Summary
As years have passed and the streaming landscape has become the norm, Toonami has been the gift that keeps giving despite the odds, and they’ve only seemed to grow more ambitious. Following exciting announcements likeLazarusor the long-anticipatedUzumaki, Sunghoo Park’s first new series since directingJujutsu Kaisen,Ninja Kamui, is just a month away.
Sunghoo Park stopped directingJujutsu Kaisenafter the film in 2021 to dedicate his timeto his newly-founded studio, E&H Production, which has been hard at work on several projects.Ninja Kamuiwas the first of these, announced back in 2022 by Adult Swim and slated to air on Toonami on the night of February 10, with the episodes releasing on Max the next day.
What is Ninja Kamui?
There’s something immediately nostalgic about the imagery ofNinja Kamui, that especially comes across in this newest trailer. If it isn’t the characteristic editing style and narration of Adult Swim promos, it’s the character designs by Takashi Okazaki, the designer and original creator behindAfro Samurai. Aesthetically, the series brings to mind a particular era of animation from studios like Gonzo and Madhouse.
Okazaki previouslyworked together with Park onGaro: Vanishing Line, a series that showcases the latter’s directing chops before his now-famous work withJujutsu Kaisen. Now, they’ve reunited forKamui, an action series with the intent of differentiating itself from existing ninja-based films, according to Park. Interestingly enough, the show will air in both English and Japanese at different times on the same night. Adult Swim describes the story as follows:
Ninja Kamui follows Joe Higan who is a Nukenin - a former ninja who escaped his clan and is hiding from his violent past in rural America with his family. One night, he is ambushed by a team of assassins from his former organization who exact a bloody retribution on Joe and his family for betraying their ancient code. Rising from his seeming “death,” Joe will re-emerge as his former self - Ninja Kamui - to avenge his family and friends. Kamui is a 21st century ninja, a shadowy anachronism who pits his ancient skills against high-tech weaponry with brutal finesse. He must face off against trained assassins, combat cyborgs, and rival ninjas to bring down the very clan that made him.
Judging by this new look at the series,Joe looks to be collaborating with a detectiveand their tech-savvy partner to investigate a corporation tied to the ninjas that killed his family. There also seems to be a blend of high-tech sci-fi and more mystical ninjutsu at play within the action, judging by the cybernetic foes in Joe’s way.
The biggest difference between the previous trailer and the newest one is - strangely enough - the appearance of the protagonist. In the first teaser revealed back in July 2023, Joe was shown to be a blond man with long hair and a beard, whereas this most recent look almost exclusively depicts a man with black hair. There is still a shot of the blond mantoward the end of the trailer, however, so there’s a chance of a narrative explanation for the change in his appearance.
Will Ninja Kamui Live Up To The Hype?
Not much is known about the production staff other than Park’s direction, Okazaki’s designs, and Yan Le Gall as art director, yet the first two alone are sure to get people excited. While there were a lot of talented artists behindJujutsu KaisenandJujutsu Kaisen 0, fans have come to associate Park’s directorial works with excellent hand-to-hand action and choreography. Judging byNinja Kamui’s trailers, there seems to be no shortage of that.
A field where the series may potentially struggle more is storytelling. A story about a former killer avenging his family is hardly an original concept and any new attempts at the formula tend to have to get creative. For example,inJohn Wick, the trick was to replacethe dead family with a dead dog and then to create an expansive world that became the focus going forward.
The deciding factor forNinja Kamuiwill be whether it can carve an identity of its own. Park’s aforementioned intent to differentiate this story from other ninja tales is fascinating, but the way he describes it, it sounds like it describes the philosophy behind the action more than the story. By mixing techniques used in animation with those used in live-action (presumably pre-viz and video reference), his team could create some unforgettable fights.
For many, “the director ofJujutsu Kaisen” is all they’ll need, and it’s hard to blame them. Then again, there’s also the CGI, which, from the few glances shown, might be a bit rough depending on how frequently - and effectively - it is used. The variety of antagonists alone presentsan opportunity for something akin to 1993’sNinja Scroll, but janky 3D animation could kill some of that potential.
Speculation aside, there hasn’t been a show advertised for Toonami that has felt more fitting for the programming block in a long time and that’s likely intentional. Hopefully, that feeling extends beyond the barest surface-level aesthetics and spells good things forNinja Kamui, and the start of E&H Production’s quickly-growing portfolio.
Ninja Kamuipremieres on Adult Swim on February 10 and the next day on Max.
