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Raccoon with babies By: Bill Ivy From: Getting to Know Nature's Children: Raccoons 1985

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Nintama Rantarou The Movie (1996) [ENG SUBS]

Who… dares ruin Ninjutsu Academy's peaceful summer vacation!? The villain Happousai has stolen the saltpeter that Shinbei's daddy imported for the Headmaster. Our three nintama head to Dokutake Castle to retrieve it, but what awaits them is…!

mediafire (soft subs, MKV file) pixeldrain (hard subs, MP4 file)

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Main visual illustrations for seasons 30 (first 2), 31, 32 and the newly announced season 33.

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Some more sprite rips! This time from the Super Famicom title Nintama Rantarou 2 (what an original name, huh). I didn't grab them all, but this is the vast majority of what's in the game.

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I have the biggest dick in 40 square miles

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5i ft. hachizaemon

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There it is, the Big Tsudoi Post!

I reordered by theme and translated claims that were originally compiled on this page. Said page was edited with time, some info reworded or removed, so I used the wayback machine to make it as exhaustive as possible. I've read more facts browsing boards, and I might add them to this list in the future. But this page is the most well-known, and the facts listed here are what comes up most often in discussion and fanworks.

What is tsudoi? It just means meet-up, and it refers to the fan gatherings with the author of Rakuran, Amako Soubee, which used to occur every 2 years. What's relevant here is the Q&A and discussions with the author that led to plot points, trivia, bits that she hadn't included in the story yet or can't include at all, being mentioned during those meets. None of these meet-ups were recorded, so all the info we know about them comes from word of mouth, forum messages, and blog reports. As such, these facts should be taken with a grain of salt, and while a lot of them turned up to be canon (either in the manga, anime, or musicals) in the long run, they are not canon. Consider them food for thought for possible development and lore for the characters if you want, or just context for discussion and fanworks you might encounter in the fandom. There haven't been any such meetings in a good decade, so you'll notice a lot of that info is obsolete or eventually became canon. Additionally, while there's a lot of overlap with the anime, these concern the manga.

Under the cut, you'll find my translation. The text in black is directly translated from the people who reported those facts, and I tried to offer context and additional information in blue text.

Ninjutsu Academy

In general

Among the students of Ninjutsu Academy, there are orphans other than Kirimaru.

In Ninjutsu Academy, students keep the same class and same teachers for six years.

Uniform colors do not depend on the year, meaning that the 1st year will keep the criss-cross and circles patterned uniform until graduation. This was retconned / not true for the anime and musicals. Flashbacks showed the current sixth years wearing the blue patterned uniform in their first year, and the purple one in their fifth year.

Tomesaburou, Sakubei and Kazuma were established as mob characters at first, but the author made them join the main cast after a group of fans begged her to. It’s funny when you look up discussions about this, there’s a lot of anti-fujo sentiment going on because it seems those fans were from a BL doujin circle. Some people claim they nearly harassed the author about giving these 3 bigger roles.. err… I assume Amako Soubei is grown up enough to decide by herself…

There are kunoichi upperclassmen too, but these characters won’t appear or the cast would get too out of hand.

The family situation and number of siblings of upperclassmen (except for Takamaru) hasn’t been really decided yet. Nowadays Tomesaburou, Koheita, Heisuke, and Shuichirou’s family situation are known in canon. Saburou’s family background is mentioned within tsudoi, and his name implies he has two older brothers. (the characters in ‘saburou’ means ‘third son’) 

It’s a coincidence that “Taira” no Takiyashamaru and “Minamoto” Kingo ended up in the same P.E Committee. Sensei said she didn’t think about it at all. “Taira” and “Minamoto” are two major clans from Japanese history, whose rivalry would cause the Genpei War, concluding with the fall of the Taira Clan, the victory of the Minamoto Clan, and the end of the Heian Period and beginning of the Kamakura Period. 

Classmates share a bedroom in the dormitory. Monjirou and Senzou, Chouji and Koheita, Tomesaburou and Isaku, Saburou and Raizou, Kihachirou and Takiyashamaru are roommates. Has been canon for a long time now! 31-69 explains why Saburou and Raizou are rooming together without their classmate Hachizaemon.

1st years

Rantarou is kind, so he won’t be able to perform assassination and such, and won’t become an elite ninja.

Just like his father, he will become a half low tier ninja-half farmer in the future.

Kirimaru lost his parents in the war, and was picked up by a certain monk who raised him until he entered Ninjutsu Academy.

Kirimaru used to have an older brother.

Kirimaru’s spring clothes were originally Doi’s. Doi cut his clothes and patched them up to fit Kirimaru.

Kirimaru is 140cm tall.

Shinbei’s future is not decided yet.

He might drop out in the 4th year because he has to take over his family business.

In a more recent meet-up, Shinbei dropping out was retconned, and instead all of the 1-ha class will graduate together. (Since Doi-sensei and Yamada-sensei are in charge of them!)

Shouzaemon will become an anaushi ninja, acting like a relay of information for everyone. Anaushi refers to ninja infiltrating a given space by living a regular civil life with a regular job, gaining information by earning the enemy’s trust over a long amount of time. This is why ninja have to learn many skills and crafts, to assume different identities and work different jobs. Senzou takes a pottery class because of this in 18-43, and there is such a ninja in 24-66.

Rantarou, Kirimaru and Shinbei always make sure to give the best seats to the teachers, because “it’s more important to be a polite person than a top student.” This refers to an aspect of Japanese etiquette where everyone is expected to know their seating positions in a given room based on social hierarchy. The most important people will sit the furthest away from the entrance door into the room (or into the most comfortable seat). In a tatami room of feudal Japan, this would be the warmest place, and also safest in case of attack. I assume this works as Rankirishin’s justification for sitting closest to the door in the classroom!

The “The lord who visited me last night~” song that Rantarou and the others sing is actually pretty suggestive, but they still sing it since they don’t understand the meaning of the lyrics :

From volume 42. Doi-sensei is blushing and saying “Come on, now…” Phonetically, the kids are singing: ���Yufubekita yobahidono akai fundoshi otoshita Otoshitayara wasuretayara Mata koyouto oitayara” Written properly, it becomes, and is translated as the following: 昨夜来た夜這い殿 The lord who visited me (a woman) last night, 赤い褌を落としていった Dropped his red loincloth. 落としたやら、忘れたやら、 Did he drop it, did he forget it, また来ようと置いていったやら Or did he leave it behind so he can come see me again?

Danzou does not usually wear pants, but he carries a pair around with him.

Maybe due to the influence of his parents, Sanjirou might have some sixth sense when it comes to the supernatural.

Tsurumachi Fushikizou’s “So thrilling!” catchphrase comes from a pair of older sisters being suspected of a crime in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. This doesn’t specify if it’s from a novel or the script of a TV adaptation, and older sisters being suspected of a crime in a Hercule Poirot story does not ring a bell, sadly. 

The 1st years’ uniform is flashy so that in case of emergency, the teachers can find them easily. Contradicting the retconned fact that uniforms don’t change by year.

The Equipment Committee stinks of pee because the 1st year members often pee their pants. In the anime, Heita is the sole responsible of this. I'm pointing fingers.

Underclassmen

Shirobei is stupid enough to get yelled at by even Koheita. (ow)

Tounai’s front bangs aren’t curly, it’s bed hair.

Because of bad luck (and being forgotten), Kazuma’s name wasn’t properly introduced. In the anime, he introduces himself in 16-11 after his fellow committee members ask him “Who are you again…?”

4th years

Kihachirou thinks of Takiyashamaru as trash. Kiiiind of retconned with 32-61.

Kihachirou’s grades are average.

Takiyashamaru will find an early death.

5th years

Hachizaemon’s quirk of going “Oho!”, comes from a line spoken by Mifune Toshirou’s character Kikuchiyo in the movie Seven Samurai, pronounced as he was watching approaching enemies. Timestamp is 2:29:55. I think. Kikuchiyo makes a lot of funny noises.

Hachizaemon is a natural optimist.

Heisuke was modelled after what Doi Hansuke would be like in his younger days.

Heisuke is 165cm tall, the same as Monjirou. Hachizaemon has a bigger build than Heisuke.

Heisuke is an airhead. The original text says 天然キャラ tennen kyara, literally an “airhead character”, but when a real person is called a tennen kyara it means they are Pretending to be an airhead for attention/to be cute/etc. I assume OP meant it as in a character who fits the “tennen” trope. Tennen evokes an airhead personality but also someone who goes at their own pace, is eccentric, has trouble reading the room, etc.

Heisuke has “excellent grades”, a “sharp mind”, and is “accomplished at both the pen and the sword”.

Heisuke is a better student than Kanemon, but Saburou is a better student than Heisuke.

Raizou and Saburou will find work in the same castle as sounin, showing effort and success. 双忍 sounin, literally “a pair of ninja”, or ninja working together! Love wins.

Saburou’s actual hair is silky straight. On day offs, he walks around town maskless, and no one recognizes him.

His father is alive and well, and is also a master of disguise, apparently even more skilled than Saburou.

Even though some of them weren’t introduced into the story yet, some 6th years sneak out at night to meet with girls. They get in trouble if teachers catch them. 

Sensei looks disappointed that Hachiya Saburou’s name is spelled 蜂屋 hachiya in the anime, and would like it to revert back to 鉢屋 hachiya somehow.

Hachiya might be a discriminating word against burakumin in some regions?

The name 鉢屋 Hachiya was taken after the real life Hachiya-shu ninja clan. The original poster seems unclear on this, so let me add context even though it’s a bit long. This is a huge speedrun and burakumin has a complex history which deserves better than being taught through ninja cartoons, so I really urge you to read about them.  In the anime, Hachiya is spelled with the characters 蜂 hachi (bee) and 屋 ya (seller, store, house). Hachiya with that spelling is also the name of a variety of persimmon. In the manga, Hachiya is spelled with the characters 鉢 hachi (bowl) and the same 屋 ya (seller, store, house), and has a richer history. Burakumin are historically stigmatized people in Japan. Back in Muromachi, they would live separately from the rest of society in their own settlement, and were considered lesser due to the jobs they occupied. These mostly involve work deemed “unclean” by Buddhist teachings, relating to blood, rot, and death: they were famously executioners, butchers, and leather workers. It also includes popular, “vulgar” entertainers, opposed to noble entertainment such as noh theater. 鉢屋 hachiya (with the “bowl” character) in relation to burakumin refers to followers of Kuuya’s teachings. Kuuya was an itinerant monk involved in “unclean” practices, such as burying the dead or praying while dancing for the people. His religious dance, nembutsu odori, found more practitioners in the San’in region (North-west of Hyougo Prefecture), living secluded in their own villages called Hachiya. These people worked with bamboo to craft items such as tea whisks, but were marginalized due to their dancing performances. They went door-to-door chanting prayers and making sound by tapping a bowl, and this gave them the nickname 鉢叩き hachitataki (who hits a bowl) or 鉢ひらき hachiaraki(who presents a bowl). Like this, hachiaraki became synonymous with “to beg for money”. 鉢屋 hachiya (still with the same “bowl” character) also refers to a group of entertainers in the same region turned ninja associated with the Amago clan during the Sengoku period. They’re famously known for taking Gassantoda Castle (Izumo Province, nowadays Shimane Prefecture) with an extravagant scheme involving a spectacular parade of dancers and musicians passing through the main gate of the castle, with weapons hidden under their clothes. The ninja who led this attack was named… Hachiya Yanosaburou! 

6th years

According to the meet-up in 2006, all the sixth years except Isaku come from a background of the Koga school of ninjutsu. When this was stated, Tomesaburou was still a background character and not properly established, so his background is unclear. The school of Koga is a type of ninjutsu from the Koga region (now Koka City, Shiga Prefecture). The Koga region had sou, villages that were allowed to self-govern (sou are mentioned in Nintama movie 2) in exchange of helping out the local Rokkaku Clan during wartime. They specialized in guerrilla warfare and handling of medicinal herbs and poison, and after retaking Koka Castle from Shogun Ashikaga to the Rokkaku Clan, they started working as ninja for said Rokkaku Clan. This would be pretty modern history by the time Nintama takes place, making the sixth years’ family, except Isaku’s, having a recent history of being farmers/samurai mercenaries recently turned “professional” (in Nintama terms) ninja. Interestingly, we don’t know the sixth years’ family situation in canon, except for the fact Koheita has an army of siblings living in a household large enough to belong to the samurai class (31-65), and that Tomesaburou has two older brothers that are warriors, making him likely to be samurai as well (30-34)

6th years ranked by height:Chouji > Koheita > Tomesaburou > Monjirou > Isaku = Senzou.

Even though some of them weren’t introduced into the story yet, some 6th years sneak out at night to meet with girls. They get in trouble if teachers catch them. 

Senzou is the most popular among the town girls. Isaku is the most popular among kunoichi, because he’s easy to deceive.

Among the 6th years, Senzou has the best grades. Isaku has the worst ones.

Koheita is so bad at studying people wonder, “how did you even make it to the 6th year?”. But because of his bad luck, Isaku’s grades are still worse overall.

Koheita has had that kind of personality since the second year. Kind of retconned? He’s shown being his cheery ikedon self back in 1st year in 30-33.

Chouji used to laugh a lot as a kid, but gradually stopped as he got wounded while practicing using the jouhyou rope dart, because the scars on his face hurt him. Also shown in 30-33.

Chouji might be an eccentric person, but he’s kind.

Monjirou has been acting as a hardcore gingin ninja since he was little.

Monjirou’s left and right eyes are different shapes. One is pine-nut shaped, the other almond shaped.

The speech Monjirou makes before and after his meal to pay respect comes from Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei(?) or some other very famous temple (I[OP] can't remember exactly). This refers to vol 42 of the manga. In the anime, he recites this speech in 16-56. OP says they don’t remember well, but Enryakuji is a very likely candidate as it’s the head temple of the Tendai sect, and this speech comes from Tendai meal etiquette. As found on Tendai’s website, here’s the complete speech: われ今幸に、仏祖の加護と衆生の恩恵によって、この清き食を受く。つつしんで食の来由をたずねて、味の濃淡を問わず。その功徳を念じて品の多少をえらばじ。いただきます。 I am now blessed to receive this pure food, granted by the divine protection of the Buddhas and the grace of all living beings. I will humbly reflect on the origin of this food, regardless of its rich or mild flavor. I will pray for its merits without thinking about the quantity. Thank you for this meal. Monji omits the “granted by the divine protection of the Buddhas and the grace of all living beings”, but otherwise recites it word for word! 

Monjirou and Tomesaburou often disguise themselves as Rokubu (I[OP] don’t know the kanji spelling, but it’s pronounced rokubu), itinerant monks who travel to offer copies of the Lotus Sutra in 66 different temples. But even while in disguise, they can’t stop bickering. Over things such as whether to take the right path or the left path, etc. OP spelled it right, it’s 六部 rokubu. As they explained, they are monks going on a pilgrimage across the country to offer copies of the Lotus Sutra, the most important scripture in Buddhism, to 66 temples, looking to expiate their sins.

Monjirou and Tomesaburou make good teammates, and when push comes to shove they are able to work together like in the Sonoda Village arc.

Tomesaburou is regarded by fans as handsome, but Sensei didn’t particularly try to draw him in a cool way. But while trying to keep his face consistent with the profile that appears in volume 22, he ended up looking handsome.

Tomesaburou might be manly and handsome, but he’s stupid.

Tomesaburou gets caught up in Isaku’s bad luck because they are roommates.

Tomesaburou and Isaku’s bedroom is split in two. The front of the room is Isaku’s area (that is turning into a small infirmary), the back of the room is Tomesaburou’s (that is turning into a small equipment storehouse).

Their room is the most cluttered with their respective luggage, so it has been divided in two.

Since Tomesaburou’s side of the room doesn’t have an entry door, there’s a little corridor made with a partition screen on Isaku’s side at the front of the room, leading to the back.

As a consequence, Isaku’s area is smaller than Tomesaburou’s. His part of the room being more narrow is also because of his bad luck.

Whether other students partitioned their room the same way or not is unknown. (Or rather than unknown, she worded it more like “it’s not decided yet”.)

(Seemingly from a more recent report.) All the sixth years seem to have a lot of clutter due to their respective committee, so their room is partitioned as well.

Isaku’s name comes from the baptismal name of one of Sensei’s friend, “Isaac”. 

Someone asked why Isaku often trips on his feet or into pitfalls, and was told that “He might have a bad leg.” 

In the first drafts, instead of being known as the Unlucky Health Committee, it was known as the Poop Committee, so Isaku wasn’t the Unlucky Committee President but the Poop Committee President.

Isaku caring for others comes from an instinct typical of those involved in medical care.

After graduation, faithful to the mentality of the Health Committee, Isaku becomes a “battlefield doctor” who treats people without taking sides. Kinda like Doctors without Borders. 

Isaku’s weapons are drugs and poisons, but he can use weapons like swords. He doesn’t seem proficient at using any specific weapon (apart from drugs), as he’s shown using different ones in every fight scene ; swords, bandages, …pebbles…… But he’s also shown having interest in getting better at the sword in 27-13.

Staff

Doi-sensei’s personality is unfit for a ninja. Same for Isaku.

To Doi-sensei, cheese feels the same as nerimono (fish paste products), so he can’t eat it. After the Heian period, due to the rise of the samurai class, the need to transport people and supplies, and war in the larger sense, raising horses became a priority over raising cattle. People didn’t consume dairy anymore until the late Edo period where it was regarded as medicinal food, and it only became an everyday food during Meiji. Who the heck tried to feed Doi cheese? Castella-san’s cheese harassment episode when…

Doi-sensei is 175cm tall. Studies of remains from the early Edo period suggest that the average height of people was 157cm for men, and 145cm for women. Since Nintama takes place before Edo, it makes Doi an exceptionally tall person for the times. 

Yamada-sensei recommended Doi-sensei as a teacher to Ninjutsu Academy. Shown in 32-64.

Doi is from a powerful family in the Seto Inland Sea, which fell in the war.

Doi's father was named Tokikuni, and he was a person of character.

He was killed in a sneak attack by someone named Sadaakira.

Just before passing, Tokikuni told Doi “Do not avenge me”. Doi’s backstory is based on Hounen, founder of Jodo Buddhism. It ended up being explicitly mentioned in vol 50. Hounen was born in a powerful clan in Mimasaka province (now Okayama prefecture), and his father, Uruma no Tokikuni, was a military chief who was assassinated at night by a warrior named Sadaakira, sent by the emperor to govern the province. In the manga, Doi’s backstory is merely referred to through Hounen’s own story. It’s kept vague how similar the two actually are. In Ninmyu 12, the father entrusts baby Doi to a servant, so there is no “do not avenge me” bit. The servant runs away but is killed by Kaentake ninja, who pick up Doi and raise him under the name Yogiri. Later, when he learns Kaentake killed his family, Doi runs away, and the story becomes similar to the anime where he is found by the Yamada family. 

After the current 1-ha class graduates, Doi will quit teaching and open an orphanage.

Kirimaru, now independent, will sometimes come to help care for the kids. 

A Komatsuda fan once told the author “I’d be happy to see him return as an office worker [for the school] or something”, to which the author replied “That sounds fun” and eventually made it canon.

Tasogaredoki Castle

Currently, Tasogaredoki is the strongest antagonistic ninja army.

There’s a ninja village in Tasogaredoki Castle.

Zatto is 180cm tall. Like I said earlier with Doi, that makes him Extremely tall for the time period.

Zatto has between 50 and 100 men under his command. (At first, Sensei said 100 men, to which a fan reacted like “Huh?! So many?!” in surprise, so she lowered it to 50.)

While doing his bandages, Isaku saw Zatto’s unmasked face.

“He might be covering burns?”, Sensei said. Confirmed in volume 50. 

After the accident that caused Zatto’s burns, his engagement was called off.

That accident happened when Zatto saved Sonnamon’s father.  Shown in 32-63.

Zatto is deaf in his left ear. This is reflected in the second movie, when Zatto reports information to his lord on Jinbei’s right side, but then has to turn to his left to listen to Jinbei’s reply.

Kousaka was Zatto’s chigo. Chigo mostly refers to children left in Buddhist temples to receive an education from monks. Because of the sexual exploitation they could be subjected to in exchange for that education, they are portrayed in art and described as graceful, attractive young men often dolled up like little girls. As far as we know Zatto doesn’t come from a specifically religious background, so his relationship to Kousaka might have been that of chigo and master in the secular sense, so that of a wakashuu (“young folk” ; prepubescent boys considered genderless/not men yet) and a samurai master who offers him apprenticeship, be it in academics, religion, martial arts, etc. Those were purely contractual relationships, supposed to end once the boy comes of age, and weren’t necessarily sexual. …But sexual relationships were prevalent enough that the samurai’s sexual practices with young boys has a name, wakashuudo. As for the nature of Zatto and Kousaka relationship, nothing is specified canonly.

Zatto’s subordinate, Moroizumi Sonnamon, got his name when Sensei told herself “Isn’t something like that good?” Sonnamon’s name is spelled with the kanji characters 尊奈門 sonnamon, individually meaning 尊 son, respect, 奈 na, quince fruit, and 門 mon, gate. I already explained the etymology of his name in another blog post. “Sonnamon” spelled in the phonetic hiragana alphabet, そんなもん sonnamon, means “that’s how it is”, “that’s like that”, “that’s it”... So when she said “Isn’t something like that good?”,  it sounds like そんなもんでいいんじゃないの, sonnamon de iinja nai no?, or “Isn’t “sonnamon” good?” .

Sonnamon is 19 years old.

Sonnamon is Zatto’s subordinate number two, and Zatto’s favorite. 

Hyougo Navy

The Hyougo Navy crew is modeled after the real Murakami Navy. They were devoted to war lords and close to the samurai class. Suigun directly translates to “navy”, but is an historical term. It refers to groups of pirates robbing goods meant as official taxes, who eventually gained enough power and influence to control a given area at sea. They became sort of “samurai of the sea” when daimyo (feudal lords) contracted them to provide security, transporting goods, set up checkpoints, collect fees, etc. The Murakami Navy operated in the Seto Inland sea, the body of water separating the islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu. 

Atoi is tall because he’s Gilyak. His name comes from the word “atuy” in Ainu language, which means “sea”. Gilyak, or Nivkh people, are an indigenous ethnic group living in the northern Sakhalin Island (north of Japan) and the adjacent Russian coast, by the river Amur. In the Muromachi period, they traded with the Chinese, Japanese, and Ainu people. Ainu are another ethnic group inhabiting the north of Japan, Kuril Islands, and southern Sakhalin Island. The Ainu language is written either in latin characters or Japanese katakana alphabet, making the word for “sea” spelled atuy or アトゥイ. Atoi’s name is written 網問 in Japanese, the kanji characters are used for phonetics rather than meaning: 網(a), 問(toi).

 Suiren, the dedicated swimmers/divers of the Hyougo Crew, also perform during battle. This ended up being shown in 31-57, Shige and Miyoshimaru dive to stick explosives under enemy ships.

Whales were luxury goods, offered as a valuable present.

Whale fishing was used as practice for naval battles.

Yoshimaru has a woman in every port.

Kagerou’s eye was shot with an arrow, and when he pulled it out both the arrow and eye came out together.

Kagerou suffers from landsickness (oka-yoi) and vomits going bluuurgh (gerogero), so that’s why his name is Kagerou. 

Pirates who got landsick were an actual thing. It is an actual thing for sailors, yes. It’s called Mal de débarquement syndrome.

Kameko will inherit the Fukutomi family business.

Kameko admired Chouji, but will marry Onigumomaru.

Onigumomaru will manage the import and export of goods, while Kameko will work staying on land.

Sekibune are fast, but not sturdy. It can reach a speed of about 16.2 km/h when rowed by hand. Given that the current ships of the Japan Coast Guard can reach roughly twice that speed, achieving this speed with a hand-rowed boat is impressive.

Atakebune have high defense, but are slow. About 2 knots. Sekibune and Atakebune are two types of warships used during the Sengoku period. Atakebune is the larger one. 2 knots is about 3,7km/h.

The price to hire pirates as bodyguards is absurdly high. They’d ask for something like ⅓ of the cargo one is carrying, but there’s no substitute for safety.

In the Hyougo Crew, Yoshimaru is the first to attack during battles. Explained in 20-79, part of the Hyougo Crew Audition Arc.

Others characters

After Doi-sensei ruined the Yamada family’s picnic, little Rikichi felt “damn him!” since he was a cheeky kid. But later, just like how an elementary school student grows affection for his teacher, he became attached to Doi-sensei.  Doi-sensei crashing the Yamada’s picnic appears in 30-35.

Rikichi wasn’t a student of Ninjutsu Academy.

A long time ago in the rakuran doujin world, it was believed that Yamada Denzou gave Rikichi a spartan education, this fact being apparently written in an answer letter to a fan by Amako-sensei. 

But it’s actually his mother who taught ninjutsu to Rikichi. Shown in 32-62.

Rikichi goes through a seriously turbulent phase in his twenties. The original wording uses the verb 荒れる, “to become violent, out of control”, “to get wild”, “to come to ruin”, implying physical and mental instability.

Rikichi will leave a child he got from making a housemaid pregnant in Doi’s care.

That child will look a lot like Rikichi.

They had a talk kind of like, “That child looks a lot like you.” “...S/He’s an orphan.” 

Yoshirou and Kisanta are close friends. Initially, Yoshirou was designed with a short bun, making him look even more similar to Tomesaburou.

Back when the anime’s production started, Sensei asked the staff “Please make sure to give Shousei-san a cool voice, okay?”.

The reason why Shousei-san has such a sexy voice is that since he uses matchlocks regularly, the smoke that comes out of the fuse gets to his throat. Because of this, his voice became lower.　　　　　

Satake’s rifle corps will eventually go under, as every army will have their own rifle corps in the future.

Shousei knows this, but keeps silent as he watches over his men.

In the near future, Satake and Fukutomi will be in conflict, because Fukutomi will do business selling guns to every military commander for the war. While no specific date is mentioned in Nintama, we know it takes place during the Sengoku period, which overlaps with the Muromachi period. “Muromachi” is often brought up within the series, and this period corresponds to the Ashikaga Shogunate, which ends in 1573. The use of firearms, which will become even more widespread in the future of the series, seems to indicate we are near the end of Muromachi, when the matchlocks imported from Portugal in the port of Sakai were imitated and perfected by Japanese blacksmiths. Oda Nobunaga equipped his army with firearms in 1549, slowly setting a standard as they got further improved in the following years.Meaning the story is probably set after 1549 but before 1573!

Komatsuda Yuusaku is not married. He really wants to marry, but he’s still dealing with a recent heartbreak.

Kitaishi Teruyo’s age was a fan’s idea.

She is 19 years old. That makes her a mature woman for the era.

Kitaishi Teruyo is in a position similar to Fujiko Mine, except she always ends up making a mistake at a critical moment, resulting in failure. Not sure what their connection is…. Fujiko Mine is a femme fatale kind of character, from the franchise Lupin the III. A female character working solo amongst an overwhelmingly male cast…?

General setting stuff, misc info

The salary of foot soldiers was between 60~70 mon per day. Meaning that hiring 100 foot soldiers for a month would cost 300,000,000 yen nowadays. At war, one battle would cost 3,000,000,000yen, so Dokutake Castle is pretty rich.

Linen fabric cost 100 mon, making clothes very expensive at the time. As a consequence, laborers such as horse riding couriers wore little to no clothes. Characters like Seihachi or Danzou don’t wear pants when riding horses so as to not damage expensive clothes.

Couriers load heavy luggage on a pole they carry on their shoulder. When that happens, they’d remove their clothes to avoid damaging them. When that happens to Seihachi, he ends up wearing no pants and no top, leaving him looking all sexy. (lol. Oh... Seihachi.)

At the time, wood planks were valuable. Half of Rantarou’s house has bamboo flooring.

Because the wood plane wasn’t invented yet, wood planks would look uneven. The beams of Doi-sensei’s house have that uneven finish to them. Kanna, the japanese wood plane (the tool used to make planks even), has been developed mid-Muromachi, making it a new invention by the time Nintama takes place. Before that, yariganna, a curved blade attached to a handle, was used to work wood. The labor intensity came at cost, meaning advanced carpentry was first for samurai houses, temples etc.

The age of characters is expressed according to the western style of counting ages, not the traditional Japanese one. Rantarou, Kirimaru, Shinbei, and all the 1st years are 10 years old. The western way of counting age is what you’re familiar with: a just born is 0 year old, and will turn 1 after fully completing one year, etc. The traditional Japanese way of counting ages comes from China, and faded out of use after the Meiji era. A baby would be considered 1 year old when born,  and everyone would get one year older during the New Year. So for example, all the first years are considered 10 years old in modern times, but would have been considered 11 back in the days.

The pattern on Shou-chan’s clothes is called “suhama”. Literally "sandy beach". It’s a symbol representing a shoreline. 

The pattern on Kisanta’s clothes is called “shikiriki”. I couldn’t find any information about this, so I wonder if it was misheard. The “shi” part might come from 四 shi, “four”, the first letter in 四角 shikaku, “square”.

The pattern on Ooki-sensei’s clothes is called “karigane”. It refers to the clothes he wears in the manga, since it’s different in the anime. The twisty shape evokes the wings of a goose. Karigane is originally used as a family emblem, kamon, and it features the bird’s head on top of the twisty shape.

The screentone used for the 6th years’ uniform is “Tone No. 654 LETRASET JAPAN”.

And that's it for now! Phew! Thank you for reading this far!

[rogumi]

忍たま

[rogumi]

Hansuke's Spring and Autumn / Hansuke Shunjuu, from Ninmyu 12 again!

This reveals key points of the story, so be careful!⚠️

It's a popular one and I'm very scared to tackle it lol but I tried. Doi reminisces about his past with Nue from Kaentake ninja and reveals it all to the upperclassmen. It's important to note that this song was written by Amako Soubee herself! On top of that, I think it's an interesting musical to come back to after watching Dokutake's Strongest Tactician. I have sooo many things to say about this part, but again I'll try to keep it for a Doi related post I want to write eventually (I'm uploading this clip + the backstory mentioned in vol 50 to give context to that post once I get to it!).

Still, while I'll try to refrain from interpreting, here's some notes under the cut: (and also because I feel like I have to justify my wording oh my god.)

Yogiri (夜霧), the name Nue gave Hansuke before he was Hansuke, means "night fog".

Nue (鵺) got her name from nue, a chimera-like beast in Japanese folklore.

He who doesn't dare cross a 1-jou moat, Should not strive to cross a 1.5-jou moat. Sorry for the typo in the subs lol. They literally say a "1 jou moat" and a "1 jou and 5 shaku moat", but I didn't want to make the text too heavy. Jou (丈) is an unit of measure that is approximately equal to 3 meters in length. Shaku (尺) is another unit of measure that is approximately equal to 30 centimeters. So 1 jou is equal to 10 shaku, and 1 jou and a half is equal to 1 jou and 5 shaku.

Hansuke Shunjuu (半助春秋) Literally, Hansuke's Spring and Autumn. An expression used in the sense of, the life and times of Hansuke, the highs and lows of Hansuke, but because the song directly references spring and autumn, I guess the title can be translated literally!

As I said, this song was written by Amako Soubee. Sadly, there's no transcription of the lyrics online ; it seems they are only found on the pamphlet sold back when the musical was performed. I had to attempt my own transcription of the lyrics to base my translation on, so I deeply apologize for mistakes.

A maiden joyfully gathers mugwort otomego wa tanoshigeni yomogi tsumu 乙女子は楽しげに蓬生つむ Otomego spelled 乙女子 is maiden, but it could be otomego as in 乙女心, "a maiden's heart/mind/feelings", evoking innocent feminity beyond the more factual 乙女子. Mugwort here refers to yomogi, the Japanese mugwort, primarily used to make sweets with, notably (and relevant to the time period) kusamochi, yomogi leaves mixed with glutinous rice to make sweet, green dumplings. Kusamochi was offered during hinamatsuri, a holiday celebrating girls, and was eaten wishing for the good health of mothers and children.

So this is Hansuke's perfect picture of peace...!

Kaentake Castle カエンタケ kaentake, poison fire coral, a deadly poisonous mushroom. Also spelled 火炎茸, lit "flame mushroom", hence the red accents on their outfits.

[rogumi]

JPN Nintama Fandom Hashtags & Etiquette no Dan

Since the fandom is increasing in numbers, both in its country of origin and in western spaces, I thought I could help people better understand some of the hashtags more widely used on Twitter/Bluesky and other places. And maybe give some more insight on the more basic etiquette expected of you in Japanese fandom spaces. This is, after all, a predominantly Japanese fandom space and you're bound to interact with users who don't speak English at all and aren't familiar with our fandom culture. Let's be polite!

First, let's tackle the hashtags and how Japanese fandom users use them.

A twitter user, Yada-san, kindly summed up the most popular hashtags in their post here, and I thought that was such a nice summary I could just translate it and hopefully give you a little more cultural insight as I go.

#忍たま Mainly used by the official accounts and such. You can find official information and updates here. Yada-san specified since official accounts use this tag, they refrain from using it themself. You'll find this sentiment is shared among a lot of otaku, specially women who are into either the BL or yume subculture. (And going by word of mouth, the fandom online is mostly adult women lol.) #RKRN (From the title of the manga, Rakudai Ninja Rantarō). Since a lot of fans feel uneasy using the "official" tag, this is the tag most use for their gen fanart. Yada-san says "personally, I don't think it's a good idea to post shippy content to this tag."

#rkrnプラス The yume tag for the fandom. Here you'll find yume art/fic and scenarios in general. Yumes in the fandom usually use the 🌸 emoji.

#nin_draw Now this tag is quite popular and causes a lot of confusion to newcomers. Some people think that since it's such an active tag, it must be the main fandom tag but that'd be incorrect. What happens is that every 2 days, the manager of the account nin_draw on twitter will post a new prompt (usually a character name or the name of a committee or a group) and then you have 60 minutes to draw it. Everyone is free to join! You just have to make sure you follow the rules. They have quite a few, but basically. No NSFW, no ships unless they are canon, no ninmyu, no kemomimi or animals, no modern aus, no genderbends, no aged up or aged down characters (unless we've seen those versions in canon). Basically, they want to keep things gen and as close to canon as possible.

These are not rules anyone can force you to follow, but if you ignore them it will make users uncomfortable and more likely to ignore you/mute your or straight up block you.

(Yada-san mentions a tag for people wanting to connect with other Nintama fans, but I'll skip it for now.)

And what about ship art, you ask? Yada-san states "I post it by clearly stating the ship name and without any of the other tags. If the art is too risque or it might need more warnings, I either mark it as sensitive or post it on poipiku. However, determining what's appropriate or not can be hard at times, and I still have a lot of room for improvement in this area."

And that's it for the original tweet!

Now, for a more general overview of etiquette in the Japanese fandomsphere. You may have noticed through a lot of it, Yada-san offers suggestions or examples of what they do rather than say "don't do that!" and that's very common in the fandom in general. Nobody will confront you directly (at most, they might through an anon messages) but they will most likely just mute you/block you/ignore you.

Some users give foreign fans more of a leeway but others don't. A lot of them are very unforgiving of people who use official art as icons. This stems from NHK itself not allow sharing screenshots on social media, a rule most Japanese fans follow. Consistent with this, if they see you posting screenshots and gifs they may steer clear from your account. Again, we live in an era in which we are in constant communication with people from other countries, so some users are more forgiving about this than others. Remember that this is just a guideline, and in the end, whether you follow it or not is up to you.

You also don't want to use other people's art as icons, unless specify in their profile that it's okay. That's a surefire way to get blocked by an artist you like. On the same vein, don't repost OR trace art. Recently, there was an issue of a foreign fan tracing art and they thought they could get away with it since Nintama is such a small fandom in English speaking circles... don't be that guy!

Also if you're an adult you may want to add your age to your bio. Sometimes, just putting 18+ won't be enough since Japanese users don't want to risk someone still in high school seeing their works.

As for Pixiv, the Yume tag is 忍玉-夢 and the BL tag is 忍玉-腐.

If you're interested in a ship but aren't sure what tag people use, I highly recommend looking at the pixiv dictionary entry for Nintama BL ships! If you're not familiar with the characters names or how to write them in Japanese, the Nintama English wiki has the kanji for the character names as well.

⚠️ ⚠️⚠️ The name order in which ships are written in Japanese is really important! ⚠️⚠️⚠️

Unless the artist states they are into reversible ships (riba/リバ）it's safe to assume they are fixed and the first kanji/name of the ship indicates the top. So don't go to an AB artist asking for BA! That will, again, get you ignored/muted/blocked.

And I think that's it for now! I got tired and can't think of anything else haha. Hopefully this was helpful. I can't overstate how much these rules aren't enforced by anyone but the users' preferences, but if you don't follow them it may be the reason why people are not engaging with you or blocking you.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask me on this post, via ask, or in the Tasogaredoki Jou discord server! Take care and be a 良い子。

[rogumi]

current fan creation landscape is kinda like if you went to a party with a homemade cake and everyone takes a slice and silently thumbs up at you with no attempt to start a conversation except for occasionally some guy sits in the corner with a tape recorder critiquing the cake as though he was a restaurant critic and another guy is handing the cake to an uber driver like "yeah i need you to find a restaurant that makes cake like this so i can have more of it" and the only person that's talked to you in 30 minutes is a very sweet little guy who was like "hey i liked your cake" and then ran away apologizing for bothering you the moment you said thank you.

[rogumi]

30-35: the remembered treatment

is it cheating if it's an episode i commissioned to be subbed...? regardless, this is one of my favorite episodes ever, and i think it's time i finally sat down and composed my thoughts about it. this will be leaning into shipping territory, so if you aren't a fan of ridoi, i wouldn't click further.

characters featured: rikichi, doi, yamada, yamada's wife, rantarou, bouta, kirimaru, shinbei

brief summary: the day rikichi and doi met.

i like how the episode starts with establishing rantarou and doi's roles within the school. the main trio's involvement with their respective committees is one of my favorite parts about them. their personalities really shine in them! rantarou being the medic of the three is so fitting.

poor doi. i always, like. get a little emo about the kids not picking up on things. i saw a fan comic in the past that hc'd the reason why doi gets so ill when the kids do poorly is because one of his previous students died during their drills, and it reminds him of the weight of his duties as a teacher. if the kids don't understand or are just not fit to be a ninja, they won't make it very far. it's very telling that in tsudoi material, he retires after the hagumi graduate. those are his babies, and while i believe he loves what he does, i bet the stress and grief of what may or may not happen to his students just becomes too much.

these two are so cute. i'll have to talk about them in a future episode review, too. bouta's admiration for rikichi is just adorable. sometimes i forget bouta is the older one... it makes me laugh that rikichi gets annoyed over how many people have ninja-crushes on him. stop being so dreamy, then!

alright. the shipping delusions are starting early. here we go.

i've noticed that rikichi notably softens around doi. with other characters, he has far less patience. i think it's cute when rikichi gets angry, since it really shows his age, but i think with their history, rikichi would find it difficult to snap at doi, even if doi does tease him on occasion. look at that gentle smile over recalling their past together and tell me that he isn't in love.

it kills me how, like... yamada treats this more like an obligation. not understanding that there's more to just a family picnic than getting it done. the scenery matters! this will be a core rikichi memory for reasons that no one predicted.

his smile and optimism, gone. auh, poor rikichi. his father isn't doing it maliciously, of course. he wants his son to be strong and well trained for the dangerous future he has ahead of him, but... it's clear that rikichi is more than lonely. i often think about how they literally live in the middle of nowhere. rikichi doesn't have any friends, and he isn't even allowed to be a kid. everything about rikichi revolves around being a ninja. that's a lot of pressure to put on a child. no wonder he dedicates his time so much to work. and then it makes sense why he becomes so attached to doi. that's the only other person he's made a connection with besides his parents.

a smile you just want to protect. look how happy he is. fuck!!! this is all he wanted! happy family time! moments like these must be rare for the yamada family, especially when you consider how things are when he's 18. the flowers are genuinely so pretty, too. i love that somewhere so beautiful was stained with violence.

there's a lot of cute details in this episode, like how yamada is the first to notice doi's presence / the sound of fighting, even before he falls.

no time for your picnic, rikichi. an angel has fallen into it. this encounter is soooo stereotypical shoujo. the love of your life falling from above, lives forever changed, a fateful encounter.

doi really is so effortlessly beautiful. it drives me a little insane. i love 19!doi's look a lot. in character sheets, he's noticeably shorter-- insane to think that he's still growing. his hair is so pretty, too. i know the show jokes about how his hair is damaged, but please!! leave it like this!! it's pretty!! it's curious that doi doesn't put a lot of effort into his appearance in canon (neglecting his hair, forgetting to wash clothes, probably constantly covered in shinbei snot); i figure that's probably a habit after his parents were killed and he had to fend for himself. no time to care about how you look when you just need to survive. despite this he is the most beautiful ninja to ever exist.

one thing i think is sooooo fucking cute is how rikichi is almost, like. transfixed on doi. even though there's another ninja a few feet away, rikichi's gaze is fully centered on doi. that doesn't change, either! the next few shots of rikichi, he's still only looking at doi.

i know he's grumpy about the picnic being ruined (rikichi voice ojan desu!) but i wonder if he's also, like. a little embarrassed being around a stranger. i have this fanfic idea in my head where, like. there's a little more slowburn in rikichi growing to like doi. i imagine his ninja training makes him suspicious towards doi, and i bet there'd be jealousy over how his father instantly takes to him. viewing him as an intruder before doi's kindness wears him down.

i'm really excited for the movie to expand on what's happening here. i've heard conflicting information about what amako-sensei intended for this, and i feel like the movie will make it a lot more concrete. what happened, doi... i really like ninmyu12's setting for doi's backstory-- i hope it'll be something a little similar. there's something really striking about someone so kind and gentle like doi being raised by assassins. i like nintama moments where they don't stray away from the reality of being a ninja, too. doi could've died here if it wasn't for the yamada's help.

doi looks so taken aback. i bet it's been a long time since he'd been shown unconditional kindness. poor thing.

another delusional take. i wonder if doi was still apprehensive around the couple, but hearing a child's voice relaxed his nerves, just a little. surely they can't be dangerous people if they have a little boy with them...

and oops. so, like, i didn't mean to make this a two parter, but tumblr's image limit is ruining my life. so you'll have to bare with me and wait for me to ramble on about the other half of a seven minute episode.

[rogumi]

He Protec

[rogumi]

On old Japanese naming conventions, and how Nintama plays with them.

I thought it’d be fun to write about this because I’ve seen people wondering about it, for OC purposes and what not.

Just prefacing this to say again that I’m just a nerd online and this is certainly not academic paper or anything. I welcome you to use the notions introduced in this post to do your own research!

Nintama plays a lot with history, being crazy accurate at times and completely ignoring historical accuracy when it's convenient lol. Let's look into it under the cut because it got a bit long.

The Meiji era (1868-1912) is characterized by significant modernization and westernization in Japan. It was during this period that the civil code established the modern format for Japanese names, such as for example, Yamada (family name) Tarou (given name). This format is straightforward and aligns with the naming conventions of the Western world.

It's also easier to follow for modern audience, so this is the format most Nintama characters follow for their names. A lot of them still are constructed in a way that give them a distinct period-setting vibe, though!

However, things were actually a biiiiit more complicated before the Meiji era.

It’s medieval Japan which is of interest to us, but of course, naming conventions and habits evolved throughout Japan’s history. Names were not simply divided into “family names” and “given names”; rather, they were classified into multiple categories, such as clan names, titles, real or taboo names, childhood names, inherited names, nicknames for every day uses… These categories depended on a person’s social status, gender, occupation, etc. Someone could have as many as ten different names at a given time!

In short, the name used at a specific moment depends on the situation and the people involved.

Formal names were reserved for nobles, while commoners used place names, occupations, or other identifiers as a “surname” for convenience.

Instead of inheriting a family name and being given a first name at birth, one might get new names throughout their life, with some even receiving a posthumous name.

Names were not just a way to designate people or things; they were once seen as sacred and taboo. Revealing one’s “real” name to someone meant giving them power over you, so it was reserved for intimate or special occasions, such as when a vassal shared his name with his master.

Today, remnants of this practice still exist in the Japanese language. Addressing someone by their first name when you are not close to them can be considered rude, and in some situations, people are still addressed by their status rather than by name.

Let’s look at how people were named in medieval Japan, and what meaning some names carry… all through a Nintama lens of course.

Female names

If men can use many names during their life, generally women would always use the same name they were given during childhood. Female artists and writers could use nicknames. 

Nowadays, the suffix -ko denotes a female name. In Nintama, when a character crossdresses, their female persona often reuses the first kanji of their name followed by -ko in an effort to feminize it. Denzou becomes Denko, Hansuke Hanko, etc. This is an anachronism, before modern times not only -ko wasn’t an exclusively feminine suffix, it was even rarely used for women. 

Female names were often written in kana (the phonetic alphabet) rather than kanji (Chinese characters), they were often picked for aesthetic purposes and often related to nature : names of seasons, plants, elements, etc.

Common feminine suffixes for female names would be -shi, -e, -yo, -mi, -no…

-hime is an honorific suffix meaning “princess” but is used for noble ladies.

o- is another honorific for noble girls, this time a prefix.

Let’s look at some Nintama girls:

Yuki, written in the feminine kana. It means snow. 

Tomomi, also in kana. Because her name is written phonetically, the meaning is unclear. The tomo part could refer to 友 tomo, friend, 巴 tomoe, the comma shaped heraldic emblem, 智 chi, wisdom… -mi means “beautiful”.

Shige, also in kana. It could refers to 志げ shige, good will, 紫華 shige, purple flower, or 茂 shige, overgrown, luxurious. She is often called with the honorific Oshige.

Yamamoto Shina Her family name, Yamamoto 山本, means “the foot of the mountain”, and likely refers to where she comes from. Shina シナ is written in kana, and may refer to the Japanese linden.

Kitaishi Teruyo Interestingly, her name is spelled in Kanji this time. Is it an alias? 北石 kitaishi means “north stone”, and 照代 teruyo “illuminated time/era”. But really, her name is a pun on the phrase 期待してるよ kitai shiteru yo, “We have high expectations of you”. Oof…

Family names

Only court nobles and the samurai class had actual family names, but commoners came to use substitute surnames out of convenience. Commoners also took their place of birth or residence as substitutes for surnames, making it sometimes almost indistinguishable as actual family names from nobles. Nowadays, many family names are derivated from famous clans names : the most common family name, Satou 佐藤, came to be when people borrowed the fancy 藤 fuji/tou character from the 藤原 Fujiwara clan!

In Nintama, Saitou (斉藤) Takamaru or Katou (加藤) Danzou could have gotten their family names from a certain connection to the Fujiwara, too. Whether that connection is real or they had a parent who just thought it'd be cool to claim to be related is a mystery though…

Big clans names are often topographical in nature, based on the area they came from. In Nintama, most characters are purposedly named after places, but probably not all names are supposed to be topographical in universe (does this make sense… as in the places might not have had this name back then?).

Others, like Minamoto or Taira, come from names bestowed by the Emperor to children who wouldn’t take the throne, making them ones of the major clans in Japanese History (along with the Fujiwara clan which I mentioned earlier and the Tachibana clan, which sounds similar to Senzou's family name but is spelled differently.)

I mentioned Yamamoto earlier, but other topographical names you can find in Nintama includes 木下 Kinoshita (under the tree), 浜 Hama (seashore), 竹谷 Takeya (bamboo valley)... While not a standard name, the lord of Tasogaredoki Castle is named Tasogaredoki Jinbei, after his domain, making it another topographical name. This is the case for most lords in the series.

Torawaka is from an actual clan, making Satake an actual family name.

Business owners could use their store name as a surname too. In Nintama, Shouzaemon’s family are charcoal sellers, and his family name being 黒木 kuroki, rough lumber, we can assume it comes from their occupation.

Some other names are simply auspicious: 福富 Fukutomi (blessed with fortune), 今福 Imafuku (current fortune).

屋 -ya is a suffix used for shops and businesses, so names with this ending can suggest this origin, like Tsugiya. 

寺 -ji means “shrine” (for Shinto), like in Zenpouji. 寺 -dera means “temple” (for Buddhism), like in Inadera.

“no” is a particle meaning “of”. It implies belonging to a clan or a place : Taira no Takiyashamaru: Takiyashamaru of the Taira, Settsu no Kirimaru: Kirimaru of Settsu (Settsu being the province he was born in.) 

Finally, some names are just… punny, because this is Nintama lol.

Haniwa is spelled 羽丹羽 haniwa with kanji meaning “rust colored feathers”, but they are used purely for phonetic purposes : it sounds exactly like haniwa, clay statues from the Kofun period (his first name, Sekito, is spelled with kanji meaning “stone statue”).

Personal names

幼名 youmei, or childhood name, is the name given to a male child at birth.  Common suffix for childhood names are -waka (young), -o (male), -maru or -maro (“round”, it sounds affectionate and cute) Torawaka means young tiger! cute! A lot of members of the Hyougo crew have “maru” in their names, probably because -maru is a suffix used for ship names.

輩行名, haikoumei. It reflects the order in which children were born within a family. It’s also the name commonly used between family and friends.

1st born son: Ichirou / Tarou 2nd: Jirou 3rd: Saburou 4th: Shirou 5th: Gorou 6th: Rokurou 7th: Shichirou 8th: Hachirou 9th: Kuurou 10th: Juurou.

Additionally, prefixes or suffixes were added to distinguish between, I imagine, many many Tarous out there lol, in order to avoid confusion.

Some nintama examples includes: 乱太郎 Rantarou (war-first son), 文次郎 Monjirou (literature-second son), 留三郎 Tomesaburou (halted/staying-third son), 彦四郎 Hikoshirou (boy-fourth son), 喜八郎 Kihachirou (delight-eighth son)

At least 8 ayabes out there… scary.

When a boy comes of age (between 12-20 years old), he is given a new name, or multiple names to signify his entrance into manhood:

烏帽子名 eboshina is the name noble and samurai men receive during their genpuku, or coming of age ceremony. It’s often given by a godfather of sorts called 烏帽子親 eboshi-oya (lit. eboshi parent, the person who crowns the new adult with a eboshi hat, signifying his passage into adulthood), and this godfather will often choose a name containing at least a kanji from his own name. This name can be temporary, as men will either receive a title or choose a formal name for themselves  later in adulthood. In Nintama, Kousaka’s given name is 陣内左衛門 Jinnaizaemon, with the same 陣内 jinnai as in Yamamoto Jinnai, meaning it’s a name he received from Yamamoto during his coming of age ceremony.

In the manga, when Sonnamon introduces himself, Zatto is initially surprised and says "Since when have you been using that name?", implying he's been named "Sonnamon" pretty recently. Sonnamon explains the origin of his own name, but let me talk about Zatto's given name, Konnamon, too. It's spelled 昆奈門 konnamon, with characters that were chosen for phonetics rather than meaning. I'll go back to the punny nature of his and Sonnamon's names later. 昆 kon is "elder, descendant", 奈 na refers to the chinese quince, and 門 mon is "gate", and is a common name suffix which gives a very period vibe to names (I'll develop this later, but it's a common name ending with Nintama characters). Maybe the "kon" part is inherited in his family. Sonnamon's name 尊奈門 sonnamon uses similar "na" and "mon" kanji, with the first one swapped for 尊 son, "noble", used as an honorific prefix of address, but is also the first character in the word 尊敬 sonkei, "respect, esteem". In Sonnamon's own word: "My eboshioya gave me this name during my coming of age ceremony, so that I always pay respect to the Team Leader[Zatto]."

Formal name

実名 jitsumei the formal, “real” and final name of an adult man, used by samurai to sign documents and wages war. 

And.. that’s it. Or is it? There are more types of names out there ; the name one adopts when entering religion, when performing as an artist, when writing literature, the name ones received after death… There are many other types of names out there but let’s keep this Nintama-related lol.

People outside of the court/military nobles(samurai), ronin, commoners, etc did not receive a formal name and kept using a personal nickname they either gave themselves or received from someone else.

After the Kamakura period, personal names which don’t use the birth order came into use. People began using military titles as common names, even if they hadn't held any official position, and these titles became simple name components. Here are common ones, with the spelling in which they appear in Nintama:

兵衛 -bei, “guard soldier” like Sakubei, Shirobei. (funnily, Shinbei’s name is spelled in the phonetic alphabet.)

兵 hei, soldier, like Magohei, Heisuke, Heidayuu.

ヱ門 -emon, “guard” like Mikiemon.

右ヱ門 -emon, “the right guard” like Kanemon.

左ヱ門 -zaemon, “the left guard” like Hachizaemon, Shouzaemon, Jinnaizaemon (he’s the left guard because Zatto-sama is blind in his left eye… do you understand?! do you understand??!!! Uuoougouhghh…)

之丞 -nojou, “magistrate”, like (Andou) Natsunojou.

助 -suke, “vice-governor of a province” like Hansuke, Heisuke, Sannosuke.

之助 -nosuke, same, like (Ooki) Masanosuke.

之介 -nosuke same but with a different spelling, like (Hanabusa) Makinosuke, (Demo) Shikanosuke.

Additionally, here are some more common name suffixes that you can find in Nintama:

太 -ta “plump, great” like Kisanta, Heita, Koheita.

蔵 -zou “to store, to possess” like Fushikizou, Danzou, Raizou, Senzou, Denzou.

吉 -kichi “good luck”, like Sakichi, Rikichi. 

作 -saku “a work of art”, like Kyuusaku, Sakubei, Isaku, Shuusaku, Yuusaku.

While absolutely not a standard japanese suffix for names, a number of characters from Dokutake uses 鬼 -ki, meaning oni, the ogres/demons of japanese folklore. Like Fuuki, Raiki, Uki, Fubuki, Ibuki, Shibuki, Yamabuki, and Tenki.

I mentioned Kitaishi Teruyo’s name being a pun earlier, here are some more punny names:

Demo Shikanosuke: He has a lovely name if you take each kanji meaning separately. His name uses the same 茂 as Oshige-chan, so it means “overgrown, luxurious”. 鹿 shika means deer, and “nosuke” is that boyish name ending we mentioned earlier. But it’s actually a pun on the expression でもしか demoshika, lit. “but only”, refers to someone applying for a job not out of passion, but only because it’s easy and convenient.

Fuwa Raizou: A pun on the similar sounding, 4 kanji compound sentence 付和雷同 fuwaraidou, “to follow someone else blindly without thinking” 

Konnamon and Sonnamon have that -mon ending which makes them sound like period setting names, but they are actually puns on こんなもん konnamon “something like this”, and そんなもん sonnamon “that’s how it is”. Additionally, Sonnamon's family name, Moroizumi, is spelled 諸泉, with each kanji meaning 諸 moro "many", and 泉 izumi "springs/fountains", making it an auspicious name evoking abundance. These characters can also be read respectively "sho" and "sen", which is why in universe his name is often mistaken for Shosen Sonnamon. And put together, しょせんそんなもん shosensonnamon mean "that's how it is, after all", or "it is how it is", which is.. a lot less auspicious. Zatto's family name is spelled 雑渡 zatto, with each kanji meaning 雑 zatsu "rough, miscellaneous", 渡 to, to pass over. It sounds similar to ざっと zatto, meaning "approximately, more or less, kinda". So put together, his name sounds like ざっとこんなもん zattokonnamon, "kinda like this", "roughly speaking".

Okay! now that's it for now. I know I didn't cover every character, but I hope this was an interesting read still. Pre-Meiji name usage can be confusing, and I tried to be as clear as possible, so I hope this was easy to understand. Thank you for reading this far!

[rogumi]

Bonus pages from volume 50. Some insight on Doi's backstory! Please forgive my awful typesetting, I'm not good at it and the speech bubbles' shapes don't make it easy for me haha.

I want to go a bit more in depth about some points mentioned in these pages, but this will wait for The Big Doi Post that is simmering in my head for now. I just thought I needed to share those pages in English for it to make sense, so there it is, haha. I'll probably have to sub some scenes from ninmyu 12 too...

[rogumi]

Hanko my love.