gaytama

adult. nintama sideblog. mostly reblogs, sometimes news. i like meta, tsudoi and shipping. i love the faint scent of darkness lurking in the background of the G-rated version of the warring states period.

[rogumi]

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Nintama watchguide: A guide for newcomers interested in the fandom! Its main goal is to help newcomers understand the plot points in Movie 3.

JP fandom etiquette and common hashtags: Some basic fandom etiquette to help you know what's expected of you in the Japanese side of the fandom, and some of the hashtags that are used.

Guides ・News ・Official art ・Misc

[jinnaizaemon]

🍡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.

[fushikizou]

[scentedpersonahoagieland]

[komatsudaya]

Komatsuda brothers character reference sheets from 忍たま乱太郎 アニメーション設定画集

[tasogaredokijou]

S02 - E65: Ishikawa Gojuuemon [ENG SUB]

Ninjutsu Academy is on break, so Kirimaru is staying at Doi-sensei's house. There, Doi-sensei's old friend and ace thief Ishikawa Gojuuemon-san shows up. Upon seeing this super star of the ninja world in the flesh, Kirimaru makes a shocking decision.

mediafire pixeldrain

[jinnaizaemon]

I love this episode!! Arghhh!!! (insightful commentary) A few things about Ishikawa Gojuuemon and this episode in general :

Nintama has a few anime-only original characters, and Ishikawa is one of them. He made only one appearance in the anime all the way back in 1994, but is still relatively popular. This episode is a completely original story that gets no mention in the manga, but because it touches upon Doi and Kirimaru's respective backstory and character it's a very beloved one.

Ishikawa Gojuuemon His name, spelled 石川五十ヱ門 Ishikawa Gojuuemon, is a parody of the historical-figure-turned-folklore-hero Ishikawa Goemon. The 五 go part means "five", and the Nintama character has an extra 十 juu, "ten", added to his name. So if the real Ishikawa is Five-emon, it makes the nintama character Ishikawa Fifteen-emon.

Ishikawa Goemon was a bandit from the Sengoku period. Later on, he became a popular character in fiction, so it's difficult to parse which of his life events were real and which are legend ; but he's often believed to have studied ninjutsu, and his band of thieves operated in the Kansai region where Nintama takes place. The most iconic depiction of Goemon in art is probably the circumstances of his death, boiled alive together with his son for his failed attempt at assassinating the daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Ishikawa, stay away from Kirimaru!

In visual arts, many of his depictions come from portrayals of kabuki actors, so in popular imagination he looks pretty grandiose. That inspiration shows in the over-the-top design of Nintama's Ishikawa Gojuuemon, which gives him red eyeliner and a visible shaved beard. The sunglasses and piercings are definitely Nintama's signature anachronisms, though.

"Got plans to steal the Great Buddha statue of Nara, huh?" Doi likely refers to the Great Buddha statue of Todai-ji temple in Nara. At almost 15 meters tall, it's the largest bronze statue of the Great Buddha in the world. Here, Great Buddha, daibutsu, refers to the primordial buddha Vairocana.

Amazake Literally "sweet alcohol". This drink might have "sake" in its name, but it's not necessarily alcoholic. In its non-alcoholic version, it's made with rice fermented using koji, the same mold used to make soy sauce or miso, which makes the rice become naturally sweeter. It's good, I recommend it, esp in winter! Takamaru is also a big fan of it.

[jinnaizaemon]

In 30-65, Zatto gifts a bouquet of red roses to Isaku to express his thanks. It's another Nintama anachronism that expresses over the top gratitude and makes Yuki-chan have a fangirl moment (on top of errr, conveying Zatto's weirdness in general). Me, clueless, thought that there was no such thing as red roses at the time, so I was content being amused at the gap between how casually he offers that bouquet and the modern symbolism of red roses.

But looking into Chinese traditional medicine, I find out that roses have been used for a long long time, being useful to treat menstrual pains, inflammation, for relaxing purposes and such. They also carried similar symbolical value as they do now... ?

Oh....................

Zatto-san........................................

Maybe your bouquet isn't that anachronistic after all................ It's even very thoughtful for the recipient....................

I see. I understand now. I see how it is.

Everyone, please picture Zatto gifting Isaku a bouquet and Isaku reacting like "Thank you so much! I can make medicine out of this!" while cheerfully plucking each petal and leaf one by one.

[fushikizou]

Season 20 Ep 21

[jinnaizaemon]

tasogaredoki is so interesting. what do you imagine the overall dynamic is like between zatto and his subordinates?

Tasogaredoki is so, so good, despite being introduced fairly late into the manga I think they really helped shape the story and, especially for the anime and musicals since it's what I'm most familiar with, the messages it's trying to convey. It's apparent there's So Much going on with these guys that the comedy series format doesn't allow to explore in depth, but I do appreciate the tiny bits of lore sprinkled here and there and hints of backstory and characterization... I guess it adds to their mystery and charisma lol. Agh. This is an evil, evil ask designed to make me ramble, it's going to be long so I'll put my answer under a cut.

I know you watched it, but 32-63 is a required watch for anyone who wants to understand the Tasogaredoki ninja corps. They're portrayed as the strongest around, and serving a greedy, war-loving lord, but when you scratch the surface you realize that Zatto serves his lord less out of loyalty for him but more for his men... As pointed out in 32-63 he doesn't hesitate to talk back to lord Tasogare and defend his subordinates against him, but I think on top of that, especially in Ninmyu you can even see disdain from Zatto in their interactions. It's really interesting how Zatto doesn't share his lord's ideals and isn't particularly enthusiastic about warring. He never expressed interest in expanding Tasogaredoki's territory, unifying the country, or just in general being in his lord's good graces like Happousai regularly is. Zatto really gives the impression of someone who was given a role he didn't choose for himself, right? But because the men he commands are all his people, born and raised in Tasogaredoki, and because his father was not only himself involved in the corps but died protecting a subordinate, it's not like he can do anything else, really. I think it's likely that, at this point in his life, his role within the army wasn't something he necessarily questioned, and he might just have accepted it as how things are supposed to be, because of not just filial piety but tradition within Tasogaredoki folks, again, born and raised to be warriors as their purpose. Zatto was subleader (kogashira) when he saved Sonnamon's father's life and got his burns. So we know he already had subordinates and was highly regarded within the army at this point, but I wonder if his popularity was already to the point of selling Zatto plushies at the castle store? (Imagine how much of a collector item a pre-burn Zatto plushie must be in present times, omg) What we do know is that back then, Yamamoto had already promised loyalty to Zatto in memory of his father, Kousaka already adored Zatto enough to beg to join the Wolf squad instead of the squad he was supposed to be in, and after the fire occurred Sonnamon dedicated three years of his life nursing Zatto back to health to express his gratitude... so that's at least three guys we know for sure were already willing to put their life on the line for Zatto at that point.

But anyways, now he's commander (kumigashira) and has been for three years. 32-63 also makes explicit that his popularity extends to all the army and not just the Wolf squad. Again, that episode makes the general feelings of his subordinates towards him clear: there's a general suicide ideation in all of Zatto's men, where dying for his sake would be a great honor, so much that the respective families of the Tasogaredoki ninja came to hate Zatto. I do think that feeling is mutual ; on top of Zatto doing a lot of damage control for his men (defending them from their lord, all the spoiling for Sonnamon...) and, in general, doting on them (buying them sweets on multiple occasions), he's ready to take bullets for them (21-05 is one example). In present times, it goes beyond protecting just his men too ; Zatto goes through major alienation where he's able to completely erase his own needs and fears, his own self if it's to carry out his duties and protect others. I'm thinking about Ninmyu 14's spin off where he sets fire to Dokutake's gunpowder warehouse and fights against them amidst the flames despite his trauma. In Myu 6 he says "No remains, no name, no face left. That's what it means to be a ninja.", in this scene he's warning the nintama, but really is reflecting on his father's death and his own fate too (he has already lost his face, after all) ; if Tasogaredoki's ninja army was built on heroes sacrificing themselves for the cause he has no choice but to perpetuate that model doesn't he? So betraying the expectations put on him is out of the question. I do think that deep down, this whole mindset bothers him though, and he doesn't expect the same level of devotion from his men: "Commander, I'll follow you all my life!" "Just until I retire is fine." Again, Zatto feels disdain for his lord ; maybe what he wishes above all is peace and freedom for the born and raised Tasogaredoki warriors, the possibility to choose their own future instead of serving a selfish lord just to perpetuate the heroic feats of past generations (I mean, look at Sonnamon that boy should be at the club not on the battlefield). And I guess that in present times he found that possibility, or potential as he calls it, in the Health Committee and nintamas in the larger sense. That alienation he feels IS catching up to him though, I guess it started when he resumed working after getting his burns and becoming army commander, and then furthermore after meeting Isaku and the nintamas. That meeting really shook his world huh?!!

Beyond the general adoration shared by all of Zatto's subordinates I think it's worth taking a look at the individual circumstances of those we know most about... I recommend reading this because I'll be referring to it below. I mentioned it before but for Yamamoto, his loyalty isn't directed to Konnamon himself but to the Zatto family name, since he owes his life to Zatto's father. He has quite a unique relationship to Zatto amongst his subordinates and part of it is likely due to that connection to his father ; Yamamoto trusts and obeys Zatto, has even maybe a tendency to babysit him (bringing him his drink bottle... so cute...), but also probably because he's subleader/kogashira, plus older he can talk back to him and speak his mind more freely than say, Kousaka or Sonnamon. I really like that dynamic where one is higher in hierarchy in terms of military rank but the other is higher in hierarchy in terms of seniority, it offers the possibility of interesting push and pull in their relationship. I do think that if Yamamoto wasn't honor-bound because of Zatto Sr.'s sacrifice he would have strong enough a personality to clash with Zatto if the time needed it...

Kousaka is an interesting case because per se he doesn't do much in canon that would explain his strong loyalty to Zatto. Fact is that in every appearance he makes, even if he doesn't speak, he's almost always standing close behind Zatto (it's even more striking in the manga)... What we do know from the manga though is that Kousaka's father is a member of the Moon bear squad (is it moon bear or full moon squad... moon bear right? tsukinowa squad... anyways.), and thus Kousaka should have joined it when he entered the army as well, but explicitely begged to be put in the Wolf squad because it's "where Zatto-sama works as subleader!", hinting at there being complete adoration on top of the loyalty. I talked about how important filial piety is within Tasogaredoki before ; Kousaka is an interesting case because he clearly goes against it by not entering the same squad as his father, it's a symbolically charged decision that mustn't have gone without consequences for him. So if he went through the trouble of doing that, surely Zatto means something really, really important to him...? Now I GUESSSS I have to mention it because most of the discussion surrounding Kousaka is about that lol, but if we take tsudoi into account we can get a better idea of where that adoration for Zatto comes from. If Kousaka was apprenticed by Zatto in childhood, that means they had a privilegied bond and it makes sense that strong affect would come from that, especially if that apprenticeship was cut short by Zatto being out of commission for three years. Now, this isn't specified in tsudoi talks per se, but with samurai apprenticeship the word chigo evokes shuudou, the codified sexual relationship between the older instructor (nenja) and his young boy (chigo). Needless to say that if Kousaka was conditioned from such a young age in an intimate relationship with Zatto, it's no wonder that he has so much adoration for him in present time still. But this special relationship is supposed to end at the same time as apprenticeship is over, so personally I do think that Jinza is trying to both make up for the time he had lost with Zatto while he recovered from his burns, and also go beyond the deadline for their close bond...

And lastly, Sonnamon, who's arguably easier to decipher because he gets more screentime haha. Sonnamon is such an interesting case... He's as duty-bound as everyone else in Tasogaredoki, and he also has a special bond to Zatto in that he feels gratitude towards him for saving his father, but it's important to point out that in turn, Sonnamon saved Zatto's life, so the gratitude goes both ways. To Zatto, paying back debts of gratitude is important (so important that he removed the Tasogaredoki ninja army from the battle in Sonoda village for Isaku), and it shows in just utterly SPOILED rotten Sonnamon is, even if he doesn't realize it. All his tantrums and whims are forgiven, Zatto allows his sudden absences from work and even writes him leave requests on his behalf, and that's on top of buying him sweets and err... the whole plot of movie 3 which happens because Zatto covers for Sonnamon lol. It's so touching to me that Sonnamon is oblivious to the special treatment he gets ; in his head, he's as duty-bound and hardcore as any other Tasogaredoki ninja, he's ready to throw his life away for Zatto anytime, and takes pride in perpetuating the Tasogaredoki way. He has had his lot of suffering too ; nearly losing his father and dedicated three years of his life nursing a near-dead burned man back to health, all on top of the violence he must witness on the job. But despite all that, Sonnamon manages to remain... normal. The time period doesn't allow for "teen years" really, you're either a child or an adult ; just like how the sixth years of Ninjutsu Academy are often considered adults, and moments where they get to be 15 year olds are portrayed as rare, but sweet and precious... Yet, Sonnamon, being 19 year old, manages to be pretty much the baby of Tasogaredoki? And it's largely because Zatto allows it, because he gets away with a lot of things that wouldn't fly with any other soldier lol. Compare him to Kousaka who had to grow up too fast... the contrast in their personality is so interesting. Anyways, I believe that when Zatto talks about children being potential, he includes Sonnamon in that too, and even if Sonnamon wishes to be recognized as a strong warrior, Zatto seems to want to preserve him and his innocence as much as he can. I brought it up earlier but this exchange Sonnamon and Zatto have might be played as a joke but I find it interesting : "Commander, I'll follow you all my life!" "Just until I retire is fine." I really think Zatto would want nothing more for his men to be free from their duties as soldiers and from war in the larger sense, but while some might be too far gone already, Sonnamon has the potential to find another path for himself, which is probably why Zatto allows him to hang out at Ninjutsu Academy so much ; if that places represents an alternative to what is established, if it's where potential lies, maybe Sonnamon might find something for himself there that isn't solely "dying for the cause"...

But in the mean time Zatto watches over all of his men. Maybe some will find a way out, some won't, but he'll still support them all, right? If his men want to follow him until death, it means Zatto can't retire anytime soon or he'll betray their expectations... so that adoration comes at a high price. I wonder what the future holds for Zatto... at the end of the day he's scarred and disabled on top of getting old, so he'll have to retire at some point, which would disappoint a lot of people within the ninja army. Too many people would lose their purpose, and the next in line to be Commander will have very large boots to fill lol. That, or Zatto dies in battle, which would fulfill expectations and thus, wouldn't make the most satisfying story for him. Retiring... or defecting... now that'd cause drama. I'd love to see Tasogaredoki ninja feeling betrayed by Zatto deciding to do something for himself, reclaiming his identity as simply Konnamon, rather than for their shared cause. Anyways, a very long tl;dr just to say that: All of Tasogaredoki are trapped together!!!!!! It's delicious!!!!!!!!! Thank god they are stuck in a status quo of misery forever!!!!!!!!!!

[jinnaizaemon]

The Strongest Tactician is having a collaboration with the public baths chain Raku Spa next month! There will be merchandise, themed baths and food available at select venues.

The promo art features Rankirishin, Doi, Tenki and the fifth years in kabuki attire! Everyone looks so good!

Rantarou, Kirimaru and Shinbei respectively play the role of Matsuoumaru, Sakuramaru, and Umeoumaru, triplets from Act III of Sugawara Denju Tenarai Kagami.

(In kabuki, plays aren't often played in their entirety, but rather specific scenes are picked, making some more iconic than others)

Matsuoumaru (Rantarou) sides with the villain in the play, and is an antagonistic figure. He wears clothes with a pine (matsu) pattern.

Sakuramaru (Kirimaru) is a more gentle character, as his more subdued makeup shows. He wears clothes with a cherry blossoms (sakura) pattern.

Umeoumaru (Shinbei) is the intense, brave hero archetype, hence the more dramatic makeup and expression! The type of dramatic acting you first imagine when Kabuki is mentioned? That one archetype. He wears clothes with a plum blossoms (ume) pattern.

Doi and Tenki are both from Rokkasen Sugata no Irodori, telling of the life of great poets from the Heian period through a mutual poetry contest.

Doi plays the role of Ariwara no Narihira, noble poet and "the most beautiful man in the world."

Tenki plays the role of Ootomo no Kuronushi, the villain of the play who ends up caught plagiarizing Ono no Komachi's poetry. He's among historical figures who ended up being deified after his death.

I find it interesting they kept Tenki's white headscarf for this role. It adds a layer of softness to an otherwise evil character.

The fifth years all take roles from Aoto Zoushi Hana no Nishiki-e, specifically the Shiranami Gonin Otoko, the Five Thieves. As the name suggests, the play is about the elaborate schemes of a group of charismatic thieves! The umbrella they hold is from a scene where they make their entrance and introduce themselves.

Kanemon plays the role of Nippon Saemon, leader of the group. He's portrayed with ropes, anchors and compass on his clothes, symbolizing his leadership. The lack of white makeup shows his humble background and "rough" personality.

Heisuke plays the role of Benten Kozou Kikunosuke, a beautiful young man at the center of the play's most famous scene, where he dresses as a woman to steal in a cloth shop together with Rikimaru. He's portrayed with chrysanthemum (kiku) patterned clothes as a call back to his name, and a moon shaped scar on his forehead he got after being caught stealing in the cloth shop.

Hachizaemon plays the role of Nangou Rikimaru, former fisherman, most violent of the bunch, and partners with Benten Kozou in the famous cloth shop scene. His lack of white makeup shows his roughness, and he wears thunder cloud pattern clothes to evoke his temperament.

Raizou plays the role of Akaboshi Juzaburou, a young fallen samurai turned thief. In the play, after a failed attempt at stealing money, he tries to commit seppuku. He's stopped by Tadanobu Rihei, who gives him the 100 ryo he had attempted to steal earlier, and convinces him to join the band of thieves. He wears stars and a rooster pattern on his clothes, evoking his name Akaboshi, morning star. Like Benten Kozou, the white makeup signifies his soft, elegant character.

Saburou plays the role of Tadanobu Rihei, a young thief disguising himself as a ronin. He has a dragon emerging from the clouds on his clothes, evoking the idea of an evil thief being able to suddenly appear out of nowhere, and violence hidden behind a calm appearance!

I hope this was a fun read! I like the story of Shiranami Gonin Otoko, so I was so excited seeing this earlier today. Of course it's a rushed explanation, feel free to look up Youtube to see the performances I mentioned!

[jinnaizaemon]

This post showed up in my mentions again and made me realize it contained a severe mistake that I never went back to fix!

I reported on this collab as soon as it was announced, and in my excitement I made a grave, grave error in assuming that Raizou was Akaboshi Juzaburou and Saburou was Tadanobu Rihei... But to my defense, everyone did. So when Raku Spa shared the upcoming merchandise tied to the collab, a terrible event that shook the entire fandom and that shall be remembered as "The Great Rakuspa Incident" occured...

Raizou was Tadanobu Rihei and Saburou was Akaboshi Juzaburou all along!!!

The cards have everyone's respective name written on it, and who we thought was Raizou is actually Saburou, and vice versa.

It was a very in-character trick that worked so well on a meta level it left the entire fandom in shock for days after the news broke. We all fell victim to Saburou's disguise, good job boys...

[peggy-sue-reads-a-book]

Reblog to make the tummy not hurt of the person you reblogged from.

[slime-girl-cytoproct]

hey. don't cry. 42000 tummys not hurting

[tasogaredokijou]

S31 - E28: Fushikizou's Bouquet [ENG SUB]

Heita, Ayakashimaru and Magojirou from 1-ro came to ask Kirimaru for advice, telling him about how Heita received mysterious words from Fushikizou together with a bouquet of weeds.

mediafire pixeldrain

Happy birthday Heita and Fushikizou~

[jinnaizaemon]

Happi bashode! (?)

Heita's star sign is Cancer while Fushikizou's is Leo, so their birthdays being so close to one another make it likely it falls around this week, right?

But then, both bouquets shown in the episodes have daffodils, the Japanese kind with smaller flowers, which typically grow at the end of winter and signify the arrival of spring... So which one is it? Incidentally, daffodils are native to Portugal, Spain and North Africa, and were apparently brought to Japan during the Muromachi period. It makes them actually pretty new and exotic given Nintama's setting, but I guess it suits Fushikizou's tastes for the new and the foreign. It kind of makes it worse that 1-ro reduced them to weeds...

Fushikizou loves, really loves peppering English in his lines, so when he exclaims in English "Happy birthday!", it comes off as ハッピーバースデー happi baasudee! to his friends, which they try to extrapolate into the sentences given in the episode. We ended up using that romaji transliteration in the subs because Shadou-sensei saying "Happy birthday means happy birthday" was odd lol. Hopefully it works!

Nintama regularly celebrates birthdays the modern way, and the characters' ages are also expressed that same modern way. That is to say that everyone is considered 0 at birth and adds 1 year to their age every time they reach the day on which they were born. Before the Meiji era, everyone was considered 1 at birth, and one year was added every passage into the New Year ; meaning that if we were historically accurate, the first years students of Ninjutsu Academy would be considered 11 year old instead of 10.

If you wanted to write that historical accuracy into canon, it would add both to 1-ro's confusion and Fushikizou's inclination for the foreign (Just WHO is teaching this kid English?!!). But it seems the cuteness of birthday parties took priority over history!

[doisensei]

The Sacred Texts: Oniichan Week

lizzie what the hell are you talking about--

"oniichan week" as my friends and i lovingly call is a series of episodes written by series creator amako soubee, released from october 10 to october 14 in 2022. these episodes are highly revered for revealing backstories of dearly beloved characters, which, despite the show's decades long runtime, is a rare and special occasion! below i've listed and linked each episode (which are all subbed, mainly thanks to zenpouji-isaku!) i mainly created this post as a way these episodes can be easily retrieved/referenced. one day i'll write my thoughts about all these episodes.

Beginnings of Training

Shioe Monjirou is a senior who is always hard on himself. But Senzou Tachibana-senpai says that Shioe-senpai may actually be the kindest to others...

Memories of Siege

Hama-kun secretly checks on Kema-senpai. However, when Kema-senpai approaches him, he runs away.  He’s being avoided?? Kema-senpai wonders if he did something to make Hama dislike him, but…

The Reason Why I'm Quiet

Kameko has arrived at Ninjutsu Academy. Shinbei and the others are busy, so Kameko decides to clean the library with Nakazaike-senpai. There, Nanamatsu-senpai is carrying overdue books!

Roommates' Reminiscence

Caught up in the misfortune of the Health Committee once again, Kema-senpai and Zenpouji-senpai are busy tending to their wounds. As Rantaro and the others apologize, Kema-senpai says, "This is also one of my battles." Then, he starts talking about his time as a first year.

The Remembered Treatment

Rikichi comes to the Ninjutsu Academy with an injured Totsuan Bōta. When Doi-sensei sees Totsuan being treated, he remembers the first time he met Rikichi and Yamada-sensei. At that time, Doi-sensei was also injured and was treated by Rikichi.

[rogumi]

. am i crazy or is there a tomesaburou watermark on the recent official art post?

[rogumi]

The TV show あしたが変わるトリセツショー (Ashita ga Kawaru Torisetsu Show) announced Amako Soubei-sensei had drawn aged up Rantarou for them! And to our surprise... they showed the drawings in the preview lol! This post will be updated in case she drew more characters for them!

[naginomanabu-log-deactivated202]

極楽湯コラボ良かったなあ♨︎

X@manabi_zekkei

[jinnaizaemon]

This time it's an excerpt from Ninmyu 6's re-run, and it includes Tasogare Jinbei's song, A Twilight-Colored World / Tasogareiro no Sekai.

It's funny I watched Ninmyu 6's premiere a while back and it didn't particularly impress me, and when I watched the re-run recently this scene kind of left me in shock. Huh? Huh?? They did that??? I just wanted to clip and sub Zatto's speech at the beginning, but Jinbei's song number says a lot about Tasogaredoki and how he regards his men, so I included it too. And then I felt Zatto's discussion with Sonnamon at the end was important too so here it is... I feel these clips are getting longer and longer, sorry... ! Once again, many many thanks to Tome for checking some lines for me, I'm very grateful. Let me ramble a bit under the cut.

Translating lyrics is soooooo scary. Not everything is translated literally because I try to convey ideas more than words. I could justify each choice I made line by line but I doubt that'd be very interesting to read... So here are just some context notes:

I march toward dreams of supremacy 天下の夢邁進す tenka no yume maishinsu Literally "Pushing towards a dream of the world". Tenka literally means "under the heavens", but signifies the whole world and its order, so it includes the idea of society. In the Sengoku period, where Nintama takes place in, tenka is associated with the idea of unifying the country, and thus also came to mean political sovereignty. A real world example of the use would be Oda Nobunaga's personal seal, reading 天下布武 tenka fubu, "spread military force under the heavens​".) In Nintama's anime, the idea of tenka is evoked many times, notably when Dokutake is up to their usual schemes. Happousai mentions it in the first movie for example.

Dye it all in the color of twilight 黄昏色に埋め尽くせ tasogareiro ni umetsukuse Literally "fill it in with the color of twilight". I already talked about the word tasogaredoki before but let me repeat myself since it's.. the topic of the day. Nowadays, twilight is refered to simply as tasogare, spelled 黄昏, with the characters for “yellow” and “dark”. The golden hues of twilight are a good match for Tasogare Jinbei's taste for opulence. Now, go back in time and you’ll find tasogaredoki with the spelling 黄昏時, “yellow”, “dark”, and “time”. An even older spelling informs us on the etymology of the word. 誰そ彼時 tasokaredoki, and the first three characters, tasokare, means “who is he?”, and the last one, toki, is “time” again. As the day grows darker when twilight comes, people becomes indistinguishable at a distance, making one go “who is he?”. It's a time of the day associated with many superstitions, uncertainty and danger, so it's a perfectly fitting name for the castle who employs the strongest ninja army around, right?

We're all originally samurai living on Tasogaredoki domain. I'm not sure if it's worth noting but I will just in case. In popular culture, role playing games etc, samurai and ninja are often portrayed as opposites, samurai being portrayed as warriors on the frontline while ninja stay hidden. It's not necessarily wrong, but a samurai isn't a merely hired or conscripted soldier, they are part of the elite warrior class. Here, the word is to be understood as a social marker ; Sonnamon says that Tasogaredoki ninja are not hired from outside, they're born and raised into families with a military lineage, serving a specific lord, while Ninjutsu Academy trains independent ninja. He literally says "freelance ninja", フリーの忍者 free no ninja, a much more modern, anachronistic expression which evokes the in-universe activities of characters like Rikichi or Teruyo.

Nintama, and ninmyu in particular loves to mix archaisms with modern words, and while the historical words make me want to rip my hair out sometimes I find that mix so unique and charming.

I was just kidding. Usopyon! It's "Just kidding!" in a childish, playful way. A very cute word for Zatto to use lol. uso is "to lie", and pyon is the onomatopeic sound of a hop/jump. Now usagi means rabbit, so usagi pyon is bunny hop, usapyon... usopyon. ...Cute.... ... Zatto's story has awfully specific, gruesome details to disclose to little children of all people. If it's true, Zatto and his father would have in common that they greatly care for their subordinates, and of course it brings to mind episodes 21-05 or 32-63 of the TV anime. But is that story really a lie? Maybe not, since the saved subordinate in question mentions the story himself in volume 50 of the manga:

And then the lord went and kicked into that grave... Twice..................... oof. The juxtaposition of Tasogaredoki ninja willing to sacrifice their life to save each other while their lord completely disrespects them is so good. Too good!!!!!!!!!! The best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! < tasogaredoki bias showing, who would have thought from tumblr user jinnaizaemon.