Episode 2 – Ninja Kamui

If the primary episode was the massive motion showcase meant to hype us up for what the remainder of the present has to supply, this one is extra of a cooldown. Nicely, as a lot as a present like this could decelerate, contemplating the episode opens with a man getting brutally tortured and ends with a battle between our protagonist and a ninja disguising himself as an Uber Eats supply man, however in any other case, it is fairly mild on depth. As an alternative, it dials issues again in favor of a bit of extra story set-up and begins to reply a number of the mysteries within the premiere.

For one factor, it seems that the identify “Joe Logan” was certainly a really foolish alias, and our vengeful protagonist is a ninja named Higan. We additionally be taught that ninjas used to work behind the scenes to keep up peace in Japan however have since expanded the scope of their operations to the remainder of the world, which incorporates divulging their secrets and techniques to outsiders and are keen to kill anybody inside their ranks not keen to get with this system. Since there have been information headlines of serial murders being carried out by them, it appears fairly secure to say that Higan was possible amongst these not keen to associate with their coverage adjustments. Nevertheless, the precise particulars of why assassins hunted him and his household nonetheless aren’t completely clear.

Past that little bit of hypothesis, although, the remainder of the episode’s content material was fairly mild. After efficiently capturing considered one of his pursuers and making him right into a pincushion (which was presumably meant to look cool, however I am not huge on torture scenes personally), Higan decides to get in touch with two FBI brokers named Mike and Emma, who’ve been trying into the case of his household’s homicide, so as alternate info. After Mike agrees to satisfy with Higan and briefly makes an attempt to arrest him, the 2 are interrupted by the aforementioned Uber Eats ninja, which is by far the most important spotlight of the episode. Along with the identical form of over-the-top bodily fight we noticed within the first episode, we additionally get to see the 2 of them whip out some good old style ninjutsu, and it makes for a reasonably enjoyable little bit of spectacle.

Whereas the majority of this episode did not do as a lot for me as the primary one, it nonetheless had just a few good bits right here and there. For one factor, I obtained a reasonably good kick out of Higan and Mike’s makes an attempt to arrange a gathering the place Higan breaks the burner telephone he is calling on after Mike provides him a tough time after which instantly calls again on a second burner telephone, which leaves Mike pleading for him to not hold up once more. I additionally loved how Mike’s dramatic makes an attempt to arrest Higan throughout their meetup stored getting interrupted by random supply guys earlier than the final one turned out to be a ninja. These scenes weren’t laugh-out-loud humorous, however they not less than give me hope that Sunghoo Park and his staff have sufficient self-awareness to throw in a bit of little bit of levity in between all of the revenge film cliches, and that ought to in all probability be sufficient to maintain this present from taking itself too severely, which is at the moment my greatest worry. For now, although, I am nonetheless having enjoyable, and for one thing as simple as this, that is about all I can ask for

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Random Ideas

• Whereas the scene itself was a bit of random, I did benefit from the bit within the episode the place Higan beats up a pair of small-town cops in a particularly cartoony trend after they make the silly mistake of making an attempt to harass him whereas he is at a bar.

• The episode ends with the revelation that the ninjas are being backed by a megacorp named Auza, which appears to be functionally not-Amazon as we see them doing issues like meals deliveries and making drones. Whereas I can not say I might anticipate this sort of present to supply any critical critiques on company capitalism, it might give it one thing else to work with apart from all of the revenge film stuff, so hopefully, that goes someplace

• I like that this present options a gap music by coldrain, who blessed us with the improbable opening to Rainbow, and the meme-worthy opening to King’s Sport The Animation, with this one sliding into the latter class with the music being titled “Vengeance” which is about as on the nostril as this present might get.

Ninja Kamui airs on Grownup Swim and streams on Max.