Have you watched an anime that even when you don't understand the plot or like it at all, you just continue watching it til its end?
source: Anime News Network
I started watching Shinobi No Ittoki after stumbling upon a short video clip where the main character was dodging a truck. With his amazing moves, it piqued my curiosity and so I began watching this anime.
Shinobi No Ittoki is a 12-episode anime from 2022 produced by DMM Pictures and the studio animation was Troyca. From the word shinobi, you could probably guess what the story is about - it's all about ninjas.
From here on, there will be spoilers.
Plot
The main character of this anime is Sakuraba Ittoki, a middle schooler about to graduate living a normal school life - if attending cram school, gymnastics and, a whole lot more can be called normal. One day he went to a date, skipping his Sunday classes. That date ended up with the girl trying to kill him along with other ninjas who lied in wait for the perfect opportunity. Ittoki was rescued however by the people surrounding him - his childhood friend Kousetsu who's been following him all around, his uncle Kaga Tokisada, and the rest of the village workers.
He was confused by the sudden information that they're a village of ninjas and his mother's the acting chief after his father's passing. To be safe from the ninjas trying to kill him, he was sent to a safe place - Ninjutsu Gakuen, a highschool for ninjas. Kousetsu came along too and there he met Kisegawa Kirei who turned out to be a spy and Suzunone Ryoko, daughter of the craftsman from Saiga Village.
The plot revolves a lot of how Kaga Village, a strong and rich village, wanted to take revenge for their late chief who was said to have been murdered by the Iga Village ninjas. That's why the Kaga village ninjas were after Ittoki's life being the next chief.
My Thoughts
I just finished watching the anime and I still don't quite follow the level of rage of the Kaga village ninjas towards the Iga village ninjas. Even the teenage ninjas of Kaga were so angry at Ittoki. Kaga village caused a war not just to the Iga village but to all other ninja villages across the country. I don't understand why their followers just blindly trust the acting chief. And I don't understand why they thirst for blood.
Not just that, I don't understand the flow of the story. It was one after another. One day he was just a middle schooler then, the next day he started taking an entrance exam to Ninjutsu Gakuen for high school, then the next thing was he became a student of Ninjutsu Gakuen, where all the other student ninjas trained.
I thought there would be more exposure on how a ninja high school works and trains their students but turns out, it was just very fast. Only a few episodes and the school life was over (or halted because of the war). They could have emphasized more of this.
The MC was also quite bland. Sure he looked so cool dodging the truck but after he was informed that they're a family of ninjas, he changed into an uncool personality. He was still kind but that was it. He regained being cool after becoming an important person in his village, though that would be in the last few episodes.
The supporting characters like his uncle Tokisada or his ninja childhood friend Kousetsu were better off to be the main characters. The other girls around him were cute, and well, at least they didn't provide any fan service, which was a breather.
I feel like the story is rushed overall. The plot twists aren't that great - it was so confusing. The MC became one of those dumb MCs in most shounen animes. And the story about ninjas gets thrown out of the picture. Rather than being ninjas, they're like what you see in spy shows with their suits and all. I don't understand if they're just portraying the modern age ninjas or what.
Too bad, Shinobi No Ittoki left me with mixed feelings. The show had so much potential but that was it, it made me confused. There's nothing special that I could have at least remembered. Fast start, slow finish, I guess.
Do I recommend this anime? Clearly, my answer is no, but if you're curious about why I said what I said, go ahead and watch it and let me know how it goes.
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
All photos are taken from the official website unless stated otherwise.