Outline
This animation is based on manga series, Rakudai Ninja Rantarou (lit. Failure Ninja Rantarou) by Soubei Amako. It was first broadcasted on NHK Educational Channel since 1993 and is still ongoing.
Nintama Rantarou (lit. Rantarou the Ninja Boy) is a Japanese anime series based on Sōbē Amako's manga Rakudai Ninja Rantarou. It was produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and originally broadcast on NHK. It features the adventures of Rantarou and his friends and teachers at Ninja school. The fact that glasses are worn by one of the main characters is intentionally anachronistic. The manga references other Japanese media personalities such as Ken Shimura.
Rantarou , a young boy with glasses and reddish hair, begins to attend Ninjutsu Gakuen (Ninja School). He is determined to become an elite ninja, unlike his father who is a very poor, common ninja. At the school, he makes two good friends, Kirimaru and Shinbei. Kirimaru is obsessed with money, and always has some kind of part-time job. Because he doesn't have a family, he usually stays with Doi-sensei (and gets him to "help" with his part-time jobs) when school is out.Shinbei , a pudgy boy with a constantly running nose and hair that becomes a lethal weapon, is the son of a very rich family. However, Shinbei is not very bright, and usually misses the point of any conversation.
All three are in Ichinen-hagumi (first year "ha" class (note: "ha" is the third of the old "i ro ha" order of kana, and the classes in the school are Igumi, Rogumi, and Hagumi)). Unfortunately for the teachers, Hagumi seems to have the least competent first-year students. At Ninjutsu Gakuen, the students are called "Nintama", a contraction of the first kanji in Ninjutsu/Ninja (Nin), and tamago, meaning egg. Thus, they are "Ninja eggs", or Nintama.
The two main teachers are Yamada-sensei and Doi-sensei. Yamada-sensei is a rather...unattractive man. Of course, that means that whenever they have to wear a disguise, he's always the one who dresses up like a woman - a very ugly woman. He is in charge of the students' field education. Doi-sensei is a very young teacher, 25. He is in charge of the students' classroom education. Hagumi has a tendency to spend more time making bad jokes than studying, and Doi-sensei has a justifiable tendency to lose his temper.
