(CR) Under Ninja

[Stark700]

This year's 41st issue of Kodansha's Young Magazine announced on Monday that Kengo Hanazawa's Under Ninja manga is inspiring a television anime.

Plot:

After World War II, Allied Command in Japan developed a new agency to help manage terrorism and violence within the Pacific region. The agency was staffed with ninja and they were initially tasked to handle domestic affairs. Eventually that program grew to its current form, managing 20,000 ninja across a range of domestic and international affairs. One of those ninja happens to be Kudo. The seventeen-year-old high school loser is now poised to be the next line of defense against a potential surge in foreign assassins invading Tokyo.

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/new...-anime/.176969

[Guardian Enzo]

Much rather have seen Ninja Shinobu-chan.

[Stark700]

October 2023

https://twitter.com/UNDERNINJAanime/...84612664635393

[scififan]

The manga's best selling point is depicting cinematic action. I don't think the art style can be translated into animation. Another manga "I'm Hero" is more famous, although I prefer this story.

[Frontier]

Not sure what to make of this...and Tezuka Productions...

[Huh...?]

Not sure how to judge Episode 1, as it's mostly a build-up episode.
Seems silly though.

[serenade_beta]

Yeah, just a build-up episode, that does the big revelations at the end after keeping the audience questioning throughout the first episode
While there are deaths in the episode, it felt like one of those anime where the characters themselves are serious but everything done is in a comedic trait. I mean, it's pretty hard to take the anime seriously regardless because of this ninja thing. It's also one of those anime that insert dirty jokes here and there, such as the underwear stealing and co.

Anyways, it wasn't bad. Weird, but at least not immediately worth dismissing.

[Alchemist007]

Strange first ep, will give it a couple.

[Dop]

Well that was weird, and I went from being a bit 'meh' about it to "Oh wait, I need to see it next week to try and figure out what's going on!"
When you've got a character who shoots darts with his farts to knock down beer cans for the amusement of drunken neighbour woman I get the feeling this is not taking the whole ninja thing as seriously as the opening suggests, but is more a send-up.

[zztop]

Originally Posted by scififan

The manga's best selling point is depicting cinematic action. I don't think the art style can be translated into animation. Another manga "I'm Hero" is more famous, although I prefer this story.

I believe Under Ninja is the first of Hanazawa Kengo's titles to get an anime adaptation.

His previous work, I Am A Hero, only got a Japan-release live-action movie.

[Chosen_Hero]

I was not expecting this 30 year old looking 17 year old MC to basically be a hobo ninja.

[Yu Ominae]

Will watch this (some more).

[Yu Ominae]

Watched episode 2. Alexei (Russian-speaking ninja) is a cool cat.

Found out that the Russian-speaking parts is done by a Ukrainian expat working in Tokyo as an actor.

[serenade_beta]

I have a funny feeling all this time frame jumping between the school battle and the apartment arc isn't in the manga

[Cloudedmind]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

I was not expecting this 30 year old looking 17 year old MC to basically be a hobo ninja.

And this week we got an actual hobo ninja.

[Yu Ominae]

Who happens to be an experienced ex-ninja commando.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep3:

It actually took longer than I think it should have took for me to realize the author's manager is the same lady as the one that is in the school scene

Anyways, since the foreigner really couldn't see her after her body disappeared, I'm assuming that only her body disappearing is something so the audience knows what is going on but is actually hiding her entire body in the story?
I thought it was some kind of joke at first that only their body was disappearing, but the genuine reactions of the characters makes me think they are story-wise fully disappearing

[Yu Ominae]

I like a hoodie with air bags in it.

[Yu Ominae]

Spoiler for 4th episode:

Looks like the limitations of Sasama's Marishiten optical camo is done on purpose due to post-war informal agreement with the National Police Agency.

And shame that Alexei's conflict to get his daughter was resolved swiftly... But considering the manga. And he's NIN's first non-Japanese ninja agent.

And they namedropped Nakano. Anyone versed in the IJA should know what this is.

Looks like Ochimusa's visit from the ninjas and telling him about what's been happening IRL (incluidng the Peru hostage crisis in '96) wasn't adapted.

PS - Marishiten is a Buddhist deity with light/sun.

[serenade_beta]

Spoiler for ep4:

Wow, didn't expect the hobo ninja to actually be oppai

Anyways, this anime is pretty good, yeah.