AnimEigo has re-announced its upcoming SASUKE – The Complete Television Series Blu-ray’s October 14 release date. The retro anime will be available in North American, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and pre-orders began earlier this year.
To recap, the anime is a 29-episode, 1968 to 1969 adaptation of the late Sanpei Shirato‘s SASUKE manga. AnimEigo says that the show has been “thoughtfully restored from the original film assets and features newly produced subtitles and a previously unreleased English dub” for this three-disc Blu-ray release, which will be packaged in a “Newly designed cardboard slipcover with additional artwork.”
Here’s the premise:
During the 17th century, Lord Tokugawa wages a ruthless war of domination across Japan. Among his targets are the mighty Sarutobi clan, whose most formidable warrior is Daisuke Ozaru. When Ozaru’s wife is assassinated, his young son Sasuke – traumatized and believing his father dead – considers himself an orphan. Unbeknownst to him, a mysterious traveler who takes him in is actually Ozaru in disguise. And now, father and son walk a hidden path, as Daisuke secretly trains Sasuke to become a deadly master ninja, so that one day, he can avenge his mother and strike back at the empire that destroyed their family.
The SASUKE anime had Kiyoshi Onishi as chief director and Kimura Mitsuo as character designer. Animation production studio Eiken (then TCJ) lists the show as its first color TV anime.
According to AnimEigo, SASUKE “was known for its dark themes and brutal depictions of war and was also an inspiration for the Naruto franchise and the character Sasuke Uchiha.” In a 2014 interview, Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto mentioned that the SASUKE anime had some influence on his depiction of ninjas, though it was the late Akira Toriyama‘s Dragon Ball that had an influence on him as a manga artist.
The character of Sasuke Sarutobi has appeared in various other stories and media as well.
Source: Press release
