.png)
A little while ago I saw the first episode of Ninja Kamui when it first aired. I still remember the feeling I had back then. I was excited. Excited that I might have just found an anime that combined my love for fantasy with that of a grounded realistic approach to its storytelling. The answer to the question; "What if John Wick was a ninja?".
Sadly, the conventions and pressures of what makes commercial anime run infected Ninja Kamui. The need for recognizability. Conformity. Similarity. I'm not saying the industry is against anything original, but too often do they fall back on what's safe and forget that creative endeavours like these must always take that leap of faith.
The article I wrote back then talked about how Ninja Kamui ticked all the right boxes. Leaving little room for doubt about its bright future as an anime. Little did I know disappointment was just over the horizon.
If that article in any way interests you, here's the link.
By no means is Ninja Kamui a bad anime, it just is a disappointing one. Its transformation from grounded ninja anime supported by fantasy elements of ninjutsu to a glorified attempt at a mecha anime just cheapens the anime as a whole.
It would've been fine if from the get-go the mecha element as well as the narrative concerning capitalism vs tradition was introduced, then the expectations would've been better illustrated.
As cool as the suits look, as indicative of ninja traditions in the designs they may be, there isn't any need for them. They feel like an afterthought in the cheapest way. It's like the creators wanted a flashy thing they could dump money into when animating fight scenes.
The entire lore and the way these suits work is completely meaningless to me. I just can't bring myself to give a shit when the best parts of this anime were when the suits were out of the picture.
The more compelling angle would have been if the ninjas reminded mankind who has now been consumed with their notions of money, capitalism and senseless violence of how powerless they are to the powers of the ninjas and the traditional notions that they bring.
A great example of this is the character of Master Yamaji. His character who for all intents and purposes was the villain was wonderfully written with a point of view that wasn't wrong but wasn't right either. The best part? He believed in his ideals wholeheartedly.
His fighting skills were also unmatched. His powers and the way his character went into monologues were just brilliant.
His time as a menacing villain was short-lived. Soon enough even he was clad in some mecha suit that supposedly made him more powerful. It's hard to really give a shit about the suits when the characters themselves were just so compelling.
He looks like a transformer. It was a mockery of characters like him, Higan and the other ninjas.
It made this anime that dared to dream look like some two-bit hack that forgot how to think in terms of storytelling and thematic continuity.
Ninja Kamui was an anime that could have and should have been so much more. I hope they lose the mecha suits in season 2 and move ahead with the approach they had started with.
Unlikely as that might be, I still say that if you want to even try to enjoy this anime, know first and foremost that it's going to be a mecha anime. Maybe you'll have a better experience than I did.
Comments