Akakage

is a fictional Japanese superhero featured in manga, tokusatsu and anime movies & TV shows since his first appearance in the 1967 TV series, "Masked Ninja Red Shadow", produced by Toei Company Ltd.. Red Shadow, created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, is a ninja who wears a red & black costume and a stylized red domino mask. His adventures take place in Feudal Japan, and he and his ninja sidekicks Blue Shadow (青影 - "Ao-Kage", a little boy) and White Shadow (白影 - "Shiro-Kage", an old man) fight evil warlords, wizards and daikaiju (giant monsters) using modern high-tech gadgetry (a blatant oddity in a period setting!). The original series can be compared to the popular "Batman" TV series, which was still airing in America at the time.

"Masked Ninja Red Shadow" (1967) Tokusatsu Series

"Masked Ninja Red Shadow" (仮面の忍者　赤影 - "Kamen no Ninja Aka-Kage"), produced by Toei Company Ltd., aired on KTV and Fuji TV from April 5 1967 to March 27 1968, with a total of 52 episodes (divided into four segments). This was Toei's first color tokusatsu superhero show.

Red Shadow was played by the late Yuzaburo Sakaguchi, Blue Shadow was played by Yoshinobu Kaneko (younger brother of fellow child actor Mitsunobu Kaneko of "Akuma-kun" and "Giant Robo" fame) and White Shadow was played by the late Fuyukichi Maki.

"Masked Ninja Red Shadow" (1987) Anime Series

"Masked Ninja Red Shadow" (仮面の忍者赤影 - "Kamen no Ninja Aka-Kage"), the anime remake produced by Toei, aired on Nippon Television from October 13 1987 to March 22 1988, with a total of 23 episodes. [Ann anime|1884. Accessed 2007-03-06.]

"Red Shadow" (2001) Tokusatsu Movie

"Red Shadow: Aka kage" ("Red Shadow 赤影" aka "Red Shadow") is a remake of the 1969 52 min. "Tobidasu bōken eiga: Aka kage" (飛び出す冒険映画　赤影). It was released in 2001, and was directed by Hiroyuki Nakano, it stars Masanobu Ando in the title role and features a cameo guest star appearance of Tomoyasu Hotei, returning from the 1998 spinoff "Samurai Fiction".

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