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The story
Following the announcement of a new Naruto collaboration anime aimed at overseas audiences, 5ch highlighted reactions showing that many international fans have never heard of “Ninku,” a ninja manga serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump during the 1990s. In the thread, some argued that Ninku’s anime staff became the foundation for Naruto’s production team, while others pointed out that the series was never a major hit even in Japan — sparking discussion over the gap between its reputation at home and its near-total obscurity abroad.
What people said
Masami Kurumada insisting it's a ninja manga even though they fight in school uniforms with wooden swords
Though it doesn't really feel very "ninja" anyway
The anime itself is probably going to run like 500 episodes anyway
Yeah, it was a short-lived series that got cancelled
Having cool scenes and actually being good are two different things
You'd be pissed if Arale from Dr. Slump suddenly showed up in Dragon Ball, right?
Like One Piece showing up in Dragon Ball
What about when Frieza showed up in Kochikame (a long-running gag manga about Tokyo cops)?
But Arale actually does appear in both the Dragon Ball manga and anime
Looking like Fūsuke but carrying a heavy past and being strong is exactly what tickles that edgy teenage ("chūnibyō") spirit
It's like how Yoda looks the way he does but is still strong and cool
Any Japanese person should at least recognize Fūsuke's look
Nah, I really don't know it
It's got few volumes so it'd be easy to translate, and there's an anime too
So the foreigners who did eventually find Ninku probably just didn't think it was good, which is why it's basically unknown these days
Well, a lot happened and it took forever to actually finish
But still, you should at least know what inspired Naruto
Well of course, they've got this whole "Cool Japan" (lol) thing going
Not really sure what that has to do with this
Is that even a thing people recognize in the first place?
Since Japan's side is trying to promote it, you'd think they'd know about it
That's because it was done at Kishimoto's request
I do give credit for that achievement
Lol, that's just because Nishio himself is amazing
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
“Ninku” was a ninja manga serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump during the 1990s, and the thread discusses the claim that staff from its anime adaptation later went on to work on NARUTO. However, the series’ name recognition was always limited even in Japan due to its short run, and the thread itself was split — some said “it wasn’t even that popular in Japan,” while others insisted “at least the visuals should look familiar” — so there’s no real consensus. Since overseas anime awareness depends heavily on how far official streaming and translations have reached, it’s not unusual for a work considered a domestic “source of inspiration” to have a very different level of recognition abroad. It should be noted that these are simply impressions from 5ch users, not primary-source verification of Ninku’s staff connections or its actual popularity.
*This article is composed as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyō G) thread “[Sad News] Overseas Fanboys Don’t Know About “Ninku” wwwwwwwww wwwwwwwww wwwwwwwww.”
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