KAKANLen09
December 21, 2023
Recommended
Under Ninja - Nin nin? Want some ninja vs. ninja action? You've got it! It's weird, it's frenetic, it's whacky — a full-on ninja war for both active and inactive people, who are unassuming people living amongst us...Among Us, Ninja Edition. And to think that this show would turn many heads into thinking that this is quite the fanfare, it definitely has its quirks that'll make it all the more absurd. And this show, coming from the author best known for his action-horror and psychological thriller hit manga series I Am a Hero, Under Ninja, is the prized mangaka Kengo Hanazawa's latest work to follow inthe same trend as its famed predecessor.
Under Ninja's world comprises a fictional world where typical wars erupt like the Pacific War, but what remains are people known as the shinobi, a.k.a ninja, who, as the name suggests, conduct the usual assassinations in covert missions. However, as time passes after the war, there still exist ninjas in Japan; they're just hiding in plain sight, with their numbers racking in at 200,000, working in the dark in the public and private sectors and in all kinds of organizations. While some of the elite ninja work behind the scenes in national-level conflicts, the ninja at the end of the line is often unable to find work. And one of those ninjas happens to be a NEET by the name of Kuro Kumogakure. The 17-year-old high school dropout, sucking up to life's miseries, gets an assignment from his superiors, which calls for him to infiltrate a high school where ninjas are present. Together with his fellow ninja folks, Kuro sets out on a mission that would change his life forever from being a Genin to a capable ninja.
First off, even though the world is full of ninjas, you NEED to understand that their serving organizations are actually very different. Kuro is part of the ninja organization NIN (National Intelligence of NINJA) that's not controlled by the government, with its elite members performing assassinations and sabotage in secret. Their enemy is the UN (Under Ninja), which aims to eradicate the remnants of NIN by way of competing against their advancement in Ninja gear. You got that? OK. It's characters, however, are quite over the top with their existentialism and way of operating, which gives them quite the pose that they are as ninjas: Kuro is comedic and low-ball with his replies and duties; Miracle Hibi is exactly what it says in the pseudonym name: a weirdo who can give electric shocks due to his "Thunder" moniker; Suzuki is the classic ninja warrior assassin, with their ninja chief Kato being their mobile HQ; and more. You also have the usual landlord of Oono trying to sniff his way through alcoholism with the landlady Kawado, a Russian foreigner on the verge of seeing dicks like wieners cut off, as well as the UN girls like Mako-chan and Mitsuki Yamada, who are just a force to be reckoned with in the high school that Kuro is assigned to. Furthermore, the acclaimed fatso of Sasama, talking cat, and motorbike that's almost like Blade Runner's Mustang? This series is unhinged by its many possibilities while still keeping its story plot interesting in every nook and cranny. And this is the strength of Kengo Hanazawa as a creative author, and with so many diverging plotlines, he has managed to keep the overall storytelling consistent and back to the point.
Throughout its world and the many cast of characters, you will definitely be poised to identify who is who in this ninja vs. ninja world, because for one, Tezuka Productions' in-house director Satoshi Kuwabara opted for a "show, don't tell" approach, meaning that all of the flashbacks and plot-thickening are definitely as intentional as they are, scraping off the manga's adaptation in a better order of storytelling that is plastered all over the anime. It's definitely jarring if you're expecting to refer back to the manga over the many interchanging sequences of events, but trust me, while the manga's original pacing gives the story a tone that fits it the most in a visual and readable form, the anime has a charm of its own that can be taken as its own remix of the original source material.
That said, if I ever have to fault the anime for one aspect, it will have to be the production values. For a story like this, Tezuka Productions gave this show a rather low level of importance, which it really shows, especially in the action scenes that in this show have quite a fair amount of it that don't look quite as polished. Still though, if they nailed one thing from the manga, it would have to be its grittiness, unapologetic of the vulgarity of its world, and eccentric characters, which is a nice compliment to the unkempt comedy that the series has going for.
The music is definitely a whole 'nother area of unhinged expression, and it definitely is the aspect best used to complement its gargantuan, complex world that is just the ongoing war between ninjas of different corporations. The OP and ED songs are quite the bop as well: Kroi's Hyper is the perfect combination of grimy, funky, off-putting, soulful, and lively vibe, while KOTOKI's ED is the nostalgic 90s throwback that's aided by the rather unique animation of Kuro traversing through the real world through his lens.
Trust me when I say that Under Ninja as a show has a vibe that is uniquely one-of-a-kind, though it requires you to pay attention most of the time as it glosses through the frames of time to piece more than just the ninja vs. ninja story that it wants you to know. And that it rewards you over time when you finally understand its underlying plot and characters involved, which is always the usual big affair.
Seriously, we need more shows like Under Ninja. I'm always surprised, as an information-aware person, that there hasn't been a show like this in quite some time that always keeps me on my toes about what to expect next. Guess the expression "expect the unexpected" fits the show to a T, and I'm all here for it.
