未来を奪う
teki ni yori te mirai wo ubau
We seize the future from the enemy
狼隊の術
okamitai houka no jutsu
We’re the Wolf Squad, masters of arson
山: あなたのそばで この身崩れようとお支え申す
anata no soba de kono mi kuzureyou to osasae mousu
Y: Even as my body grows frail, I vow to stay by your side and serve you,
山: : 山本陣内
yamamoto jinnai
Y: I, Yamamoto Jinnai
高: 憧れ敬い 誰よりも前で盾となる
akogare uyamai dareyori mo mae de tate to naru
K: I adore and revere you, and I will stand before all others as your shield
高: 高坂陣内左衛門
kousaka jinnaizaemon
K: I, Kousaka Jinnaizaemon
尊: 炎の中から父を救い守ってくれた
honoo no naka kara chichi wo sukui mamotte kureta
S: You saved and protected my father amidst the flames,
尊: あの頃私に出来しは一つ
ano koro watashi ni dekishi wa hitotsu
S: So there was only one thing I could do
尊: 死なせはしない 死なせはしない
shinase wa shinai shinase wa shinai
S: “I won’t let you die, I won’t let you die”
尊: 帰さねばならない 義の名の元に
kaesanebanaranai gi no na no moto ni
S: “In the name of justice, I must bring you back”
尊: 諸泉尊奈門
moroizumi sonnamon
S: I, Moroizumi Sonnamon
雑: 声より先に刃つき 静けさの中 気配消す
koe yori saki ni yaiba tsuki shizukesa no naka keai kesu
Z: Our blades thrust before our voices are heard; we vanish within the silence
雑: すべてが我らが殿のため
subete ga warera ga tono no tame
Z: All for the sake of our Lord
すべては明日の夢のため
subete wa ashita no yume no tame
This is all for the sake of tomorrow’s dream
山: 背負いし髑髏何を問う
seoishi dokuro nani wo tou
Y: What does the skull we bear demand of us?
己の正義ここにある
onore no seigi koko ni aru
That our justice lies here.
己の心どこにある
onore no kokoro doko ni aru
Does our heart lie here?
己の忠義ここにある
onore no chuugi koko ni aru
That our loyalty lies here
背負いし髑髏未来指す
seoishi dokuro mirai sasu
The skull we bear points toward the future
すべては明日の国のため
subete wa ashita no kuni no tame
This is all for the sake of tomorrow’s nation
すべては明日の民のため
subete wa ashita no tami no tame
This is all for the sake of tomorrow’s people
すべては明日の
subete wa ashita no
All for the sake of tomorrow
雑: すべては明日の
subete wa ashita no
Z: All for the sake of tomorrow
すべては明日の
subete wa ashita no
All for the sake of tomorrow
Whew! TL notes time. First of all, if you don't know about Tasogaredoki's lore, in addition to the anime movies and episodes you probably already watched, I suggest the bonus pages of volume 50 of the manga, listening to the 2012 song "Tasogaredoki", and Ninmyu 6's rerun.
Again, this is by ear. Once I can find an official transcription, I'll edit this post! So be careful! The part I am most unsure about is:
己の正義ここにある
onore no seigi koko ni aru
That our justice lies here.
己の心どこにある
onore no kokoro doko ni aru
Does our heart lie here?
Actually I'm not sure if they ask a question, literally "our justice is here / where is our heart?" or simply repeat onore no seigi koko ni aru / onore no kokoro koko ni aru. In the second line, I do hear a softer sound, so I hear doko instead of koko, but I might just mishear a softer pronunciation. If that's the case, this would change the lyrics to more resolute affirmations:
己の正義ここにある
onore no seigi koko ni aru
That our justice lies here.
己の心ここにある
onore no kokoro koko ni aru
That our heart lies here.
Anyways. I've seen criticism of this song being in total contradiction with Zatto's character song that Amako had written back in 2012, and I respectfully disagree! I think the contrast is intentional and fits the themes of Myu16. I want to think the similar imagery between the two songs isn't random. Myu16 tackles the danger of losing your sense of self by devoting yourself to the mission, putting the nintamas' whole-heartedness directly against Tasogaredoki's devotion-to-the-point-of-alienation. Kousaka is the worst example of that alienation and embodies perfectly what Zatto came to hate, and it's shown explicitely in a certain scene where he learns that one of his subordinate died on the mission. Kousaka tells him "He must have been honored to be useful to you. Had it been me..." and Zatto cuts him off shouting "Don't be ridiculous! What superior would rejoice in one of their subordinate dying?"
Basically Zatto knows he and his men have no choice but to be loyal to Tasogaredoki, that they're ninja and tools for their Lord before people, and he came to hate that. But of course, if he were to word it, he would betray his subordinates' expectations of him, and they would lose their sense of purpose... So Zatto is stuck in that delicate position. This makes Myu16's song the visible face, the outer layer of Zatto's character ; the ninja devoted to his castle. In turn, the 2012 Tasogaredoki's song is about his more inner, intimate thoughts.
As a side note, I do think Zatto has an interesting history where he was pretty much misunderstood by the anime staff at first ; his first voice actor gave a complete different impression of the character. I do think Morikubo Showtaro, his current VA, also evolved in the way he interprets Zatto through the years, getting a stronger grasp of what his character is about. I'm sure Amako's own vision evolved with time too, but she had a pretty solid idea of what she wanted the Wolf Squad to be pretty early on, so I believe that while Morikubo's performance in the Tasogaredoki song is outdated, the lyrics themselves are still very true to Zatto's character and the Wolf Squad.
Hidden in the darkness, wandering in hell,
With not even the moonlight shining on our back,
We seize the future from the enemy
"Hell" being brought up right at the beginning evokes all the morbid imagery of Zatto's character song from 2012. Here, they operate in total darkness, and I guess it's better for a ninja lol, but in a more poetic context the moon here evokes support and hope (the same way it's used in Hansuke Shunjuu and Rikichi's theme, for example) ; after all, in the 2012 song, the moon is present, but only for the Tasogaredoki ninja's funerals. But it wasn't here for them in life!
"We seize the future from the enemy" the idea here is "we take it away from the enemy", so kill to ensure your own people's safety. A hard lesson Kousaka and Yamamoto teaches the sixth years in the musical, that Isaku seems to take it extremely badly!
We’re the Wolf Squad, masters of arson
There are three squads in the Tasogaredoki ninja army: the Moon Bear Squad (the main offensive squad), the Black Eagle Squad (for intelligence gathering), and the Wolf Squad, specializing in gunpowder, bomb, firearms, and ambushes by arson. Ironic for Zatto, hm? I wonder if the fire that caused his burns was started by the Wolf Squad...
Even as my body grows frail, I vow to stay by your side and serve you
Yamamoto is old, but won't retire ; it's a vow he made after Zatto's father lost his life while protecting him when he was younger. These events were mentioned in Ninmyu 6.
I adore and revere you, and I will stand before all others as your shield
Damn okay calm down Jinza. As I said before, Kousaka is probably the most obvious example of that "loss of self" Tasogaredoki ninja go through.
You saved and protected my father amidst the flames...
Please watch season 32, episode 63!
Our blades strike before our voices are heard; we vanish within the silence
All for the sake of our Lord
I said this song is about what Tasogaredoki allows people to see rather than their most intimate thoughts, but it's still very much about their dehumanization, and it's very explicit in this line. They become their blades by metonymy, their own body and self disappearing into stillness. All for the sake of a Lord, who embodies a possible future where Japan becomes a united nation in an era of constant civil war.
What does the skull we bear demand of us?
Of course, the skull refers to the kamon emblem of Tasogaredoki. When the sixth years are made to wear it during their internship, it marks them as belonging to Tasogaredoki, but symbolically it brings them closer to Death as they've ever been. In this song, the skull demands justice, loyalty, and "heart" (or "spirit", "mind", or whole inner self...) from Tasogaredoki ninja. In the 2012 song, Zatto sings about "empty skulls" begging to be remembered after their death, a much more cynical take...
That our loyalty lies here
It's interesting that technically, said loyalty is to their Lord, who embodies Tasogaredoki castle/territory as a whole, including its people etc. But when they sing that, Sonnamon, Kousaka and Yamamoto bow to Zatto. I think it shows a certain awareness from them about where their loyalty truly is.
Thank you for reading! I hope it made sense! I also hope to write more about Myu16 later. Again, I'll edit once I get my hands on official lyrics!
I finally got to see it! I'm so happy! I failed every chance to get a ticket for the show, but well... at least I got to see it in theaters. That's better than nothing, and the atmosphere was fun!
If you don't mind spoilers, I wrote my impressions just after getting out of the theaters. Be warned it's biased, from memory, and all very impulsive and messy. If you don't mind spoilers and my Zatsui bias, please read here!
I'm still stewing in my thoughts... I'll probably come back to write more about it properly later........
I Love Kousaka Jinnaizaemon. I am just, so so so happy he is beloved enough that he went from background character to one of the protagonists in the musical. I hope he knows how loved he is. He would probably scoff like, Zatto-sama's acknowledgement is all he needs.......
The story of how a single illustration can leave a strong impression on you
I have many thoughts about fandom, oshikatsu, consumerism, and the sheer amount of plastic used in merchandise. I want to exist as an otaku not through the amount of merch I own, but by showing my love for stories in more productive ways, be it fanworks, meta, archiving, translation, whatever...
I'm rambling a bit but it's why I'm saddened that I don't have that much time to dedicate to writing long posts here or making fanworks anymore ; in the end I post a lot about outings to pop up stores and cafes because it's the quicker way to connect with fandom and it bothers me a lot...
I do think a lot of merchandise for Nintama isn't great, and if NHK didn't terrorize people into not taking screenshots a lot of it just wouldn't sell. But well. Today's post is NOT about that at all! We're going to SQUEE about promotional art and merchandise! Because despite all that talk I am not immune to cute ninja plastic.
A little pop-up shop opened in the Animate store in Shibuya, offering merchandise with brand new illustrations featuring Rankirishin, Tasogaredoki ninja and the 6th years. Perfect to get excited about the upcoming 16th musical!
Inside, huge cutouts of these illustrations were placed in front of a cute backdrop inspired by anime backgrounds. Those cutouts were seriously BIG!! But it makes you able to enjoy them to the smallest details ; like the size difference between Zatto and Sonnamon's bu... hands. Hands.
I do love this kind of promotional illustration because they're often drawn with a level of detail that is rarely achieved in the TV anime. The details on the characters' hands, the way the clothes fold, the characters' expression and the shading, etc...
I do love this common theme of character pairs physically connecting ; and I think these were drawn with a lot of careful consideration for characterization. Yes! Yamamoto is a dad! And he can't resist Kiri-chan's poor orphan aura! Yes, Oshitsu is kind of a show-off! Yes, Jinza is barely holding Rantarou's hands and they're keeping the most physical distance out of every pair.
As a side note, thank you Animate staff for being so considerate to put Kumigashira next to the fire extinguisher. I'm sure he appreciates it.
The sixth years' illustrations are equally well done ; 6-i makes a graceful, perfect circle shape. 6-ro has chaotic energy on the top and quiet stability at the bottom (I like how their respective ponytails point up and down...), and 6-ha look at each other, giving a sense of safety despite Isaku's shaky posture.
But really, the reason I came here was that I wanted to get a closer look at the 6-i illustration in particular.
Chouji and Tomesaburou are both holding their respective roommate using both arms ; but absolute super darling gingin Monjirou is holding both of Senzou's wrists with one hand, just to make sure his perfect silky smooth straight hair doesn't touch the ground. That illustration is built on contrasts ... the usual contrasts between 6-i, the difference in skintone, rough VS prissy, their beauty gap... sorry monjirou, the size of their hands, and Monji's bigger stature lowering himself to propel the smaller Senzou higher. But then you've got their body language and facial expressions ; again, Senzou's body is forming a perfect arch (compare with Isaku haha), and his expression shows he's doing his usual perfect self, prideful performance. Eyes closed, not bothering to give Monjirou a look, but his hands are relaxed under Monjirou's grip. Waow...
And then you've got Monjirou, lowering himself more than Chouji and Tomesaburou do, allowing Senzou to perform that perfect arch shape, using one hand to hold both his wrists and the other his hair like it's the most precious thing in the world... I love his quiet expression so much ; you'd expect more intensity from the gingin president of the Accounting Committee, but he looks oddly deep in thought staring at that strand of hair, doesn't he? In the end, Senzou doesn't look at Monjirou... he doesn't need to ; he knows and trusts him enough to take him higher and to keep him safe. But by metonymy, when Monji is staring at Senzou's hair, he's staring at Senzou himself. Isn't that great?? It's fun that it's a recurring thing for Monji to look at Senzou when Senzou is not looking his way...
It kills me. It kills me, okay.
Anyways. Sometimes the png is so good you have to bring one home. Now I can get psychic damage thinking about 6-i's trust and deep-bond-that-doesn't-require-words every time I look at it. Yay!
...While typing this post, the delivery man rung to my door and I received the pamphlet for Nagaya Monogatari. That's how weak I am to merchandise. Don't ever take what I say seriously.
But I'm excited to write about my trip once I'm back home!
I think I'll write a long blog post on my, well, diary blog first, and then later make a specifically Nintama related stuff in Amagasaki post? I'm not sure.
I just suspect that like many posts from my other blog, I'll still make it all about nintama anyways. Sigh.
Planning a trip to Amagasaki and smiling because I have this document that's a list of places to visit, and it looks like I just made a list of character names...
But it's getting filled with notes of things I should keep in mind when visiting. Historical and cultural notes of more or less trivial importance.
Like how the Ohama big bridge crosses the Shoge river, a river that used to be named the Kukuchi river.
Can you tell me where to watch other unsub nintama episodes, thank you so much ☺️
Hi! Sorry for replying late. I don't want to post links to unofficial rip here as sharing publicly put such archives at risk. I suggest clicking around here.
🍡Dorms Stories: The 5th Years' Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow [ENG SUB]🍡
🍡 Gekidan Nintama Rantarou, Nagaya Monogatari: Gonensei Kinou mo Kyou mo Ashita no Dan is a stage play that ran from February to March 2026. As they explain in the intro, it is not some spectacular story like in Ninmyu, nor does it adapt anime episodes like Ningeki. It's a more unique work in the Nintama franchise, one that aims to take a more intimate peek at the students' life through the time they spend in their nagaya, the row house dorms they rest in between classes and missions.
It's a beautiful play that let you take a deeper look into what kind of person the 5th years are, on their own and as a group ; and it dares to go against Nintama's sacred "all is well that ends well, hurray" status quo, as it is entirely based on the idea that nothing lasts forever, and every day must be cherished.
I hope my subtitles will help you enjoy the show as much as I did.
🍡 mediafire (.ass file)🍡
🍡 As usual, this is my own unofficial, amateur work. Translation is prone to mistakes and choices are my own. Still, I worked hard to convey not just the meaning of the words spoken, but the tone and voices of each character.
🍡 Unlike Tasogaredokijou's releases, this is a solo work. English is my second language, so forgive my mistakes.
🍡This is an .ass file that is supposed to fit the February 23rd show recording with switching cameras. You know where to get the video file.
If you are interested in encoding the video and subs together and upload it, please contact me!
🍡 Please do not edit or redistribute the subtitle file without my permission.
🍡 If you see big glaring mistakes, or if you have any question, my ask box is open.
More blabla under the cut.
I talked about wanting to sub a stage play for months, and I finally did it...
Just like how I started subbing Nintama anime, the impetus was Raizou and Saburou again, in a way.
I owe these two a lot...
...Or maybe they are responsible for my obsession. Kora!
Hey! I watched it for the first time on February 23rd, and today is March 22nd. Almost one month of thinking about Nagaya, writing about Nagaya, and finally translating Nagaya... A lot of my free time this past month has been dedicated to this stageplay, so I think I'll try to do something else now.
...There is Myu1 reboot coming, and then Myu16... and I also haven't watched Dokutake's Nagaya yet. It never ends...
I guess it was an absurd amount of work for how niche Nintama is in the anglosphere. I assume the stageplay aspect is even more niche... Still, I do think the plays enable the characters to evolve in a setting that is true to Nintama as a whole, but with a more layered and nuanced writing that makes me appreciate them all the more. I hope that watching this with subtitles will give you that same appreciation as well. If you can, get some green tea and mitarashi dango, and enjoy the show.
I already wrote a lot about my thoughts and feelings about this stageplay on social media and Discord, but maybe I'll end up making a long post here about it.
Meanwhile, if you have any questions, about the story, the play, the script, my translation choices or whatever, please let me know!
Exclusive behind-the-scenes pictures of the translation process:
Yes, I bit into dry koya tofu as is for the sake of science, and yes, it was horrible. Kanemon has my sympathies.
