Jiraiya
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Jiraiya (自来也 or 児雷也?, literally "Young Thunder"[1]), originally known as Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki, is the toad riding character of the Japanese folklore Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語?, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"). The tale was adapted into a 19th-century serial novel, a kabuki drama, several films, video games and a manga, and has also served as a source of influence for various other works.
Contents
Classic tale
In the legend, Jiraiya is a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to morph into a gigantic toad. As the heir of a powerful clan in Kyūshū of the same name, Jiraiya fell in love with Tsunade (綱手), a beautiful young maiden who has mastered slug magic. His arch-enemy was his one-time follower Yashagorō (夜叉五郎), later known as Orochimaru (大蛇丸), a master of serpent magic (the kanji 大蛇 literally means "giant snake" or "serpent"). It was first recorded in 1806.[citation needed]
19th century adaptations
- A novel version of the story was written by different authors and published in 43 installments from 1839 to 1868; one of its illustrators was woodblock artist Kunisada.[2]
- Kawatake Mokuami wrote a kabuki drama based on the first ten parts of the novel, which premiered in Edo in 1852, starring Ichikawa Danjūrō VIII in the leading role.[2]
In popular culture
- Jiraiya (also known as Ikazuchi-Maru) is the protagonist in the 1966 tokusatsu movie Kairyū Daikessen (known in English as The Magic Serpent). He and his nemesis Orochimaru transform into two daikaiju, a toad and dragon, respectively, and have a duel to the death. Tsunade is his love interest.
- There are also films Jiraiya (1914), Nidaime Jiraiya (1917), Jiraiya Gōketsu Tan (1918), Gōketsu Jiraiya (Jiraiya the Hero, 1921), Jiraiya (also known as Ninjutsu Sanyō Den, 1937), Hibari Torimonochō: Jiraiya Koban (1958), and Kunoichi Ninpō Chō: Jiraiya Hishō (1995).
- In the first game of Hudson Soft's Tengai Makyō series (known in the West as Far East of Eden), Tengai Makyō: Ziria (1989), Jiraiya ("Ziria") is a ninja from the Fire Clan who fights with a kodachi sword and has a pet frog which grows several times its size when he summons it in combat. Tsunade is a ninja girl from the Roots Clan (the arch-enemies of the Fire Clan) who uses snails and a huge axe in her attacks and is in love with Orochimaru, a wandering warrior and poet who wields a naginata and snake magic. In 2006, the game was remade as Tengai Makyou Ziria: Haruka naru Jipang. Its characters also all returned in the 1995 spin-off fighting game Far East of Eden: Kabuki Klash.
- Jiraiya Kenzan, an unreleased video game by Capcom.[3]
- Shōnen Jiraiya, a manga by Shigeru Sugiura.
- In Naruto, a popular manga and anime television series, Jiraiya appears in the series as a ninja with the ability to summon giant toads. Along with the series' versions of Tsunade and Orochimaru, he is part of a trio of legendary ninja known as the Densetsu no Sannin ("Legendary Three Ninja"). One of the anime's episodes is titled "The Tale of Jiraiya the Gallant."
- In the manga and anime series Gin Tama, Jiraia is the strongest ninja of the Oniwanbanshu.
- Jiraiya Byakko is a character in the manga and anime series Karasu Tengu Kabuto.
- In Persona 4, Yosuke Hanamura wields a persona named 'Jiraya,' which takes the form of an anthropomorphic frog that controls wind and is dressed as a ninja.
- In Ninja Sentai Kakuranger Ninja Black is named Jiraya and his mecha are all toad themed and have fire attacks.
