Igano Kabamaru (??????

) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yu

Azuki. The eponymous protagonist is a naive young ninja from the Iga province
called Kagemaru (absolute shadow), nicknamed Kabamaru (hippo's mouth) for his
insatiable appetite. After the death of his strict grandfather and ninja sensei,
Kabamaru moves to Tokyo with one of his grandfather's acquaintances. The plot deals
mainly with Kabamaru adjusting to an urban lifestyle after spending a childhood in
the mountains, him developing feelings for his guardian's granddaughter, and how he
finds himself caught up in the rivalry between two private schools.

Igano Kabamaru has been adapted to an anime series and a live-action film.

Plot
Kabamaru was orphaned at a young age and raised by his grandfather Saizo Igano
(?????, Igano Saizo), who trained Kabamaru and another young orphan, Hayate Kirino
(????, Kirino Hayate) in the ninja arts. Kabamaru is in his adolescence when his
grandfather dies. At his funeral, he meets an elderly lady called Ran Ookubo (????,
Okubo Ran). Saizo was Ran's first love and he had asked her in a letter to take
care of his grandson when he died. Kabamaru follows Ran back to Tokyo, where he is
to stay in her house and attend Kin'gyoku (Golden Rules) School, of which Ran is
the headmistress.

On arriving, Kabamaru meets Mai Ookubo (?????, Okubo Mai), Ran's granddaughter, who
has lived with her ever since the death of her parents. Kabamaru takes a liking to
Mai, but she finds his coarse manners and endless appetite embarrassing and
repulsive.

Kin'gyoku School and Ogyoku School have been bitter rivals for almost half a
century, largely due to the rivalry between the wealthy and influential families of
Shuu Maejima (???, Maejima Shu), head of the Ogyoku student council, and Shizune
Mejiro (????, Mejiro Shizune), a student council member at Kin'gyoku. Kabamaru
becomes an unwitting pawn of the student council members in their various
machinations.

Complicating matters is the return of Kabamaru's onetime friend, now rival, Hayate.
Hayate reveals to Kabamaru that he used him in order to escape from Saizo and leave
his past in the mountains behind. He urges Kabamaru to forget their friendship and
stay in the mountains.

Maejima extends his control over the student councils of other schools, forming
secret "assault squads" there and enlisting members of criminal gangs to do his
dirty work. Shizune enlists Kabamaru to help him in the fight against Ogyoku. Mai
visits Ogyoku School to personally talk to Maejima and ask him to stop, but
Maejima's goons mistake her as Shizune's accomplice and capture her. News of Mai's
kidnapping and Shirakawa's injury reach Shizune, along with a one-on-one challenge
from Maejima at the docks. This time, both cheat by bringing their gangs with them
and an all-out confrontation between the students and staff of the two schools
ensues. This is cut short when Hayate challenges Kabamaru, revealing himself as
Mai's kidnapper.

Kabamaru's rage temporarily overcomes him, and they begin fighting. During the
fight, Kabamaru strikes Hayate in the shoulder and causes him to fall in the water.
Just as everyone thinks Hayate has drowned, he emerges from the water, along with
grandfather Saizo, who faked his death to introduce Kabamaru to the second stage of
ninja training and the responsibilities of an adult. Hayate and Kabamaru, now
reconciled, decide to return with Saizo to the mountains to continue their
training, but not before Mai expresses her newfound feelings to Kabamaru and they
promise to meet again.

Characters
Kabamaru Igano: Ryusei Nakao
Young Kabamaru: Masako Nozawa
Mai Ookubo: Mai Tachihara
Hayate Kirino: Hideyuki Tanaka
Young Hayate: Eiko Yamada
Shizune Mejiro: Akira Kamiya
Saizo Igano: Kenichi Ogata
Young Saizo: Ryusei Nakao
Ran Ookubo: Eiko Yamada
Suu Matsuno: Masako Nozawa
Vice Principal: Yusaku Yara
Kaoru Nonogusa: Youko Asagami
Shirakawa: Daisuke Gori
Shu Maejima: Akio Nojima
Futaba Mejiro: Kenjiro Ishimaru
Kaname Mejiro: Shigeru Chiba
Media
Manga
The Igano Kabamaru manga was serialized in Bessatsu Margaret from 1979 to 1981,
with total 12 volumes of books released.

In 2015 a new manga sequel of Igano Kabamaru was released, titled "Igano Kabamaru
Sorikara" (???????????) serialized in "Monthly YOU" magazine.

Anime
The anime series was produced by Group TAC and Toho. The 24 episodes were broadcast
in Japan by Nippon Television between October 20, 1983, and March 29, 1984, every
Thursday from 19:00 to 19:30.

Despite that in Japan there was low popularity, it acquired immense popularity in
Greece. One main reason for this was the low quality of English-based dubbing often
called "so bad that it's actually good", but it nevertheless impacted the growth of
anime in the country.[1]

No. Title Original air date

1 "The Appearance of a Fascinating and Earnest Ninja"
Transcription: "Omoshiro Majime Ja Ninja Sanjo" (Japanese: ???????????)
October 20, 1983
2 "The Unexpected Star!?"
Transcription: "Omoigakezu ni Ninkimono!?" (Japanese: ?????????!?) October 27,
1983
3 "One Fight! Yakisoba D"
Transcription: "Fight Ippatsu! Yakisoba D" (Japanese: ??????!????D) November 3,
1983
4 "Sweet-Mai-Sen Kabamaru"
Transcription: "Sweet Mai Sen Kabamaru-kun" (Japanese: ????????????) November 10,
1983
5 "Mejiro Discovery Story"
Transcription: "Mejiro Hakken Den" (Japanese: ?????) November 17, 1983
6 "The Worrysome Transformation Game"
Transcription: "Omoinayande Henshin Game" (Japanese: ??????????) November 24, 1983
7 "The Yakisoba Runner's Loneliness"
Transcription: "Yakisoba Runner no Kodoku" (Japanese: ???????????) December 1,
1983
8 "Anecdote! The Pair from the Village of Shinobi"
Transcription: "Gaiden! Shinobi no Sato no Futari" (Japanese: ??!???????)
December 8, 1983
9 "So Enchanting! Kaoru The Kunoichi"
Transcription: "Bakasemasu! Kunoichi Kaoru" (Japanese: ????!??????) December 15,
1983
10 "Jigsaw Love on Christmas Eve"
Transcription: "Seiya no Jigsaw Rabu" (Japanese: ???????�??) December 22, 1983
11 "Secret Formula! The Antidote of Revival"
Transcription: "Hiden! Ikikaeri no Myoyaku" (Japanese: ??!???????) December 29,
1983
12 "Dokkiri, the Guardman"
Transcription: "Dokkiri the Guardman" (Japanese: ????�?�?????) January 5, 1984
13 "Don't Hug Shizune on the Bed"
Transcription: "Bed de Shizune o Idakanaide" (Japanese: ????????????) January 12,
1984
14 "Chance Encounter Starlight"
Transcription: "Meguriai Starlight" (Japanese: ???????????)January 19, 1984
15 "Shocking in Iga"
Transcription: "Akirechikku in Iga" (Japanese: ??????�IN�??) January 26, 1984
16 "Justice of the Siblings of the Shinobi Village"
Transcription: "Shinobi no Sato no Kyodai Jingi" (Japanese: ?????????) February 2,
1984
17 "You Are Troubled, Mai, LOVE"
Transcription: "Nayamimasu Mai Love" (Japanese: ????�??�LOVE) February 9, 1984
18 "The Man Who Calls Upon the Storm!"
Transcription: "Arashi wo Yobu Otoko!" (Japanese: ?????!) February 16, 1984
19 "Mai's Detective Story"
Transcription: "Mai no Tantei Monogatari" (Japanese: ???????) February 23, 1984
20 "Classified First Love! Ran and Su"
Transcription: "Maruhi Hatsukoi! Ran Su Hyo" (Japanese: ???!??�???) March 1,
1984
21 "Secret Technique! Mystery of the Yakisoba Baseball"
Transcription: "Hijutsu! Yakisoba Yakyu no Kai" (Japanese: ??!????????) March
8, 1984
22 "Raging Mai's Jack"
Transcription: "Arashi no Mai Jack" (Japanese: ????????) March 15, 1984
23 "Showdown in a Night Fog! A Man's Choices"
Transcription: "Yogiri no Taiketsu! Otoko no Kejime" (Japanese: ?????!?????) March
22, 1984
24 "That One Day Which Is Called Sayonara Day"
Transcription: "Iwayuru Hitotsu no Sayonara Day" (Japanese: ????????????DAY) March
29, 1984
Film
A live action film based on the plot of the manga and the anime was released on
August 6, 1983, directed by Norifumi Suzuki. It starred Hikaru Kurosaki as
Kabamaru, Kumiko Takeda as Mai, Sanada Hiroyuki as Shizune and Sonny Chiba as
Saizo.

The plot centers around a five-part competition between Kabamaru representing

Kin'gyoku School, and Hayate representing Ogyoku School. The five events are
falling from a height on a balloon (Kabamaru wins), swimming (Hayate wins),
throwing shuriken while horseriding (Kabamaru wins), food eating contest (Hayate
wins - Kabamaru is disqualified because he missed an olive) and remaining on the
roof of a car driven by a student of the opponent school (Kabamaru wins after being
promised 1,000 plates of yakisoba noodles by Shijune).

References
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t??? ??�????? d?a??????, t?? aste?e? f???? ?a? ta t?a?e?af??? ???? st? �et?f?as?".
Mihani tou Hronou (in Greek). 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2022-08-13.
External links
Igano Kabamaru at IMDb
Igano Kabamaru (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia