An interesting combination of creative forces, born from the collaboration between the USA, Korea, and Japan, is the origin of a noteworthy and engaging product like “Ninja Kamui.” Sung Hoo Park (“Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1” and “The God of High School”), besides being the skilled director of the series, is also the founder of E&H Productions, which remains the animation studio primarily involved in the production of the series. But one cannot forget the role of Joseph Chou, producer of the series and CEO of Sola Digital Arts, which is a division of the company Sola Entertainment based in Japan and the US and renowned for 3D scenes (“Blade Runner: Black Lotus,” “Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045”).
This first original animated series by E&H Productions will be remembered for long for its remarkable action scenes.
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In the city of El Balkeen, an organized group of expert hitmen is committing heinous murders that make the headlines of the SNB News, causing concern for a quiet family dedicated to wheat farming in a distant and isolated rural area. Sarah and Joe Logan are the parents of Kyle, and their life goes on peacefully in a careful and happy anonymity. However, their identity is discovered, and on Kyle’s birthday night, they are attacked by assassins using katanas. Despite a valiant defense, the family is slaughtered, and the last image Joe sees before dying is his wife’s body pierced in the throat by a katana and wrapped in an embrace with their lifeless son, both lying on a pool of blood. However, in the mortuary block of the hospital, Joe inexplicably awakens, but overwhelmed by the memories of his loved ones’ deaths, he remains in a state of trauma and does not speak. Despite the FBI’s surveillance, Logan is attacked again in the hospital by enemies that will force him to make the decision to confront once and for all the past he has fled from.
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“Ninja Kamui” is certainly an anime about revenge, but there are also other themes that stand out. First and foremost, the relationship with the past of many characters who, as children, were abandoned or found themselves surviving through countless hardships, to then be trained by a ninja clan to become silent, cunning, and deadly creatures to preserve peace in Japan. The series begins with the desire of some of them to escape the yoke of binding rules, violence, and atrocity, and to find the freedom to choose a different future. The story of Zai, a prickly, taciturn, restless presence with which Higan often ends up clashing, becomes the story of all those child soldiers subjected to brainwashing and convinced to consider their side as the only right one without hesitation, to not feel guilty about the past and to remain attached to their childhood myths, to believe in the illusion of resorting to violence to achieve a better society. Creating a new life thus becomes an act of rebellion that, in Zai’s eyes, deserves to be punished with death. Yet it will be the friendship with Higan and Meri and their example that will lead him to find the strength to rebel and embark on a new path made of small steps of quiet joy.
At their best, Sung Hoo Park’s animation series are sharp, quick-moving entertainers packed with novel and ambitious set pieces: “Ninja Kamui” is no exception, except for the fact that the presence and design of the gusoku gears offer even more high-concept action.
The element of originality in the animation style that stands out consists of the director’s point of view: it is possible to perceive how from the layout of the character design to the settings, every single scene is overseen as if the animator and the director become part of the acting process. In other words, together with the voice actors, the animator and the director also develop the characters’ emotions and create the visual conditions to allow the characters to perform. Moreover, the touch of Sola Digital Arts is noticeable in the impressive 3D sequences that give the anime a profound sense of scale and spectacle. Takashi Okazaki is the creative mind behind the character design that focuses on those solid and elegant silhouettes with innovative visual concepts like the shape and movements of the gusoku gears during the fight scenes.
Voice actors are perfectly fit! It should be noted how Kenjiro Tsuda manages to alternate between the rough and resentful tone and moments where he conveys gloomy and nostalgic vibes with great intensity. Comforting for the audience is the mastery of Yurika Hino, who, in her acting, puts many emotions and hope into the sentences in a natural way. Excellent is the versatility of the R.O.N. soundtrack, which allows the audience to tune directly into the dynamism of the action scenes and the nostalgic atmospheres of the more intimate moments and flashbacks.
“Ninja Kamui” combines Shigeru Murakoshi‘s dark crime suspense with the authorial strength infused by Sung Hoo Park: in addition to swirling and spectacular fight sequences, the audience will find many references from ninja and martial arts films and animations.
