The series incorporates historical materialism, realistic drawings, and allegorical themes that made it popular among the youth of the sixties.

Shirato's manga was adapted into a film, titled Tales of the Ninja, which was directed by Nagisa Ōshima and released by Oshima Productions in Japan in February 1967.

Written and illustrated by Sanpei Shirato, Ninja Bugeichō was published by Seirindō [ja] as kashi-hon from December 1959 to October 1962, with a total of 3000 installments.

[16] This violent epic tale set in Japan's "Warring States" (Sengoku) period was seen by many readers and critics as a thinly-veiled allegory for the ongoing Anpo protests against the US-Japan Security Treaty (although Shirato himself later denied this was his intention).

[18][19] Rather than being an animated adaption, Ōshima decided to simply shoot the panels of the manga in order, adding narration and employing zooming and panning techniques.