Tubi Streams the Classic 1969 Ninja Kamui Anime
Tubi is now streaming the first 15 episodes of the 1969 anime The Legend of Ninja Kamui, based on Sanpei Shirato’s manga. The episodes are available in Japanese with English subtitles.
The series follows the rogue ninja Kamui as he wanders the country, constantly fending off enemies who want him dead. It is a foundational work of the ninja genre rather than the more recent action series of a similar name.
The original anime aired on Fuji TV across 26 episodes in 1969, and the story later inspired an anime film in 1971 as well as a live action movie in 2009.
Its roots run deep in manga history. Shirato launched the original Kamui manga in the legendary alternative magazine Garo in 1964, where it ran for 21 volumes, followed by spinoff series in the years after.
The manga has reached English readers over the decades through publishers including Viz Media and Drawn and Quarterly.
My take: It is wonderful to see a genuine classic like this made easy to watch, and for free no less. Kamui is a cornerstone of ninja fiction, so this is a great chance to revisit where so much of the genre began.
