Nintama Rantarou (忍たま乱太郎, Ninjaboy Rantaro) or Rakudai Ninja Rantarō (落第忍者乱太郎, Failure Ninja Rantarou) is a comedy ninja manga series created by Sōbē Amako, which was serialized from 1986 to 2019. The anime adaptation, Nintama Rantarō, began broadcasting on NHK in 1993. A side-story anime film, Eiga Nintama Rantarō, premiered in 1996. Several Nintama Rantarō video games were also published since 1995.
The series contains examples of the following tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Hietta Happosai, big time.Rantaro: Chingensai Sameta!!Kirimaru: Samela Zensai!!Shinbe: Hietta Namayasai!!Happosai: *hitting the three nintamas* It's Hietta Happosai, idiots!
- Adaptation Dye-Job: A lot of characters have different hair colours in the manga than their anime form
- Anachronism Stew: While the series takes place during the Edo era, this trope shows up sometimes, mostly played for laughs. Examples include Rantarou being bespectacled, and a vending machine showing up in one episode.
- Art Evolution: Very evident. Throughout the years, the characters become more cute and chubby.
- Brand Names Are Better: Invoked by Kirimaru.Kirimaru: I start selling Infra-red UnderpantsYamada-sensei: How is this different from normal underpants?Kirimaru: It's not. But more people would buy it if it uses the name "Infra-red"
- Brick Joke: At the start of the volume 23, Shinbe is supposed to remember a number that indicates a measurement of a warship. He can't. Hundred of pages later, he gives the wrong number and the ship built turns funny.
- Canon Foreigner: Several characters were created for the Anime adaptation, most notably Hemu Hemu and Shige-chan.
- Crazy-Prepared: Kaze no Tamazaburou brings two large packages filled with ninja stuffs for one simple mission.
- Fatal Flaw: Fuwa Raizou is told to be thinking too much.
- Freudian Trio: The first year classes have this kind of dynamics.
- The Id: I-class, very boastful by showing off their good grades.
- The Superego: Ro-class, is mysterious and basically like being in the dark.
- The Ego: Ha-class, as they are known for being the most active in going outside due to their playful nature, but at the same time, does not hesitate to deal with situations themselves unlike the two classes. They can also help each other too.
- Hurricane of Puns: Half of the jokes in the series are these, alternating between this and Incredibly Lame Pun.
- No Fourth Wall: Carrying dialogue bubbles around, talking to the readers, bringing the author inside, among other things commonly occurring.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Averted by Hachiya Saburou, whose disguise can't be differentiated with the real person.
- Re-Release Soundtrack: The Series 1 DVD box sets do not include the first ending theme.
- Shown Their Work: Unlike most ninja comics, the ninjas are actually doing things close to what real ninjas did.
- Status Quo Is God: The nintamas go through many Summer and Winter breaks but never graduate or even promote.
