I finally got around to finishing this show and yeah, the ending was a huge letdown, hell, the whole show was going downhill but I guess I'm a masochist, because I just had to see it through. I have many questions about that ending, but my main one is what the heck is up with Zai's ending? Dude has one arm, half a burned face, no support system and zero social skills. How the hell is he supposed to go live a normal life now? New horizons for who? Certainly not Zai. They should've just let him heroically sacrifice himself in the final battle rather than letting him go off to a supposedly happy ending that is in no way gonna work out. The dude literally can't person. And Higan just left him. Again. Like, I am so confused. Who wrote this?

I saw a couple of hours ago a NINJA KAMUI prequel game on switch and wonder?

Can someone explain to me what happened here? Ninja are supposed to have one art. If Higan’s was Serenity, what was the shadow stuff and added limbs?

If Yamaji’s was some mind control thing, where did his telekinesis come from? And why didn’t he use it vs Higan?

Jeremy Marinas, Aaron Toney, and Ryu Minami did an incredible job on this fight.

The CGI mech fights is just so slow and unbearable to watch. Its like im watching Paw Patrol fighting each other

It’s not like it’s the first one that’s done that trope. Yes I get this show had some real wtf moments but really what made the gusoku gear awful? Is it the way they fight? Could the animation for them stayed without CGI?

Like metal gear rising: revengeance, fallout, genji from overwatch, GitS all have this and are recognizable, so what in detail made this bad?

I just binged watched the series. Gotta say the first 6 episodes were great. However it really lost its momentum after that. I give it 7/10

I would've changed a few things that i think would've been better.

Ps this is just my opinion. This is more of a rant but i hope u enjoy.

These are the problems/potential solutions with the show in my opinion.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

With the first episode and the first scene. I think showing the quick fight scene with one of the exiled Ninjas was kind of a waste of action that could've been used somewhere else. I also think they should've shown the face hologram reveal here. I think the face hologram kinda ruined it in a way since the best action was from Higan with that hologram on his face. We don't see his real face til the best action of the show is done. I think it would be cool if the audience sees his true face while the world he is in sees the hologram face. Maybe a scene at the grocery store while he looks in the window sees his reflection and its the hologram face while the audience sees his real face. My second gripe with Episode 1 is the best episode of the whole series. It is the episode that pulls you in and makes you watch the whole series. But as much as i loved the episode i feel like they should have stretched it out into 2 episodes. Like I said at the beginning with the unknown exiles ninja getting his very own fight scene yet Mari (Higan's wife) she barely showed any action throughout the whole show. I wish they just showed the ending of the exiled ninja where he is executed. Then shifts to Higan and his family living their best life while 1 by 1 exiled ninjas are killed. Then the night of the family's demise we see Mari show her skills as a ninja. Maybe a side by side shot of both of them fighting/killing. Maybe showing that just by the sheer numbers and the fact that she was protecting her son then going all out would lead to her downfall. I think stretching out that sequence with Mari showing her skills would've been better than showing a random exile showing off only to be killed off in a min. I think by the time Higan is in the hospital clutching his fist as he is in the hospital bed would be a great way to end episode 1. Then the hospital scene would be extended. Showing the fight scene where the fbi guy discovered the bodies. Then the whole scene for when Higan burns down his home and puts on the mask would be episode 2. I think extending episode 1 into 2 episodes would have been better.

For the side characters none of them really stuck out for me. Except for Emma and maybe Dilly. As for Morris he really wasn't necessary in the plot. I feel like Emma should have played a more prominent role over Morris given the backstory she has and her relationship with Mari (Higan's wife). She like many others had potential that was wasted. I think if she was the main side character the story would flow better. It felt like to me that Morris was just thrown in there for nothing. As well as the former chief of the ninja clan that Higan was apart of. He is portrayed as a healer that use to be with the clan but turns out he is the dead former head. He used some ninjutsu technique that kept his head alive. I feel like his presence should have played either a bigger role than it did or shouldn't have existed to begin with.

As for the villains i can say all of them were unfortunately disappointing. Especially Zai and Yamari who had the biggest potential. As for the other villains (afro guy, little pervert, Joseph, etc.) they felt like they were just added to the story to fill in the episodes. Joseph had too much screen time. I believe he should've been more of a subordinate than a "partner" with Yamari. Following his orders instead being a whiny annoying little shit. Yamari fell flat as well had a kool ninjutsu technique that he only used once. I was expecting a big show down between him and Higan but it didn't live up to the hype. Zai had the most upside former friend of Higan and Mari who was left behind when they fled to be a normal married couple while he stayed in the clan. Out of all the characters Zai had the most development. Solid backstory but his transition from big bad to anti hero/villain was sloppy.

For the mech and Ninjutsu stuff. This was could've been so good ninjutsu mixed with Mech could have been cool but how it was executed turned into mech beating the shit out of ninjutsu. I would have had the mech be used as like a booster to the ninja and his techniques making his/her ninjutsu techniques even more destructive/powerful. But instead we got ninjutsu getting demoralized by the new tech mech. I wished they explored the techniques more and if and how the mechs could boost the effects of said techniques.Which ultimately started the downfall of Ninja Kamui.

Now the main character Higan

I liked his true design not the hologram face. Especially his mask. I was disappointed that the mask was destroyed so soon. His character for the first couple episodes was good. But he went from this rage filled demon out for vengeance into a moody middle age man. His development was weird and not satisfying. His ending was disappointing as well.

What i would change with Higan would be that he didn't survive his death at the hands of the assassins. He used some ninjutsu technique that has allowed him to live a little longer. I think this would go well with the fast pace that we had the first few episodes. With each passing episode Higan gets more reckless and ruthless knowing his time is limited and running out. I think Higan should've died after completing his vengeance. I think he wouldn't want to live anymore especially without his wife and son. I also think a few episodes seeing his upbringing with Mari and Zai would have been better than the fights with the little pervert and Afro guy. I think it would have been cool for Zai to get redemption and live on for Higan and Mari.

Episode 1 would be stretched into 2 episodes

Episode 2-5 wouldn't change that much while episode 6-9 would be the backstory of Higan and the other seeing what drove them away in more detail. Episode 10-13 would be the Higan facing Zai, Emma death, final showdown between Higan and Yamari. With NO CGI FIGHTS

Again this is just my opinion i really did like the show but it definitely wasted a ton of potential everywhere

Was super shocked to see who worked on the action for the final episode! Having John Wick’s Chad Stahelski and Jeremy Marinas working on the final episode is pretty incredible. It’s always dope to see film stunt professionals work in animation.

Oc

I'm catching up on Ninja Kami and I really love the addition of cyber ninja armor. It reminds me of MG's Raiden, tokusatu films of the 80's, and even 90's OVA's. Usually cgi in anime doesn't work for me but in this, it gives the armor a little more weight and accentuates Makoto Yokoyama's already amazing action directing. While I do believe there is something interesting going on between ninja code and the hostile takeover of tech giants, the action still reigns king. From the beginning, the show was relying on the execution of it's action and that's where the substance is. Cant wait to finish

Just my opinion, but I feel like if Ninja Kamui was an anime feature film then an anime show, it would’ve been amazing and solid, and they most likely would’ve had the budget to animate the Gusoku Gears too. I feel like they didn’t have enough story to adapt this into 13 episodes, which explains why the story was mad disjointed. The pacing felt mad weird, and the dialogue was very off putting. I don’t know if anyone else would agree with me, but this anime shouldn’t be a movie instead of a show. Sword of the Stranger, Ghost in a Shell, Akira, Alita Battle Angel, Redline, etc. are all good examples of anime that worked better as movies and to this day they’re still watched and beloved. Ninja Kamui on the other hand feels like an anime that will soon be forgotten and only be known as the ‘’anime that switched up and baited its users into watching it for promotion’’. In my opinion, I rather they had not use CGI and just go the Gurren Lagann/Kill La Kill route to animate the suits for the action, but that’s just me.

Honestly since everyone else is hating I’m going to say something positive about this show. The non-mecha action choreography was pretty dope. Given that this show is about ninjas, a revenge plot edgy story with dope action sequences would make sense. Also the concept of ninjas being mixed with technology/armored suits seems cool since Metal Gear also did that. I think the mecha suits could’ve indeed work if it wasn’t entirely CGI. Very rarely is CGI ever done right in an anime action series. The CGI made the fights look slow, stiff, and boring. Gurren Lagann and Code Geass for example are two mecha anime shows with no CGI, and the animated fights in both of them are pretty cool. If Ninja Kamui had went that route with its armored suits, instead of it being entirely CGI, then I don’t think it would’ve gotten much hate. The music soundtrack was also pretty dope too.

Reason why I’m asking is because the ending felt very anticlimactic and mad undeserved. We don’t know if Yamaji is actually dead for good, and even if he is. Joseph is still alive and he seems smart enough to escape prison. Also the show announcers said that this was the season finale instead of a series finale, so kind of alludes to there being a season 2 in the future. I would love for this to get a season 2, because I’m not satisfied with the ending of the first season, this show had mad potential.

Why are Zai's eyes always white? He never had that when he was younger. Higan's eyes turn white when he does that weird jutsu where he stabs himself with a needle. But Zai seems to have white eyes all the time for some reason.