The life of a ninja isn’t all action, stress, and adventure as it seems NarutoAnd Crunchyrollnew cartoon of Under Ninja Lifts the curtain on the more mundane, behind-the-scenes machinations that are part of every shinobi’s daily life. It’s a fascinating twist on ninja anime and a perfect alternative to the over-the-top fighting anime that have been released over the past few years.
Under Ninja is adapted from the manga of the same name by Kengo Hanazawa, telling the story of modern-day ninjas. In the contemporary world, ninjas are still present, but they are no longer authorized – at least officially – in hidden villages. Instead, they were officially co-opted by the government as a secret military force and integrated into the population.
However, ninja society remained socially isolated. Although they may be teachers, doctors, or food delivery people, they still maintain a permanent and unavoidable role in ninja society, paralleling their role in “open” society. .
Ninja are everywhere in modern Japan
The anime follows Kuro Kumogakure, a seventeen-year-old Genin ninja, one of the 200,000 shinobi currently present in Japan. However, while possessing a classic set of ninja abilities, Kuro lacks the ninja profession to use those abilities. In fact, unlike thousands of other unassigned ninjas, Kuro doesn’t even have a “cover” job in the community at large. He spends his days using his ninja skills to steal beer and food from his neighbors and play pranks on others. Everything changes when he receives an assignment to infiltrate a local high school from his manager. Finally, with real ninja work in hand, Kuro decides to give it his all. The problem is, he’s been in decline for so long, bringing out his ninja side isn’t as easy as he thought.
Ninja’s focus on the supporting aspects of being a ninja makes it the perfect successor to the most popular ninja anime of all time – Naruto. On one hand, Naruto proved that any ninja – even the underdog – can rise above the circumstances of their life to become one of the greatest ninja of their generation. However, at its core it is a fantasy anime, with little interest in realism. On the contrary, Under Ninja shows that ninjas can be an important part of the modern world, which is filled with conflict and war. However, they live hidden in plain sight, making the setting and tone of the story much more realistic.
Under Ninja presents aspects of Ninja life that Naruto overlooked
If Under Ninja follows the typical ninja anime model, the episodes will be much more action-packed. The beauty of Under Ninja, however, is that it details the non-action aspects of the mission, such as how Kuro overcomes the obstacle of enrolling in school without report cards and without parents. or guardian. The more realistic aspects of the ninja lifestyle are ignored in Naruto. This isn’t to say that Under Ninja is all about ninja minutiae. Showcasing the more mundane aspects of the lifestyle is really interesting when combined with a compelling story. Under Ninja provides a more comprehensive, interesting, and up-to-date look at ninja life in comparison Naruto ever did, making it likely to become one of the Crunchyrollthe next big hits.
Under Ninja is airing new episodes every Thursday on Crunchyroll.