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Nintama Rantaro Anime's New 30-Minute Special Premieres on May 4
posted on by Alex Mateo
NHK revealed that "100% Yūki! Dokutake Dejiro wo Yattsukero no Dan," the new half-hour special special in the Nintama Rantaro anime franchise, will premiere on NHK Educational on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. JST.
In the special, Rantaro, Kirimaru, and Shinbee are taking a stroll and come across a beautiful field, and the students of the ninja academy then decide to take a field trip there. However, the field is actually full of poisonous mushroom traps.
The anime will have five new episodes depicting the five most popular duos from the franchise, which fans will decide with a popularity poll that began on March 31 and will go through May 8. Fans can choose between Rantaro, Kirimaru, Shinbee, Yamada-sensei, and Doi-sensei as the first choice, and pair them with another set of characters for the second choice.
The 30th series for the anime franchise premiered on NHK Educational on April 4, kicking off a 30th anniversary celebration for the franchise.
Soubee Amako's original Rakudai Ninja Rantarō ninja gag manga centers around Rantarō, a ninja apprentice at an elite ninjutsu academy in historical Japan. As elementary students, Rantarō and his ninja-in-training friends are called "Nintama" — a contraction of the words "ninja" and "tamago" ("egg").
The manga inspired the Nintama Rantaro television anime in 1993, and the NHK-E channel is still airing the 10-minute anime every weekday. The manga also inspired two anime films and two live-action films. Takashi Miike directed the first live-action film.
Sources: NHK, Comic Natalie
