Ninku
Plot. Manga. The story follows an odd-looking 12-year-old boy named Fūsuke, a powerful warrior from the Ninku school of martial arts, who command a style that mixes ninjutsu and kung fu. Before the present time in the story, the Ninku were targeted by an evil empire and the Ninku corps were formed to combat the menace. The names of the corps were taken from the twelve Chinese zodiac animals () and each captain of the corps was called the zodiac animal Ninku master (). Their powers are derived from nature and a specific dragon to their own element , with the being the almighty master of all the elements. The Ninku were disbanded by their master before the end of the war and as such, the Empire was victorious and the Ninku became vilified by the Empire as the perpetrators of the war and made attempts to eliminate any surviving members. Three years later, Fūsuke, the young former captain of the 1st Ninku corps and controller of the wind and Hiroyuki, his flatulent penguin, start a journey, searching for the other Ninku captains. However, a new group of Ninku users has arisen and are trying to take over the  world. Fūsuke and his penguin must defeat the new Ninku empire with the help of his old comrades. Anime. Fūsuke, the former captain of the first division Ninku corps journeys across the land with his pet hiroyuki and the hot headed Rihoko to find his Mother who was taken from him at a very young age by the Imperial Army leader Kochin. On his travels, he reunites with fellow captains Toji and Aicho who begin to travel with him in hopes to not only stop the rise of the Imperial Army, but to restore respect to the Ninku students. Along  the journey, Fuusuke and the others are tasked with finding and controlling the mystical sky dragons in order to become stronger. Media. Manga. "Ninku" is written and illustrated by Kōji Kiriyama. The manga started in Shueisha's "Weekly Shōnen Jump" on June 14, 1993. The series was suspended on July 11, 1994, with 53 chapters published. The manga resumed publication as "Ninku 2nd Stage" on December 5, 1994, and finished after 27 chapters on September 4, 1995. Shueisha collected the chapters into nine "tankōbon" volume from January 11, 1994, to November 2, 1995. Shueisha republished the manga into six "bunkoban  volumes from November 17, 2006 to February 16, 2007. Ninku" was published in France by Glénat between 1997 and 1998. A sequel, titled , ran in the "seinen" manga magazine "Ultra Jump" from September 17, 2005, to September 17, 2011. Shueisha collected its chapters into twelve "tankōbon" volumes, published between March 3, 2006, and November 4, 2011. Films. Prior to the anime television series, a film titled was screened at Jump Super Anime Tour in November 1994. A 26-minute film titled was screened at the Toei Anime Fair on July 15, 1995. Media Blasters's Anime Works brand released "Ninku : The Movie" with an English dub on VHS in 1998. It was later released on DVD, along with "", on January 30, 2001, as a result of a poll conducted by Media Blasters. Anime. "Ninku" was adapted into a fifty-five episode anime television series, produced by Fuji Television, Yomiko Advertising and Studio Pierrot, and directed by Noriyuki Abe. It was broadcast on Fuji TV from January 14, 1995, to February 24, 1996. Reruns of the series have been broadcast on Kids Station. The opening and ending themes for the series are performed by . The opening theme is . The first ending  theme for episodes 1 to 28 is . The second ending theme for episodes 29 to 50 is . The third ending theme for episodes 51 to 55 is . Geneon Entertainment has released the series in two DVD boxsets in Japan. The first set containing the initial 28 episodes was released on February 25, 2005 and the second set containing the remaining 27 episodes was released on March 21, 2005. In 2015, Bandai Visual re-released the series on two Blu-ray box sets, the first one on May 21 and the second on July 15. "Ninku" was also broadcast in other  parts of Asia on Animax Asia. Video games. A number of video games based on the series have been released. Two video games were launched for the Game Boy, three video games for the Game Gear, a video game for the PlayStation, and a video game for the Sega Saturn. Fūsuke is also featured as a selectable character in the "Weekly Shōnen Jump" crossover fighting game "Jump Ultimate Stars", launched for the Nintendo DS in November 2006. Characters from the series also appeared in another "Weekly Shōnen Jump" crossover smartphone game "Jumputi Heroes", released for iOS and Android in 2018 . Reception and legacy. As of September 2011, the manga had over 9 million copies in circulation. In a fan poll posted by BIGLOBE in 2012 about favorite "Weekly Shōnen Jump" anime adaptations, "Ninku" ranked 45th out of 50 anime adaptations, and 40th out of 60 series in a 2019 poll conducted by "Goo Ranking" of "’90s Anime That Deserve Remakes". John Oppliger of "AnimeNation" attributed the low popularity of the "Ninku" anime series to its lack of compelling narrative development and the sequential lengthy story arc structure that make other "shōnen" action series like "Naruto", "One Piece" and "Bleach" popular . He praised the characters and animation of the fight sequences, but considered them repetitive and he stated that the show does not encourage much viewer loyalty. In a review for the "Ninku/YuYu Hakusho Double Feature" DVD release, Chris Beveridge from Mania.com praised "Ninku: The Movie" for its fight sequences and animation, but recommended this release only to fans of either series. Mike Toole of "Anime Jump" in his "Ninku: The Movie" review stated: "Aside from the engaging story and great fight scenes, there are a few other good points about "Ninku"." "Ninku" has inspired artists such as Masashi Kishimoto  of "Naruto" fame, who used to copy Kiriyama's drawings in his studying to become a manga artist.