Mail Order Ninja
Encyclopedia
Mail Order Ninja is an original English-language (OEL) manga
written by Joshua Elder and illustrated by Erich Owen. It was the winner of Tokyopop
's fifth Rising Stars of Manga
competition. It is about a boy who orders a ninja from a comic book.
.
A fifth grader at L. Frank Baum
Elementary School, he faces issues such as bullies. To help himself he enters a sweepstakes run by French
entrepreneur
Jaques. He wins and in a few weeks later his favorite ninja hero, Jiro Yoshida, arrives in the mail; thus the title.
of the story. He is a fifth grader at L. Frank Baum Elementary School. Timmy attends Miss Sarah Melton's class and is an above average student. In Mail Order Ninja Volume One, he faces problems with bullies. His main bullies are Brock Breckenridge, Felicity Dominique Huntington, and even his own sister, Lindsay. To help with his bullying situation, he enters and wins a sweepstakes, and in turn gains a ninja in the mail, which turns out to be Jiro Yoshida, the main character of his favorite graphic novel. His favorite food is chocolate chip pancakes made by his mother, and he seems to be a manga
reader, his favorite "graphic novel" being Ninja Warrior Gunshyo (Ninja Warrior Gunshyo is seen to be published by TOKYOPOP
as a joke in the manga). Timmy's best friend is Herman W. Poindexter.
Jiro Yoshida: A powerful ninja
from Clan Yoshida. Jiro once had a promising music career and was dubbed the "Japanese Barry Manilow" by critics. Barry Manilow is also on his Jpod (As seen on the Sunday comics version). After he arrives in Cherry Creek, he helps Timmy overthrow the social hierarchy and run things around Timmy's school. His rival is Hakuryuu Nobunaga, a ninja from the White Dragon
Clan. He seems to have a love interest for Timmy's teacher, Sarah Melton. In volume two he is almost executed until Felicity's assistant Aleasa betrays her, and sets him free.
Felicity Dominique Huntington: The stereotypical rich girl of the series, she is Timmy's most harmful nemesis. Her father owns half of Cherry Creek, so she is horribly rich. She is at the top of their school's social rank, being reigning Little Miss Cherry Creek and sporting a new outfit (designer brands such as Versace, Armani and Gucci
) everyday. At the end of volume one and also volume two, she becomes bitter of Timmy's sudden rise and orders her own ninja. Coincidentally, the ninja she got was Hakuryuu Nobunaga, Jiro's rival. She constantly flaunts her wealth to other students, much to their dismay.
Herman W. Poindexter: Timmy's best friend in the series who is a stereotypical nerd
. He attends Timmy's class, and is probably his only friend. He is a part of his school's Opera
Appreciation Society, Calligraphy
Club, Chess
Club, Computer
Club, and the International Council of Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Fandom. He has a habit of using long words in sentences. He had four years of tap dancing classes and is shown to be girl shy, during the dance in volume 2.
Brock Breckenridge: The main bully at L. Frank Baum Elementary. Timmy is usually is target, and it is shown that he has extorted Timmy of more than three hundred dollars accumulated over the years. Every morning he runs a toll booth and forces other students to pay for passage. He seems to bully practically all the students who aren't up to his level, those including his own underlings. Just like Felicity, he is at the top of the social rank. He seems to know Lindsay personally, even sitting at lunch with her. He's not that strong of a reader. Brock has a bullying license from the American Bullying Association, which Timmy made Jiro slice into pieces.
Remus and Romulus Wolfe: Brock's underlings who assist him in bullying. They are obviously identical twins. Remus is more adapted to his left side (left-handed, hair covering left eye) while Romulus is more adapted to his right. They are the ones usually raiding the possessions of their victims. It turns out that Brock bullies them, two panels showing him pushing them and smacking their heads together. In the background of one panel, he is hitting Remus in the face. Their names are the ones of Romulus and Remus
Wolf, mythological twins and the supposed founders of Rome.
Jacques: A man who runs Jacques Co., a toy company that is unusually odd. It turns out Jacques once worked for the army in making weapons, which is why his toys are usually dinosaurs, ninjas, guns
, and other dangerous play toys. Jacques is responsible for giving both Timmy and Felicity Jiro and Nobunaga. He is also French.
Aleasa Duesenberg: Felicity's lowly assistant who usually follows her everywhere. She seems to do all of Felicity's minor tasks such as carrying her possessions in school or dusting off her show and tell objects. It's implied in her character card that she has very low self esteem. In volume two she gains some redemption and sets Jiro free before he is to be executed.
Sarah Melton: Timmy's weary homeroom teacher. Her life is boring and meaningless until she sees Jiro for the first time. Afterwards, she falls instantly in love with him. She is possibly the first adult to snap out of Felicity's mind control. In volume two she leaves her classroom to save Jiro.
Hakuryuu Nobunaga: Jiro's rival, who is the leader of the White Dragon Clan. Surprisingly, he is also experienced in the law field and once sued his own mother because he simply did not like the birthday present she got him.
Original English-language manga
Original English-language manga or OEL manga is the term commonly used to describe comic books or graphic novels in the "international manga" genre of comics whose language of original publication is English...
written by Joshua Elder and illustrated by Erich Owen. It was the winner of Tokyopop
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
's fifth Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga
Rising Stars of Manga was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume....
competition. It is about a boy who orders a ninja from a comic book.
Synopsis
The story starts with ten-year-old Timmy McAllister, a boy living in the small town of Cherry Creek, IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
.
A fifth grader at L. Frank Baum
L. Frank Baum
Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...
Elementary School, he faces issues such as bullies. To help himself he enters a sweepstakes run by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
Jaques. He wins and in a few weeks later his favorite ninja hero, Jiro Yoshida, arrives in the mail; thus the title.
Characters
Timmy McAllister: The ten-year-old protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the story. He is a fifth grader at L. Frank Baum Elementary School. Timmy attends Miss Sarah Melton's class and is an above average student. In Mail Order Ninja Volume One, he faces problems with bullies. His main bullies are Brock Breckenridge, Felicity Dominique Huntington, and even his own sister, Lindsay. To help with his bullying situation, he enters and wins a sweepstakes, and in turn gains a ninja in the mail, which turns out to be Jiro Yoshida, the main character of his favorite graphic novel. His favorite food is chocolate chip pancakes made by his mother, and he seems to be a manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
reader, his favorite "graphic novel" being Ninja Warrior Gunshyo (Ninja Warrior Gunshyo is seen to be published by TOKYOPOP
Tokyopop
Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...
as a joke in the manga). Timmy's best friend is Herman W. Poindexter.
Jiro Yoshida: A powerful ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
from Clan Yoshida. Jiro once had a promising music career and was dubbed the "Japanese Barry Manilow" by critics. Barry Manilow is also on his Jpod (As seen on the Sunday comics version). After he arrives in Cherry Creek, he helps Timmy overthrow the social hierarchy and run things around Timmy's school. His rival is Hakuryuu Nobunaga, a ninja from the White Dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
Clan. He seems to have a love interest for Timmy's teacher, Sarah Melton. In volume two he is almost executed until Felicity's assistant Aleasa betrays her, and sets him free.
Felicity Dominique Huntington: The stereotypical rich girl of the series, she is Timmy's most harmful nemesis. Her father owns half of Cherry Creek, so she is horribly rich. She is at the top of their school's social rank, being reigning Little Miss Cherry Creek and sporting a new outfit (designer brands such as Versace, Armani and Gucci
Gucci
The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci , is an Italian fashion and leather goods label, part of the Gucci Group, which is owned by French company PPR...
) everyday. At the end of volume one and also volume two, she becomes bitter of Timmy's sudden rise and orders her own ninja. Coincidentally, the ninja she got was Hakuryuu Nobunaga, Jiro's rival. She constantly flaunts her wealth to other students, much to their dismay.
Herman W. Poindexter: Timmy's best friend in the series who is a stereotypical nerd
Nerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
. He attends Timmy's class, and is probably his only friend. He is a part of his school's Opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Appreciation Society, Calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
Club, Chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Club, Computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
Club, and the International Council of Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
Fandom. He has a habit of using long words in sentences. He had four years of tap dancing classes and is shown to be girl shy, during the dance in volume 2.
Brock Breckenridge: The main bully at L. Frank Baum Elementary. Timmy is usually is target, and it is shown that he has extorted Timmy of more than three hundred dollars accumulated over the years. Every morning he runs a toll booth and forces other students to pay for passage. He seems to bully practically all the students who aren't up to his level, those including his own underlings. Just like Felicity, he is at the top of the social rank. He seems to know Lindsay personally, even sitting at lunch with her. He's not that strong of a reader. Brock has a bullying license from the American Bullying Association, which Timmy made Jiro slice into pieces.
Remus and Romulus Wolfe: Brock's underlings who assist him in bullying. They are obviously identical twins. Remus is more adapted to his left side (left-handed, hair covering left eye) while Romulus is more adapted to his right. They are the ones usually raiding the possessions of their victims. It turns out that Brock bullies them, two panels showing him pushing them and smacking their heads together. In the background of one panel, he is hitting Remus in the face. Their names are the ones of Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
Wolf, mythological twins and the supposed founders of Rome.
Jacques: A man who runs Jacques Co., a toy company that is unusually odd. It turns out Jacques once worked for the army in making weapons, which is why his toys are usually dinosaurs, ninjas, guns
Güns
Güns or Guens may refer to:* Kőszeg, Hungary * Kőszeg Mountains, Hungary * Akiva Güns , birth name of Akiva Eger, a Hungarian-Polish rabbi- See also :* Guns * Gün, a surname...
, and other dangerous play toys. Jacques is responsible for giving both Timmy and Felicity Jiro and Nobunaga. He is also French.
Aleasa Duesenberg: Felicity's lowly assistant who usually follows her everywhere. She seems to do all of Felicity's minor tasks such as carrying her possessions in school or dusting off her show and tell objects. It's implied in her character card that she has very low self esteem. In volume two she gains some redemption and sets Jiro free before he is to be executed.
Sarah Melton: Timmy's weary homeroom teacher. Her life is boring and meaningless until she sees Jiro for the first time. Afterwards, she falls instantly in love with him. She is possibly the first adult to snap out of Felicity's mind control. In volume two she leaves her classroom to save Jiro.
Hakuryuu Nobunaga: Jiro's rival, who is the leader of the White Dragon Clan. Surprisingly, he is also experienced in the law field and once sued his own mother because he simply did not like the birthday present she got him.
External links
- Mail Order Ninja at Tokyopop's website