Sho Kosugi, ''Shadowland Magazine'', Vol. 1, #5, 2012 Source
If you weren't a child of the 80s, you probably don't remember how ninja crazy the 80s were. There were dozens of (mostly cheaply produced) ninja films and Sho Kosugi was involved in many of them (he starred in, I believe, 20 films and a few TV shows, primarily 'The Master'). He's skilled in multiple different forms of martial arts and became a source of inspiration for people interested in ninjitsu, aikido, and karate. As a young lad, I loved his Cannon ninja films, 'Enter the Ninja', 'Revenge of the Ninja' and 'Ninja III: The Domination'. Kosugi is probably why I took karate lessons and read Black Belt magazine and thought the ninja aesthetic was cool (I was 8 when 'Enter the Ninja' came out in 1981 so what the hell did I know?) I was inspired, having come across this piece on Kosugi, to revisit some of those ninja films from the 80s. Do they hold up? They do not. Did I have fun watching any of them? Some. It also depends on what you mean by "fun?" In hindsight, many of the films that were part of the "ninjamania" of the 80s were textbook examples of Orientalism. Most offered superficial understandings of "eastern" ideas and of the martial arts involved even when helmed by skilled martial artists. The acting was usually laughable. The plots were thin at best. It was all about the action scenes but, unfortunately, most of the films could barely deliver. At least Kosugi's films were relatively decent on the action front (for the time). I came across a piece discussing the making of the film 'Ninja III: The Domination' that you might want to watch if you've ever felt the inclination to see that film (or rewatch it). (I actually never caught how much 'Ninja III' lifted from 'Flashdance' for instance.) Not much else to add to this barely thought out entry.
