NOTE: I wrote this review quite some time ago, and it doesn't meet my current standards, however since there are no other reviews here, it may be somewhat informative. ------------------------------------- Story: Nerd-glasses wearing student one second, handsome & mysterious ninja the next, Mamoru comes from a family of ninjas. Their purpose is to secretly protect the Konnyaku family, whom they have always lived next door to. Mamoru's particular mission is to protect the daughter, Yuna, and he has done so since he was small. This is made more difficult thanks to Yuna being a clumsy airhead who always manages to land herself into far-more-than-your-average amount of trouble.They are good friends (She has not yet mentioned that she loves him), and always go places together, which helps greatly with being nearby to protect her.
Also, a number of female warriors appear, all of whom become enamoured with Mamoru(the ninja), and they begin fighting each other for him.
Summary: A moderately paced series that follows Mamoru as he tries to protect Yuna without her knowledge, and defend himself from assassins, not to mention his parent's training, while the female warriors fight over Mamoru in the background.
My Thoughts: Now, I've seen a few clumsy, idiotic anime characters in my time, but I think that Yuna takes the cake, then trips and falls into it, and promptly falls asleep, leaving mamoru to drag her away so she doesn't suffocate. I can't remember ever seeing a character so consistantly air-headed and clumsy, and there is a fair bit of variety to the situations she gets herself into. It's probably worth a look just for that fact.
Apart from Yuna herself, there is a lot of funny stuff going on, such as ninja dogs and ninja rabbits.
There's not a lot of combat, but what's there is stylish, and often humerous.
Music: The opening/closing themes(Japanese) are nice, upbeat, and might get stuck in your head for a bit, but probably not worth putting in the collection.
In closing: A good, but short, series, worth watching more for the comedy than the combat. I give it a thumbs up. I recommend it to anyone that likes idiotic anime characters or funny ninjas.
lalamaraptor
February 4, 2022
Recommended
"Banana, banana banana, banana ba na na na na na na, ba na na." This anime got that stupid banana song stuck in my head for weeks. I kept going back to watch clips of it over and over again, and spent forever tracking down the full length soundtrack version. It's a real banger. Do you like ninjas? Do you like dumb anime girls being bakawaii? Then you'll probably really enjoy this. Personally I really love when dumb characters have their stupidity cranked up to 11 for the sake of comedy. Nothing makes me feel better about how dumb I am than watching someone even dumber. Topit off with it being a cute anime girl and I'm having a great time.
There's a lot of goofy characters and plot lines that seem like they're going to be serious but then end up being silly. It's a comedy anime that's actually funny most of the time and doesn't try too hard and miss the mark. It's a good time all around, and deserves an 8/10 bananas.
Mixed Feelings
Kage kara Mamoru is a funny and enjoyable comedy. Throughout its twelve episodes, it mixes ninjas and school comedy in a wide variety of situations, always handling the comedic moments well. One of the main strengths of this series is its well-suited characters for creating funny situations, and in this regard, the female protagonist stands out. Yuuna constantly gets into trouble, is quite slow, and behaves with unrealistic optimism. However, she's not the only standout character—Mamoru is also a solid protagonist, particularly because of the contrast between his ninja and student personas. The rest of the cast consists of female characters who also get involved withMamoru in absurd situations. To some extent, it feels like a harem, as most of the girls have feelings for Mamoru, but the series doesn’t focus on this aspect. It's not a complex cast, but all the characters are entertaining without being irritating.
As for the visuals, the animation isn't bad, but it could have been more dynamic during the action scenes. On the other hand, the music is good, and in both the ridiculous and action scenes, the soundtrack complements the events perfectly.
All in all, Kage kara Mamoru could be considered a recommendable anime that doesn't deserve a very high rating. It's an unambitious series with a ridiculous premise and character development that isn't meant to be taken seriously, but it's very funny. However, this anime has a disastrous ending. The last two episodes try to create a dramatic conflict, and there's much less comedy than in the rest of the series. This abrupt shift in tone significantly hurts the show's overall enjoyment. Furthermore, the whole situation is overly dumb, poorly written, and lazily concluded, so it can't be considered a well-crafted serious conflict either.
If it weren't for the last two episodes, I'd consider it a good series. That said, it's still a very funny anime.
