How "Ninja" is the 90's 3 Ninjas Movie? - Which Ninja

Click here partner.bokksu... and use my code "GAIJIN15" to get $15 off your first Bokksu Japanese snack box! Little SCREAMS 90's more than 3 Ninjas! Blatantly aping off Home Alone and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but did any amount of historical research go into the creation of these shinobi squirts?
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Research Books and Media:
Bansenshukai
Naruhodo Ninja Ozukan
The Ninja Shinobitte Nanja?
Ninja Attack!: True Tales of Assassins, Samurai, and Outlaws
This video was sponsored by Bokksu
#gaijingoombah, #ninja, #90s

[@GaijinGoombah]

Click here partner.bokksu.com/gaijingoombah and use my code "GAIJIN15" to get $15 off your first Bokksu Japanese snack box! This was a SUPREME TRIP! Honest thank you to Justin for sending me the VHS'. Despite how horribly 90's this movie was, it lead me to some good research and surprising results!

[@dejEtack]

Any chance of a Live A Live episode?

[@emmarod8746]

Gaijin I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the series but could you do a video on Lego Ninjago please?

[@shawnwykoff8744]

Have you seen Surf Ninjas?

[@insanemakaioshin]

PLease do "Which Assassin?".

[@Rick586]

You should review the Master Ninja movies from MST3k!

[@dragonbretheren]

Regarding the "a ninja never uses their power on someone weaker than themselves", the movie actually demonstrates this fairly well. The boys wouldn't use their grandfather's teachings to bully other kids, but they use his lessons of manipulating psychological and physical weaknesses to "punch up". Everyone they use their training on are fully grown adults who would otherwise vastly overpower children of their size and stature. A historical ninja would use a gun because guns are a tremendous equalizing tool that allows the small to conquer the large.

[@Autistic_Changeling]

Yeah, I'm 100% sure that was only said so the boys (kids in the audience) wouldn't use what they learned to bully other kids.

[@Joshua_Shadow_Manriguez]

Also, I'm pretty sure saying a Ninja is "Honest" was used as a substitution to fit with how kids interpret stuff in relation to the world at large, as for a kid, "Honesty" and "Loyalty" could be pretty interchangeable. Like, to their parents, honesty and loyalty are legit one in the same. At least it was in my childhood.

[@TacComControl]

It's based on a HEAVILY romanticized reading of the Bushido, which made the ridiculously false claim of how Samurai were noble and honorable and would never, EVER use their power to hurt those weaker than themselves. Which, as any historian knows, is total horseshit. The reading of the Bushido is very similar to that of King Arthur, it's a wonderful fantasy and faerie tale, but it has nothing to do with reality in any measurable way.

[@thelatterdayarbiter]

@@TacComControl and yet it is because of these fairy stories that inspire greatness in men and women alike because these myths give a glimpse of truth to serve virtue and creativity in an otherwise dreary and depressed society, having knowledge but no ingenuity, having no hope without substance

[@TacComControl]

@@thelatterdayarbiter I mean, that's an awful lot of words to be wrong, but hey, whatever floats your boat, dude. The stories are used as a framework for SUPPOSED modeling of behaviors for future people, but like all stories built on moralizing, they're almost completely ignored until someone wants to be SEEN being morally superior, rather than ACTUALLY being morally just or right. See also Bible thumpers. They'll put on a face of morality on Sunday and in their church groups, but the moment the backs are turned, they'll engage in some of the most amoral, unjust, damaging, violent behavior possible, and will warp their morality texts in whatever way possible in order to justify their self-righteous and damaging actions.

[@AkiterraVarlineau]

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING?" I'm pretty sure you have asked me that before. LOL

[@firestorm165]

Oh that was a brave thing to put in a comment section

[@sheakennedy-ordway1156]

It's also adorable and hilarious Hadorious. Ailairable.

[@williamswonderland3636]

So are you going to make more Pixel pets videos or is that not going to happen?

[@izzadk86]

It's like they do their research on ninjas, but then go in a meeting and say "how can we make all of this family friendly??" So yeah, kudos for their high points and lets laugh (since it is part comedy) at the other part

[@Plokman040]

Perfect analogy, they were likely well informed but had to make it something kids could both enjoy and parents let them watch it.

[@MelodicQuest]

I'm surprised at the historical accuracy of this movie. Of course, the core tenants of Ninjitsu are toned down for the sake of it being a kids movie. However, that is easily explained as the grandfather wanted the boys to use their skills for altruistic and selfless causes. Even the bits of combat are solely meant to distract or subdue, never to harm.

[@johannesstephanusroos4969]

tenets*, Tenants are residents of a building

[@Dreamfox-df6bg]

Also Ninja don't advertise openly that they are Ninja. Keeping the use of their skills toned down and secret is exactly that. Only rarely does a secret agent stay effective if he tells everyone that he is one. Heck, even James Bond got so well known that they 'killed' him once so that he can work in secret again. Not that it helped much, but still ('You only live twice' (1967), which was one of the starting points of the Ninja craze).

[@SergioLeonardoCornejo]

Trust me. I was as surprised as everyone here. Curiously enough either by research, coincidence, or mere admiration, many of these faux ninja are closer to real ninja than expected. Even Naruto, where ninja look... Far from ninja, kind of followed. The problem is Kishimoto wanted to focus a lot on the magical superpowers. But early in the story they did mention subterfuge and other stealth based activities were part of the business. We just never got to see the regular ninja life in that world.

[@SIMPDUDE]

Well, there is the whole 'light up the eyes' thing, but the boys had to promise to do so ONLY when they themselves were in danger.

[@Zegaexiron]

Home Alone but with more hand to hand combat. These movies were some of my baby sit movies growing up.

[@shinigamimiroku3723]

Same. XD

[@ShinKyuubi]

Finally a mention of the chestnut method of using the metsubushi, which ironically enough Shiek and Impa are VERY fond of in Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, the blinding flash of Deku Nuts being a 1 to 1 analog of using chestnuts to hold blinding powders. Extrapolate this further and they could put gunpowder into the shells and throw them into an enemy encampment's fires at night and cause all kinds of hell as the shell ether burns away or pops open inside causing a massive flash of light and noise...they could probably hollow out the nuts, put in the gunpowder, seal them up tighter, and then when thrown into the fire they would work like little grenades and send ash and embers all over the place.

[@rudycuyno171]

Ikr^^ we always here about the egg the chest nut method isn't talked about much:(

[@ShinKyuubi]

@@rudycuyno171 I guess it's cause the egg method is more readily available to the majority of people since it's as easy as going to the grocery store or owning a chicken...chestnuts are kinda rare to get nowadays in the US unless you buy them online or it's around the holidays. I've tried to bootleg a version using walnuts which look a lot closer to Deku Nuts from the various images we see of them.

[@rudycuyno171]

@@ShinKyuubi sooo true on the chest nut thing. Also now I gotta try the walnut thing^^ 🥷 also I think 🤔it kwl that gaijin goomba talked a lil about ounibi-no-jutsu ^^

[@truekurayami]

We have had the Chestnut method mentioned before, and it was talking about Shiek and the Deku Nuts.

[@rudycuyno171]

@@truekurayami sorry I shud of clarified ^^ I meant I haven't seen the chestnut method mentioned in vids I have that talk about blinding powders.

[@rept7]

The fact that the stuff they mainly get wrong about ninjas can be written off by "Their granddad wanted to teach the kids to be good people and only use ninjutsu for self defense" is really surprising.

[@omegasnake18]

Remember that Mori is mainly teaching them all this to learn how to defend themselves, hence why he tells them "a Ninja never uses their power on someone weaker than themselves", no it isn't true, but he doesn't want his boys using their training to pick fights at school, and basically tells them this to make sure they only use their training for Self Defense, which is when they do need their training. Adults know not to do that, but kids will want to show off their training and "look what i can do" and Mori quickly figured that out and told them a lie to hopefully give them enough discipline to follow that teaching, which they do! That also explains why the boys think "real ninja's don't use guns" he doesn't want the boys to use them, so he told them that lie. it pays to think "why do they think that?", because their grandfather told them that, and who says he didn't bend the truth here and there? I am also surprised you didn't cover how "Colt" actually did use camouflage right, by painting his clothes white to blend into that one room and then sneak attack when they didn't expect him.

[@Soveliss74]

Yeah, I was about to mention all of that

[@Drewtendo]

He may have even told them that as a direct result of training Snyder. Snyder used what Mori taught him for evil purposes and eventually went into arms dealing. Mori wouldn't want this to happen again, especially with his own family.

[@Soveliss74]

@@Drewtendo that's just sad that it happened. Faithful student to international criminal

[@omegasnake18]

@@Drewtendo very true

[@omegasnake18]

@@Soveliss74 it really is

[@drowningin]

I absolutely loved 3 Ninjas as a kid. I watched that movie every day. I feel bad for my mom

[@jordandutra9029]

Dang! I didn’t know you watched it every day. I did watch it as a kid, both on VHS and DVD.

[@Plokman040]

My mom was fond of the movies, she also like power rangers and Bionicle. My mom was much as I am, a lover of fantasy and writing lore. Fun fact she once helped me with a writing assignment for school when I had major writers block and took the story from Kirby's Dreamland tfrom the manual and made it into something you could show to Hal and they would only know it related to Kirby because it says Star Child. I'll never be half the writer she was but I am going to make her proud and build myself up from the ground, Toys and comics they are my dream. I hope she is happy till I meet her again in heaven.

[@LegendStormcrow]

I was the older brother that always had to watch 3 Ninja obsessed kids. Yeah... I feel bad for me lol

[@Drewtendo]

Rewatched this a few weekends ago with my dad, when I visited. Still love it all these years later!

[@EpicNerdsWithCameras]

The thing that I've always found interesting is that so many of the stereotypes pop culture associates with ninja probably came about because of what people _believed_ ninja were, which is a foundational part of deception. For example, the ever present myth about ninja wearing black falls apart when you think about it logically, but it probably never even occurred to the people who actually encountered them that black stands out against the night sky. This and because ninja tended to operate in low visibility and rely on concealment and camouflage meant the people giving the accounts would have no idea what they were actually seeing. But they _believed_ they were seeing shadowy figures, and shadows generally appear to be black, so by association they likely assumed ninja must be wearing black as well. In fact most of the stereotypes about ninja having magical powers seem to stem from what people believed was happening, or more specifically what ninja _wanted_ them to believe was happening. They wanted people to think they were duplicating themselves or running on water or teleporting in a puff of smoke, so that's exactly how we portrayed them. So when you think about it, the fact that we portray ninja so differently from how they actually were just speaks to how thoroughly they fooled us. And that might be their greatest deception of all.

[@girl1213]

Yeah, this the movie that started my interest with Ninja. For my brothers it was TMNT, but for me, it was Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum. Now that I'm *much* older, I can see why they're not really that ninja, but to be fair to myself, and to them, they were using Ninja fighting moves as one would want and expect any child in a martial arts field: self-defense. I mean these kids *aren't* living in the period where Ninja had their rise. Nowadays if they did a lot of this stuff, they'd be looked upon as criminals. Their dad isn't wrong in his dislike of his sons learning the ways of the Ninja in that sense.

[@truekurayami]

The dad's main fault though lies in him not working to help build a moral compass for when the Ninja skills and tools should be used, only the grandpa was. If the dad worked to help them build a strong moral compass towards lawful use of these skills and tools he would have been raising some of the best agents the FBI/CIA could ever hope for at the time.

[@girl1213]

@@truekurayami Yeah, but thankfully as the series goes on (bad as they became), the dad comes around to the fact his father-in-law has given them the tools and moral rights the dad himself always wanted them to have. It's not done in the way he wanted, but it's there none the less. The dad's well aware he's rather absent in their lives due to his job, and that causes jealousy, but he is grateful at the end of the day to Mori.

[@truekurayami]

@@girl1213 I don't actually remember seeing these movies as a kid as they came out when I was still a toddler so I only had this video and the comments as a reference point, so it is good to see some proper character development did happen at least on that front between Dad, Grandpa, and the Boys.

[@girl1213]

@@truekurayami It's most notable in the second movie. Dad sits down with Mom and explains his feelings to her about their sons and how much he wishes they were more like him. But Mom points out that they can never be him because they are Samuel, Jeffrey and Michael. Dad thinks for a minute and says "No, they're Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum." Showing that he's accepting them as they see themselves by referring to them by the Ninja names Mori gave them.

[@coreymyers5321]

While it is nice to see how some media do ninja right, it is just as interesting to see the mistakes in portraying ninjas as well.

[@wolfhurricane897]

This movie does show one thing all ninjas needed. Creativity. You will never find anyone more creative at the time than a ninja who could use anything in a useful way.

[@SiliconSlyWolf]

I think being historically inaccurate in the modern day, teaching a child that a ninja is honorable when you're training them to be literal ninjas, is probably a net positive. I think it's good to instill restraint while still acknowledging that knowing how to fight in self defense is a good thing.

[@DJTagz09]

Can't say how happy I am to see you cover this diamond in the rough of a movie franchises. I remember rewatching this for nostalgia's sake some time back and thinking it had a ton of ninja-isms (that you taught me, thanks btw) and you'd have a field day going over. Also I'm sure you already notice but while every other ninja had black shozuku, Grandpa Mori is the only one who pimped in rocking a blue one! Doubt it'll happen but kinda hope you expound on this with the 3rd movie when they go to Japan!

[@kurisu7885]

I actually watched this movie a lot as a kid, and loved it, it was just fun.

[@LegendStormcrow]

My younger brothers did too. I came back and rewatched it with my kid and was surprised

[@jasongarcia1886]

Me too

[@WarmLillie]

I guess the 90’s was the era of the ninja for a reason True ninja knowledge hidden

[@jonbrewer297]

It started with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I think. Though the comic was typical 80s fare (so, ultra-violent and obsessed with things like revenge and honor, but still, the heroes are sympathetic and often so are the villains), the cartoon is what most people think of. Which is pretty funny, since it's regarded with the same mixed feelings as the 1966 Batman show.

[@MrSleepy677]

@@jonbrewer297 The first two Ninja Turtles movies props were done by the late Jim Henson.

[@jonbrewer297]

@@MrSleepy677 I was referring to the 1987 cartoon series that most people think of.

[@MrSleepy677]

@@jonbrewer297 My bad.

[@brennanmarsh1572]

To be fair let's remember that even in the story it's a grandfather trying to teach his grandchildren in the modern day. I can see him leaving some things out and altering some other things in order to not teach them the wrong lesson.

[@GamingtheOtter]

KZbin finally reminded me I am still subbed to Gajin Goombah. Is it just me or if you want to watch your favorite channel you have to go out of your way to watch them? I guess I should just ring the bell at this point.

[@GaijinGoombah]

Even then the bell does little. Best I can suggest is checking subs tab or the front page of the channel. ._. Sorry... I wish I had more control.

[@GamingtheOtter]

@@GaijinGoombah Saw you at E3 back in 2019. Wanted to say hi but you looked busy. If you go next year maybe I finally get to meet you. Thanks for the reply and the video.

[@sanjaychhetri5399]

@@GaijinGoombah Sir, Yours video about 3 Ninjas Reminded me. "The Which Ninja" next episode should be about Ninjas from Shaw Brothers 1982 movie "Five Elementals Ninjas".

[@sanjaychhetri5399]

@@GaijinGoombah also search KZbin video: "What happened to Ninja Filmes? by Rossatron"

[@sanjaychhetri5399]

@@GaijinGoombah which reminds me search about make a Shinobi Oboromaru from Live A Live for your Which Ninja show.

[@tntkff9901]

Favorite scene was when Colt painted his mask white and hid in the room that was being renovated. Creepy and funny when he got them to hit each other

[@dasnurk]

I was waiting for him to mention that scene!!!

[@itselguapo]

Everyone who has even gotten a Rom pack for SNES games knows that 3 Ninjas is like the FIRST game that pops up on the list.

[@Mokiefraggle]

Oh man, 3 Ninjas. I was crazy about all things martial arts and ninja back in the 80s and 90s, so I was super into this, even if it was goofy kids' fare (after all, I was a _mature_ young lady of 11!). I always figured that while the martial arts aspect might hold up, that there probably wasn't a lot of actual ninja going on, given the boys' brightly colored gi and masks, but it's nice to be surprised. I was just in it for the fun martial arts romp back in the day, but it's cool how the connections and the research are in fact kinda there, just made super kid-friendly. Also, I know a ton of folks have mentioned in the comments about _why_ Mori might have taught them a sort of Bushido-esque code of honor that doesn't exactly bring to mind stealthy ninja assassins and spies, but I'd like to point out that the idea of then turning around and teaching the boys about the various vulnerable points on the human body is a perfectly sensible thing to still have. The 90s were still a time when "Stranger Danger" and being able to keep yourself safe were a big part of children's media, so it makes sense to throw in a little tidbit of "Here's how to hurt someone if they're trying to hurt _you_ first," into the mix, after first reminding the audience that "A ninja never uses their power on someone weaker than themselves." It's basically saying "Protect yourself if you have to, but don't be a bully." And _when_ do the boys use these vulnerable target points? When they're up against an opponent who's too tough for them to handle with the normal attacks that have handled all their other opponents up until this point. They also don't even think to use those strikes until Mori basically gives them the okay to do so, acknowledging that they will need that sort of offense to win. Up until that point, they've been incapacitating their enemies in a variety of different ways, including the comedic Home Alone chase through the house, but they never went in for the proverbial "kill" until that moment. A good demonstration of the difference between punching down and being a bully, versus punching up against a superior foe. (Also, I think their goofy "ambush" on Mori was intended to seem ridiculous, and to show how much further they actually have to go in their training. Hence the all-black gear, the direct assaults, the constant "kiai" yells that are a thing people just assume is a part of any type of martial arts combat. After all, he _does_ handily defeat all three of them, though he does regret his choice of hiding spot when he perches himself in a tree full of thorns after pulling a vanishing act on them. It's a perfect example of the "Never attack, unless you're going to win" philosophy he's trying to teach them, as they learned a head-on attack against a superior opponent will fail.) I hadn't really thought on it after all these years (has it seriously been _30 years_ since this came out? Man, do I feel old), but man, this brought back memories. Even some really oddball, kind of embarrassing ones. Like how my dad was incredibly in love with the three surf-goons' van, particularly the "Die Yuppie Scum" stencil in place of the front license plate. He had a decal of it on his motorcycle helmet as a result.

[@Big_D_Studios]

This is a great comment ✔

[@davalious5107]

I always took the grandpa telling the boys not to miss-use their skill was more about him wanting them to grow up to be good people more than good ninjas

[@Inspectornills]

dude, we need to see you do a deep dive on other ninja movies like Enter the Ninja, Ninja Terminator or New York Ninja because they seem to have some some interesting interpretations of ninjas.

[@FFVison]

I forgot Victor Wong was in this movie. Also, that said, I would say that an important aspect to ninja is invisibility. I have come to the realization that this does not mean actual invisibility, but rather being unassuming. People would suspect a lethal ninja attack from an old man or 3 kids. One would just see them as an old man or 3 kids and are not much of a threat, but they would be trained to take advantage of this assumption. Think drunken boxing style of fighting or even Yoda when he has to fight Count Dooku. You see Yoda limping along with his staff and expect him to just fall over and die, right until the point where he opens a can of whoop-ass, then immediately after the fight is over, he leans back on his staff. Strike hard, then fade back into the cover of your invisibility.

[@Big_D_Studios]

Very good point.

[@charlesinatortheponyfeatur224]

This once again makes me want to see a which ninja on Randy Cunningham, the 9th grade ninja Seems like there'd be plenty surprisingly applicable ninja knowledge transfered into a more middle school understanding

[@dejaypage1575]

Though now I am curious on how ninja Casey Jones is given he’s a long time ally of the TMNT and unlike April, has a longer standing career as a fighter.

[@acgearsandarms1343]

Did the Turtles or Splinter teach Casey any ninjutsu?

[@dejaypage1575]

@@acgearsandarms1343 depends on the version I thunk

[@derrickhaggard]

@@dejaypage1575 Correct IDW Casey is a full-fledged Shinobi like how April in the IDW comics is a full-fledged Kunoichi. Casey along with Raph, Donnie, and Jennika(back when she was human) were members of Splinter's "reformed" Foot Clan and the 4 of them along with Splinter only joined Leo's revived Hamato Clan after Karai's heel-turn followed up by her successful coup to take control of the Foot Clan away from Splinter. And speaking of April in the IDW comics she is a very intelligent, and very capable Kunoichi in fact the revived Hamato Clan's Chain of Command has Leo as the Jonin/Clan Leader to no one's surprise and April as Leo's Chunin/2nd in Command/right-hand woman.

[@Ghostlyking-tc3vu]

This movie makes me feel so damn old 👴🏿 I was 7 years old when this came out and now I'm 37 years old so yeah this movie is pretty much a time capsule of the 90s in every way and I'll admit it this movie was a guilty pleasure of mine as a 90s kid.

[@ramirezthesilvite]

No mention of the one kid painting his mask and outfit to blend in with the room in mid-renovation so he could get the drop on the goons? That was pretty ninja.

[@LuniNightwind]

Im surprised you didn't mention 'Colt' inverting his attire and painting his mask white so he could blend in with the background of a white room XD

[@Leet-iz2fz]

Here's an interesting ninja to consider: Oboromaru from Live A Live. He has numerous accurate ninja properties *and* numerous romanticized aspects, plus his chapter in the game has some real-life historical context that I won't get into here because it's technically a spoiler. While he obviously shouldn't have jumped into a heavily populated and guarded castle with purple hair and a red scarf in the first place, he makes up for it with his stealth screen that can be used to escape detection. He even evidently brought spares, given that the Prisoner and Mimic Mammet have their own screens. While ninja are not normally fighters, Oboromaru was selected by his clan to rescue a highly important prisoner from a powerful warlord, so he was likely chosen *because* he was a combat prodigy who could fight his way out if he had to. He has the option to kill everyone he meets, but the only ones he *has* to kill are cyborgs, ghosts and demons (save for a couple technicalities I'll get into later). He always has the option to run from battle unless he picks the fight first. He memorizes the password and its rotational cycle to bluff his way past any guard that doesn't attack on sight. He collects grappling hooks on ropes and makes bridges out of them. He collects and uses whatever items he can find in the field, which includes a number of consumable healing and attacking items, and can optionally recruit the thief Goemon to provide him with *more* items. There's also his exploitation of an incidental _bushin no jutsu_ with the optional party member Mimic Mammet, a robot that replicates Oboromaru's appearance and attacks him. Upon defeat, the Mimic Mammet joins your party, so now the warlord Ode Iou has two brightly-colored ninja with identical silhouettes and similar, yet slightly different techniques running around his castle, making it difficult to distinguish the real Oboromaru from his robotic doppelgänger. For the last story point, there's how Oboromaru bypasses situations where he would otherwise be forced to fight - letting others do the dirty work. When you make it to the top of Ode Castle, you have to fight a group of guards stationed at Ode Iou's chamber, UNLESS Mimic Mammet is with you, in which case it freaks out and self-destructs, killing them without Oboromaru's direct influence. Similarly, when you confront the warlord himself, you may have to fight his retinue of personal bodyguards, unless you *haven't* already freed the Prisoner, in which case he breaks out on his own and deals with them before officially joining the party. Now it's time to analyze Oboromaru's combat techniques. Though they all deal damage, they also all have additional effects, save for his most basic technique, Shadow Slash. - Cross Flare forces enemies to turn, inhibiting their ability to attack you (as they have to spend a turn reorienting themselves to face you unless they have AoE) and interrupting charged moves. - The animation of Fireflies' Wake depicts Oboromaru creating two shadow clones that leave trails of flame. It deals low damage, but creates an area of hazardous Fire Tiles that chip away at enemy HP, while Oboromaru can acquire footwear that let him absorb all such tiles and heal himself. - Waterspout is the first definitively supernatural technique, conjuring a geyser to flood an area. It places water tiles, which damage enemies and can be absorbed by Oboromaru using the aforementioned footwear, just like fire tiles. - Firefall is pure "ninja magic", a stronger AoE fire attack than Fireflies' Wake that doesn't create tiles. - Poison Mist is a weak AoE that can inflict poison status in addition to a debuff to evasion. - Shuriken Barrage is a multi-hit attack with long range. The individual hits are weak, but you can rack up damage from a safe distance. - Phantom Butterflies is a charged ability that conjures a swarm of butterflies to inflict both poison and sleep. It's another multi-hit, too. - Dustveil inflicts the Snare status, preventing enemies from moving or using leg-based attacks, on top of debuffs to Special Attack, Accuracy, and Evasion, summarily neutralizing a human enemy's threat for the most part without necessarily killing them. - Wind Slash is more ninja magic nonsense, albeit possibly inspired by kamaitachi, and it reduces both Physical and Special Defense. - Bloodlust is a move that heals Oboromaru based on the damage he deals to an enemy with it, on top of inflicting debuffs, making them weaker and himself stronger at the same time. - Winter's Chill inflicts paralysis and a Speed debuff using ice shards. - Phoenix Call invokes the image of a might phoenix that smashes into the battlefield to deal massive fire damage. - Demented Spin grabs an enemy and spins them around, inflicting the unique Vertigo status that forces them to continue spinning for a handful of rounds, leaving them open as they have to be facing you to target you with directional attacks. - Deepest Dark is Oboromaru's penultimate technique, and it does exactly what you'd expect a real ninja to do if he had to fight his way out: go straight for the vitals. It deals massive damage and, if that's not enough, has a chance to inflict Petrification, a status that functions as instant death for enemies (and you, but only if you don't have any party members with the ability to cure it). - Oboromaru's ultimate technique, Death Blossom, is a charged AoE that lets you target a specific point away from yourself and hit everything in a 3x3 space centered on that point. It inflicts massive damage and has an animation that depicts shadow clones, implying Oboromaru is zipping all around the targeted area as fast as he can go. Lastly, there's the matter of the damage types of his techniques. Out of 15 damage types in the game, Oboromaru's moveset contains 8 (technically 7 since Demented Spin, his only Martial attack, deals basically no damage), about half of them. This gives him a very versatile moveset, and during the final chapter of the game, starting as him and recruiting the Earthen Heart Master or Masaru Takahara gives you access to every damage type except Divine, Demonic, and Void with just two party members, letting you fill in the other two slots with whomever you please and have almost zero bad matchups.

[@SpareGalaxy]

I'm surprised they called out how the black outfits while they were in a low danger area training but didn't mention the high danger painted room where he does match his surroundings

[@Cortaal]

I am so glad you checked out 3 Ninjas. I have asked a few times since Which Ninja was announced. I understand it is responsible to point out the stereotypes the movie used, pointing out and appreciating the authentic similarities there are was what I hoped for in checking out this movie. Thank you for putting in the time and effort towards Which Ninja!

[@Plokman040]

I was honestly just bingeing GG's content recently and hoped to see my favorite 90s ninja movie without turtles on the list and when I saw Little G on the thumbnail and his face I was thinking "oh no, it's another Bason like anger trip" thankfully I think the first movie got a 7/10 a C cause let's face it there isn't one Fuma Shuriken here. I admit the second film is more meh considering Mori had a name change and all but that final movie was terrible to me it is a set of two films. Funny thing both movies I like here have a Mario cameo you can see him in "Kick Back" during the Tokyo Montage and they have the then new Mario Bro. 3 the second film oddly if I calculate correctly was filmed just before the Pokemon boom!

[@mightymanatee5342]

Mori Tanaka's actor has quite a few "B" Movies under his belt. Big Trouble in Little China, Tremors and more. RIP you glorious man.

[@godzillajdo]

Funny you should mention how the boys used whatever they could find to make weapons. In one of the sequels, the boys were making their own weapons to help rescue their friend's father and they've used a lot of the techniques you'd expect ninjas would do. They used a toy snake with a rattler to scare the guard from his post, they've used barbed wire as makibishi to slow down their perusers and used slingshots and nunchucks they've built on their own. Say what you will about a lot of the slapstick antics and gags, but they know how ninjas uses the environment to their advantage.

[@Wright805]

Correct. That was in 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up.

[@carlitosway2487]

As a 90s kid, I have to say " I loved watching the 3 Ninjas" It was funny, exciting, educational, and the movies had great plots from beginning to ending. I am going be honest if you were a kid in the 90s and didn't enjoy watching movie 1 and 3 you had a very sad childhood in 90s facts! The 3 Ninjas is a 90s treasure that only kids from that era could only understand.✌🏾❤

[@anarchond]

Also, at the end there, Grandpa looked like he was wearing a dark blue ninja outfit

[@danielmoore381]

Not to mention grandpas ninja uniform at the end (while shiny) was Blue

[@MultiBoxingKid]

Wow, what a blast from the past. I’m more familiar with the sequel where they went to Japan, didn’t even know it was a sequel, really liked it too.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

"A ninja is honest and good" can be interpret as "towards your ingroup". Using every dirty trick in the book against the enemy is the whole point of being a ninja, but being dishonest against your comrades is unacceptable.

[@Tiadracor13]

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention that Grandpa Mori's ninja garb that he puts on is blue. Showing that Hollywood actually got it right for at least one character. Although I could also see that bloating the run time a bit. Also I loved this movie as a kid. Only saw one of the sequels and I was a big fan, but the first still holds a special place in my heart.

[@FrostyRonin]

Grandpa was a real ninja, especially on the ship.

[@QuantumCharger]

Alright I know that home alone got cut, but I would love to see an episode on Macgyver. Maybe it can become a psudo side series of these shows that use similar techniques or something but Mac was the primary thing I thought about during my reading of the bansenshukai

[@tylercoddington1990]

The Wano Kuni arc just finished and there's enough content to make several videos about it and characters

[@dasnurk]

You didn't mention the renovation room scene, and my heart died a little bit...

[@mattwo7]

12:18 I was just thinking of this while finishing FF7R, the heroes tried to sneak into Shinra by riding on the roof of a Shinra van. Almost made it but once they got to the parking garage and passed inspection, as soon as the van started moving again, Barret, who served as the comic relief, fell off. Oh Barret... (Wonder if he was comic relief in the original (especially after the then-optional character, Yuffie joins), still need to play it, I have the remaster on Steam). It was Cloud's idea and Cloud kept insisting on stealth to the point when Barret suggested they go in guns blazing (a general attitude of his I'm entirely certain was in the original due to his righteous indignation toward Shinra), he absolutely burned the guy alive with "Why did we bring you again?"

[@kazekamiha]

A little comedic, but not hugely so, IIRC.

[@browncow5210]

Barret had his goofy moments here and there, but they usually played him pretty straight as the tough guy with a soft side for his adoptive daughter. Yuffie was largely the comic relief.

[@Cocofangrox]

This was my favorite ninja movie growing up. Surf Ninjas was also quite good.

[@allanbaker3958]

"HEY! I FOUND WALDO!!!"

[@avremirine8986]

"Bend your knees, Use your arms!"

[@TBustah]

15:47

[@kylenguyen7371]

1:22 Love the choice of BGM for maximum 90's nostalgia. 😆 For the uninitiated, the theme comes from TMNT: Turtles in Time, specifically the stage theme "Alley Cat Blues".

[@IxodesPersulcatus]

I'll have to agree with the movie somewhat: you don't *need* ninja techniques to take down a weaker opponent. They are intended for defeating a much stronger opponent by putting them at as much disadvantage as possible.

[@dracone4370]

I've suggested the Phantom a few times for a future episode of Which Ninja?. With a publication that arguably is the oldest in superhero history, being published for the first time all the way back in February of 1936, Lee Falk created an icon that influenced almost every masked hero that came after his first appearance (including, among others, Batman). But yeah, a guy running around the African jungle in purple doesn't seem all that practical for a shinobi archetype, except there's one little thing about The Phantom that makes him quite possibly one of the shinobi in popular media, in my opinion. The Phantom is known by the monikers of the "The Ghost Who Walks" and the "The Man Who Can Not Die," which feed into a clever control of information that he is, in fact, the same person from all the way back in the Age of Sailing when the truth is that the Phantom is a mantle passed from parent to child (usually Father to Son but there are actually some instances in the Phantom's publication history where a sister of the Phantom took up the mantle when the son was not yet old enough and the Phantom's mission at that time needed to be completed on a short timetable). The Phantom is trained to the physical peak of what it means to be an ordinary human, part of his training is blending into the environment to use it to his advantage, and he often has other tricks up his sleeve. Part of the Phantom's attire is a pair of old signet rings, one of which is modeled after a skull, and this is important. The "Skull Mark" is used by the Phantom to mark those who are villains that fight with him in close proximity, he literally punches the mark into the skin of the target, but it's actually not a feat of strength; in one comic we see the one who holds the mantle of the Phantom training his successor in a few of the comics, and the mentor tells the mentee that the mark is actually caused by an allergic reaction induced by the sap of a very specific plant because if someone were to actually punch with enough force to stamp the skull mark into someone, they would be hitting with enough force to break bones. While the Phantom today has his iconic purple and black suit, there was a time during the transition to color when he actually wore blue, and in some cases, it is shown a Phantom in-training wearing a blue outfit. Now, as to why the fully realized Phantom wears purple, I'm not aware of the in-universe reason. And the Phantom gets even more ninja in the limited series from the 1990s called Phantom 2040, where the Phantom of that time lives in a dystopian world where New York City has turned into a cyberpunk megacity called Metropia, with some of the equipment he has built into his suit. I realize the Phantom has a lot of material to go through, given his literal history in our world, from the comics (original, Marvel, and DC; yes, there was a time that Marvel and DC each had publication rights to the Phantom), to the 1996 movie, to his appearances in animation. But I think you are possibly doing this series a disservice by not doing a video (or possibly more, there is a lot of material to comb through) on The Phantom, given that he literally influenced and inspired other characters that have videos in this series.

[@mightymanatee5342]

One part you didn't cover was the part immediately after the Home Alone reference. Colt turned his clothes inside out and spray painted his mask to make them all white to blend in with the room that was in the process of being painted at the time. This would be a great example of a Ninja using camouflage in his environment... if Colt didn't blow his cover shortly after.

[@MisterX867]

I was actually shocked they didn't mention that, it was the most probable "Ninja-esque" moment in this movie.

[@kylenguyen7371]

13:45 "..., lord knows what else." Remember, Gaijin, that Coffee Mate is a combustible material. That's right, my fellow viewers, you can get a handful of powdered Coffee Mate and make it explode!

[@Witherbrine98]

Interesting. Never heard of this film until now, but I'd love to check it out myself soon. Now, for a suggestion for the next Which Ninja: Oboromaru from Live A Live. I dunno about you guys, but honestly, having the game make you go through without killing a single human being or massacring the entire place altogether really opens the game up, and the fact that you can also desert the mission you were assigned is really interesting. Sure, ninja magic is there, but there's also the mechanic of Oboromaru that's literally the Hannon-gakure-no-jutsu, the act of hiding behind a cloth! For all the cheese of that chapter, I'd say the Edo Chapter does a good job representing a ninja mission.

[@kazekamiha]

I would suggest Garret from the Thief Series.

[@jasongarcia1886]

If you do decide at least watch the first three of the movies

[@derrickhaggard]

@@kazekamiha Yes Garret would be perfect. To give an example in THIEF aka Thief 4 Garret chastises his one-time hot-headed pupil Erin when she kills a guard when it wasn't needed with their brief argument over the incident being this: Garret: "Why did you do that he was just a lone guard?! There was no reason to take his life." Erin: "He was a guard I had to kill him to prevent him from summoning reinforcements. And besides you've probably killed guards during jobs." Garret: "That's just an excuse you're using to justify killing someone who could've been innocent. And another thing a skilled thief would've broken in, retrieved the item requested by the client, and made it back out with said item and gotten to safety before that guard would've noticed and summoned reinforcements. And finally we are thieves not assassins, and certainly not hired mercenary killers if we have to kill enemies it's only when we have no options left, or if we're giving no other choice understand."

[@eyeln9ne696]

My past has finally come back to haunt me. I was obsessed with this movie as a 90's kid... embarrassingly so. I thought i could banish it from my mind as an adult, yet here it is.

[@generalguy64x]

I'd love to see you cover the Ninjas from League of Legends. Shen and Zed. And Kennen and Akali, I guess (Their trait in Teamfight Tactics was call Ninja)

[@GustavoGiacomett]

ive watched your stuff since 2015, as i far i as know you have changed the views i had since i was a kid and got first in contact with japanese culture with some of 90's chessy movies. thank you bro, for everything you have brought to me culturally.

[@06yarbrougha]

I've been praying for this episode ever since my daughter was old enough to share this movie with and I had that "other than the tropes...." thought... I'm so glad he had the same thought-processes. and almost point for point, I had seen most of the merits and flaws he did. I just didn't have the historical and cultural knowledge to make the video anywhere near as informative as GG did here. But it does show that he's a good teacher if I can spot all of the same things and simply don't know the cool background info.

[@realjoecracker]

It would be safe to say why earlier ninja would or would not use guns. The advantage is that you have a lethal shot if you could get the shot to hit it’s target a few 100 years before the near perfectly accurate rifles that would appear in the American Revolutionary War. The disadvantage is that it gives away your position, smokeless gun powder wasn’t invited until the 1860s and the noise they would make would have to be loud. Especially if it was just one of them.

[@squeethemog213]

The fact this had as much legit ninja stuff as it did is as fascinating as the fact this movie had sequels! Awesome work man 😁

[@GenericProtagonist118]

Hey if you want the closest thing to a ninja in the middle of "HIGH ACTION ROMANTICIZED" ninja and culturally accurate ninja there is a character from the manga/anime pro-wrestling series called Kinnikuman that features a character called... The Ninja. Yeah their name isn't creative but I recommend looking into it because despite the setting and the type of abilities he has he's actually rather accurate.

[@LadyLunarPhoenix]

I believe that at the time and more so today, shows directed towards kids were required to present certain messages. Bullying is bad, love, friendship stuff like that and the idea that Ninjas 'don't use guns' would be under that particular umbrella. I watched kids trying to do jump kicks like the TMNT crew, and I live in the south where guns aren't locked away. If you get my meaning. So its interesting to see what they slipped in correctly.

[@adventurejedi2490]

Great video, Gaijin. Here's some other characters you could cover: Gray Fox (Metal Gear) Daredevil (Marvel) Vega (Street Fighter) Storm Shadow (GI Joe) Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins/Shadows (DC) Corvo (Dishonored) Raizo (Ninja Assassin) The Onmitsukidō Stealth Force (Bleach)

[@blazedj]

This is one of my favorite movies from my childhood. I remember renting it from Blockbuster the first time. I was disappointed that the Ninja Turtles wasn’t available,but my dad suggested this, and that disappointed quickly dissipated. I’d still get the Turtles over it if it was available, but I’ve never rented a movie more.

[@jesuscornstorm737]

Just from that clip montage in the beginning, the 90s are already far better than where we are rn.

[@treny33]

After watching the Which Ninja on the TMNT, a Which Samurai on the original Usagi Yojimbo is going to be good. Watching this video and remembering my childhood watching the two movies honestly made me think huh. Also the futurama clips of Bender laughing were on point.

[@AutisticPhantomOtaku]

I'm so glad that you got around to finally doing a Which Ninja on this movie. I hope you plan to do the other three. In any case, keep up the good work.

[@acme52]

I genuinely can't remember how many times I watched this movie as a kid but I'm surprised that he didn't say anything about the scene where the boy camouflages himself in white in the white room to appear invisible

[@kylenguyen7371]

5:42 I must respectfully disagree here with Little G; Ninjutsu, when looked through a lense of being a system of techniques for espionage and subterfuge, widely incorporated a number of martial arts - from unarmed taijutsu to swordsmanship and other weapon combat styles - to aid not only with self defense, but battlefield survival. Facilitating the ability for a ninja to disguise themselves as a foot soldier or other military official, instruction on use of common battlefield weapons let ninja "walk the walk" just as effectively as they did "talk the talk". This was often less common practice within systems of Ninjutsu at varying points of history, and likely gained more steam as nobles and feudal lords grew wise to the idea of employing ninja as either mercenaries or loyal agents. Remember, ninja also trained on sciences often overlooked by warrior castes; astronomy, chemistry (the manufacture of explosives, as an example), and philosophy were taught among ninja along with more conventional skills and field craft for their trade. Swimming, principles of stealth, horsemanship - these were all skills that Ninjutsu incorporated to mold practitioners (often from the moment a child learned to walk) into the seemingly supernatural agents we associate with the ninja today.

[@TsulaAngenati2292]

I love as soon as Little G mentioned snack, he had a traumatic flashback of Bokksu and was then vibe checked by Bokksu yet again

[@Big_D_Studios]

This is one of my all-time favorite videos on KZbin (This is also my first-ever comment on this site btw). But you made a couple of errors: At 4:08, the only 3 Ninjas video game ever made was based on the second movie, 3 Ninjas Kick Back. At 11:43, you said that after the basketball game, we learn that they were the sons of an FBI agent out to capture Snyder. Actually, the game happened after that fact was revealed. Also, like others have mentioned, you looked over the fact that Colt painted his mask white to blend in with the room that was being painted and that the ninja outfit Grandpa Mori wore was blue. Still, a very good and knowledgeable video. ☑

[@mattwo7]

1:32 The SNES came out in 1991, an _entire year_ after 3 Ninjas was released. My control freak of a next door neighbor had one though (his dad was buddies with one of my uncles so they were friends of the family, he took after his dad in all the wrong ways...) and it was a part of my childhood because of that (not as much as my Genesis or my dad's SNES though). I lowkey let him push me around just so I could play with his stuff. Including his Learning Company computer games (mostly Reader Rabbit and Super Solvers/Seekers), loved the heck out of those as a kid. Had another friend I actually was friends with who had Pajama Sam and Put Put games too (he also had a Genesis).

[@blainerodriguez279]

OMFG!!! I am so glad you did this episode!!!!! After watching your channels for years, you made me look back more objectivly and I realized the first movie actually got some stuff right. Thanks again for making this episode after I have been hoping for it for years.

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

Gaijin, I just learned the director of 3 Ninjas franchise was the same director who him and his wife were kidnapped by North Korea and forced to make movies including the legendary Pulgasari. You gotta talk about this! I know you're focus is culture, but man I think it's too important not to mention.

[@dustinmccollum7196]

This is one of my favorite movies as a kid.

[@pmgmsd]

Thank you for covering this. I didn't expect it ask for this, but I definitely group up watching this every day for probably a year growing up. I understand now how over the top it was, but when I heard you were analyzing it, I couldn't wait to see the nuggets you would pick out from it with your keen eye.

[@bubbee9382]

I would think that with the release of Live A Live remake, you would do one of these on Oboromaru, the playable ninja of Twilight of Edo Japan chapter.

[@ONEPEAKFRFR]

I used to watch that movie to death when I was a child

[@GaijinGoombah]

RIGHT!?

[@grandadmiralzaarin4962]

Does this mean...Surf Ninjas will also get an analysis?😏😁

[@danielcarpenter1489]

Just watched the sequel with my kids. I grew up on this slapstick family film, and my kids loved it just like I did 😆 Still dumb, still funny

[@jamesbgood25]

This is one of the movies that inspired me to take martial arts when I was a kid. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart

[@GreycatRademenes]

Next we need the Gaijin's to watch *Surf Ninjas!*

[@LaserAgentRyan]

I remember three movies like this but it was them going to Japan to help their grandpa, then help land not be turned into a waste, then help stopping a hostage situation at a theme park

[@Gochen86]

Oh, god, this video brought back so many memories! At one point, I actually owned a copy of all four movies. And honestly, I never thought I'd see them covered here at all.

[@KageDarkAngel]

Man... the first two 3 Ninja movies bring back such good memories of my childhood.

[@TheKingCosmic]

I remember binging your culture shock videos on game theory when I was in like middle school, glad to see you’re still making videos!

[@nicholaspokorny5058]

The only 3 Ninjas I saw were the amusement park one, and the one with the Native American Reservation.

[@ninjagregshow9423]

Here's a scene you glossed over; Jeffrey (colt) goes into a room his mom is renovating, he turns his robe inside out, and paits his maks white to blend in with the white sheets allover the place, and after giving the three stooges a good scare, curls up into a ball and let's them trip over him

[@FriedGamer]

I’m glad somebody was mailing these to you. Thought that I’d have to do that

[@Frigid_Knight]

Oddly enough, I saw the second movie, but not the first. Rather strange though is that earlier this week I randomly remembered the movie and wondered if Gaijin Goombah would ever do a Which Ninja video on it. Two days later I got a notification on my phone about this video. I'm a little freaked out by that.

[@ernestoportillo5136]

I'm a 2000s kid, and I friggin' loved 3 ninjas at high noon. it was an awesome movie that i watched many times with my brother. Granted I didn't remember the name of it until I hear you say it on the unexpectables, or remember most of anything that happened. BUT it was a good movie.

[@Mobysimo]

You know, I'm shocked Gaijin still hasn't covered Raiden, despite him being in the title sequence since the start. Yeah I know Raiden isn't much of a ninja, I think he more fits the idea of a Ronin, but still

[@wrath2501]

Wow, the nostalgia is over 9000. This was an amazing look into this movie. Thanks for putting it in a whole new light. also.... *MORE ORKS!*

[@codysonic1]

Oh hey never expected you to be here

[@wrath2501]

@@codysonic1 I am everywhere. And nowhere.

[@afrikasmith1049]

To be fair, taking advantage of the weak isn't ideal to teach kids. I bet even Ninjas in the past would agree with this. Don't want future generations going around and acting like bullies instead of disciplined warriors earning a living and protecting your family and comrades.

[@RSBrowning74]

Before the video. Me: The movie was Cheesier than a slice of pizza and the 3 Ninjas was not good Ninjas. After the video Me: Ok fine, there was some reference to ninjas that actually good. But it is still cheesier than a slice of pizza.

[@GaijinGoombah]

No argument there!

[@BlueEyes274]

Funny thing is I was born in 91 and NEVER heard of this movie

[@MicroSausage]

1992 3 Ninjas is still my favourite childhood movie. Still throw it on for the nostalgia

[@adrianwoodruff1885]

15:17 Ancient ninja:I wish we had that. Forcing them to go to the bathroom, or not paying as much attention trying to hold it in. And, not as many bodies to be discovered means less alarms, and lower security. That makes getting to mission target much easier.

[@renatocorvaro6924]

I loved this movie as a kid. It's terrible. I still love it. Thanks for covering it.

[@cameroncaraballo4834]

I wonder if you might consider another ninja trio to cover for this show. Mike, Owen, and Amanda from Nickelodeon's "Supah Ninjas". Admittedly more comical, there have been instances where it felt like the three behaved like ninja. At least historically accurate techniques being concerned. That one might be tougher to find clips for, but it could be something to look up after you did this one. But this one was cool too. I never watched the movie myself, but it is interesting how much accurate shinobi techniques and practices were true to form in even the 90s, as proven with Magic Treehouse prior.

[@komodrasteel8019]

Time for a ninja Bounty Hunt (Pseudo Aussie Accent)