NES Shinobi speedrun in

Played on emulator (BizHawk 2.2.2 using NesHawk core). This run is subject to the rules of the leaderboard at www.speedrun.c....
Retimed: 8 minutes + 4.49 seconds(*). Timing begins with press START, ends with last hit on final boss (0:02 - 8:06).
*On-screen timer used is Llanfair (b/c LiveSplit has minor accuracy issues for me). The raw capture is 4.483 -- 1 frame short of the 4.5 second mark. For various reasons, this could be erroneously rounded upwards. Not a big deal to me -- the precise time is secondary to the quality of the run.
Very happy to put this one DOWN. It was a horrible grind -- not the number of attempts, but the game is just obnoxious. It has a boss whose main attack is eating your inputs! (well, sorta, anyway). There's definitely a little time to save, but probably no more than 3 seconds given amazing execution and luck. My sum of best is barely under 8 minutes. (P.S., I would love to see a sub-8! Would be incredible, no doubt.)
There's not a whole lot new in this run compared to my previous one. Overall, it's just cleaner. I could have done a little better on the Mandara stages. No 1st-frame jumps in 3-2 or 5-1, which could have saved a second or two. I wasn't really mashing hard enough to get them but rarely. So, this run is definitely beatable, but probably not worth grinding for, IMO.
(For reference, my previous run and notes can be found at • NES Shinobi speedrun i... )
I welcome any comments, questions, or suggestions. You can post here or tweet me in the Twitters @TascoDLX
Enjoy! =D