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Ninja Slayer From Animation
Episode 6

by Mike Toole,

Laomoto, evil leader of the Soukai syndicate, knows well that there's only one way to test his henchmen's mettle—lions. Threadbare, vaguely photorealistic lions, which slide along the screen motionlessly, letting the viewer know that Ninja Slayer From Animation has once more pivoted back towards the weird comedy of previous episodes, after a whole episode that failed to use this gag even once. Was that last episode a feint, or a fluke? Time's gonna tell on that one. In the meantime, Laomoto dispatches his top man, Hugeshuriken (you can tell who he is by the huge shuriken on his back) against the syndicate's two biggest enemies: the Dragon Dojo, and Ninja Slayer!

The Dragon Dojo is a new player in Ninja Slayer's field of vengeance-seekers, misshapen hoodlums, and True Ninjas. It's led by none other than Dragon Gendoso, the last true ninja in Japan. Of course, this just leads to questions: is Dragon Gendoso the last ninja from the Last Ninja TV movie, an unsuccessful 1983 attempt to launch a TV series of the same name? That movie's titular last ninja disguised himself as a white dude to avoid scrutiny, so that's probably not the case here. Perhaps Gendoso is the last ninja featured in the hit Last Ninja video game series for Commodore 64. That particular game was one of the finest of the C64 era, but it's kinda too authentic for the aesthetic of Ninja Slayer From Animation. The true identity of Japan's last true ninja must remain a mystery.

After a brief skirmish with Ninja Slayer, the Soukai ninjas Earthquake (huge guy on a Harley Davidson motorcycle; has the eyes of the comic character Spawn for some delightful reason!), Hugeshuriken (huge shuriken), and Hellkite (rides A Kite… from Hell) make for the dojo, where they square off with Dragon Gendoso (sterm-looking bald guy) and his granddaughter Yukano (ample bosom—hey, don't look at me, that's what the script says!). But before battle can be joined, they're interrupted by Ninja Slayer, overtaken by the vengeful soul of Naraku Ninja. “CARNAGE!” he screams, as he prepares to attack both friendly and enemy ninja alike.

This week's episode also coincides with the launch of Ninja Slayer From Animation's new broadcast dub on Funimation's streaming platform. So far, the results are promising— in English, Ninja Slayer's characters indiscriminately use honorifics, bellow “DOMO!” at each other, and release hearty “YEEART!”s when it's time for the fight to begin. Lead Christopher Sabat is the standout, infusing his “YEEART” with the true spirit of the ninja. Whoever's adapting the script is also doing a good job—hey, they even sneaked an Inferno Cop reference in there! Anyway, given its origin as a bizarre cross-Pacific homunculus, Ninja Slayer sounds good and feels natural in English. If you've been enjoying this series, the dubbed version is a worthy new way to experience it, a good bet for both new viewers and experienced Ninja Heads wanting a new angle on the show.

This episode brings back some comically lo-fi animation (the bit with the lions, which opens the episode, makes me smile every time I see it) but also makes time to sneak in a number of both major and minor plot revelations. Dragon Gendoso's an undoubtedly important character—he's featured prominently in the opening credits, and his failure to die in the face of a diabolical anti-ninja virus attack means that he's more than just cannon fodder. Six Gate adversaries Hugeshuriken and Hellkite have some sort of smoldering, unspoken rivalry, and while she gamely leaps into battle, Dragon's granddaughter Yukano doesn't get to do anything except jiggle just yet. There's also weird little details, like how Earthquake keeps in touch with the Soukai syndicate using a super-duper high tech IRC network, as well as multiple gags involving pants-pissing, and a bit where a dying bad guy demands a futon for his seppuku. This show's still pretty great.

One thing I'm still waiting for Ninja Slayer to do is to really rise above its b-grade presentation in a sustained way. We get flashes of this in the show's occasional forays into really good animation, but it's really starting to feel like the show's holding back. Whether this is due to an upcoming surge of awesome ninja action or an ongoing lack of ambition just isn't clear yet. In any case, if Ninja Slayer's aesthetic appeals to you, then like me, you're probably enjoying the hell out of the ride the show gives the viewer. Let's just see what ninja secrets it reveals next.

Grade: B

Ninja Slayer From Animation is currently streaming on Funimation.


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