Shinobi no Ittoki (2022) User Reviews

Somewhat disappointing ninja anime

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 30 December 2022]

This anime series is centred on Ittoki Sakuraba, an apparently normal school boy who learns that he is the heir to the leadership of the Iga ninja clan following an attempt on his life. He is transferred to Japan's only school for ninjas. Here he finds himself targeted by rivals from the Koga clan, the Iga's centuries old rivals. As the series progresses he makes various friends and learns ninja skills. These involve using special suits that is powered by a special core and gives the wearer increased fighting powers. Inevitably there is plotting, betrayals and fighting.

When I started watching this I had fairly high hopes but soon felt a bit disappointed. Ittoki isn't a particularly interesting protagonist. He is clearly meant to come across as an ordinary boy who gradually learns what it takes to lead but instead he is a bit irritating and quite forgettable; as I'm sure this series will be soon after one has finished watching. The ninja suits may have been an original idea for the ninja genre but they proved less interesting that the unique supernatural powers used by ninjas in series such as 'Basilisk'. The character design and animation is decent enough. Overall I'd not call this a must see; if you want to see Iga versus Koga action watch 'Basilisk'.

These comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

boring and cliché, update: one of dumbest anime dropped this year

[The-Last-Sith-Lord · 3/10 · 25 October 2022]

I had to update this review now that this show is over.. and I must say, this and "I've Somehow Gotten Stronger When I Improved My Farm-Related Skills" are the dumbest animes that dropped this year.

I was kind excited for this anime when the first trailer dropped out, it showed some blood and good action, but the second trailer just throwed the expectation away with the "school scenario". And now, after seeing some episodes I can say for sure, this anime is very boring and cliché.

It's an original animation from DMM, and the story starts very cliché, the main character is a normal student, until he is attacked and finds suddenly that his mother is the header of a ninja clan and he must succeed her someday. And from that point, he must train to become a ninja.

The characters doesn't stop using the word ninja, as they need to remind you every second that this is a ninja show, even if it doesn't seems. The "ninjas" are most old and stupid people working on companies or small stores, and the "ninja clans" are mostly corporates. To be a ninja on this show, all you need it's a super suit. And the biggest company around town, I meant, biggest ninja clan, wants the legendary battery that Ittoki's clan holds to powerup their suits for unlimited time. Yeah.. this show is all about getting a stupid battery, in other words, making an easy to understand comparison.. it's like Apple want to take down all small companies that uses android and want to steal the battery from Samsung for a new iphone pro max. On this anime, you even have a kind of 'police' that keeps the law and order between the clans (wtf?!)

Points for me that just made this plot dumb, more spoilers ahead

• The mc had a normal life until his is attacked by ninjas, and here he finds that her mother is the head chief of a ninja clan, and now for his own safety, he must become a ninja.. and to become a ninja, he must go to a ninja high-school where the same people who wants to kill him are around (that's how you protect your kids, you send them to the same house where the people who wants to murder them are assembled)

• The 'high-school' plot and concept was dumb. I think they placed this school thing only to show the characters wearing school uniform, because the plot and the ninja theme didn't make a good match here. What's the point of having different ninja clans if they all learn the same stuff in the same place? One of cool things about ninja stories is about having different and unique techniques that make each clan unique, something that you don't have here, as you also don't have the figure of a master and apprentice, or anything that would make a ninja clan unique, on this anime knowing how to use the high-tech ninja suit is the only thing important to become a ninja.

• The mc is just dumb and flat, he trusts everyone and thinks that he lives in the world of telletubbies. On the school's summer vacation, he invites his new 'friends' to the main HQ of his ninja clan. No one suspects about his friends, no one of the clan keeps an eye on them, they can move freely around the HQ and find all the security information about the base without any difficult. He doesn't show any real progress during the story, he was a telletubbie until the last episode.

• Having a kind of special police called ANNIN to keep an eye on each clan also added an useless plot to the story. Police to investigate, keep the law and order between ninja clans? C'mon.. are we really trying to tell a ninja story here?

• The girl (Kousetu) that the Ittoki's mom adopted used a mask for the most of the anime, until she tried to kill her. The mask-off was kind supposed to be a big revelation, but there was nothing uncommon on her face or any explanation for the mask, seems she was just wearing because of the flu I guess. By the way, she was the daughter of the Kouga clan (the one who wants to take the battery and kill Ittoki and his clan/Iga), and she happened to have a microchip on her head that Kouga could control her when needed. Seems the main villain (Kouga's clan boss) spent most of his life making kids with random women and inserted microchips on the kids and sent them to random clans, to be used as weapon someday if needed..

• On the last episode Ittoki just goes to the front door on Kouga's HQ, only to talk with the main villain and see if he confess his crimes (roll-eyes). At first he says that he forgives him for killing his mom.. (man, what a tellettubie), and after a lot of talking, Ittoki plans were only to record Kouga's boss confession on cam so the police (ANINN) could arrest him. (Yes, that's the best plan that Ittoki could had thought, go there only to have a talk and make the villain confess so he could leave the rest for the police.. (here is our main tellettubie hero). By the way, one episode before this one, Tokisada already got a video evidence to arrest Kouga, making all this plot meaningless. And on the last part, Kouga's boss tries to kill Ittoki and is stopped by Tokisada who kills the boss and then become a fugitive from the ninja-police (seems self-defense is not included on the ninja law)

I don't recommend spending time on this show, the plot is really dumb, mc is flat and unlikable. Really.. did they use someone who just graduated from college to write this anime? Or did they hire some 10 years old kid that won some kind of contest to write this story? Because here we have something written by someone who loves telletubies and kamen rider (this anime is a mix of both)

Cringe main character

[dalvinmulindwa · 4/10 · 15 November 2022]

This show had the main character literally forcing emotion , The main character acts emotional and shouts in certain scenes for example trying to show "shock". This might just be bad script writing for a show that could have had an interesting niche. ( why do some producers think the power of friendship can win battles ). This is just cringe. The main character is incompetent.

I'm tired of seeing the forced harem trope (done poorly). The characters are flat and simply uninteresting. But let me repeat this main character is lousy . It feels like bad voice acting/ script. I was interested when I watched the trailer but two episodes into the show and I knew I was done.

A novel tiwst

[blackmamba99971 · 9/10 · 6 December 2022]

For years there has been several versions about the rivalry between clan factions in the shinobi world. But I have to say that this series took me by surprise when I started watching it.

Starting from about four hundred and fifty years ago when the noble houses used ninja clans for intelligence gathering during the Tokugawa period the Iga nation were the ones who produced and trained highly skilled soldiers who could use stealth, skill and prowess while on a mission to retrieve intel or, to assassinate a target.

Ninjas were often feared both on the field and off. But, the samurai never looked upon them as total equals. By all rights they considered ninjas to be nothing more than a rowdy bunch of country hicks with no moral code or bushido code.

That is until Hattori Hanzo arrived on the scene that changed all that. He alone with his own clan brought Japan into a new era at the side of Ieyasu Tokugawa during his reign and even went as far as to saving his life when the real enemy, the Fuma Ninja tried many times to assassinate the shogun.

This series has a lot to offer, great characters except for the lead. I found him to be too emotional for his own good. Yes, he is young, naive and quite often unstable when it comes to making a decision. Perhaps that was the way he was written in. Aside from Ittoki the background characters are excellent to watch and listen to.

It has a riveting story, plot, theme of the old world melded into the new era where science is being used to amplify ninja skills. This is where Kidou comes in as the head chief of the Kouga ninja who just so happens to be the same man who killed his own brother.

Shinobi no Ittoki has many twists, turns, action, humor, and fantastic fight scenes to make this a one of a kind series. If you can get past Ittoki's endless bouts of emotional distress then you will enjoy the series. Other than that, it's great family fun based on an old world tradition that has lasted for over five centuries.

One of the worst Plots ever done

[nileshdeb · 1/10 · 2 March 2024]

While some actors and actresses did just by the roles they were given, Ittoki and some other protagonists were rather blunt and plain. Everything seemed forced and cliche, SPOILER ALERT: because there is no son present who wouldn't shed a tear for their mother's death even when they were alone, plus in this show even the good side lost most and suffered heavy damage, the bad side didn't suffer anything at all. And showing the results of mercy is always fruitful, is just blatantly wrong, friendship was way too cringy. If the show had provided a backbone to the plot and its protagonist, it might not have suffered such a huge loss. I was patient until the end to give an honest review, but it was bad, even compared to the most bad anime ever made in history, plus people who gave it a 10/10 rating, have no literal sense in anime or entertainment industry... That's all.

Epic

[harshgoelmotoroctane · 10/10 · 8 January 2023]

This series is not just any other Anime show.....It is unique and that is what I like about it..... It is not fantastical, so you would be able to relate it more.... More importantly it is INSPIRING. Definitely it is worth the watch. You have got my recommendation.

Once you start watching, you can't stop yourself wanting more.

This series is not just any other Anime show.....It is unique and that is what I like about it..... It is not fantastical, so you would be able to relate it more.... More importantly it is INSPIRING. Definitely it is worth the watch. You have got my recommendation.

Just great.