Ninjai
Encyclopedia
Ninjai: The Little Ninja is a Flash cartoon
. It is available on the Ninjai Gang website and on G4's Late Night Peep Show during Midnight Spank
.
Question: Is Chapter 12 the end?
Answer: No.
The latter two chapters caused unrest within the Ninjai community after taking longer than expected to complete. This problem was due to a lack of animators able to complete the animations. The 11th chapter was released on the 25th of January 2005. Because of the bloodthirsty and demoniac attitude portrayed by Takagawa and his Ninja in the 11th episode, the Ninjai Gang added warnings and produced a special "mellow version" for Ninjai's younger audience. The 11th chapter showed a large shift in the quality of the animation.
Chapter 12 was also announced next to Chapter 11, and released shortly after on the 15th March 2005.
Apart from confirming a sequel to Chapter 12, the Ninjai Gang have made no other announcements about the remaining installments in the series.
In December 2008, the Ninjai gang had said that they are coming out with a feature length movie that will be high quality and appear in theaters.
The Ninjai Gang site also has a dozen games created and submitted by various fans.
A wikispace was created by one of the veteran member of the boards, Cogline (aka Robin), as an information center for the long history of the Ninjai Message Boards. The space is appropriately called Ninjaipedia
's martial arts double in Kill Bill
, is a member of the Ninjai Gang
Flash cartoon
A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash or similar animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many...
. It is available on the Ninjai Gang website and on G4's Late Night Peep Show during Midnight Spank
Midnight Spank
Midnight Spank was the former name of a late-night block shown on G4. This block was originally based on G4's recent venture to Williams Street Studios, pioneers of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. G4 Late Nights was made originally to offer the similar content like that of Adult Swim...
.
Overview
A creation of The Ninjai Gang, Ninjai is a web-based animation that centers around the life of Ninjai, a young samurai/ninja who is traveling the world looking for meaning and purpose in his life. Along the way, his path is crossed by characters like rogues or people who help him. Ninjai's best friend is 'Little Bird', a cute and brave sidekick with whom Ninjai often converses.Chapters
Currently there have been 12 chapters released by The Ninjai Gang. There was speculation on whether the twelfth episode would be Ninjai's last performance. However, the Ninjai Gang made an announcement declaring the continuation of the series. From the FAQ:Question: Is Chapter 12 the end?
Answer: No.
The latter two chapters caused unrest within the Ninjai community after taking longer than expected to complete. This problem was due to a lack of animators able to complete the animations. The 11th chapter was released on the 25th of January 2005. Because of the bloodthirsty and demoniac attitude portrayed by Takagawa and his Ninja in the 11th episode, the Ninjai Gang added warnings and produced a special "mellow version" for Ninjai's younger audience. The 11th chapter showed a large shift in the quality of the animation.
Chapter 12 was also announced next to Chapter 11, and released shortly after on the 15th March 2005.
Apart from confirming a sequel to Chapter 12, the Ninjai Gang have made no other announcements about the remaining installments in the series.
In December 2008, the Ninjai gang had said that they are coming out with a feature length movie that will be high quality and appear in theaters.
Fans
The Ninjai Gang have a large community of avid fans on their message boards, the veteran posters of which refer to themselves as Ninjaiers.The Ninjai Gang site also has a dozen games created and submitted by various fans.
A wikispace was created by one of the veteran member of the boards, Cogline (aka Robin), as an information center for the long history of the Ninjai Message Boards. The space is appropriately called Ninjaipedia
- Quentin TarantinoQuentin TarantinoQuentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
has stated that he is a fan of the series
Controversy
This cartoon started several years ago and has taken a very long time in coming out with new episodes. They were unable to provide enough bandwidth to show the cartoon for a while, so later on they teamed up with Atomfilms to distribute their content. This cartoon is generally not for children and should not be viewed by anyone under 13 without consent of an adult or parent.Characters in the series
- Ninjai: The titular protagonist of the series is a boy of unstated age with a nearly unnatural skill as a warrior. Not much is known about his identity, he seems to suffer from a form of amnesiaAmnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
and is on a quest to find out the answers about himself. "Who am I?" "Where do I come from?"
- Little bird: A small, grey and brown canary(?) bird that Ninjai has befriended. It is a loyal friend, who cares very much about Ninjai staying with the young boy even in the Swamp of Ghosts.
- Dotoshi of the Blue Lotus clan: A mysterious man that Ninjai met during his travels, aiding him by helping him cross a river. His, or his clan's, purposes are unknown, and he has not re-appeared yet.
- The Mad inventor: An eccentric man that swears in most of his sentences. Ninjai helps him out of an unseen contraption that managed to snag him with a rope, leaving him hanging by his feet from a tree.
- Maha: An old man that Ninjai is seeking. He is last believed to have gone to the Keoki mountains, leaving the village of Yamuri behind. He is not yet seen, by name, in the series.
- Takagawa of the Red Dragon clan: An evil, broadswordBroadswordBroadsword may refer to:*Broadsword , a military sword used by heavy cavalry during the 17th to early 19th centuriesIn more modern times, it has also been used to refer to:...
wielding man. He is a sadistic, mentally unstable villain in the series who takes pleasure in others' pain.
- Sakuri of the Red Dragon clan: Apparently Takagawa's right hand man. Though he speaks little, he displays loyalty towards his master Takagawa and apparently enjoys the evil works about. He has a mystical tattoo of a snake that can move off of his arm and into a stringed weapon to allow it to fly, hone onto and attack targets. The serpent that forms from the union of weapon and tattoo is killed in chapter 12 by Ninjai, causing grief to Sakuri. It is unknown if there is, or will be, long term effects of this form of severance.
Appearances In Other Media
- The Christian Deathcore band A Thousand Times Repent featured the exchange between Ninjai and the first two demons he encounters in the first episode. It is as follows: "You are demons, I think the only thing you will taste today is, your own blood." The CD is titled, "Virtue Has Few Friends" and the Song is titled, "Curses! Another Shape-Shifting Wraith!"
- The psychedlic trance artist Raz (Raz Kfir) also featured the exchange between Ninjai and the first two demons he encounters in the first episode. It is as follows: "You are demons, I think the only thing you will taste today is, your own blood." The April 2011 CD is titled, "Static Noises" and the Song is titled, "My Path". There's samples of Ninjai throughout the other 3 tracks and one track is titled "No One Knows I'm Ninjai"
KarmaKula
The Ninjai website also features KarmaKula, which is the Ninjai Gang's live-action action/adventure series made exclusively for the web. Some people on the Ninjai Message Boards speculate that KarmaKula is the story of grown up Ninjai. Newest developments as of January 2009 on the Ninjai website allow you to add Karmakula as a friend on such sites as Myspace and Facebook.Known members
Satya Bellord, who was Uma ThurmanUma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress and model. She has performed in leading roles in a variety of films, ranging from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action movies. Among her best-known roles are those in the Quentin Tarantino films Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill...
's martial arts double in Kill Bill
Kill Bill
Kill Bill Volume 1 is a 2003 action thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two volumes that were theatrically released several months apart, the second volume being Kill Bill Volume 2....
, is a member of the Ninjai Gang