This one reminded me of Jade Empire, where one of the arena combatants it a tough-guy with sideburns and uses clawed gloves for weapons, he was even named the Iron Soldier
I like how befittingly, it seems to be inspired by the late Edo, imagery of the ninja,
which is more as a government secret agent, night watchman or samurai police force,
rather than the iconic Senguko era hired army spy or skilled, survivalist infiltrator...
Comparative Notes:
Senguko era shinobi, often wore any common form of civilian disguise,
usually in any set or combination of dark colors, such as blue, brown, maroon...etc
while historical manuals of the time reserve the iconic full black robes for moonless,
pitch dark nights only, and full white, under a full moon. Any form of face wrapping
can be used either to look like a common thief or to hide ones identity if needed. It could
also be soaked in a herbal antiseptic. Note also that all this does not count as a uniform...
Edo period, Tokugawa agents would often looked somewhat more uniform,
and hooded veils where commonly deployed, which otherwise where unsuccessfully banned from the
general public,and it was crime to unmask or expose the identity of an agent. They are far less known
to western audiences, though they did influence the pop culture image of the ninja to an extent.
(for example, the jitte or sai, were Okinawan weapons used by Japanese police, not ninja)
They would often feature a lot in theater drama, investigative literature, popular fiction
and even in shunga pornography!so as expected, weirdness ensues...
Woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798 - 1861)
Samurai and Ninja also by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Samurai Pulverizing Two Ninjas - Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825)
Smug Actor's Portrait! also by Utagawa Toyokuni - 1810’s
Note: actors dressed as ninjas are depicted differently than Kuroko,
stagehands who dress in simpler full black, and move props around.
Yes, this is an excuse to post another hilarious scene!
The Actor as a Prop?!
Woodblock print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
of actor Nakamura Shikan II as Ohatsu
in the kabuki play Sakura doki onna gyoretsu,
showing three Kurogo, 3rd month of 1832
"Keyumars... He was the first king to arise among humans, who at
that time lived in mountain caves and wore the skins of leopards.
Keyumars was also the first human to introduce royal practices,
preparation of food and the first practitioner of law and justice."
Cavernous Court of Gayumars,
Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp - 16th century
Assuming its possible...actually, no, it's still not possible, the Book of Kings (or whatever other book in the bible) is full of ****. The first king (in the traditional sense) unlikely looked anything like that. It was scientifically proven that cavemen didn't actually live in caves. Besides, kings in the traditional sense were ages away from the primitive cavemen
Assuming its possible...actually, no, it's still not possible, the Book of Kings (or whatever other book in the bible) is full of ****. The first king (in the traditional sense) unlikely looked anything like that. It was scientifically proven that cavemen didn't actually live in caves. Besides, kings in the traditional sense were ages away from the primitive cavemen
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