Jin-Woo Doesn’t Let Anyone Take Advantage of Him

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Solo Leveling Episode 10 Review

It’s official now: Sung Jin-Woo is a badass, and he knows it. More and more people are starting to learn about it. So far, he’s managed to keep his slaying of Dongsuk’s party and defeating Tae-Shik quiet. However, sooner or later, people will start connecting the dots. An E-Rank Hunter keeps surviving these catastrophes he shouldn’t. And that’s not something that Jin-Woo needs to deal with right now. Thankfully, he now has the power of black air force energy, and he will make sure it keeps getting stronger. And anyone who figures out what he can do will keep their mouths shut.

The Black Air Force Continues to Grow

Once again, Jin-Woo has survived a catastrophic dungeon dive, though not without its scars. Two Double Dungeon survivors are dead, and one of them, Jee-Hoo, flat-out decides to call it quits. As sad as it is to see her give up on being a Hunter and return to her parents, this seems for the best. Jee-Hoo tried to recover from her PTSD, but this last dive only reinforced that she’s not cut out for Hunter’s life. And that’s alright. Sometimes, it’s better to quit when you’re ahead. Only some people can be Goku or Luffy and push their limits until they surpass them. 

Unfortunately, Jin-Woo doesn’t have that option. Ignoring the System forcing him to fight, Jin-Woo’s life is already in danger. Remember how I talked about Dongsuk and how he has a super-strong younger brother? To recap, Dongsuk’s brother is an S-Rank Hunter, and since he (rightly) assumes Jin-Woo is responsible for his brother’s death, he vows revenge. Thus, Jin-Woo has two options: either get stronger or run. 

Jin-Woo decides to get stronger and level up his Black Air Force energy. Thus, he and Jin-Ho begin their scheme to make Jin-Ho a guild master.

I like how the show faithfully portrays the two’s plan as well as it does. Having the two hire other Hunters to loiter around gates while they go in and do all the work is the kind of plan that’s so crazy, it works. Better yet, the shock on the other’s faces when they see how fast they take care of business is hilarious. Jin-Woo has black air force energy, though. And it’s only going to get stronger as time goes on. There’s one downside to it, though: the attention.

Jin-Woo Doesn’t Need the Publicity Right Now

Traditionally, someone with black Air Force energy is aggressive and wild and shows contempt for rules and authorities. At the same time, Jin-Woo can be the former, often not the latter. Leave him be or promise not to tell anyone how strong he is, and he’ll be reasonable. It looks like you’re going to mess with him or his family, though, and the energy comes out. Unfortunately (and I say this as someone who’s read the manwha), it’s only a matter of time before he attracts attention. 

As a prime example, we have a scout from one of the top Hunter’s guilds in the country. He sees all the disasters that Jin-Woo has survived, disasters that should’ve killed an E-Rank Hunter. He also realizes how he and Jin-Ho are buying up all the C-Rank dungeons and completing them in record time. Thus, he puts two and two together and realizes that Jin-Woo is stronger than an E-Rank. 

Much like in the manwha, this man tries to recruit Jin-Woo into his guild, only for the man to put on his black air forces. Not only does he turn the man down, but he orders him not to tell anyone else about him. The cut on his face makes it clear that his response will not be friendly or diplomatic. Then, just to mess with him, he scams him into buying some of the dungeons from him for more than they’re worth. That is what being Black Air Force is like!

Don’t Mess With Jin-Woo

This episode was another quiet one when compared to the previous episode, but that also has its own charm. It shows how deep and complex the politics and people of this Hunter-dominated world can be. More importantly, this episode shows how Jin-Woo doesn’t take kindly to people who see him as a meal ticket. That seems contradictory since he’s helping Jin-Ho, but their relationship is mutually beneficial. Jin-Ho can become a guild master, Jin-Woo gets stronger, and they both make money. In other words, treat him right, or Jin-Woo will mess you up.

There are only a few episodes left in the season, but trust me, the last few are going to be bangers. Jin-Woo gets a new quest that will let him change his class. And if you have read the manwha like I have, you know how hard this is going to go. I can’t wait for the next episode.

I Give “What is This, a Picnic?” a 3.5/5

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

Aska, the Face-Changing Ninja Among Ninjas

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Ninja Kamui Ep 7 Review

When Ninja Kamui started, I didn’t think much of Emma. I thought that she was going to be a secondary character, the young rookie that worked with Agent Morriss. The last two episodes threw that out the window, revealing them to be an elaborate deception. Not only was she a Ninja, but worked from within to bring down the Clan and AUZA. Emma isn’t even her real name; it’s Aska (we think). In the previous episode, Aska told Higan her desire to help him stemmed from the bond she had with his late wife. However, it didn’t dive too much into it due to the oncoming threat from AUZA and the need to get the Kamui suit ready. Now that the threat’s been dealt with, though, Aska dives into her backstory, giving us more info about the entire story. And while some people may not like them, I enjoy flashbacks. 

Higan Sends AUZA a Message

With all the time the anime spent hyping it up last episode, it seemed like the follow-up would focus on showing off the Kamui. We would spend most of the air-time seeing how powerful it would be with Higan using it. As it turns out, the Kamui is powerful. So powerful, in fact, that Higan managed to defeat Lil’, the depraved sadist with dwarfism, in a few minutes. It wasn’t even a fight; it was a curb stomp.

The whole thing was a bittersweet experience, though more sweet than bitter. While its short length means viewers have to wait to see the titular Kamui’s full capabilities, seeing the depraved Lil’ get brought down was still satisfying. And, while we don’t see it, the fact that Higan sent AUZA his severed head shows how badly they messed up. They had the chance to kill him before, but they wanted to know how he came back from death. The irony is that that was never even his own doing. It was thanks to Aska that that happened. And, as Aska herself tells Higan, the technique wasn’t hers to begin with. It was Mari’s!

In other words, Aska played them all by putting them in this position. 

Aska, the Ninja Who Watches Other Ninjas

With the battle over and a reprieve granted, Aska explains her history with Mari to Higan and, by extension, the audience. As a kid, a terrible accident mutilated her face so severely that her parents abandoned her rather than live with her disfigurement. The previous leader of the Ninja Clan took her in, raised her, and taught her how to use makeup to disguise herself as anyone. More importantly, he gave Aska a particular task: she would watch any potential head of the Clan and kill them if she found them wanting. She would be the Watcher who looked after other Ninjas.

She should’ve done that to Yamaji years ago if that’s true. However, after Yamaji brought the Ninjas under AUZA’s control and let in outsiders who only cared about their fighting techniques, like Lil’, she knew that was a bad idea. So, while those loyal to the old ways fell in line or deserted, she stayed behind to bring them down from within. It was a smart move, but it wasn’t enough to save Mari. 

As for Mari, she was Aska’s mentor as a Ninja, but their relationship became more than that. Mari became Aska’s friend, appreciating her face for what it was and not seeing it as hideous. She was the only person she told about her being pregnant with Higan’s child. Despite being ordered to kill her for deserting, Aska couldn’t bring herself to do it. She chose her forbidden friendship with Mari over the cold detachment that Ninjas were meant to have.

This moment was the best part of the episode. It showed how wrong the Ninjas’ ways of thinking could be when it came to bonds. Besides, they can’t justify it when they allowed unworthy people like Lil’ join them. 

Aska is Helping Higan to Fulfill her Duty

In short, Aska’s helping Higan out for two reasons. Firstly, she’s doing it out of loyalty to Mari, which is admirable. Secondly, she’s doing it because she knows that she can’t fulfill her job as the Watcher on her own. The fact that she lost to Lil’ while buying time for Higan demonstrates how, for all her training, she can’t handle the AUZA-backed Ninjas alone. But Higan can with the Kamui.

For the time being, it appears that Higan can trust Aska. Even if he didn’t, he has little choice. He’s in the heart of AUZA’s territory, and Yamaji (and likely AUZA) are about to unleash their master plan. I don’t know what it is, but given the Shinra and Abstergo vibes AUZA gives off, it’s not good for anyone. 

With only four episodes left in the series until it ends, the time has come for Ninja Kamui to start ramping up the action. Here’s hoping that the final quarter delivers on the action that we want to see. 

I Give “Episode 7” a 4/5

Everyone Digs Cyber Ninjas

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Ninja Kamui Episode 6 Review

Okay, I wasn’t expecting that to happen. In the last episode of Ninja Kamui, Higan tries to fight through AUZA City but gets overwhelmed by the higher-ups of AUZA. Equipped with cyber ninja suits that would make Tony Stark drool, Higan proved no match for them. Thanks to one of them turning on the others, he managed to get out with his life. Meanwhile, Morris had his troubles to deal with. Not only did AUZA come close to killing him, but he discovered that his partner, Emma, might be working for them. As surprising as that might be, the truth was even crazier. As someone who likes to guess how things turn out in stories, this caught me off-guard. 

Firstly, though, a shout-out to Toonami for acknowledging the passing of Akira Toriyama. With Dragon Ball coming statewide in 1998, Toonami got smaller than it did. And thus, anime never would’ve gotten as big in the West as it is. It’s sweet how they chose to run a marathon for DBZ Kai in honor of his memory. That being said, it’ve been more appropriate for them to run the classic DBZ instead. I might not have grown up with it, but Aaron and Donte did, and it feels appropriate. That, and they could’ve made it a 24-hour marathon. 

They Were the One Helping Higan Out?!?

Cutting straight to the chase, the episode quickly reveals the identity of the person who saved Higan: Emma. “Emma” (not even her real name) is also a ninja working undercover in the FBI, but she’s chosen to help Higan. The reason is that she was friends with Mari and kept in touch even after she and Higan left the ninjas. She even tried to save the two and their son the night of the attack, but all she could do was use her ninja technique to fake Higan’s death and fool AUZA into thinking he could revive himself. And to top it all off, she was the one who helped him sneak into AUZA City. She played everyone!

It would’ve been easy for the show to have Emma be a traitor and one of Higan’s biggest obstacles in his quest for vengeance. Instead, Ninja Kamui opted for a far more exciting route by making her a mole for Higan. While her motives remain unclear, it’s safe to assume she’s on Higan’s side for now.

As for Agent Moriss’ side, though, that remains uncertain. The episode doesn’t focus as much on him, with the parts that are about and his hacker friend trying to figure out their next move. While I’m still worried about their safety, they might take a backseat while Higan continues his fight. This time, he’s got a new weapon to use.

We’re in Cyber Ninja Territory Now, People!

Enter the Gusoku suit, a cybernetic suit that enhances the wearer’s strength, speed, and durability to superhuman levels while also working with their ninja arts. It’s also how Higan can turn the tables on the enemy, with Emma getting the latest prototype: the Kamui. This suit can hook directly to Higan’s nervous system, allowing him to control it with his thoughts alone. With the human brain being an organic supercomputer capable of making conclusions in milliseconds, the Kamui has the potential to act on superhuman levels. In other words, when Higan puts it on, he will be strong enough to take down anyone. 

Ninjas are already cool enough on their own. However, seeing them fused with the concept of cybernetic armor like a ninja Iron Man, takes that up to eleven. The previous episode showed us what someone’s capable of doing with one of those suits, but it’s this episode that shows off its full potential. Emma’s fight with Lil combines the action of a ninja battle with the power of hacking straight out of Watch Dogs. It’s incredible to look at, though for a moment, it looks like Emma might not make it. But then Higan, through the memory of his wife, syncs with the suit faster than possible. And as the episode ends, Higan stands in the Kamui, ready to meet Lil on equal terms.

This episode finally gives meaning to the title of this anime, something that I hadn’t even considered beforehand. Now that we know it, though, it feels a little disappointing that we’re only getting this with the series reaching its halfway point. The first half was only a setup for the real action that’s to come. Hopefully, the second half of the series can meet the hype. I am optimistic about everything, though. After all, this series is being directed by the man who directed the first season of JuJutsu Kaisen. That has to count for something!

I Give “Episode 6” a 3.5/5

Sung HIM-Woo Continues his Black Air Force Campaign

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Solo Leveling Ep 9 Review

Ever since I started (and finished) reading the Solo Leveling manwha, I’ve looked forward to seeing many moments. And most of them involve Jin-Woo making victims out of his opponents. He now radiates Black Air Force energy, and every time he takes down an enemy, it’s incredible. Seeing it go from being still images to being animated by people who worked on SAO and Jujutsu Kaisen is flat-out spectacular. And in this episode, we get to the next moment that I wanted to see in the anime. Sung Jin-Woo might call himself Sung HIM-Woo because he is HIM. 

Psycho Killer, Qu’est-ce que c’est?

The episode tries to start off by acting like nothing’s going to go wrong. This would be a simple dungeon dive for Jin-Woo and the other Double Dungeon survivors. But even if they didn’t read the manwha, savvy viewers should notice the red flags from the previous episode—the extended focus on Kim and his family. The prisoners joining them, and the shady meeting with that unknown person? Things get set up to be a disaster from the start. And they are.

Ripping the band-aid off, Kang Tae-Shik isn’t just working for the Hunter Association. He’s also an assassin. The father of a woman who was assaulted by those same prisoners and later killed herself hired him to kill them. And when Kim and the other Double Dungeon survivor stumble across him, he kills them both, too.

The red flags for Kim’s death were pretty obvious. The last episode focused on his family, and he talked about apologizing to Jin-Woo after this dive. So, his death shouldn’t be a surprise. It doesn’t make it any easier to watch, though. 

The story also makes it clear that, even if those prisoners deserve their fate, Tae-Shik doesn’t do this out of altruism. He just likes killing people, and this gives him the best excuse.

However, Tai-Shik makes one mistake: he tries to kill Jin-Woo, Jee-Hoo, and Sung in front of him. And we all know what that means.

Another Day, Another Victim

The fight between Jin-Woo and Tae-Shik is a foregone conclusion, but that doesn’t make it less exciting to watch. Sung makes a good effort before fighting him, but it isn’t until Jin-Woo steps up that the real boss battle begins. The animation is superb, but what cinches is the reactions that everyone else has to Jin-Woo. Sung and Jee-Hoo have trouble processing his Black Air Force energy. Tae-Shik, on the other hand, goes from being cocky as they come to looking ready to wet himself. And the absolute death glare that he gets from Jin-Woo. I could practically hear Jin-Woo thinking how worthless Tae-Shik was at that moment for trying to kill him. 

It should be noted that Jin-Woo only has the moral high ground here because he’s doing this to protect his comrades. Beyond that, though, he’s just like Tae-Shik. He has killed before, and will kill again. But unlike last time, where the System did force him to kill, he didn’t even need to be told that here. He didn’t care about it anymore. Anyone who stands against him is his enemy, and that means they’re liable to become victims. 

Sung Jin-Woo is HIM, indeed.

In the end, Mr. Sung covers for Jin-Woo by saying he killed Tai-Shik with Jee-Hoo’s help, so his secret is safe for a little longer. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the two other survivors of the Double Dungeon incident are dead. At this point, though, I don’t think Jin-Woo even cares anymore.

Thus, the episode ends with yet another example of Jin-Woo exercising his Black Air Force energy, and this will only be the start. The question is, though, is as he gets stronger, what’s to stop him from becoming detached from humanity altogether? We’ll just have to keep watching and find out. 

Also, it’s sweet that people think that this moment was a tribute to Toriyama, but that’s just a case of unfortunate timing. 

I Give “You’ve Been Hiding Your Skills” a 4.5/5

The Need to Be a Hunter

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Solo Leveling Ep 8 Review

After the recap episode from last week, Solo Leveling is back. Sadly, anyone looking forward to more action will be disappointed with this episode. Instead, this episode takes it slower and focuses on the characters. To be more precise, it focuses on why people want to become Hunters. Yes, there’s the fact that it helps keep humanity safe from what’s lurking on the other side of the dungeons. As we’ve seen, though, people have their motivations for risking their lives as Hunters. The fame and wealth it brings, the power it gives them, or the thrill of living out a real life fantasy RPG. Everyone has their reasons. Sooner or later, though, they have to question if their reasons are worth it. 

Exhibit A: Jin-Woo Needs to Help his Family

The first and most obvious example is Sung Jin-Woo. Even before becoming a Player and leveling up, he kept risking his life in dungeons. All so he could provide himself and his sister with money. More importantly, though, in the hopes of finding a cure for his comatose mother. And thanks to his experience in that special dungeon, he now knows about the Elixir of Life. AKA, the Holy Grail of medicine, AKA something that can cure any illness. The bad news is that he still needs to be stronger to get far enough to get the components for it. And when you’re weak in a video game to do something, you either A.) keep trying and hope for a miracle, or B.) go on the grind until you get stronger. 

Jin-Woo goes with option B, which means returning and accepting Jin-Ho’s offer, but with stipulations! They’ll be the only ones doing the work. Jin-Ho can hire people to show up to meet the required number of party members. They do that until they’ve cleared enough for Jin-Ho to become a Guild Master. Jin-Ho happily agrees to his bro’s terms. 

The rest of the episode is mainly exposition and Hunters discussing their reasons for their jobs. And while it’s not as cool as the fights, I like it. The slower moments help reveal more about a character’s personality. 

Exhibit B: the Yoo Family Needs the Resources

One of the big draws of the dungeons is the resources they can provide people with; the kind of resources society has come to rely on to maintain itself. Thus, dungeon diving can be very lucrative, hence why the best Hunters and strongest guilds are celebrities. And as of now, five guilds are at the top of South Korea’s food chain. 

Jin-Ho’s father, though, hopes to establish his own guild for his construction company. That way, they can gather the resources themselves without having to pay a middle man. That way, they’ll stay successful. And while it wasn’t shown in the manwha, additional scenes show that Jin-Ho isn’t the only one of his brothers vying for the right to lead this potential guild. Another one reached out to an S-Rank Hunter and got show down.

Jin-Ho is a loyal man, and will follow Jin-Woo to the ends of the Earth for saving their lives. However, he’s still trying to vie for his Dad’s favor, which means using every advantage he’s got. That’s why he’s a Hunter, and why he’s betting it all on Jin-Woo. It’s a mutually beneficial friendship. 

Exhibit C: The Guild Masters Need to Prepare for the Worst

One of the more interesting moments of the episode involves a conversation between the guild masters of two of the strongest guilds in South Korea. The thing is, both of them were survivors from a dungeon-related incident on Jeju Island. The anime has yet to go into too much detail, but when dungeons started appearing, things got so bad that the Hunters had to retreat. For reference, I read ahead in the manwha, and it’s better than it’s implied. It’s worse. To that end, they need more people to become Hunters—strong Hunters who can be ready for the day when what’s lurking on Jeju Island breaks free. 

None of this is important to the story now, but it will be down the line. Thus, this is some good foreshadowing.

The Double Dungeon Survivors Reunite

It might surprise some people, but this episode also marks the return of the other people who survived the double dungeon incident that made Jin-Woo a Player. And each of them is shown to be scarred by the experience, either physically or mentally. It gets to the point where each of them questions whether they should keep being a Hunter altogether. However, Jin-Woo’s friend, Joo-Hee, is the most notable example, as she’s still traumatized by the whole experience. However, despite her mother wanting her to retire, Joo-Hee tries to keep being a Hunter. She doesn’t want to give up the financial independence it provides her, even if it’s dangerous.  

It seems like fate when all the survivors of the Double Dungeon incident reunite as part of an urgent dungeon dive the Hunters Association needs done. Seeing how they each react to Jin-Woo’s new look/continued survival says a lot about who they are. I especially like how Kim Sangshik, one of the people who abandoned the others to survive, can’t look at Jin-Woo without feeling guilty. 

This episode was a slow burn, but I did enjoy the anime-original scenes that it added in. They are doing a good job of fleshing out the supporting cast of the series. And while many of them aren’t important now, they will be in the future. For the moment, though, we get to see the Double Dungeon survivors, a group of convict Hunters, and that purple-haired guy dungeon dive. 

Prepare for bloodshed. People are going to die.

I Give “This is Frustrating” a 3.5/5

Higan Got His Butt Kicked by Robot Ninjas

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Ninja Kamui Ep 5 Review

Everybody knows who Batman is. The Caped Crusader, the Dark Knight, the man who can seemingly best anyone simply because he’s Batman. But there’s more to him than being a memetic badass; he can beat almost anyone because he knows how to use prep time. When he goes in and fights someone that he knows little about, he can get his back broken by someone like Bane. Why bring up Batman in an anime about ninjas, though? Because this episode, Higan is Batman. And the other ninjas, and AUZA, are Bane. 

Batman, Meet Bane

Having come within inches of making it into AUZA City, Higan’s efforts prove to be for naught. Zai’s presence is enough to throw him off long enough for the barriers to go up. However, instead of the two former comrades fighting regardless, Zai merely tells him he’s going to die and then walks away. It’s a move meant to make Higan feel powerless and impotent so that he’ll make a mistake. And judging by the events that follow, it worked.

Rather than let him fester in anger or kill him, the leaders of AUZA decide to let him in their city to test out their technology. And despite knowing it’s a trap, Higan runs in anyway. However, instead of fighting more ninjas, he winds up fighting the execs who are remotely piloting the ninja equivalent of Iron Man armor.

The end result is like watching someone try and take on the boss fight when they’re far too under-leveled. It’s less of a fight by the end and more of a curb-stomp, like the anime equivalent to watching Bane break Batman’s spine. If Higan represents the old ways of being a ninja, and AUZA represents the future, then it looks like the old ways have gotten kicked to the curb. If it weren’t for a last-minute save, Higan would be dead. More on that later.

The FBI Has Turned on Us!

Meanwhile, Agent Morris pursues his own leads into AUZA City, leading him to track down Jason, a former AUZA employee turned hacker trying to blow the whistle on them. Together, the two do manage to hack into the company’s servers and starts to uncover some of what they have been doing. To be more precise, they find a list of fake IDs that they’re using to plant agents as. And one of them happens to be…Emma Samanda?

The show doesn’t give us, or Moriss and Jason, time to understand what’s going on. AUZA security arrives and attempts to kill them in an epic car chase. If that was the show’s way of distracting us, then it worked. Car chases have long been a favorite of mine in action shows. In addition, the fact that it ends with both men dragging themselves away from the wreck brings their ultimate fates into question. They’ll likely make it out fine, but how long will they be able to survive with AUZA after them.

There’s also the fact that Emma’s name is on that list. The possibility that she’s an agent of AUZA has just jumped up significantly. The fact that AUZA responded so fast to the hack also doesn’t bode well. Emma will need to have a good explanation next time she appears.

Really Looking to See What Comes Next

This episode was clearly meant to leave the audience with more questions than answers. Higan and Morris have been badly wounded and are on the run. And if things had gone a little bit differently, they would be dead at this point. Worse, Emma may no longer be trustworthy, only making things worse. The fact that the anime forgoes the normal outro in of black credits only hammers home how serious the episode is. Anime don’t skip out on the ED unless it’s serious! With the series reaching the halfway mark next episode, I’m curious to see how Higan and Morris will come back from this. Hopefully, they’ll manage to regroup and plan something, like Batman would. 

Also, this episode is out in full on YouTube. If you want to watch it without waiting for Toonami or don’t have Max, watch it there. 

I Give “Episode 5” a 5/5

A Warrior’s Life is a Lonely One

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Ninja Kamui Ep 4 Review

I can’t speak from personal experience, but it seems like working in a profession that involves violence can be hard on one’s loved ones. From those in the military to those working in law enforcement, there’s always the worry that you or your loved one might not come home one night. Some people make peace with that in their way, but others aren’t able to. And as this episode reveals, both Higan and Moriss have this in common.

Tragic Backstory Time

The episode picks up where things left off, with Higan getting a call from an unknown person. The only hints as to their identity are that they know Higan’s a ninja, and they know a poem only other ninjas know. However, that takes a backseat when it segues into some of Agent Moriss’ backstory. As it turns out, the man once had a wife and daughter, and they loved each other very much. Then Moriss started putting his job first, which meant that he was late getting the news that a sleeping driver killed his daughter. As a result, his wife couldn’t take him from being there anymore, and they presumably went their separate ways.

This moment does a lot to show why Moriss is so devoted to his job, even to his detriment. Losing his daughter, who looked up to him as her hero, took a significant toll on him, to the point where he kept a drawing she made on him at all times. He’s doing all of this to avoid his grief and to atone for his failure to be there for his family, similar to what Higan went through in the first episode. 

As the episode continues, we get another flashback, this time to the life of Higan, his future wife, Mari, and their comrade, Zai, in their lives as ninjas. Besides swearing to uphold a code of never betraying their clan or revealing the secret technique they each get, they also swore to detach themselves from everyone, even their comrades. However, Higan fell in love with Mari, and the two broke the code. It’s a nice contrast to Agent Moriss and how he chose his role as an FBI Agent at the cost of his family. When you look at it like that, he and Higan are like two sides of the same coin. Both are skilled and driven, but one chose his job over his family, while the other chose his family over his job. Yet both ended up having tragic outcomes. Maybe they were meant to become allies.

Infiltration of AUZA City

While this episode shows us more of AUZA’s inner circle (who are as eccentric as that of Shinra’s board of directors), the person who stands out the most is Zai. We get a glimpse of how cold and ruthless he is when he kills his former swordmaster, but there’s more to it. The flashback reveals they swore oaths of loyalty to each other over cups of sake. In Japanese culture, exchanging sake cups is considered a way to foster loyalty and celebrate significant milestones. So, it’s likely that when Higan and Mari left the clan, Zai took that as a personal betrayal.

Now, Higan’s actions have cost him Mari and their son. And the only way to bring down his former comrades is to get inside AUZA City.

Higan’s infiltration of AUZA City reminds me of the most challenging stealth missions in games like Assassin’s Creed, made even more complicated when he can’t kill anyone without tipping off the guards. That doesn’t matter in the end, though. Right as he’s about to get into the city, Zai’s there to stop him. And the episode ends at that.

If we want to see what happens next, we must wait a week. But when the time comes, Higan will have to run a gauntlet of foes. Even more ninja battles are coming!!

I Give “Episode 4” a 3/5

Did I say Abstergo? I Should’ve Added in Shinra!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , ,

Ninja Kamui Episode 3 Review

Ninjas, as the popular imagination came to know them, are said to have first appeared in Feudal Japan. They served as spies, saboteurs, and assassins, either for their feudal lords or as mercenaries for hire. And while it’s doubtful that any of them could walk on water or create shadow clones, plenty of fictional works depict them as capable of such. Now imagine what it would be like if modern-day ninjas existed and relied on the most advanced technology, and you have the premise of Ninja Kamui. A fusion of the ancient and modern-day, serving their lord’s interests. It just so happens that said lords are also a global megacorporation in the vein of Abstergo Industries and the Shinra Electric Power Company. 

This is the group that Higan is going up against, and they are everywhere.

A Bunch of Crazy Ninjas

The episode opens up in bloody fashion as we see Lil, a foul-mouthed ninja from Higan’s former clan, assassinating a man. Afterward, he clarifies how turned on he gets by his violence, acting like Deadpool if it wasn’t as funny or spouting out pop culture. He’s essentially the antithesis of Higan and someone who has little to no respect for what ninjas are likely supposed to be like. And if he and the man who killed Higan’s family are the norm under AUZA, it’s not hard to see why Higan and many others left. The whole group might be corrupt now.

Corrupt or not, a ninja’s still a ninja, which means they’re dangerous. That’s best shown when another ninja, Zai, takes down his former mentor, who had left like Higan. The mentor tried to slice Zai up with blades made out of air, and the man impaled him without the former realizing. That’s scary! At least they can be punched or stabbed, though. AUZA, as a corporation, can’t, and that’s what makes their influence so scary.

Abstergo Fused with Shinra

The previous episode clarified that AUZA has enough pull in the authorities to cover up their attempts to kill Higan. In this episode, Agent Moriss is frustrated when the FBI claims the attack at the restaurant was part of some gang war. The audience doesn’t buy it, and neither does Moriss. Despite the subtle warning from his former partner to let it go, Moriss’ sense of justice won’t let him. In true Jim Gordon fashion, he chooses to keep looking. And thanks to his temporary alliance with Higan and the technical know-how of Emma Samanda, he and the audience learn how much power AUZA has. 

As a side note, Samanda is starting to grow on me as a character. It helps that she’s voiced by Lucy Christian, the dub voice of Nami from One Piece and Uraraka from My Hero Academia. However, Samanda is tech-savvy enough to turn her car into a mobile computer. Her being a redhead makes her feel like an Expy of Barbara Gordon. 

AUZA City, Here We Come!

Thanks to some exposition from Samanda, the show confirms what we already knew: AUZA is the show’s equivalent to Abstergo, though their motives are more in line with Shinra from FF7. They’re motivated by greed and the desire to expand their influence, and, presumably, thanks to the ninjas, they’re on the verge of controlling the world from the shadows. To further the comparisons to Shinra, they even have their own private city, AUZA City! 

Much like Shinra, though, it seems that not everyone in AUZA is on the same page. A meeting between an AUZA higher-up and the head of the ninja clan, Yamaji, has the latter chew the former out for what happened at the restaurant. They’re working together, but Yamaji hates it as much as Higan did. 

This episode was primarily focused on exposition, but when it got to the action, it cooked. After another ninja comes after Higan, we get another epic fight complete with the same kind of rap insert song we got from episode 2. So, it’s pretty epic.

Once the fight is over, it’s clear that Higan needs to head to AUZA City. The problem is that it’s impossible, even for someone like him, to get in there without getting caught. However, he seems to get a lucky break when he gets a call from an anonymous person that knows his name. We have no idea who they might be, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Plus, I want to see what AUZA’s equivalent to Midgar looks like. 

This is getting interesting!

I Give “Episode 3” a 4/5

The Demon Slayers are About to Have a Training Arc

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , , ,

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba-To the Hashira Training Review

In 2023, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba released a new movie to drum up hype for the upcoming Swordsmith Village Arc. It wasn’t so much a new story, though, as it was a compilation. It mainly covered the end of the Entertainment District Arc, which had some award-worthy animation, before segueing into the first episode of the upcoming arc. Having missed out on that, I resolved to avoid making the same mistake this time. So I got tickets for the opening night of the following compilation film, To the Hashira Training. And, even though it meant having to rewatch the finale to the Swordsmith Village Arc, it was still worth seeing. 

The Calm Before the Storm

If you last saw it a while ago or never read my review, the first half of the compilation film is a good refresher. Tanjiro slew Hantengu of the Upper-Rank Four, and, in a tearjerker of a miracle, Nezuko gained the ability to survive in the sun. The bad news? Before he died, Hantengu told Muzan about Nezuko, making her his top priority. If he devours her, he’ll become immune to the sun, making him nigh-unstoppable. The final battle is upon them, and everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps knows it. 

The preview the film gives us of the first episode of season four starts with the Hashiras Sanemi (the scarred guy who stabbed Nezuko) and Obanai (the one with the snake) going on a mission to rescue a woman from Demons. What ends up happening is they get a glimpse of Muzan’s stronghold before getting thrown out. 

For those who hoped the season four opener would have some fantastic action, the opening is as good as it gets. The rest of the episode, as will the entire arc, is merely the calm before the storm. The remaining Hashira point this out when they convene at the Ubuyashiki Mansion, saying how Demon attacks have gone down. They know Muzan’s readying his forces to capture Nezuko, making a full-scale war inevitable. And with Rengoku dead and Tengen forced to retire, they’re short on manpower. 

To highlight the sense of urgency even further, the leader of the Demon Slayers, Kagaya, is dying. The sickness that’s rotting his flesh and rendered him blind has progressed to the point where he’s bedridden. This means it’s up to the Hashira to prepare for the final battle. And, since this is a Shonen anime, there’s only one solution: an anime training arc. 

Time to Train!

The Hashira (except for Giyu) decide they need to train not just themselves but the entire Demon Slayer Corps. So, they gathered all the lower-ranked members and organized a massive boot camp to toughen them up. The end goal is to get the lower-ranked members closer to their level, giving them a better chance of winning the war that’s to come. And while we only see the start of things, it looks like it will be brutal. 

The program has another purpose, though. With Tokito and Mitsuri getting the same marks as Tanjiro, which gives him superpowers, the other Hashira wants to do the same. It may be the deciding factor in the final battle. However, all they know is that they can only come out when under extreme conditions that could kill them, and they come in contact with someone who already has the Mark. There’s more to it, though. Manga readers will know it, but the anime doesn’t state to increase the tension. From the looks of things, though, the Mark has some serious downsides. 

The Hashira Training Arc is Coming!

Serious topics aside, the episode has plenty of funny moments to lighten the mood. The funniest, by far, revolves around Nezuko’s attempts to relearn how to talk. When Zenitsu returns and sees her walking in the sunlight, he gets lovestruck and asks her to marry him. Until that is, she calls him Inosuke. The latter insisted Nezuko get to know her name, much to Zenitsu’s annoyance. And my amusement.

The episode/film ends with Tanjiro preparing to join the training. More importantly, though, Ms. Tamayo, who’s been working on a cure for Demons, gets summoned by Kagaya to collaborate with one of the Hashira—progress at last.

How long will the anime’s fourth season be last? It may only cover the Hashira Training Arc, making it shorter than previous seasons. And, as much as I want to get to the final battle, splitting it up would make the pacing easier. Either way, I’m going to enjoy this.

I Give “To the Hashira Training” a 4/5