Difference between revisions of "Ninja Gaiden (book)"

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* Like much of children's media on the early 1990s, ninja are not described as being ruthless mercenaries practicing espionage, but rather openly-accepted martial arts students who go to ninja training camps and love their mommies.
 
* Like much of children's media on the early 1990s, ninja are not described as being ruthless mercenaries practicing espionage, but rather openly-accepted martial arts students who go to ninja training camps and love their mommies.
 
* Ken Hayabusa, Ryu's father, isn't just a black belt ninja, but also doctor of archeology! Talk about your Renaissance man!
 
* Ken Hayabusa, Ryu's father, isn't just a black belt ninja, but also doctor of archeology! Talk about your Renaissance man!
* The cover art has been censored to remove Ryu's dagger.
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* The cover art was recreated and mildly censored.
  
 
===Ugly===
 
===Ugly===
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==Media==
 
==Media==
 +
Although the cover art looks very similar to the video game, it was actually completely repainted for this book. The remake doesn't have as much detail as the original and removes Ryu's dagger from his hand.
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<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Worlds of Power - Ninja Gaiden - Mass Market - USA - 1st Edition.jpg|1st edition, US mass market.
 
Worlds of Power - Ninja Gaiden - Mass Market - USA - 1st Edition.jpg|1st edition, US mass market.

Revision as of 10:21, 7 August 2020

First edition, US paperback.

Ninja Gaiden is a young adult novelization of the video game Ninja Gaiden published by Scholastic in July of 1990. It is the third book in the Worlds of Power series, and, like all books in the series, it is attributed to "F. X. Nine." The internal text lists the author as "A. L. Singer," which is a pen name for Peter Lerangis.

In the book, Ryu Hayabusa is a young gifted ninja who, on the day of receiving his black belt from his ninja teachers, also learns about his father's death. His father, a black belt ninja, but also a doctor of archeology, discovered ancient Japanese statues in the jungles of Peru left there 700 years ago by the legendary ninja Shinobi. A tablet at the site warns that if the statues are ever brought together in a distant temple at specific time that only happens once every 700 years, the great evil defeated by Shinobi will be resurrected. Ryu's father was killed trying to recover the statues, and now Ryu must find them and prevent the great evil from being brought back into this world.

Personal

As a child, the only Worlds of Power book I owned was Blaster Master. However, as an adult, I wanted to read more of these extremely hokey video game books, so I bought several others online. I found this book to be equally as ridiculous.

Status

I own the second edition book and have read it.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • The book includes a lot of Japanese terminology and culture, including tabi boots, straw mats, ginkgo trees, etc.

Bad

  • Like much of children's media on the early 1990s, ninja are not described as being ruthless mercenaries practicing espionage, but rather openly-accepted martial arts students who go to ninja training camps and love their mommies.
  • Ken Hayabusa, Ryu's father, isn't just a black belt ninja, but also doctor of archeology! Talk about your Renaissance man!
  • The cover art was recreated and mildly censored.

Ugly

  • The author misuses Japanese words.
    • Gaiden to describe a letter left to Ryu Hayabusa by his father. However, the real definition of gaiden is more akin to "side-story."
    • This isn't the fault of the author, but Shinobi is the name of a legendary ninja. However, shinobi is actually an alternate word for ninja. It would be like have James Bond being named "Spy."

Media

Although the cover art looks very similar to the video game, it was actually completely repainted for this book. The remake doesn't have as much detail as the original and removes Ryu's dagger from his hand.

Links

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