Fūma no Kojirō

Fūma no Kojirō (風魔の小次郎) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. It was published in Weekly Shōnen Jump from January 1982 to November 1983. It tells the story of sword legends and rivalry between ninja clans. The main character Kojiro is a young boy who is a member of the Fuma clan.

The series was adapted into an original video animation (OVA) series released between June 1989 and December 1990, plus an additional episode released in November 1992.

A sequel entitled Yagyū Ansatsuchō (柳生暗殺帖), written and illustrated by Satoshi Yuri, was published in Akita Shoten's Champion Red between 2003 and 2006.

In October 2007, a live-action television drama adaptation began airing on Tokyo MX, starring Ryouta Murai in the lead role of Kojiro.

Plot
Hakuo Academy used to be a prestigious high school, and famous for martial arts. However, because its rival school Seishikan has been cowardly luring its superior students, Hakuo was going to decline. In order to recover from the situation, the acting principal of Hakuo; Himeko Hojo, sends Ranko Yagyu to the Fuma village in search of the famous Fuma ninja clan for assistance. The leader of the Fuma sent Kojiro to Hakuo, there he faces the notorious Yasha clan who fights for Seishikan led by Musashi Asuka. Kojiro's comrades arrive, resuming an all-out ninja war that began five centuries ago.

Kojiro with his friends, will fight in the "war of the sacred swords", for the conquest of the ten swords that give the power to rule over the whole world.

Fuma Clan

 * Kojiro (小次郎)


 * Ryoma (竜魔)


 * Kirikaze (霧風)


 * Ryuho (劉鵬)


 * Kou (項羽)


 * Shoryu (小龍)


 * Rinpyo (琳彪)


 * Kabutomaru (兜丸)


 * Reira (麗羅)


 * Fuma Leader


 * Komomo (小桃)

Hakuo Academy

 * Ranko Yagyu (柳生 蘭子)


 * Himeko Hojo (北条 姫子)

Seishikan

 * Musashi Asuka (飛鳥 武蔵)


 * Erina Asuka (飛鳥 絵里菜): Musashi's younger sister.

Yasha Clan

 * Kosuke Mibu (壬生 攻介)


 * Princess Yasha (夜叉姫)


 * Maya (魔矢)

8 Yasha Generals

 * Byakko (白虎)


 * Shiranui (不知火)


 * Shien (紫炎)


 * Raiden (雷電)


 * Anki (闇鬼)


 * Kurojishi (黒獅子)


 * Yosui (妖水)


 * Kagero (陽炎)

Cosmo Warriors

 * Sigma (死牙馬)


 * Soshi Date (伊達 総司)

Chaos Warriors

 * Emperor Chaos (華悪崇皇帝)


 * Nero (涅絽)


 * Oz (雄皇)


 * Jackal (邪火麗)


 * Shura (朱羅)

Manga
Fūma no Kojirō is written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada. The manga was published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump from January 11, 1982, to November 21, 1983. Shueisha collected its chapters in ten tankōbon volumes, released from August 15, 1982, to May 15, 1984.

In 2003, a sequel entitled Fūma no Kojirō: Yagyū Ansatsuchō started in Akita Shoten's Champion Red on September 19, 2003. The manga is written by Kurumada and illustrated by Satoshi Yuri. The series finished on May 19, 2006. Akita Shoten compiled the individual chapters into three tankōbon volumes released between July 29, 2004 and May 18, 2006.

A short series, titled Fūma no Kojirō: Jo no Maki (風魔の小次郎 序の巻) was serialized in Champion Red from August 19 to October 19, 2019. Another series, titled Fūma no Kojirō Gaiden: Asuka Mumeicho (風魔の小次郎 外伝 飛鳥無明帖), started in the same magazine on August 19, 2022.

Original video animations
A twelve-episode OVA series was produced by Animate Film and J.C. Staff. It was split in two arcs of six episodes each. The first arc was released between June 1 and August 2, 1989. The second arc was released between September 21 and December 1, 1990. An additional one-episode OVA was released on November 21, 1992.

Drama
A thirteen-episode live-action television drama series adaptation was announced in July 2007. It was broadcast from October to December 2007. The opening theme is "Ryūsei Rocket" performed by An Cafe and the ending theme is "Eien no Setsuna" (永遠の刹那) performed by On/Off.