Shadow Warriors [TV] (1980)

There is no dispute that Shinichi Chiba, better known in the West as Sonny Chiba, is Japan’s reigning king of screen action. Throughout a nearly 50-year long entertainment career, he has always remained at the center of Japan’s martial arts and action film and television industry, as a star, choreographer and mentor or inspiration to future generations. Of his many works for film and television, none have been more enduring than KAGE NO GUNDAN, aka SHADOW WARRIORS.

SHADOW WARRIORS is a popular, mature-themed television series that began as a 1980 feature film revival of the jidai geki from Toei. In the film, third-generation Iga ninja clan leader Hattori Hanzo struggles to rescue young lord Ietsuna, the fourth shogun in the Tokugawa dynasty, from an insurrection. It immediately spawned a television series that featured Chiba in the starring role and members of his Japan Action Club (JAC) in supporting and stunt fighting roles. The series was a huge success in Japan and was aired in parts of America’s West Coast.

The series ran for four seasons with Chiba playing a different ninja role in a different era each time. Following his role as Hattori Hanzo III, he played Tsuge Shinpachi, then Tarao Hanzo and in the fourth season he played Hattori Hanzo XV. In 2003, the franchise was revived for a series of six direct-to-video features all starring Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo II, father of the Hanzo depicted in the 1980 television series.

The first season of SHADOW WARRIORS is a classic example of serialized storytelling in a period setting from Japan. Through an evolving story arc, the series evenly mixes action, drama, romance, and comedy. What it introduced to Japanese and an international audience was an in-depth dramatization of the life of ninjas previously seen only sparingly in classic jidai geki like SHINOBI NO MONO (1962). At its heart were the dynamic stunt work and choreography of JAC, as well as a desire to show the human side of Japan’s most misunderstood and maligned warriors.

Throughout the 27 episodes, Hanzo leads a team of four Iga ninjas based in the heart of Japan’s emerging capital city, Edo (known as Tokyo today). By day, Hanzo goes by Mr. Han, owner and operator of the bustling Kiji Bathhouse where Oume (Yoko Kurita), an attractive young woman works in blissful ignorance of her boss’s real identity. Hanzo’s followers all have day jobs. Hyouroku (Kenji Takaoka) keeps the fires of the bathhouse stoked but specializes in disguises. Daihachi (Shouhei Hino) is an explosives expert and sells toad oil but spends equal time chasing skirts, or should I say kimonos. Kiheiji (Junichi Haruta) is a builder and has extensive knowledge of the structures in and around Edo. He’s also the team’s most agile member. Okiri (Naomi Hase) is the only female member of Hanzo’s inner circle and works at Orin’s hairdresser’s shop. As a kunoichi she is able to use her gender to spy on suspects without drawing suspicion. That only leaves Tsutsumi Kyounosuke (Teruhiko Saigou), a doctor who occasionally joins Hanzo in his exploits. By night, these warriors don their black ninja garb and fight to protect citizens, keep the peace and defend or avenge their own.

Hanzo’s life is dominated by two women. His true love interest is Okou (Kyoko Mitsubayashi), a kunoichi, or female ninja, aligned with the rival Kouga ninja clan. She is sworn to avenge the death of her father at the hands of the second Hattori but this fact and her allegiance to the Kouga conflicts with her growing love for Hanzo. Always in Hanzo “hair” is Orin (Kiki Kirin), a homely, middle-aged hairdresser obsessed with marrying him and jealous of any potential rivals including Oume. Orin provides the bulk of the series’ humor by tirelessly pursuing Hanzo while he is constantly running away.

A key figure in Hanzo’s life is Hoshina Masayuki (So Yamamura), chief attendant to the young lord and Hanzo’s main ally in the government. Stinging from the betrayal of the government that led to his father’s execution 10 years prior, Hanzo remains ever suspicious of Hoshina and his frequent calls for aid. Yet their goals appear aligned more often than not.

Among the many enemies that threaten Hanzo and his friends, none are more dangerous or persistent than the leaders of the Kouga clan, Kisanta Mizuguchi (Kantaro Suga) and his brother Kishirou (Renji Ishibashi). The Kouga are recognized as oniwaban, effectively the Tokugawa government’s officially sanctioned secret police. Yet the very existence of the Iga ninja continues to threaten the status of the Kouga in their eyes, especially when knowing that Hanzo remains in good standing with Hoshina. This provides the basis for the Kouga’s continued effort to wipe out Hanzo and his Iga followers, even as other unrelated threats to the security of the Tokugawa regime crop up.

Each episode contains a healthy does of quality and semi-realistic ninja action courtesy of Chiba and members of JAC. The team came up with a formula that is applied to most of the episodes, whereby the viewer is teased with a few limited engagements in the first 35 minutes involving swordplay, flying shuriken, hand-to-hand combat, and explosives. Then a climax is reached where in most cases Hanzo and his entire team openly challenge their enemies for a large-scale melee. Team members use some acrobatics and hidden trampolines for exaggerated leaps and flips. All the action is generally shot in layers with good use of perspective and overlapping stunt sequences or dialogue. The standard action is occasionally broken up by unconventional sequences involving a lot of explosives, formation attacks or high-wire rigging. There is a fairly good balance of action techniques overall although a number of moves or sequences become repetitive when episodes are watched back to back.

Production values are excellent by television standards. I would say they compare favorably with Toei’s feature films. Sets are elaborately decorated and costumes are varied and colorful. Lots of outdoor location shooting is used. Bloodletting is surprisingly common and a few episodes even display dismemberment or blood geysers. I’m not sure how it is in Japan today but standards for television censorship must have been pretty low in 1980 because in addition to liberal violence there is frequent female nudity displayed in the bathhouse.

The series’ music is something that may be highly subjective to the viewer. Most of it tends to be very down tempo, especially during some of the action sequences. The same very recognizable three or four tunes are also reused excessively and this becomes a bit of an annoyance when watching the entire series over a short period of time. The producers began introducing some new tracks midway through the series which helps a little to defuse the musical monotony.

Season one could be divided up between episodes directly related to Hanzo’s evolving relations with Okou and the Kouga ninja and a collection of unrelated stories where Hanzo and his ninja take on various enemies, either for personal interests or interests shared with the government. The strength of this series rests with the arcing storyline as much of the unrelated conflict and action, while generally well crafted, is formulaic. No doubt, I can see where this series would have greatly impressed audiences in 1980 but television writing, at least on an international scale, has matured significantly in nearly 30 years and SHADOW WARRIORS doesn’t hold up as well when its mired in routine conflict that repeats itself too often. I should qualify this criticism by acknowledging doubt that the series producers, living in time when TV box sets didn’t exist, had intended for viewers to watch episodes literally back to back. Having done so, with as many as three episodes viewed in one day, I would suggest that box set viewers start out by confining their viewing to episodes directly tied in to the main story arc that pits Iga ninjas against Kouga ninjas and involves the complex relationship between Hanzo and Okou.

To best enjoy the series’ main story arc I recommend watching all the relevant episodes together in order and cutting out the one-off or filler episodes of which there are 12. To break it down, watch episodes 1-10 and then follow with episodes 20, 21, 24, 25, and 27. The rest can be watched in any order save for 14 and 15 which encompass a two-part story.

I think it is safe to say that SHADOW WARRIORS had a significant impact on the rising popularity of ninjas in pop culture during the 1980s. Not only was it a huge success in Japan but a year later, Sho Kosugi was tapped for the American actioner ENTER THE NINJA. Likewise, ninja-related flicks started appearing in Hong Kong movies like NINJA IN THE DRAGON’S DEN, as well as countless independent Asian features from the likes of Robert Tai and Filmark. Although season one of SHADOW WARRIORS has aged and isn’t up to the highest standards of today’s TV dramas or action choreography, no one has yet come up with a better balance of dynamic ninja action, robust character drama, political intrigue, and historical authenticity. It’s also a brilliant showcase of Sonny Chiba’s well-rounded skills when he was at the creative and performance height of his career, not to mention being a highpoint for Japan Action Club.

For a complete episode breakdown check out the page links below.

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Tags: assassin, bathhouse, chambara, Japan Action Club, jidai geki, kunoichi, ninja, samurai, shogun, shuriken, spy, Tokugawa —