Shinobi no Ittoki

Episode 10

Strangely enough, this episode of Shinobi no Ittoki was quite good. Even though the battle over the past two weeks felt a bit ho-hum in terms of the stakes, there's a potent combo of the dramatic climax and actual meaningful fallout that bleeds over into this episode. It all comes together to be more than the sum of its parts, and I was pleasantly surprised by how invested I was in everything that was going on.

What makes this work is, by and large, the performances from the voice cast and the excellent expression work done by the animation team. The voice actress for Kousetsu, Haruka Shiraishi, does an excellent job selling the anguish Kousetsu is going through. There's so much raw emotional turmoil in her voice that it buoys the otherwise odd sequence of events that transpire.

Because some of the specifics around Kousetsu sat oddly with me, now I can't say how I would react if I got mind-controlled by a long-range techno-jutsu to kill my adoptive mother in cold blood because that's never happened to me, but the “we have to tie her up so she doesn't kill herself” angle felt off in a way I can't fully articulate. The reveal that she is also secretly Kidou's daughter is a mixed bag, too - I like the flashback scene where Yumika takes her in and names her, but the memory loss/hiding the truth aspect felt unnecessary.

The episode also had one major visual issue: the rain scene. Whatever filter or effect they used for the rain was a few degrees too intense and super distracting. I was trying to be in the scene, and it was (pardon the pun) all washed out. If they had dialed that back a bit, it would have worked fine because the scene with Ittoki and his rival was powerful otherwise.

Minor gripes aside, this episode hit the right emotional beats, which is what counts. I was more invested in what has happened and what's coming next, precisely where you want the audience to be.

Rating:

Grant is the cohost on the Blade Licking Thieves podcast and Super Senpai Podcast.

Shinobi no Ittoki is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.