Ninja Slayer From Animation

Episode 13

Tsujigiri, the storied samurai tradition of testing out a new sword by using it to murder a random bystander, was a done thing back in the Warring States Era of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Eventually, the Edo government of the 1600s pushed back against this practice by responding with capital punishment for offenders, but in the neon-drenched world of Neo-Saitama, the practice lives on. Only since this is Neo-Saitama we're talking about, it's not just tsujigiri—it's cyber-tsujigiri. That's a very important distinction, one which the narrator notes breathlessly before Captain Tsujigiri is executed by this episode's protagonist, Karasu.

Clad in white, Karasu is yet another of Ninja Slayer From Animation's many, many ninjas that reminds me of other ninjas. Last week, I talked about Richard Harrison, a handsome but only modestly successful B-movie actor, and his resemblance to Darkninja, one of the show's villains. Harrison worked for a wide variety of directors in Europe in the 60s and 70s, but he really left his mark among cult and psychotronic film fans by making a series of bizarre, incoherent ninja movies with Hong Kong producer/director Godfrey Ho. Gazing upon the ivory-colored visage of Karasu, my mind was swept back to just one of these classics, Ninja Squad.

You can see the resemblance, right? Maybe it's coincidental, but I like to think that all of these characters have a big stash of “NINJA” headbands hidden somewhere. Karasu establishes himself as a heroic figure by gunning down the weapon-testing miscreant, but just as quickly rescinds his dubious hero status by executing a bystander. He's a bounty hunter of some sort, but his motives aren't clear—and then, at the laundromat, he squares off with a Soukai ninja named Nutcracker (hint: he's got a big, hinged mouth). Turns out that the Soukai agent had busted out Takeda Shingen's Top Tips for Combat and was threatening a young girl with his deadly Furinkazan method. That young girl? It's Koki Yamoto, who'd seemed to vanish from the show's narrative episodes ago, almost like a ninja.

Unfortunately, she doesn't have much to do with this episode, which is so heavily focused on the contract killer Karasu that Ninja Slayer himself doesn't even appear. Karasu is certainly an interesting character—much more relaxed and insouciant than any other of the show's many, many ninja, he's quick to spot the flaws in Koki's jitsu, and invites her back to his dojo to study. It's then that he delivers the line,“My karate is iaido” with absolutely stunning conviction. (The best part: his primary weapon is a pistol. I wonder how you practice iaido with a gun?) As he teaches her the judo karate secrets of his ninjitsu, we learn that he's terminally ill; a complicated man, Karasu does that whole “suffering from lung cancer, continues chain-smoking anyway” deal that you sometimes see in yakuza movies. There are a few tremendous sight gags and one of the most hilariously forward instances of product placement I've seen in anime (see if you can spot the Goodsmile logo!), but overall it's another peculiar left turn of an episode, albeit one that's more entertaining that some of the others.

I've really grown to appreciate the aesthetic that director Amemiya has suffused this show with—the fog, neon, and omnipresent, freakish ninja combine for something that's not always great, but is always at least interesting. It's wrapped up with another boss ED song. "Purple My Ghost" by Drop's. I'm still waiting on that soundtrack, though. And for now, I too must depart, ninja-like, into the swirling mists of my office, where I'll apply my ninja anime-watching skills towards other pursuits for the time being. This is a series that's challenging to write about in twelve-minute increments, and the ANN Daily Streaming poll voters aren't voting for more. If you love the show and want to hear more of my take on it, don't despair—once it's finished, I'll do a longform review of the back half of the series. Until then, just remember: all ninja shall perish!

Grade: B

Ninja Slayer From Animation is currently streaming on Funimation.