Ninja Kamui

Episode 7

I'm willing to admit when I was wrong, and it seems like I did jump the gun too soon in my assessment of the previous episode's events. I was pretty convinced Emma was done for, but thankfully it looks like she's been spared the fate of Higan's family. Her survival has also managed to retroactively address most of my prior complaints about the show, as she delves into the history between her and Mari. This flashback gives the show some much-needed context, as it not only helps to expand on the whole “ninja code” thing at the core of this conflict but helps to turn Mari herself into a more fully realized character.

Before we get to all that though, there's still the obligatory ninja fight between Higan and Lil, and it's pretty solid. I'd still generally prefer 2D animation over 3D CG tokusatsu suits for this, but it's a pretty cool-looking fight regardless, and it makes me a bit more optimistic about how much the show will be able to get out of them in future smackdowns. However, the fight itself is nothing compared to how it ends. When Lil is defeated, he's sure that Higan will kill him on the spot. Instead, Higan says that he's gonna make sure he dies slowly, and the show cuts to the rest of the ninja villain squad getting sent Lil's decayed severed head, which almost made me leap out of my chair with excitement. This kind of over-the-top spectacle is all I truly wanted out of this show, and in that moment it felt like Ninja Kamui was back on track.

With the show coming off a high like that, I was fully expecting the rest of the episode to slog, but instead, it provides some of its best material yet. As Emma reveals more to Higan, we learn that she was abandoned by her parents after an accident left her face disfigured. She was taken in by the organization so she could make use of that by becoming a master of disguise. This eventually led her to cross paths with Mari who became her partner on missions and was the first person in Emma's life who was willing to accept her true face. Like most ninjas, Emma was raised under the philosophy that any sense of attachment makes them weaker, and has a hard time comprehending Mari's kindness, but Mari is much more open to the idea and seems to value the bonds she has with the people closest to her, Emma included.

It's also around this time that Yamaji announces that he is opening up the organization to foreign powers, and causes a divide between those who choose to stay out of fear of getting labeled traitors and killed, and those who decide to flee to preserve their traditions before they're lost under Yamaji's leadership. Mari ends up being amongst those who decide to flee as she's already carrying Higan's child, but she finds herself cornered by Emma who reveals that she had secretly been tasked by the previous chief to spy on her and see if Mari was worthy of taking over. Now that Yamaji has killed the previous chief, Emma finds herself without a purpose as she's too ingrained in the ways of the ninja to accept going into hiding and feels compelled to complete her mission. She also admits that she's gotten attached to Mari and sees her as a mother. Mari tells Emma that she's come to believe that feelings of attachment and passion can make a person stronger and that while being with Higan has helped to teach her what it's like to have a family, she also sees Emma as part of that family.

This is the kind of melodrama I tend to get behind easily, and it's helped to firmly cement Emma as the most interesting character in this show, as her emotional conflict here is the most interesting one we've seen so far. It also helps that this whole thing has done more to endear me to Mari as a character than anything in her whole happy family montage with Higan in the opener. It's good to know that she and Mari stayed in contact over the years, even if it does retroactively make it funny that Mari had more chemistry with Emma as a character than her husband. This gives me hope that we might see some growth on Higan's part. While his sense of attachment and passion is currently fueled by rage, gaining more insight into Mari's approach to the ninja philosophy might help give him a reason to keep living beyond his desire for revenge. Whether or not the show goes in that direction is hard to say, but having that on the table makes me more optimistic about the show's current direction than I have been since the premiere. This was easily its best episode yet, so hopefully it can keep that momentum going throughout the rest of it.

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Ninja Kamui airs on Adult Swim and streams on Max.