Kenji Fujikido is a salaryman whose wife and child were killed in a ninja turf war. In a brush with
his own death, Fujikido is possessed by an enigmatic ninja soul known as Naraku Ninja. Fujikido cheats
death and becomes “Ninja Slayer” - a Grim Reaper destined to kill evil ninja, committed to a personal
war of vengeance. Set in the dystopian underworld of Neo-Saitama, Ninja Slayer takes on Soukai
Syndicate ninja in mortal combat.
(Source: Anime News Network)
There are many ways to interpret Ninja Slayer. Depending on your expectations, you’ll think it’s either a masterpiece or a piece of shit. Many people may look at Ninja Slayer and think there’s no point, and just like Inferno Cop it’s “crudely made for the sake of being crudely made”. This is not the case. Ninja Slayer has a point in the way it is made, and to understand that you have to know about the source material. Ninja Slayer is based on a series of novels written by Bradley Bond and Philip "Ninj@" Morzez. Honda Yu and Sugi Leika found these novels, translated them on Twitter, and Enterbrain published the books. If the anime is an accurate adaptation, then Bond & Ninj@’s books are basically written by two weebs who think this is what all anime is like. Except Bond & Ninj@ don’t exist. They are pseudonyms for Honda Yu and Sugi Leika. The novels are a parody of what American weebs think anime is like, specifically from the 80s/90s. Ninja Slayer’s point is to make anime from the point of view of American weebs who think they know anime but in doing so they make themselves look like fools. And who better to adapt a series of novels about “what Americans think anime is like” than a studio of animators that love American animation? Trigger chose to present the show similarly to their “”“masterpiece””” Inferno Cop. I say similarly because it would do the series a disservice to say “it’s like Inferno Cop” and nothing else. None of Inferno Cop’s animation is good, which adds to its charm. There are several times when Ninja Slayer’s animation is actually pretty good. But in each episode, there’s at least one fight scene where the animation goes full-Inferno Cop. The joke behind this is that anime fight scenes are typically where the animation looks the best while the other scenes are lower quality. In Ninja Slayer, the fight scenes are even LOWER quality. Basically, I always either roll my eyes or laugh when I see people go “if only this show had actual animation…” Like, do they not understand that the lack of animation is the whole point? That being said, a legitimate complaint to be had is that it’s too long at 26 episodes. Now you may be wondering how 26 fifteen minute episodes is “too long”. A lot of Ninja Slayer involves long-ish pauses and repetitive pacing. I wouldn’t change a thing, BUT I can definitely see how it can harm other people’s experiences. Do I recommend Ninja Slayer From Animation? Absolutely. If you’re still on the fence deciding whether or not to watch it, watch Inferno Cop. It’s 30 minutes in total as opposed to Ninja Slayer’s 6 hours. If you don’t like Inferno Cop (which how could you not like Inferno Cop?), then STAY FAR AWAY FROM NINJA SLAYER. If you do like Inferno Cop, then please watch as much Ninja Slayer as you can stomach.