Adult Swim

Shinichirō Watanabe Presents Lazarus

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Lazarus Ep 1 Review

Shinichirō Watanabe, one of the greatest directors in anime history. The director of Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Space Dandy. Next to the late Akira Toriyama, no other man’s works did more to help anime gain a foothold in the West than Shinichirō Watanabe. As longtime fans of Toonami and lovers of anime in general, it wouldn’t be right if the D&A Anime Blog didn’t cover his newest creation, Lazarus. And judging by the first episode, we are going to be in for a banger!

A Doctor Decides to End Humanity

The year is 2055, and humankind is facing potential extinction. Three years earlier, a man named Dr. Skinner released a painkiller called Hapna, a miracle drug that could potentially end all disease and pain. Most of mankind started taking the drug, and a while, it looked like the world was on the path to utopia. But then Skinner, who had gone into hiding a year earlier, gave mankind a message: Hapna was a giant trap.

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In a nutshell, Skinner said “screw all of humanity, we’re unworthy to keep living. You have a month to prove me wrong.”

From the outset, Lazarus is already showing all the hallmarks that make Watanabe’s works great. The cyberpunk, retro-futuristic aesthetic. The use of smooth jazz as background music. The incredibly attractive main characters with cool attitudes. It feels very much like Lazarus is meant to be a spiritual successor to Cowboy Bebop, and nowhere is this better seen than with the main male lead, Axel Gilberto.

The Second Coming of Spike Spiegel

If Spike Spiegel was the Lupin III of the 90s, then Axel could very well be the Spike of the 2020s. Hes got parkour skills that would make an Assassin’s Creed lover green with envy. He’s got Spike’s amazing sense of fashion and the confidence that made him a great husbando. And he’s got Lupin’s uncanny ability to talk his way out of any situation. In the span of the first episode, he proceeds to break out of the prison he’s in, outrun the police, and outsmart a police officer that doesn’t recognize him until it’s too late. The best part? He was serving 888 years in prison because he kept escaping like it was a game to him. The only reason he gets caught by the task force being assembled is because he’s caught off-guard.

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While Axel serves as the main focus of the episode, the premiere does introduce viewers to the other members of the titular Lazarus. Each of them is quirky in their own way, and they all seem to have their own unique talents. One is a college student who’s great with drones. Another is this girl who’s a master hacker. There’s a man whose good with guns, and we have this woman who feels like an expy of Faye Valentine. I can’t remember who is who yet, but I’m sure that will change in the next episode or so.

This is Gonna be Fun

Overall, Lazarus looks to be another big hit from the mind of Shinichirō Watanabe, but there’s another reason why the anime could be one of the big hits of the spring season: its name. Lazarus is often a name associated with the act of resurrection. There’s the biblical Lazarus, who was raised from death by Jesus. There’s the Lazarus Pits from DC comics, able to grant long life and revive the dead. And now we have the team, formed in order to save mankind from possible extinction. It’s possible that Dr Skinner is bluffing and that this is one big test to see how humanity will react to potential annihilation. However, I doubt that anyone would make such an announcement without be willing to back it up. Either way, this si going to be one fun adventure.

I Give “Goodbye Cruel World” a 4/5

Warm Up This Spring With Some New Anime

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RJ Writing Ink’s Picks for Spring 2025 Anime to Look Out for

The sakura blossoms are in bloom, and that means that spring is finally here! While that means that it’s time for anime lovers to say goodbye to the winter’s big hits like Solo Leveling, Zenshu, Sakamoto Days and more, there’s no reason to fret. Spring 2025 is packed with potential hits. From newcomers trying to make their mark to returning veterans, there will be plenty of anime to binge this spring.

I’m RJ Writing Ink for the D&A Anime Blog, and this is a list of some of the anime that people will likely be paying attention to this spring. Yes, I’m going to be watching most of it. Yes, there’s a chance I’m going to review some of this. And yes, I am aware that by the time this goes up, many of these will be out! That’s a consequence of covering four series at once over the course of the winter!

The Beginning After the End, April 2nd

Isekai anime might be dime a dozen these days, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a diamond in the rough. For the Spring 2025 season, that diamond might be The Beginning After the End, or TBATE. Based on the Korean-American Web Novel and Webcomic of the same name, TBATE is about Arthur Llewyn. Formerly known as Grey, Arthur was a powerful king in his first life before abruptly dying a mysterious death and waking up in a world of swords and magic. Now going by Arthur, the former king strives to master the powers that govern this new world while also making sure to enjoy everything that he missed out on in his first life.

Full disclosure: I’ve binge-read most of the webcomic after Aaron reccomended it to me, saying it could become the next Solo Leveling. While I wouldn’t got that far, the series certainly lives up to TV Tropes description of it being “Mushoku Tensei meets Naruto.” Since I love both of them, that makes it worth my time. The one downside is that everyone is complaining how basic the animation is compared to the likes of Mushoku Tensei and Solo Leveling. Hopefully, that won’t be too much of an issue.

Wind Breaker, Season 2, April 3rd

Let’s get ready to rumble!!! Wind Breaker, the deliquent anime of spring 2024, is back for round two. This time, Haruka Sakura and the members of Bofurin are up against a ruthless gang going by the name of KEEL. And from the looks of the trailer, the boys of Bofurin are going to be in for one heck of a challenge.

Despite seeming like another series extolling how cool the rebel deliquent life seems to be, Wind Breaker turned out to be an anime with a surprising amount of depth to it when it first aired. The fights themselves are well-choreographed and often serve as a means for the story to elaborate on why the characters are fighting in the first place. It may still be a series about fighitng, but sometimes, the questions of why people fight and what’s worth fighting for can be just as interesting as the fights themselves.

Devil May Cry, April 3rd

DMC fans, your prayers have been answered. Capcom’s popular half-human, half-demon Demon Hunter is getting another anime. And from the looks of things, it’s going to be an absolute banger. Set in an alternate contiunity from the games, Devil May Cry will follow Demon Hunter Dante as he comes face to face with the villainous White Rabbit as he attempts to stage a demonic invasion of Earth.

I know very little about Devil May Cry beyond the basic premise, but that doesn’t stop me from thinking this series has the potential to be one of the big hits of the season. Firstly, the animation looks absolutley gorgeous, brought to life by Studio Mir of Kipo and My Adventures with Superman fame. Secondly, the voice cast has multiple legends among it, with Johnny Yong Bosch voicing Dante this time around. However, it’s the inclusion of the late Kevin Conroy and Tony Todd that’s gotten plenty of people talking. Having recorded their lines for the show before their passings, this will likely be the final chance people will get to hear the GOAT Batman and Candyman. And I’m going to take full advantage of it.

One Piece, April 6th

It’s only been six months, but if you’re a One Piece fan, it’s felt like an eternity. After going on a vacation for the first time in its history, One Piece is returning with the second half of the Egghead Island Arc. When we last left off, the anime had just finished going over all of the major events that were taking place in the world at large while the Straw Hats are busy on Egghead Island. With everything abroad now wrapped up, though, the series is ready to focus on the Straw Hats as they try to defend the island and the genius Dr. Vegapunk from the forces of the World Government.

And things are only going to get crazier from here.

I’ve been covering every chapter of the One Piece manga on my own blog for years, so I know what’s going to happen with the rest of this arc. I am not exaggerating when I say fans are in for an absolute emotional rollercoaster. I can’t even say anything about what happens without veering into spoiler territory. What I will say is that you should be prepared for some of the most exciting moments in One Piece history as well as some of the most heart-breaking, tearjerking ones. Keep tissues ready!

Witch Watch, April 6th

This rom-com on Netflix is about Morihito Otogi, an ogre who looks like a human who’s loving his best high school life. Until, that is, his childhood friend, the witch-in-training Nico Wakatsuki, moves in with him and decides to make him her familiar. While Morihito is supposed to guard Nico, his job gets harder due to the fact that a.) she lets everyone know she’s a witch, and b.) she is madly in love with him.

After the end to 100 Girlfriends, I’m going to be needing a new rom-com fix. And judging by the description to Witch Watch, this series looks to be right up my alley. I’m a big sucker for the childhood friend romance trope, so I’m sure to enjoy whatever will happen here!

Lazarus, April 6th

If something seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. That is the lesson that the world learns when they discover the wonder drug, Hapna, will soon kill everyone who took it. The only way to prevent this is to find its creator, Dr. Skinner, in the next thirty days. Thus, the world’s best hope for salvation is in the hands of the task force known as Lazarus.

If this series feels like the second coming of Cowboy Bebop, that’s because it is. This series was created by none other than Shinichirō Watanabe, AKA the creator of Cowboy Bebop. Considering how instrumental the adventures of Spike Spiegel were in bringing anime westward, having Watanabe’s next work come to Toonami is a big deal. This has the potential to be this generation’s Cowboy Bebop, and I am all in for that idea! Bring on the gunfights!

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, April 7th

The story of Deku and Class 1-A might be winding down, but there are still plenty of stories to tell in the world of My Hero Academia. Nowhere is this shown better than with the new prequel series, MHA: Vigilantes. Taking place five years before the events of the main series, Vigilantes follows a pair of aspiring heroes who, after various things happen, wind up becoming unlicensed Heroes. Now they have to fight evil while staying outside the reach of the law.

The big irony of the world of My Hero Academia is that the concept of superheroes has become a profession rather than an ideal. In most works of fiction, superheroes are often vigilantes operating outside the law; people let them do this because they tend to be good at it. If the original MHA focuses on world-ending threats, then Vigilantes is going to be the series that focuses more on the streets, like Batman and Daredevil would. Either way, this should tide people over until the final season hits this fall.

Any anime we missed? I know that there are going to be anime we missed, so let us know in the comments below!

Uzumaki is One of the Scariest Anime I’ve Ever Seen

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Uzumaki Mini-Series Review

During the spooky season of the year, I like to ignore my usual tendency to avoid horror and find things freak me out. The problem is that there’s still that upper limit of what I can tolerate before I get too scared to sleep. I’ve gotten better at pushing that limit as I’ve gotten older, but that’s just made me look for even scarier things. And whether by fate or by coincidence, I managed to learn about Uzumaki, a mini-series on Toonami and based on a popular manga that people said would be terrifying.

They were not lying. I watched all of Uzumaki, and it’s one of the scariest things I’ve seen in years. An absolute cosmic horror from which there seems to be no escape.

A Horror a Quarter-Century in the Making

An anime twenty-five years in the making, Uzumaki was published as a short manga from 1998-1999 by mangaka Junji Ito. For those who don’t know who that is, calling him the “Stephen King of Japan” should be enough of a hint. Set in the fictional, Japanese town of Kurouzu-Cho, Uzumaki tells the story of high-school couple Shuichi and Kirie as a mysterious curse related to spirals (Uzumaki literally means ‘Spiral’ in Japanese) begins to corrupt the town. And the longer it goes on, the worse it gets as the town is slowly transformed by something that no one can fully explain, but everyone comes to fear.

The Uzumaki is Everywhere

One would think that a curse involving something simple as spirals wouldn’t be so scary, but if there’s one thing that I’ve learned watching this, it’s that Junji Ito can find a way to make things scary. And as the anime demonstrates, he made spirals pretty scary.

From the first few seconds of the anime, you are inundated with the image of uzumaki, both real and imaginary, in the form of the clouds in the sky to the bark on a tree to even some blades of grass. Things only escalate from there. As the anime progresses, viewers and people in-universe will start to see uzumaki in everything. Even the very inhabitants of the town start to morph and transform into grotesque abominations to conform to the spiral. Before long, you’ll be sharing in the paranoia of Shuichi, the first guy to realize something’s wrong yet refuses to get out while he can because of his family and girlfriend.

The brilliant part of this is the fact that the spiral is both natural and supernatural in nature. Spiral patterns are often found in nature in everything from shells to our fingerprints to even the part of our ear that helps us stay balanced. Spirals are also found in art and architecture, as though people have this unconcious desire to make things spiral-related. There’s something about them that gets people’s attention, and Uzumaki plays that up to levels that have to be seen to be believed.

Then again, that seems to be how the Uzumaki spread to engulf the town.  It’s like an Internet troll demanding your attention and doing crazy things to keep it, each more outlandish than the last. You have to actively resist looking at it, but the black-and-white world it’s in makes it hard to ignore.

They Had Five Years and Still Gave us Bad Animation?

One of the big draws to this series is the fact that it’s done entirely in black-and-white. This decision, plus the way the cast’s movement is animated, gives Uzumaki the feel of a motion comic…when it works, that is. The second episode managed to get flak from people for how poorly animated parts of it were near the end, and I have to agree. I usually either don’t notice bad animation unless it’s glaringly obvious, or just ignore it in favor of the story. But when I do see it, I’m going to point it out. What makes it even worse, though, is the fact that the studios had an extra five years to get it right, and they still messed up!

Just look at this in the final episode!

Uzumaki was announced at Crunchyroll Expo 2019, and was originally supposed to premiere on Toonami in 2020. However, like many things around that time, it got delayed by COVID-19 and then the delays just kept piling up.

Call the SCP Foundation if this happens to you.

Shortcomings in animation aside, Uzumaki seems to live up to the hype surrounding this terrifying manga. There were moments that didn’t just scare me but almost made me vomit in disgust. Word of advice: do not watch this alone at night if you don’t want nightmares. Uzumaki is as scary as any big horror film that you can think of. It might even be scarier since the antagonist is something that we can’t even fully comprehend or fight back against…unless you’re the SCP Foundation.

No, I’m not joking. After watching this show, the Uzumaki curse feels like something that you would have to call in the SCP Foundation to deal with. I can even see how they would handle it!

  1. Evacuate the remaining townsfolk via a non-standard method of transportation. Teleportation recommended as only viable means.
  2. Adminster amenstics to the surviving townsfolk so that they no longer remember the Uzumaki curse.
  3. Quarantine the entire town and create a false news story claiming that a disaster has rendered the area permanently uninhabitable to prevent any more victims from being taken.
  4. Monitor the town to confirm whether or not the curse is limited to the vicinity of the town.

Or if they had someone like Takatou, they could have him kill it.

I Give “Uzumaki” a 4/5

Toonami Rewind Set to Return Legendary Block to Weekday Afternoons after 20 Years

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Toonami is a name that almost every fan of anime in America should know about. After all, if it wasn’t for Toonami, anime might never have gained a foothold in the West. Beginning in 1997, Toonami served as an afternoon block on Cartoon Network and helping to bring anime to millions of American children. It proved widely successful, with many people (myself included) crediting it for being a big part of why anime is now mainstream. Much to my dismay, though, I was never able to experience that fabled afternoon block. In April, 2004, Cartoon Network moved it to Saturday nights from 7 to 11 PM, which is where I found it and where it remained until its original cancellation in 2009. Even after it got revived on Adult Swim in 2012, Toonami remained confined to the weekends. Those halcyon days of afternoon blocks, a distant memory.

Or they were. For the first time in almost twenty years, Toonami will be airing on a weekday. 

Over the past few months, Adult Swim has been pushing its runtime back earlier and earlier into the day during the weekdays. Then starting in August of 2023, they upped the ante with Checkered Past. For two hours, they air cartoons from the golden age of the late 90s and 00s, much to the delight of those who grew up with them (like me!) Now, they upping the ante again.

Starting Friday, May 31st, Adult Swim will be airing Toonami Rewind, featuring episodes of the anime that made anime big in the West: Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z (Kai), and one of my all-time favorites, Naruto. It’s only three shows right now, but it’s a start.

That’s not all. Unlike the ongoing Toonami block on Adult Swim, Toonami Rewind will be using the aesthetics of the TOM 3.0 Era. Which, arguably, was the best-looking era of the original Toonami run. 

I never got the chance to see the classic Toonami at its height, having only started watching it after it had moved to Saturday nights. For those who did, though, this is a big win. For an entire generation, Toonami was the after-school block to watch on TV. Not only did it provide an introduction to the world of anime, it gave them the perfect excuse to not worry about things like homework or tests that wouldn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. And while it only consists of three anime right now, who knows? If it does well enough, they might add more in. Either way, Toonami faithful win big!

And, Scene! Ninja Kamui Ends on Cool Note

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Ninja Kamui Ep 13 Review 

It’s over, people. After three months of watching Higan’s quest for revenge, we have reached the end of the road. And Ninja Kamui managed to go out on quite the bang, if I do say so myself. With the Ninja now poised to conquer the US, and Joseph ready to blow the AUZA reactors to oblivion, things were looking desperate. But in a final battle fought on multiple fronts, Higan, Morriss, and Jason not only stop Yamaji and Joseph. They prove that the former’s views on the Ninja being cold, uncaring killers is wrong. 

Joseph Finally Gets his Just Desserts

On the first front, we have Agent Morriss and Jason as they go after their main target, Joseph. After escaping Yamaji’s Ninja for the moment, the cowardly CEO of AUZA attempts to smuggle himself out of the country. On a plane stuffed with pigs. But Morriss isn’t having any of it. Thanks to his instincts and Jason’s hacking, they manage to ruin his ride out of the US. More importantly, Jason manages to hack the satellites that would’ve let Joseph blow the nearest reactor sky-high. The end result is pure cathartsis for Emma’s death, as Morriss proceeds to beat the smug CEO’s face in. Then, when the man boasts how he’ll be out of jail in no time, Morriss pulls a move that would make Batman proud.

For a while, the anime makes it appear that Morriss lost his temper and proceeded to kill Joseph. Given how he killed Emma and committed who knows what other crimes, no one would’ve held it against Morriss. Instead, the Veteran FBI Agent stays true to his moral code and simply makes the cowardly man so scared for his life, he wets himself. Furthermore, hearing Morriss promise Joseph that he’ll come find him if he ever tries to escape justice is pure, unadulterated badass. Knowing Morriss, he’ll be happy to sacrifice his retirement to follow through on that promise. Go ahead and enjoy it, though, Morriss. You’ve earned it.

Yamaji Just Another Would-Be Despot

The big draw of the episode, though, is the fight that’s been built up the entire series: Higan vs. Yamaji. A fight between a Ninja and a former Ninja over the fate of their entire clan. The fight is, naturally, impressive to watch, but what cinches it is how it boils down to a fight of ideals. Yamaji, for his part, continues to insist that his way of thinking is right and that with the Ninja watching over the world, there will be true peace. In other words, the same self-serving spiel that many wannabe conquerers spout; I could feel my eyes rolling as I heard him go on and on about it. While he does get a brief flashback that hints at how he developed his way of thinking from witnessing the horrors of war, it doesn’t matter. Yamaji’s so blinded by anger that he chooses to shut himself off from the world, and thinks that that’s best for everyone.

As Higan and Zai prove, he’s wrong.

Yamaji Proven Wrong, Dies. 

As I hoped, Zai does return for the final battle, and, at a crucial moment, he turns on Yamaji, choosing his friend over the man who turned him into a weapon. It costs him an arm, but it was still nice to know that Mari’s hopes for Zai came true. More importantly, it gives Higan the chance he needs to rally. Spurred on by the memory of his wife and her philosophy on living, with the anime’s OP playing in full, Higan wastes Yamaji.

And, to sweeten things, we get to see those who remained loyal to the former head of the Clan like Emma take down their brethren. Thus, the threat of the Ninja has ended. Whether or not this means the end of the Ninja as a whole, though, is left up for debate.

Time to Put the Ninjas Behind us

For Higan, though, that doesn’t matter.

Higan started this journey for one reason and one reason alone: to bring down Yamaji and his former clan. In the process, he also managed to reconnect with his old comrade, Zai, and convinces him to find a new purpose in life outside of being a weapon. Having done all he set out to do, Higan heads off for parts unknown, wandering the earth as the series comes to an end.

It’s the kind of ending that would make the likes of John Wick proud, and I personally loved it. While I do think that the action lagged at certain points in the story, I still think that Ninja Kamui was a pretty fun anime to watch. While there are some deeper, philosophical questions about life that it seems to pose, I’ve decided that that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. All we wanted was to see Ninjas doing cool Ninja things, and we got that in spades. I just might have to binge-watch the entire thing on Max next chance I get. 

I Give “Episode 13” a 4/5

Yamaji is Out to Conquer the World!

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Ninja Kamui Episode 12 Review

There comes a time in every nation or big organization where the way things work stops working. When they need to chart a new course, evolve, or else they die. In the worst cases, a disillusioned member of that group could decide to burn the whole thing to the ground and start fresh. And, as the penultimate episode of Ninja Kamui indicates, the Ninja have reached that point under Yamaji. And the only one who can bring him down for good is Higan. Otherwise, the whole world will be swallowed by the shadows of the Ninja.

Time to Burn it All Down

As Higan continues to rest from his fight with Zai, he’s visited by the same old doctor who treated his wounds in Episode 2. Except it’s revealed that he isn’t just any elder. His true identity is that of the former Chief of the Ninja before Yamaji seized power. And much like Higan, Aska, Mari, and many others, he thinks its time for the Ninja to either end or be born anew.

This episode delves deeper into the backstory of the Ninja as an organization, and how they defended their native Japan for centuries from the shadows. However, as Japan prospered, they stopped relying on the Ninja to aid them in favor of other groups. The Chief saw the writing on the wall: if they didn’t adapt, they would die out, but he couldn’t see another path beyond the cold, rigid code the Ninja followed. Until he saw Higan, Mari, and Zai embrace their emotions to make them stronger. And he thought that, maybe, that was the future the Ninja could take.

Yamaji is a Stubborn Fool

Yamaji, though, thought the opposite. Instead of embracing change, Yamaji led a coup, nearly killed the Chief, and decided to double-down on their strict code, which led them to work for AUZA. But as the series has demonstrated, that way of thinking won’t help them survive, but hasten their doom. 

Case in point, Dilly, the Ninja protecting Joseph, grew to admire his crazy plans to change the world, and chose him over Yamaji. Ultimately, the conflict of Ninja Kamui could be boiled down to a conflict of tradition vs. change. And in this case, the traditionalists like Yamaji are in the wrong.

It might be too late to save the Ninja from themselves, though.

Joseph, AUZA, and the Ninja Just got Busted

Joseph may have gotten away with his life thanks to Dilly’s sacrifice, but AUZA just got backed into a corner. While he was busy running, James managed to blow the whistle on AUZA by uploading all the dirt Emma/Aska had on them. Illegal activities, the Ninja, the names of high-ranking government officials, everything. And Morris is able to use that to turn the FBI on AUZA. 

Then, Joseph ups the ante by threatening to rig his companies’ reactors to blow sky-high unless the government calls off the hunt for him. And to add even further to the chaos, Yamaji makes his move. Using an army clad in Gusoku Gear, the Ninja drop all forms of stealth and openly attack the US Government. And that’s only the start. Once they’re done in America, they’ll move onto the rest of the world, and with their Gusoku Gear, the world will fall.

The Final Battle is at Hand!

Bravo, E&H Production, Sola Entertainment, and Sungwoo Park. This is the kind of stakes that I have been wanting to see. An army of evil Ninja out for world domination? Using mech suits? That is all kinds of awesome! It’s actually a pity that next week marks the finale to Ninja Kamui, because it just got really, really good. I’m looking forward to seeing the finale, though!

I Give “Episode 12” a 4.5/5

Whoa! Yamaji Just Played Everyone!

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Ninja Kamui Ep 11 Review

The story of Ninja Kamui is coming down to the wire, and things are getting desperate for all sides. Higan and Zai are settling their grudge match, the FBI is hunting Morris, and James is working on getting access to the intel that Emma/Aska stole from AUZA. On the other side, the tension between AUZA’s Joseph and Yamaji ends in the only way it could: with both turning on each other. And by the time the episode ends, the only one in control of anything is Yamaji himself.

A Meeting of Fists and Ideals

There can be more to fighting than an exchange of fists and weapons. Fighting can be about the ideals, the motivations behind the people who are doing it. And much like Naruto and Sasuke’s numerous clashes, the fight between Higan and Zai is less about winning and more about whose side is right. Was Higan right to abandon the Ninja? Was Zai right to remain loyal to Yamaji despite him taking them away from their original ways? Their fight is as much a battle of ideals as it is their fists, and it is epic.

Higan and Zai both put everything on the line as they fight for their ninja ways, with Zai making it known how betrayed he felt by Higan and Mari leaving him. In return, Higan says that they wanted to one day see there could be a life outside the Ninjas, but he was too blinded by anger to listen to them. Mari even hoped that seeing their son would make him realize this. 

Ultimately, the battle itself ends in a draw with neither dead. Given how Zai walks away and starts pounding his fist into ground and crying, though, it’s safe to say that Higan won the argument. Zai has spent his whole life blinded his anger and pain, and pushed away the two people who cared about him as more than just a weapon. Yamaji and the other Ninjas, in contrast, not only berated Zai for not stopping them, but scarred his face as punishment. That’s messed up!

Yamaji Played AUZA Like a Fiddle

Meanwhile, even as AUZA needs its plans to control the world from the shadows, schisms have already formed between them and the Ninjas. Having become aware of Yamaji planning to manufacture the Gusoku Gear on their own, Joseph tries to put them in their place by killing them all. 

Yamaji, in return, makes it painfully clear who the Devil is in their deal, and it’s not Joseph. 

If the previous episode didn’t make it clear, this episode does: Yamaji was just using Joseph and AUZA to make the Ninja more powerful. They only wanted the resources to make the Gusoku gear for themselves, and now that they have it, they’re leaving. And they come close to killing Joseph as they do so. As big of a jerk as he is, a part of you can’t help but feel a little bad seeing him panicking when his bodyguard, Dilly, seemingly throws him out a window. He survives, but still. 

They Have to Leak the Documents!

In the c-plot of the episode, we also have James and Morris finally unlocking the intel that Emma left for them. And it was all thanks to the drawing that Moriss’ daughter made for him having her fingerprints. However, to buy time, Moriss gets caught by the police. If they can’t expose AUZA now, then Moriss can look forward to spending his retirement in prison. 

There are two episodes left after this, and things are coming down to the wire. Will any of the characters make it past the finish line? Will Higan avenge his wife and son? The tension is building, and I don’t know if it can be resolved in the short time the show has left.

On a side note, Toonami took the time from this episode to promote the upcoming prequel game, Ninja Kamui: Shinobi Origins. The game looks to be an action side-scroller, and for $24.99, it looks decent. The game releases May 30th, so the anime will still be fresh in people’s minds. Maybe I’ll give it a try.

I Give Ep 11 a 4.5/5

How Zai Joined the Ninjas is So SAD!!

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Ninja Kamui Ep 10 Review

You remember watching Naruto and remembering how angsty and rage-driven Sasuke was? That led him to abandon the Hidden Leaf Village and study under a criminal for years, and it only escalated from there. Now imagine if it was the reverse that happened. Instead of Sasuke leaving, it was Naruto and Sakura who left instead? That is a basic explanation of what Zai went through when Mari and Higan left, and why he’s so determined to bring Higan down. And with AUZA and Yamaji’s plans getting closer to fruition, the time to settle this grudge draws near. 

Everyone is Sadder than Ever

In the aftermath of Emma’s death, her friends are left reeling and trying to figure out what to do next. Ideally, they want to expose AUZA using everything that Emma/Aska got from their servers. However, there are two big problems facing them. Firstly, Emma left everything encrypted and only she knew how to decrypt it. Secondly, AUZA managed to be one step ahead of them. They already revealed that their reactors were “attacked by terrorists.” Now any attempts to whistleblow on them could get passed off as fake news or covered up altogether. The worst part is that Morris’ best plan to take them down, using what few people in the FBI he thinks aren’t on their payroll, doesn’t work. His former partner tries to turn him in.

Whether AUZA can even be brought down remains to be seen. However, the more immediate issue is Yamaji and Zai. 

Zai’s Life is SO SAD!!

I said before that Zai took Higan and Mari’s defection personally due to the bond they forged. However, I underestimated just how personal it was for him, as this episode’s flashbacks reveal. Unlike Higan and Mari, he wasn’t born into the Ninja, but was recruited.

He was an unwanted orphan held prisoner by a group that Yamaji brought down. Seeing how angry at the world the boy was, Yamaji took him in with the obvious intent of using him as a deadly tool. And for the most part, he succeeded. Zai was a ruthless killer who didn’t care about anyone else. Until their first mission together when Higan saved his life. It was likely the first act of kindness Zai ever got towards him. 

That’s why Zai hates Higan so much. He and Mari were the first people he was ever able to open up to and be vulnerable with. He trusted them, and when they saw how corrupt Yamaji was making the Ninja and left, he took it as a personal betrayal. That led him to double down on his previous beliefs that no one else mattered, and it’s why he needed to kill Higan with his own hands. 

It’s like Naruto and Sasuke, but with the roles reversed. And they’re about to have their final showdown.

One More Duel

In the closing moments of the episode, Higan receives a challenge via crow from Zai. While Morris tries to find someone to take the leaked intel and James stays safe, Higan dons the Kamui, travels to a hidden Ninja hideout, and faces Zai for what will likely be the final time. 

Sadly, we will have to wait another week to see the fight in full, if it lasts that long. However, while this fight might be the most personal one that Higan faces, his ultimate enemy remains Yamaji. Even though he’s letting AUZA and that smarmy executive give him orders, the episode makes it clear that hes making plans to double-cross him. Hes been working on getting the schematics for the Gusoku gear so the Ninjas can make them themselves, so he’s likely been playing them this whole time. As much as AUZA needs to go down, the idea of a corrupt group of Ninjas having that kind of suit is just as bad, if not worse. And, as it turns out, I misread the number of episodes. Three episodes actually remain, and I’m hoping the series reaches a good conclusion before all is said and done. 

I Give Ep 10 a 4/5

Someone Dies at the End

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Ninja Kamui Ep 9 Review

As if we didn’t need another reason to hate AUZA, they managed to sink our expectations even lower than they already were. With Higan, Aska, Morris, and Jason poised to hit AUZA where it hurts, Joseph, the guy running the shots at AUZA starts to grow more unhinged. And what he does this episode puts him straight at the top of everyone’s hit list. While the teaser for this episode implied someone would die, it also proved to be a red herring. Someone does die, but it’s not the person everyone was expecting.

Joseph Has no Respect

With Higan and Aska having escaped AUZA not once, but twice, last episode, Joseph is starting to lose it. AUZA is close to finishing their plans to control the world from the shadows, and Higan threatens to undo everything. As a result, he starts coming down hard on Yamaji to do something about Higan. He also chews out Big D for not killing them when he had the chance (he doesn’t care), and tries to coax Zai into going after Higan the first chance he gets. The majority of the episode is him yelling at everyone at how they’re going to ruin everything.

From the outset, the anime made it clear that Joseph is a horrible person. He’s arrogant, rude, and condescending to everyone around him, and it’s clear that Yamaji doesn’t respect him. The fact that Joseph threatens to make the former commit seppuku for his failures only highlights how ignorant and uncaring the man is towards the ways of the ninja. Yamaji even lampshades that ignorance by pointing out seppuku was never a ninja thing. That was the Samurai! 

In contrast to this, though, Big D proves that even though he’s on AUZA’s side, he has more respect for the ninja way. He refused to kill Higan when he wasn’t at his full strength, and he pointedly ignores Joseph’s grilling while he gets his haircut. More to the point, when he and Higan do face off in their Gusoku suits this episode, he doesn’t want anyone to interfere. So when AUZA troops show up to try and kill everyone, he objects. Moreover, when Higan does win, he takes the defeat with grace and is willing to die at his hands. He’s got more respect for ninjas than Joseph ever does. A fact that’s made clear by Joseph rigging Big D’s suit to self-destruct in a last-ditch attempt to kill Higan!

It doesn’t work. But it does take someone else’s life besides Big D.

F in the Chat…for Aska.

Based on the previews for this episode, it looked like Agent Morris was going to die. The fact that he’s about to retire, his daughter is dead and his wife has left him all seemed like death flags to me. However, he manages to survive the episode. Tragically, there is someone else who dies thanks to the explosion: Aska. She isn’t able to get out of the blast in time, and spends her final moments being comforted by Higan, Morris, and James. 

This was such a massive shocker to see. Considering how close she came to dying a few episodes ago, this caught me off-guard. And as the three are cremating her remains, you can tell how done they are with AUZA. Aska was the reason that Higan managed to survive the attempt on his life, even if his family didn’t. James respected her as a hacker. And Morris admits that he thought of her as a second daughter. Imagine getting a second chance to be a parent only to have that ripped away from you? 

At this point, there are three episodes left, and the trio are ready to burn AUZA to the ground. This anime hasn’t been the most action-filled you could find, but it’s still been a good show to watch. And I’m hoping that before it’s done, Joseph is lying on the ground wetting himself while they make him pay. 

I Give “Episode 9” a 4/5

AUZA Needs to be Stopped!

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Ninja Kamui Ep 8 Review

Everyone remembers Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare for starting the “F to Pay Respects” meme, but I also rememebr it for the main villains, the Atlas Corporation. Now I’m adding them to the list of megacorporations that AUZA reminds me of. In this case, AUZA is using their influence to take over the world through its infrastructure, and they’re dangerously close to doing so. If Higan wants to stop Yamaji, he needs to do it soon. And he’s going to need his entire group of allies working together on this. Even if Agent Moriss has to learn who “Emma” really is.

Taking the Fight on the Road

Having shown that Higan means business, he and Aska manage to escape AUZA City in search of Yamaji. One would think that with all the technology AUZA uses, they couldn’t get out without getting spotted. However, the nature of mankind is that of adaptability. One guy makes a big gun, the other makes an even bigger one. Or, when a megacorporation uses too many electronics, a hacker like Aska makes an EM pulse to shut down an entire city. Easy getaway.

The episode also reveals how AUZA is trying to conquer the world from the shadows. Using their reactors as a power source, their goal is to take control of every nation’s infrastructure from within. It’s not as overt as a would-be despot steamrolling across the planet, but it’s effective. The Atlas Corporation, the main antagonists from Advanced Warfare, did the same thing and got dangerously close to taking control of everything. And with the Ninja’s serving as the muscle, there’s little the government can do to stop them. 

But Higan can.

The big fight of the episode takes place at an AUZA reactor Higan and Aska raid, only to run into Big D. (The guy with the flat top.) Whereas Lil was a deplorable person who got off on violence, though, Big D has a sense of honor and respects the way of the Ninja. Enough that when Higan and Aska catch an unlucky break, he lets them go, not wanting to win on a technicality. Say what you want, but he does respect the Ninja way (I think.)

The Need to Trust

The big highlight of the episode, though, is the reunion between Higan and Aska and Agent Moriss and Jason Cardenas. Aska comes clean about everything to Moriss, who is not happy about being lied to. However, it’s not for the reasons you would think. 

Throughout the series, Agent Moriss has shown himself to be the very open-minded and understanding type. For example, despite knowing Higan is a killer ninja, he’s willing to work with him. Both out of pragmatism and knowing Higan has a justifiable reason to want to bring down AUZA. In this case, he’s not mad that Aska lied about being a ninja. He’s mad she didn’t trust him enough. He knows she had her reasons, but still.

Now that the unlikely party is together, the next step is for them to figure out how to stop AUZA. Yamaji’s already putting his plan in motion, and they need to stop him. And with three episodes left, the clock is ticking. Here’s hoping that the series can end on a high note!

I Give “Episode 8” a 4/5