Panda_Kahn_fan
09-01-2015, 09:57 AM
(This has probably been discussed to death on these boards, but a recent conversation with one of my professors pushed me to post this up. Sorry if it offends anyone)
After years of taking Asian Studies as my minor in college (and years of being a TMNT fan) I've come to the conclusion that both the teenage Mutant NINJA turtles and the foot, are more general martial artists than actual ninjas. This is after a long talk with an actual professor originally from Iga province, I have come to the conclusion that the TMNT are more generic martial artists than actual shinobi. They are simply called that to make them sound 'cool'.
And really, I can see the argument for this stance. In truth, shinobi are spies, saboteurs and mercenaries for hire. They move quietly, not wanting to attract attention as they go about their work. They are not primarily assassins Yes, they did kill when necessary, but tired to avoid killing if at all possible. Killing meant you had a body to hide, and heightened your chances of getting caught. They also had small bodies that weighed little to easily hide and avoid detection- let's see four giant green turtles do that! And the shinobi had very advanced and sneaky stealth techniques, that don't involve the turtles fake sneaking around we see in the shows and comics.
Let me repeat that for you 'grim n' gritty' ninja fans- Ninjas were not primarily assassins. 98% of all ninja missions were most likely spying or saboteur jobs. There actually were regular assassins to hire in Sengoku and Edo Japan if you wanted a nobleman dead, and common thugs would suffice if you wanted a peasant dead. Ninja were only hired for the most dangerous and high-risk jobs that needed done, and actually only rarely employed for killing due to the high cost of hiring them .
They don't wear black, and there were no ninja uniforms. Ninjas had no appearance- they would disguise themselves as anything from a peasant fisherman, to a traveling Buddhist flute monk with a basket on his head to stay invisible to a common person. The foot are non ninja because of the black kabuki uniforms- you know, the ones that make them visible against the moonlight? Clan colors? Japanese clans never used colors as an identification marker. And a ninja clan would never have any kind of mark that would show association between them. In fact, wearing four different colors, to sow confusion if they were caught, or to symbolize something- like, say, how there were for of them like there are four seasons- would actually make more sense than uniformity.
And those giant rooftop TMNT vs. Foot battles, filled with killing and blood and body parts and blood flying everywhere? Yeah, ninja would never draw that much attention to themselves or be that visible. Thank you Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema for giving people the wrong ideas! Shinobi never fought in battles, and the closest thing to a skirmish between clans would have been if one clan was trying to infiltrate a dyamio's castle, and another had been hired to protect it. Ninja tried to avoid conflict whenever possible, not jump into it every five seconds. Again, fits more with a martial arts gang war between two factions in a Hong Kong movie than actual ninjas.
Oh, and vengeance killing in the name of honor? That whole plot point can go on the rubbish heap with everything else. All of the talk of 'honor' and family' in the TMNT does not hold up in the face of what the shinobi actually were- the ninja sacrificed their honor in the name of their profession. If the foot were an actual ninja clan, Noshi killing Nagi would NOT have called the vengeance of the clan down upon him. Their feud would have been seen as a personal matter, and as long as Yoshi continued to spy and saboteur and bring in profits for the clan nobody outside the Ororku household would have given a crud about Nagi's death. Saki never would have been encouraged to seek vengeance- his killing of Yoshi would have been a personal matter.
Now, am I coming down on the TMNT here? Not at all! But it occurs to me, that the turtles act more like a clan of mixed martial artists, rather than actual ninja. Raised and taught to fight with the weapons of the far east by splinter for a specific purpose, and bearing a code of honor similar to the ones used by some martial artists in Japan. The vengeance and honor killing makes more sense as a personal vendetta, involving personal honor between house Ororku and house Hamato, rather than calling on ninja trappings that don't even exist.
Am I calling for the TMNT to not be called ninja? No, just pointing out that they are fictional ninja in every way, like we find in all sorts of cartoons, video games, manga, comics and anime. They were created at a time when 'martial arts movies are cool'! And the ninja name sounded 'awesome'! But I prefer to think of the Turtles as regular mixed martial artists, and the foot as wannabe shinobi- a group that uses martial arts to carry out mercenary and assassin work, without any true knowledge of the historical techniques of the Shinobi. Looking upon them as NINO (Ninjas in name only) helps me to enjoy the material just a bit better.
After years of taking Asian Studies as my minor in college (and years of being a TMNT fan) I've come to the conclusion that both the teenage Mutant NINJA turtles and the foot, are more general martial artists than actual ninjas. This is after a long talk with an actual professor originally from Iga province, I have come to the conclusion that the TMNT are more generic martial artists than actual shinobi. They are simply called that to make them sound 'cool'.
And really, I can see the argument for this stance. In truth, shinobi are spies, saboteurs and mercenaries for hire. They move quietly, not wanting to attract attention as they go about their work. They are not primarily assassins Yes, they did kill when necessary, but tired to avoid killing if at all possible. Killing meant you had a body to hide, and heightened your chances of getting caught. They also had small bodies that weighed little to easily hide and avoid detection- let's see four giant green turtles do that! And the shinobi had very advanced and sneaky stealth techniques, that don't involve the turtles fake sneaking around we see in the shows and comics.
Let me repeat that for you 'grim n' gritty' ninja fans- Ninjas were not primarily assassins. 98% of all ninja missions were most likely spying or saboteur jobs. There actually were regular assassins to hire in Sengoku and Edo Japan if you wanted a nobleman dead, and common thugs would suffice if you wanted a peasant dead. Ninja were only hired for the most dangerous and high-risk jobs that needed done, and actually only rarely employed for killing due to the high cost of hiring them .
They don't wear black, and there were no ninja uniforms. Ninjas had no appearance- they would disguise themselves as anything from a peasant fisherman, to a traveling Buddhist flute monk with a basket on his head to stay invisible to a common person. The foot are non ninja because of the black kabuki uniforms- you know, the ones that make them visible against the moonlight? Clan colors? Japanese clans never used colors as an identification marker. And a ninja clan would never have any kind of mark that would show association between them. In fact, wearing four different colors, to sow confusion if they were caught, or to symbolize something- like, say, how there were for of them like there are four seasons- would actually make more sense than uniformity.
And those giant rooftop TMNT vs. Foot battles, filled with killing and blood and body parts and blood flying everywhere? Yeah, ninja would never draw that much attention to themselves or be that visible. Thank you Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema for giving people the wrong ideas! Shinobi never fought in battles, and the closest thing to a skirmish between clans would have been if one clan was trying to infiltrate a dyamio's castle, and another had been hired to protect it. Ninja tried to avoid conflict whenever possible, not jump into it every five seconds. Again, fits more with a martial arts gang war between two factions in a Hong Kong movie than actual ninjas.
Oh, and vengeance killing in the name of honor? That whole plot point can go on the rubbish heap with everything else. All of the talk of 'honor' and family' in the TMNT does not hold up in the face of what the shinobi actually were- the ninja sacrificed their honor in the name of their profession. If the foot were an actual ninja clan, Noshi killing Nagi would NOT have called the vengeance of the clan down upon him. Their feud would have been seen as a personal matter, and as long as Yoshi continued to spy and saboteur and bring in profits for the clan nobody outside the Ororku household would have given a crud about Nagi's death. Saki never would have been encouraged to seek vengeance- his killing of Yoshi would have been a personal matter.
Now, am I coming down on the TMNT here? Not at all! But it occurs to me, that the turtles act more like a clan of mixed martial artists, rather than actual ninja. Raised and taught to fight with the weapons of the far east by splinter for a specific purpose, and bearing a code of honor similar to the ones used by some martial artists in Japan. The vengeance and honor killing makes more sense as a personal vendetta, involving personal honor between house Ororku and house Hamato, rather than calling on ninja trappings that don't even exist.
Am I calling for the TMNT to not be called ninja? No, just pointing out that they are fictional ninja in every way, like we find in all sorts of cartoons, video games, manga, comics and anime. They were created at a time when 'martial arts movies are cool'! And the ninja name sounded 'awesome'! But I prefer to think of the Turtles as regular mixed martial artists, and the foot as wannabe shinobi- a group that uses martial arts to carry out mercenary and assassin work, without any true knowledge of the historical techniques of the Shinobi. Looking upon them as NINO (Ninjas in name only) helps me to enjoy the material just a bit better.