After more than twenty years of airing, Nintama Rantarou's cast is enormous.
This page will describe the more featured characters.
Ninjutsu Gakuen
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The Main Trio
Rantarou Inadera
Voiced by: Minami Takayama
The protagonist of the series. Born into a low-ranked ninja family, he currently attends Ninjutsu Gakuen in order to become an Elite Ninja. While responsible and dedicated, he often goofs around or gets dragged by his friends' antics and gets into trouble along them. He is part of the Health Commitee and has inherited their bad luck strike as well. A good runner with swift feet and a talented artist to boot.- Affectionate Nickname: While not as often as the other way. Kirimaru calls him Ran-chan.
- Badass Adorable: Rantarou is cute-looking, and can kick ass in some instances.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Gender-Inverted. Even though he's cheerful like his two best friends, Rantarou is able to think carefully and is more laid-back than the other two.
- Bespectacled Cutie: A male example. He wears round glasses and looks a lot cuter.
- Blind Without 'Em: Played straight in the manga, where it's stated that he suffers from horrible astigmatism. The anime greatly tones that down, as his eyesight changes from poor to almost normal according the episode.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Has one with Kirimaru, notable because they can exchange roles. Both are the Boke to Doi-sensei's Tsukkomi. Referenced in the last episode of the first season.
- Combat Medic: He's training to be both a ninja and a healer.
- Determinator: Even his favorite word is 'Effort'.
- Fiery Redhead: Not helped by his manga incarnation.
- Fragile Speedster: Very fast, 100 mtrs. in 10 seconds, not so durable.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Has a short fuse in the manga and earlier seasons.
- Image Song: Nintama no Uta and Nintama Go Go Rakudai Song. Both with Kirimaru.
- Meaningful Name: His name comes from the japanese word for astigmatism, Ranshi.
- Pungeon Master: Very prone to this.
- Red Is Heroic: Has auburn hair and is the main character.
- Sequential Artist: His hobbie is drawing pictures of everything that surrounds him.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: He actually looks rather cute.
Kirimaru Settsuno
Voiced by: Mayumi Tanaka
The coprotagonist and Rantarou's best friend. He is an orphan, lost his parents during a war. Attends Ninjutsu Gakuen but most of the time he prefers to focus on his many part-time jobs. Miser and greedy, he doesn't do anything for nothing, and always is thinking of ways to earn money. He is often searching for dropped coins and goes into a rush if he sees or senses one. Part of the Library Commitee.- Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!: Will drop anything he'd would be doing at the moment if he catches the glimpse or shine of a dropped coin or something similar.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Has black hair in the manga and first episodes of the anime, then it becomes indigo.
- Affectionate Nickname: Rantarou often calls him Kiri-chan. At first, it was out of exasperation, later fully became this.
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Kirimaru is quite stingy especially when it comes to money and he can be aloof sometimes, but he still cares for others, as seen during his part-time jobs and taking care of children. He is also very brave, not afraid to kick people's asses.
- Boke and Tsukkomi Routine: Has one with Rantarou, he even used the classic paper fan. Both are the Boke to Doi-sensei's Tsukkomi. Referenced in the last episode of the first season.
- Conveniently an Orphan
- Cute Little Fangs: Has two of them, almost always appear during his money rushes, but he can also use them for attacking.
- Deadpan Snarker: Aside from focusing on money and part-time jobs, he is a funny person who isn't above provoking others with his sarcastic comments, often ends with him getting knocked.
- Fatal Flaw: His greed can be used by the enemies against his friends and allies.
- Icy Blue Eyes: When drawn in a more realistic style, his eyes are cerulean, contrast with his aloofness.
- Image Song: Nintama no Uta and Nintama Go Go Rakudai Song. Both with Rantarou.
- Money Fetish: He likes to collect and count money.
- New Job as the Plot Demands: Has many jobs and often the plot kicks off when he's performing.
- Only in It for the Money: He'd do anything for a single coin, even things he stated that he won't do.
- Parental Abandonment: His parents died in a war long ago.
- Pungeon Master: Likes adding them to his speech.
- The Scrooge: He suffers, even cries, at the thought of spending/wasting money.
- Stepford Smiler: In "The Strongest Strategist of Dokutake Ninja Corps" light novel, Doi-sensei suddenly goes missing for weeks without any news. Despite the Academy lies to the kids that Doi-sensei went for a long mission, Kirimaru happens to overhear the truth, and can only cry under his blanket every night, worrying the young teacher who's also his parent-like figure. In front of his friends, though, he acts like nothing happens.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Does this to perform certain jobs, his skills are outstanding.
- Wingding Eyes: His turns into coins, whenever money is mentioned or referenced.
Shinbei Fukutomi
Voiced by: Teiyu Ichiryuusai
- Beauty, Brains, and Brawn: Shinbei is definitely the most cheerful and happiest, but at the same time, he's dumb and ditzy.
- Big Eater: Can eat ANYTHING
- Fatal Flaw: He is little and tubby so he is not very good at ninja agility
- Keet: He's more energetic than his two best friends, who can flip-flop between being energetic and serious.
First Years Class Ha
Shouzaemon Kuroki
Voiced by: Mami Matsui (S1-S11); Saori Higashi (S12-current)
- Only Sane Man: He's much more responsible and mature compared to his carefree classmates.
Isuke Ninokuruwa
Voiced by: Chie Sato
Danzou Katou
Voiced by: Hiroko Emori
His family runs a carriage service using horses, making him an excellent rider, he shows an especial connection to said animals. Wears in a horse-strolling style, sleeves rolled up and without hakama. Rough, manly and with a very reliable disposition. Often gets into trouble while working in his family business. Part of the Accounting Committee.- Adaptational Dye-Job: His hair is black in the manga. Purple in the anime.
- Animal Motifs: Horses.
- Born in the Saddle: His family uses horses in their business. He's been trained to ride from a very young age.
- Determinator: He works real hard to improve his messy handwriting.
- Doppelganger: He looks a bit similar to Kirimaru.
- I Want to Be a Real Man: A goal of his. In the manga.
- The Illegible: His caligraphy is downright terrible. Has brought headaches to all who tried to descipher it.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Him and Seihachi, his father's employee.
- Interspecies Friendship: He and his family's horses.
- The Leader: He plays this role, whenever Shouzaemon is absent.
- Meaningful Name: Named after a famed ninja master.
- Moody Mount: His horse, surely, has a temper.
- The Reliable One
- Swapped Roles: Their similar looks allowed him and Kirimaru to perform this.
Heidayuu Sasayama
Voiced by: Akiko Muta
Comes from a martial arts family, He joined Ninjutsu Gakuen to develop more intuition. Loves developing contraptions and setting traps, has an entire room filled with them under his bedroom, which is also full of them. Mischievous and stubborn, a bit cynical. Wants to become a teacher in Ninjutsu Gakuen. Belongs to the Etiquette Committee.- Booby Trap: Loves those and has set lots in his bedroom.
- Genre Savvy / Genre Blindness: He knows, most of the time, where his traps are set. At others, he falls to them as well.
- Brutal Honesty: Can be a little too frank.
- Bungling Inventor: Some of his devices are prone to malfunction.
- The Cynic: Tends to point out the flaws of almost everything.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When he forgets when his traps are set. This happens
- Gadgeteer Genius: He's excellent at both devoloping and repairing contraptions.
- Height Angst: He's the tallest in his class. Sometimes it gives him trouble.
- Meaningful Name: Named after Mochizuki Heidayuu from the legendary Koga Ninja School.
- Trap Master: Sometimes he uses his traps to be this.
Sanjirou Yumesaki
Voiced by: Hiroko Emori
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In season 11 episode 44, He wants to become as serious as possible since smiling doesn't make him a good ninja and ask Shadou-sensei to give advice and be a ninja role model for him. It did not go well as expected.
- Berserk Button: Definitely NOT comedic. Losing to Rantarou in running causes him to sulk and sad, yelling at others when they talk to him.
- Break the Cutie: Downplayed. There aren't any moments where he is traumatized nor emotionally broken in anyways. However, he does show his insecure and sad expression, to the point of lashing out and venting his frustration at others. This is rather blatant when he seems to be upset about losing to Rantarou in running multiple times no matter how hard he's trying and because of this, he sulks a lot and pushes others away. Despite this, his friends always cheer him up, including the dokutamas as well. Only one particular episode that plays with this trope. See Be Careful What You Wish For above.
- Didn't Think This Through: Again, see Be Careful What You Wish For trope above. Other than that, he also have some moments too.
- Perpetual Smiler: He usually smiles a lot, though when he's sad, it wasn't Played for Laughs.
Kingo Minamoto
Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe
Born into a samurai family, he enrolls late in Ninjutsu Gakuen following his father's advice. He is training to become a first-class swordsman, often obsessed over his training routine despite having notable skills. Straightforward and honest with a firm voice, can be very literal-minded sometimes. Part of the Physical Education Committee.- Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga, his bangs were blonde. The anime turned them brownish.
- Disappeared Dad: Played with. His father faked his death in order to allow him become stronger.
- Heroic RRoD: Is prone to this when he overdoes his training.
- Kid Samurai: Comes from a samurai family.
- The Klutz: In his debut episode. He had cornered the whole class and their teacher in the furo, ready to strike with his sword, then he steps on a soap bar and gets knocked out after slipping and clashing with a wall.
- Literal-Minded: Not so often, but has his moments.
- Meaningful Name: He's named after Minamoto no Yoriie's posthumous name.
- Odd Friendship: With Ibuki, from the Dokutama.
- Only Sane Man: Tries to play this role among his committee's members.
- Samurai in Ninja Town: Due to his heritage and studying in a Ninja Academy.
- You Killed My Father: His debut episode revolves about him searching for his father's murderer.
Kisanta Yamamura
Voiced by: Tomiko Suzuki (S1-S11); Saori Sugimoto (S12-S29); Hitomi Ohwada (S25, ep. 38-S25 Special Program, S29-current)
- Keet: He's just like Shinbei, very happy and energetic.
Torawaka Satake
Voiced by: Yuko Kobayashi
Other First Year Classes
Denshichi Kurokado
Voiced by: Yuko Sato
Denshichi is a student from Class I and is often seen with his best friend Sakichi. Similar to his classmates, he takes pride in belonging to the I class, his top grades and theoretical knowledge and is not hesitate to rub this into somebody's faces, but he is not the best at facing challenges, as he does not know what to do when things do not go according to his plans.- Alpha Bitch: a milder and male version. He takes great pride to mock and look down on other students, particularly the main trio, though unlike most of the examples, he isn't cruel or malicious.
- Academic Alpha Bitch: Other than his looks and a bit of popularity, he also receive good grades.
- Book Smart: He normally reads books which is the reason why he is so smart in his class.
- Butt-Monkey: Even moreso than the trio. This boy always gets hurt, scared shitless, and cries a lot whenever he is involved into practical situations.
- Dirty Coward: Played for Laughs. Due to his lack of experience in physical combat, he tends to get scared and nervous, running away instead of fighting.
- Fiery Redhead: Played With. He has a red hair and gets angry at times, though he seems to be rather mature in most of his appearances.
- Girl Posse: Gender-reversed; with Sakichi, Hikoshirou and Ippei altogether.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: Denshichi is so smart that his grades are higher and have good looks, something that other students are lacking a bit. While not to the extent as the upperclassmen, he still goes out of his way to show off these qualities to the main trio, but deep down, he seems to be worried.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite being boastful, he does have his moments of kindness towards others. Just read the Lovable Alpha Bitch trope below.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: Even though he comes off as a loud and proud person, he nonetheless has a heart of gold and forms friendships with other students, including Class Ha so far. What's even more interesting is that unlike most of the leader bullies, who hurt others for no reason and tend to boss their own posse around, Denshichi is very empathetic, deeply cares for his posse and friends and even helping other students, like upperclassmen and teachers. In fact, he and his own posse have more hidden depths than those typical mean students who mercilessly bully others, making him one of the few genuinely good people and is far from being a bossy and toxic jerkass.
- Those Two Guys: He is mostly seen with his best friend, Sakichi unless given a main focus on himself.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Sakichi and other students, as they compete with one another, but their rivalry isn't as intense as the upperclassmen.
Sakichi Ningyou
Voiced by: Kikumi Umeda
Sakichi is a student from Class I and is often seen together with Denshichi. Like Denshichi and the rest of his classmates, he is quick to brag about his good academics to the Class Ha's faces, but is also quick to give up due to not being used to the outside environment.- Beta Bitch: He's Denshichi's best friend and partner-in-crime when it comes to showing off his intelligence and much like Denshichi, he tends to make fun of the main group but not in a cruel way.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: He has thick blue eyebrows with lines in it, though this downplays in the manga.
- Book Smart: Similar with his classmates, he reads books a lot hence why he's so smart.
- Butt-Monkey: He suffers just as bad as Denshichi for comedic purposes.
- Tsurime Eyes: His sharp eyes and personality fit this trope.
Hikoshirou Imafuku
Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga
Ippei Kaminoshima
Voiced by: Komatsuna Sakato
- Nice Guy: Out of all of his classmates, he's definitely the nicest person and compared to his friends, he isn't always showing off his pride that much.
Fushikizou Tsurumachi
Voiced by: Mayumi Oota (S11); Touko Aoyama (S12-S16); Komatsuna Sakato (S16-current)
- Blue with Shock: All of the first-year rogumi students have constant 'gloom lines'
Heita Shimosakabe
Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe (S10-S16); Sayuri Yoshida (S16-current)
- Blue with Shock:
- Bring My Brown Pants: Heita frequently pisses himself out of fear because he is scared of almost everything
Magojirou Hatsushima
Voiced by: Junko Shimakata
Ayakashimaru Ninotsubo
Voiced by: Chie Sato
Second Years
Saburouji Ikeda
Voiced by: Urara Takano (S1-S6); Fuuko Shinomiya (S6-current)
A Second Year from I-Class. Born into a fishermen family, making him excellent at swimming and water combat techniques. Likes to tease and prank the First Years, often going so far, which has made them to dislike and consider him the worst senpai. Despite that he can be kind and supportive to them, sometimes. Part of the Explosives Commitee.- Adaptation Dye-Job: Has brown hair in the manga, olive in the anime.
- Brutal Honesty: He often speaks without filter and says too much.
- The Gadfly: His pranks are often found funny, by others than the victim.
- Good Is Not Nice: Sometimes he tries to be a good senpai and help his juniors, not without picking on them.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He loses his cool quickly when ignored.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Gaining his juniors appreciation is a main goal of his.
- Innocently Insensitive: A few times he doesn't realize that he's hurting others.
- It Amused Me: Most of his pranks are for his own fun.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his pranks towards the main trio. He's fond of them.
- Nice Guy: Strangely when he's not pulling pranks on the first years, he's this.
- Practical Jokes: Has many in his arsenal.
- The Prankster: It's the resident one in this campus.
- Troll: What his victims think he is.
- Troubled, but Cute: He often hides his worries about his juniors disliking him beneath his trolling attitude.
- We Want Our Jerk Back!: The main trio prefer him teasing them than being downright nice.
- When He Smiles: He claims not knowing how to smile and sometimes tries to practise how to fake one, looking weird in the process. But when it comes naturally, it makes him look adorable and others like him better.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: When drawn in a more realistic style, his eyes are shown to be golden.
Kyuusaku Nose
Voiced by: Atsuko Mine (S1); Ai Sato (S2-S8); Jin Domon (S8-current)
- Early Installment Character-Design Difference: In earlier seasons, his face is slightly different.
Sakon Kawanishi
Voiced by: Yasuhiro Takato (S3,5,6,12); Urarako Suzuki (S9,13); Yukiko Amada (S16-current)
Shirobei Tokitomo
Voiced by: Kokoro Kikuchi
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Shirobei isn't the brightest of the bunch, but he is very kindhearted
Sekito Haniwa
Voiced by: Ayumu Murase
- Black Eyes of Evil: Sekito isn't evil at all, but his eyes are completely black
Third Years
Magohei Igasaki
Voiced by: Hiro Yuki (S1-S3); Isshin Chiba (S3-current)
- Animal Motifs: Snakes
Samon Kanzaki
Voiced by: Kōki Miyata
- No Sense of Direction: He gets lost very easily.
Sakubei Tomatsu
Voiced by: Touko Aoyama
Sannosuke Tsugiya
Voiced by: Mari Maruta
- No Sense of Direction: Same reason as Samon.
Tounai Urakaze
Voiced by: Sumomo Momomori
Kazuma Santanda
Voiced by: Hiro Shimono
- Out of Focus: He has such a weak presence that the main trio frequently forgets his name
Fourth Years
Takiyashamaru Tairano
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi
- Companion Cube: Takiyashamaru has a throwing ring named Rinko
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The boastful and narcissistic Red to Kihachirou's quiet and chill Blue
- The Rival: Constantly fighting with Mikiemon
Mikiemon Tamura
Voiced by: Shinobu Adachi
- Companion Cube: A Cannon of all things, named Yuriko
- Cargo Ship: He REALLY likes Yuriko
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: He's male yet he looks AND sounds like a female teenager. His face and voice said so.
- The Rival: Constantly fighting with Takiyashamaru
Kihachirou Ayabe
Voiced by: Akira Ishida
- Companion Cube: A shovel named Fumiko
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kihachirou's basically the quiet and chill Blue to Takiyashamaru's boastful and narcissistic Red
Takamaru Saitou
Voiced by: Daisuke Namikawa
- Gag Haircut: Takamaru is obsessed with cutting people's hair into absurd and random shapes
- Dumb Blonde: He isn't 'dumb' per-say, but a bit air-headed and ditsy. He is the only blonde character in the entire series
Shuichirou Hama
Voiced by: Yūki Kaji
- Hyena: He finds even the unfunniest of things hilarious
Fifth Years
Raizou Fuwa
Voiced by: Jun'ichi Kanemaru
- The Ditherer: Terrible at making decisions
Saburou Hachiya
Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki
- Master of Disguise: To the point that nobody can see his real face.
Heisuke Kukuchi
Voiced by: Toshimitsu Oda
- Supreme Chef: He is very good at making tofu
- Embarrassing Nickname: In the manga, Heisuke was given the nickname 'tofu kid' for carrying tofu in the relay race during the sports festival. He hated that nickname in the manga and denied liking tofu, but in the anime he has completely embraced his deep love for tofu
Hachizaemon Takeya
Voiced by: Ryuichi Azuma
- Friend to Bugs: Bugs literally nest in his hair
- Stubborn Hair: In season 28 episode 19, Takamaru smooths out Hachizaemon's rat-nest hair (much to Hachizaemon's discontent) and it refuses to go back into it's original shape for the whole episode
- Catchphrase: Oho!
Kanemon Ohama
Voiced by: Shigeru Shibuya
Sixth Years
Monjirou Shioe
Voiced by: Ken Narita
- Catchphrase: GIN GIN!
- The Rival: to Tomesaburou
- Exhausted Eye Bags: He always has these because he stays up all night doing taxes (like any 15 year-old would)
- Hair-Trigger Temper: To an extent. He can get very fired up and angry easily
- Improbable Weapon User: His weapon of choice is a 10kg abacus
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the angry Red to Senzou's calm Blue
- Younger Than They Look: Monjiro looks a lot older because of his eye bags
Senzou Tachibana
Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi
- Berserk Button: When he is paired with Shinbei and Kisanta, he completely breaks his cool and calm facade, and becomes a crazy bombing maniac
- The Chew Toy: Poor dude never catch a break, unable to prevent himself from actually seeing Shinbei and Kisanta and is stuck with them.
- Demolitions Expert: Senzou is not only talented with bombs, but he is skilled at making them too.
- Crossdresser: Basically all the characters crossdress at some point, but Senzou is the most talented at it.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: His hair is known for being silky and straight and is quite attractive.
- Mad Bomber: Everytime Shinbei and Kisanta ruin his plans, he didn't take this lightly and becomes this towards the end of the 'genkin' episodes.
- Mood-Swinger: He is very civil towards people in general, but whenever he is around Shinbei and Kisanta, he is known for losing his temper.
- Oh, Crap!: His common reaction whenever his plans got ruined (mostly at the hands of Shinbei and Kisanta)
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: He has long dark purple hair (black, in the manga) and pale skin. Played straightest when he's cross-dressing.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He is tall since he is a senior, has long silky dark purple hair, and that makes him one of the most attractive students.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The calm Blue to Monjirou's angry Red
Chouji Nakazaike
Voiced by: Shigeru Shibuya
- The Stoic: Unless he does a creepy grin.
- The Un-Smile: Chouji only smiles when he's angry, and it's definitely not a very flattering one
- Energetic And Softspoken Duo: Koheita paired with Chouji, Koheita being incredibly loud and energetic while Chouji is very quiet and shy
- The Quiet One: Rarely speaks, when he does it's usually too quiet to hear at first
- Gentle Giant: He seems intimidating and scary, but is actually very gentle and kind (just bad at expressing this)
- Nature Lover: Chouji frequently comments on how beautiful the scenery around him looks
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Chouji has two scars on either side of his face. They were caused by an accident that happened when he was training with his rope-dart
- Younger Than They Look: Chouji is usually mistaken for an adult man despite being 15
Koheita Nanamatsu
Voiced by: Nobutoshi Canna
- Catchphrase: IKE IKE DON DON!
- Fast Tunneling: Koheita is often digging holes with inhuman speed
- Tunnel King: ^ He is very good at it
- Energetic And Softspoken Duo: Koheita paired with Chouji, Koheita being incredibly loud and energetic while Chouji is very quiet and shy
- The Strength of Ten Men: Koheita has incredible strength, able to dig through mountains and break boulders with ease
Isaku Zenpouji
Voiced by: Ryōtarō Okiayu
- Born Unlucky: Bad things always happen to him. It's so bad that the Health Committee, which he is the chairman of, has become known as the Bad-Luck Committee
- Nice Guy: Despite his bad luck, Isaku is very kind and caring
- Guilt Complex: Often Isaku will believe that every single bad thing that's happening around him is his fault, like when it started raining on a previously sunny day
Tomesaburou Kema
Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki
- Catchphrase: SHOBU DA!
Kunoichi Class
Yuki
Voiced by: Mariko Kouda (S1,S9-current); Sakura Tange (S2-S8)
Tomomi
Voiced by: Hiroko Emori
Shige
Voiced by: Akiko Muta
Teachers
Hansuke Doi
Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki
Denzou Yamada
Voiced by: Chikao Ohtsuka (S1-S23); Akio Ōtsuka (S23-current)
Natsunojou Andou
Voiced by: Kan Tokumaru (S1-S18); Mitsuru Ogata (S18-current)
Taitsu Atsugi
Voiced by: Hiroshi Naka (S1); Toshihiko Nakajima (S7-current)
Kagemaro Shadou
Voiced by: Kiyonobu Suzuki
Bokuo Hinata
Voiced by: Toshihiko Nakajima
Yuuzou Nomura
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara
Yorozu Matsuchiyo
Voiced by: Taro Arakawa (S7-S20); Masashi Hirose (S21-current)
Tetsumaru Kinoshita
Voiced by: Kouji Ishii
Shina Yamamoto
Voiced by: Yuko Kobayashi; Masako Katsuki (First Movie)
Shinzaemon Tobe
Voiced by: Hirohiko Kakegawa
Staff
