Shinobi no Ittoki

One of the most disappointing series of the year is Shinobi no Ittoki. This anime I was sure would be the dark horse of the season and wow was I wrong. Let’s get into why Shinobi no Ittoki was one of the most promising anime but failed to be successful.

Our MC Ittoki is a normal student until one day he is asked to be a cute girl’s boyfriend and what more asked to go to her house to hang out. Ittoki finds out that it is an assassination attempt on his life and is attacked by ninjas. Fortunately, his uncle and childhood friend are there to save him. From there Ittoki is told that he is heir to become head of the Iga ninja clan.

Pacing is a very under looked aspect with anime, Shinobi no Ittoki is a ninja series with a plot that could be successful given if it were paced correctly. The first episode provided details of Ittoki’s life and left a bit of mystery behind his childhood friend Kousetsu. However, after the first episode we were shoved with so many aspects going on within the anime it was hard to keep up or even care. The timeline went to him being told he is an heir to a clan of ninjas he did not know about going to ninja school where he knew nothing about being a ninja. Within this part of the story, we meet the other two supporting characters and see Ittoki fail a few ninja tests which Kousetsu does not even help him with. After this the biggest ninja village Koga began attacking all ninja villages and not even the NSC (Ninja Police) could stop them. So, after this a few tragic moments happen and suddenly Ittoki becomes the best ninja who takes out the big bad guy.

The pacing is the real issue, there was no build up to show Ittoki’s progress to even take down a villain. Not to mention the fact that the two ninja school episodes had no relevance whatsoever. I do appreciate the theatrics of the tragic outcomes from the bad guy actions, but his motive was just hypocritical. He claimed to be born and have a life from nothing but pain and sorrow, yet you are running the biggest ninja clan which is the richest and you want to destroy all ninjas WOW. Also did I mention we had a beach episode? With bad pacing and a bit of an identity crisis it’s no wonder why this anime failed.

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The characters are another issue, none of them had any big outstanding moments. Ittoki two friends is Ryouko and Kirei, Ryouko is about the most helpful character in Ittoki’s life due to her village makes ninja gear (I did not mention it in above but the ninja in this anime is using weapons and suits to enhance their ability). So, she often tells him about the way some gear works. Kirei might be the most hated character, not sure why but she just has a “playing both sides of the fence” personality. They did delve into why she has this personality, but it is annoying, and she never hid it, not once. She does try to come around and right her wrongs at the end of the anime. Now Kousetsu, is the most interesting character due to her background and what she does towards the end of the anime, but she had the last 3 episodes to shine which I did not like. I wish I had known more of her thoughts in the beginning. Wow I almost forgot the main character Ittoki, there is honestly not much to say about him other than how bland and boring they made him to be. From the beginning he showed no motivation to succeed and yet he smiled throughout the entire anime. He did progress throughout the anime once he became the chief, I thought finding the Iga spy plan was very smart. Please keep in mind that this was the last 3 episodes.

The animation was bland as well, there was nothing that stood out to me other than Kousetsu’s character design. You would think ninja’s using gear would entice to some crazy ninja fights but no this was not the case at all nothing special (damn you Naruto for getting my hopes up). The soundtrack was just as bad, at least the beginning intro the ending was not that bad. Speaking of the intro can we talk about how misleading the visual was? For a moment I thought we was watching a ninja slice of life animation where it showed a panel of all the characters even the guy that threatened to kill Ittoki the entire show. The ending intro and visual was good, however it led the audience to believe Kousetsu had more of a story to tell which she never had a chance to.

To conclude no do not watch shinobi no ittoki, I get it you love ninjas, me too but all you’ll get is disappointment. I rate this anime with a - Basura!!!

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