A Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof

Now this is a comedy done right! Man, what a great pleasure this was. Among all the animes this season, I dare say that this was the one that best delivered the results of what it set out to do.What I value most in a work is whether it succeeds in doing what it set out to do. And in this case, it was delivered masterfully. Extremely charismatic, unique characters, full of personality, each fulfilling their role in the story in a convincing way. Animation outside the standards of anime of this genre, as well as the soundtrack and the creativity of the direction. By the way,I want to highlight the care that was put into the production of this work. The impeccable animation and Japanese dubbing that maintain the high standard of quality are just a few examples that show how everything was done with love, dedication and respect for the work, that already deserves all my respect In short, in the middle of a season that delivered so many disappointing works, it's great to have something to show us that Japan still has a lot of good things to offer. Thank you to the author, studio Shaft, seiyuus and everyone involved.

Now take any expectations for how this show will play out and throw them out the window. In reality Ninkoro is an unrelentingly cruel comedy, where death is quick and meaningless. No flashy action scenes, long monologues, or tragic backstories. Instead time and time again this series shows you these people, how they lived, who they loved. Where we watch their corpses get turned to leaves, their homes empty, their jobs replaced. And then it asks you to LAUGH! And this is where you’ll know if this is a series for you or not, but if you see this and think “that’s interesting!” You’re in fora hell of a ride Now let’s start with the titular ninja and assassin. They have great comedic chemistry with the classic cynical and deadpan Konoha bouncing off of a more naive and emotional Satoko. What adds a fresh take to these tried and true dynamics is the way they’re subverted and developed over time. Satoko and Konoha’s relationship is extremely well written, what starts off cold quickly grows into something heartfelt. This development is slow and natural, it's able to reframe earlier scenes in a completely new light. Small implications throughout the series letting the viewer piece together why these characters act and think the way they do. It forces the audeience to ask a difficult question, can you still choose to empathize with these characters after everything they’ve done? Both main characters offer a surprising amount of depth, rewarding the viewer for paying attention to small details. And this mainly comes from Ninkoro’s most unique trait as a gag comedy, it’s continuity! Even the weirdest episodes have lasting emotional ramifications for its main cast. Every building that explodes, every character that dies, has consequences! Most gag comedies will push their premise to the limit for one big punchline. But in Ninkoro, nothing resets after the punchline. That crazy thing that just happened, well that did happen, and now our characters have to deal with it. Leading to genuine emotional drama stemming from the most out there premises. These consequences add to the most divisive part of Ninkoro, its tone. Ninkoro can be hilarious one second and melancholic the next. But this stark contrast is exactly what makes Ninkoro so unique, it adds a layer of emotional complexity that wouldn’t be there otherwise. This show’s comedy comes from its contrast, its hypocrisy. It shows characters who live vapid and meaningless lives, snuffing out people with promising futures. Sometimes it asks you to mourn the lives of those lost. Sometimes it asks you to laugh at the cruelty of it all. And sometimes it asks you to empathize with the people doing all this. To root for their happiness, to find meaning in their meaningless cruelty. This cynical, almost nihilistic tone is one side of Ninkoro's distinct identity. However this sense of continuity doesn’t only enrich its darker aspects. Those looking for some SOL with a hint of yuri will not be disappointed. We see Satoko learn more about the modern world, the two roommates spending more time together by going shopping, or eating good food. Seeing how they go about their daily lives and how it evolves over time, humanizing them outside of their assassin work. And makes their budding friendship feel genuine. That relationship grows to be the emotional core of the series and creates many heartwrenching moments. This show’s genuine emotional depth and empathy being the other side of Ninkoro. It’s cynicism and hope, two contrasting tones that lie at Ninkoro’s core. To talk a bit about the production. Shaft has done an absolutely incredible job with this adaptation. As a long time fan of the studio, I was extremely happy to see a new series that wasn’t a sequel and boy did they deliver. Many studio veterans helmed as episode directors. Every week I knew I was in for something fresh. Each episode brings a new directorial style to the table. This show is an absolute treat for the eyes. With dynamic shot composition, strong visual storytelling, and on point comedic timing. Shaft also did extremely well adapting the manga. Taking a much slower, more deliberate pace, focusing more on letting certain emotions sit for a while. Adding a unique contrast to the faster paced comedic segments. A lot of thought being put into how certain panels would translate best to animation. This is far from a stilted panel by panel adaptation. They even manage to slip in volume extras, and anime original scenes. Making this a fresh take while still keeping the core of what made the manga so great, even expanding on it. Overall Ninkoro is a bold gag comedy series that doesn’t take the easy way out. With consistent character progression, and a strange mix of hilarious gags with genuine melancholy. It won’t appeal to everyone and that’s the beauty of a work like this. The people who resonate with it will find it and will love it. And I implore you to find out if you’ll be one of those people.

Ninkoro was one of the weirdest watches of the season for me because on one hand, I liked everyone in this show(besides Konoha), but on the other hand it’s an extremely disturbing story masked by cute cute girls and yuri undertones. It’s a very odd mix of cute girls doing cute things with the backdrop of them killing other cute girls, some NTR and emotional abuse. Episodes will make you laugh, but also make you feel horrible for laughing given what some characters are going through. It’s a unique viewing experience that I had a love hate relationship with. Despite that, I’d say it’s aneasy recommended watch if you like CGDCT or shaft’s production style. What’s going to make or break this show for you is Konoha and Satoko’s relationship. For me, it started out really cute with some good Yuri vibes and then it slowly started to devolve into an emotionally and mentally abusive one sided relationship where Konoha took average of Satoko’s kindness every week. I hate seeing people get taken advantage of because of how nice they are and that happens a lot towards the middle of this show. Satoko’s clean up ability being crucial for Konoha’s success makes her indispensable, but for a long time Konoha only viewed her as a tool and it angered me so much. There’s even a point where it basically becomes an NTR relationship as Satoko gets replaced by a new character and Konoha doesn’t even notice the real Satoko is gone because this new character does all the same functions as Satoko. This does start to change as the season winds down with Konoha finally viewing Satoko as a human being instead of a cheat code, but man is it hard to watch at times. Some people will probably be able to laugh this off and just go on with the episodes, but for me this part was just brutal. If you cut that out the story though, it’s pretty good. I’d say it’s a much better version of NEET Otaku from earlier in the year. There’s some real morally grey situations in the story which I appreciate. It can be dull seeing characters who are just always on the right side of the tracks, BUT some of the cases in here were really hard to watch due to just how messed up they were. Innocent people getting hits placed on them, misunderstandings leading to deaths, people being turned into leaves.. this is truly one of the most aptly named “dark comedies” it’s certainly got some hilarious moments, but man there’s always some dark situation in every episode that the show kinda plays off as a joke. Sometimes you can move on from it, other times it sticks with you all day. On a happier note, I’m a huge fan of how unapologetically gay this show is. I knew it had Yuri vibes from the start, but seeing openly gay characters in this was so cool. That relationship is a big part of the story as well and it just fits in very naturally. Hasn’t quite got that far for our main couple, but it’s very clearly going that way and hopefully the manga continues to develop them as individuals and a couple. I did start to empathise with Konoha more towards the end of the show so I could see one day coming around to liking her. Production wise, Shaft have their fingerprints all over this show. It looks amazing, it’s well directed, great OST and the famous Shaft head tilt is here. It’s a very well put together and pretty looking series. Final thoughts on this one? Mixed bag. Loved Satoko and the side characters, hated the other lead and some of the edgier stuff, but I overall enjoyed watching the show and would say to give it a watch if you want something different or have a dark sense of humor. Some of the things I didn’t care for you might not have an issue with. Ninkoro gets 7 kunai out of 10

This is a VERY FUNNY anime with two MCs: Konoha (stoic and voluptuous dark/gloomy girl) and Satoko (cute and cheerful ninja girl that can turn anything into leaves). You will find hilarious entertainment from time to time including some ecchi jokes & little fanservices. The funniest part is Satoko, along with other ninja girls, was living a long time in remote village and don't know how to live in modern world so her naive-ness causes her to do stupid and funny things. This is an ideal anime for those who want pure comedy anime with cute ninja girls. There are some Yuri moment (PS: no malecharacters here) where the girls develop feeling to each other and doing "something" that you might find interesting.