From the classic trope of a man exacting revenge for his family’s murder after he escaped his ninja clan, comes Ninja Kamui.
First Impressions on Ninja Kamui
This felt as though this is the most American anime I’ve ever seen. Classic revenge plot, romanticized ninjas from Hollywood movies e.g., Ninja Assassin, Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow from G.I Joe franchise and American Ninja. The plot was predictable from the early on after they introduced the main characters. It’s like you are anticipating whether the parents are going to get killed and leave the kid behind who is going to grow up and seek revenge, or the father of that kid is going to survive and seek revenge. And it’s in USA which just adds more cliché. Not to mention the FBI gets involved with the ongoing murders by the ninja clan and our MC gets trapped in all this. That’s not to say that it’s all “bad” due to the clichés. I’m enjoying this classic way of storytelling that’s resurfaced in 2024 with breathtaking animation. And I’m in for more what more it has to unfold.
Ninja Kamui Review
Aside from the cliché, the fight scenes are amazing. It’s not just the animation, the choreography is on point and the OST is exhilarating. The action is fast paced in dark scenes with lots of blood being spilled; it is almost like Ninja Assassin movie. It contains more action, less talking and lets the scenes convey the story. No wonder why everyone’s on the hype train for this one. And we have the manliest man Kenjiro Tsuda voicing the MC whose voice is perfect for character with a revenge plot.
Now, despite me saying that it feels more American, it’s fully produced in Japan by E&H Production and Sola Digital Arts directed by Sunghoo Park, the South Korean animator responsible for God of Highschool and Jujutsu Kaisen season 1. So yeah, this show is in good hands.
One issue I noticed is due to the streaming platforms. It’s airing on HMAX and MAX; both have bad video quality. The anime is animated in 24 frames per second and video is released in 23.976 fps. But they are streaming in 25 and 30 fps (one is HMAX EU, other is US), which resulted the video in sped up and ghosting in some scenes. If you want the best quality, consider looking for a fan release that fixed the fps.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a pure action anime, then Ninja Kamui is for you this season. It already garnered a lot of praise after the first episode. Both English and Japanese dub is good so that’s another plus point. Only because of the streaming platform, the quality suffers a bit. All in all, it’s pretty decent.