Hiro Nakamura (Masi Oka) in Shinobi commercial

Have you seen it? Or if you\’ve seen it, do you remember it? If memory serves right, the television commercial for Shinobi on the PlayStation 2 should have appeared close to its release way back in November 2002. Well, if you haven\’t seen it or wish to refresh your memory, go take a gander:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFor those who are clueless as to who Hiro Nakamura and Masi Oka are, they are one and the same but not really. Confusing? Haha. Read on.\r\n\r\nMasi Oka (his full name is Masayori Oka) is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-nominated actor. His most memorable role is undoubtedly Hiro Nakamura, one of the protagonist in the hit NBC series Heroes.\r\n\r\nShinobi, on the other hand, is a video game in the Shinobi series for PlayStation 2, developed by Overworks and published by Sega. The Shinobi for PS2, of course, follows the original Shinobi story of the last members of the Oboro clan.\r\n\r\nHere\’s a brief background courtesy of Wikipedia:\r\n\r\n

The role of Shinobi is most commonly associated with that of Joe Musashi, the protagonist of the original arcade game and many of its sequels. His name is a combination of both an archetypal Western first name and Japanese last name, Musashi likely being derived from the legendary Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In the manual of The Revenge of Shinobi, Musashi\’s backstory is told as that of a weak boy who first entered the dojo of the Oboro Clan at a young age and gradually, through tireless practice and meditation, worked himself up to become the most skilled and respected ninja of his clan.\r\n\r\nHis peaceful existence in the mountains of Japan is shattered when the totalitarian crime syndicate Neo Zeed rises to power and threatens to take over the world. The Oboro Clan is hunted down by Zeed\’s minions, his master assassinated and his girlfriend Naoko taken hostage. Musashi swears revenge, and in the ensuing battles, as chronicled in The Revenge of Shinobi, all but annihilates Neo Zeed. When Neo Zeed returns in Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master, the ninja comes out of retirement one final time and destroys the crime organization for good.