NINTAMA RANTARO: Invincible Master of the Dokutake Ninja

The first film in the popular anime series since 2011, Nintama Rantaro: Invincible Master of the Dokutake Ninja is hitting the big screen in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto with English subtitles from March 7 - 13. An NHK mainstay since 1993, the series is set at the Ninja Academy, where Rantaro and his friends are taking classes to become shinobi. The film version is directed by Masaya Fujimori (Revenger, Kemono Jihen) and features the same voice cast as the long-running series.

In Invincible Master of the Dokutake Ninja, the first-year students of the academy face a new and powerful enemy called Tenki. A strategist of the Dokutake Ninja Corps, he is cold and calculating as well as fiercely intelligent and a great fighter.

One day, popular Ninja Academy teacher Hansuke Doi goes out to battle a ninja from a rival clan, the Tasogare Doki, and then vanishes without a trace. The Nintamas worry for Doi’s safety, especially Kirimaru, a war orphan who lives with him. At the same time, the Academy receives troubling news that their rivals at Dokutake Castle may be scheming something. The older ninjas infiltrate the castle to investigate, but they are stopped by Tenki, who looks exactly like Doi.

As the entire academy mobilizes to find Doi and protect themselves, the action scenes with the sixth-year students are particularly dynamic, and their growth and bonds are major themes of the story. In addition, scenes related to Kirimaru's past and his part-time job have been added, deepening the film’s emotional impact.