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Sushi and ninja are two things that might decide the ultimate fate of Japan—well, at least in the world of character content creation. Combining two of Japan’s most iconic symbols, Sushi Ninja hopes to build an open-source character empire full of food and fanservice.
Sushi Ninja is a CG animation series that was released to the web in 2014 by Genco, Inc. The story follows the journey of three sushi characters in search of the “seasonings of happiness,” with which they hope to rebuild the once lost “Sushi Ninja Empire.” We think. Despite being about edible ninja wannabes, the show contains a surprising amount of shounen-style "boing" that we can't quite explain away with wasabi goggles.
The central characters include the disproportionately passionate Ikura (Salmon Roe)—characterized by none less than Yuki Kaji, voice of Attack on Titan's Eren Jaeger—as well as the cool and narcissistic Maguro (Tuna) and the gluttonous Tamago (Omelette), who will even eat bits of his friends given the chance. Each video is available both subtitled and with an English dub.
Genco is promoting the characters and their story framework as a source of non-commercial content creation, openly stating that anyone can reproduce or create new sushi characters based on Sushi Ninja and share them in a manner that (1) pays respect to the original characters, (2) involves no money-making and (3) gives copyright credit to Genco.
Only three episodes have been released to date, with the first appearing in July, 2014, followed by the second in October and the third in November of the same year. While Instagram photo contests have been held as recently as November 2015, it’s been some time since we’ve seen original video content, leaving us asking: will someone pick up the mantle of the Sushi Ninja, or will the once-mighty empire disintegrate into the soy sauce dip of destiny?
Source: All About Japan
Source article written by Mina Otsuka
