Shinobi no Ittoki
Shinobi no Ittoki is an original Japanese anime television series produced by DMM Pictures and TMS Entertainment and animated by Troyca. It aired from October to December 2022.
Plot
In modern-day Japan, after an attempt is made to kill him, Ittoki Sakuraba learns that he is a direct descendant of and rightful heir to the Iga Ninja clan. His mother sends him to Ninjutsu Gakuen, the only national ninja school in Japan, to study and train as a ninja while investigations are being made to discover who is trying to kill him and why. At the school, Ittoki becomes involved with his new classmates, which include some beautiful yet deadly young ninja girls, but danger is always present, especially when there is a suspected traitor inside the school.
Cast
;Ittoki Sakuraba
;Tokisada Kaga
;Kōsetsu
;Yumika Sakuraba
;Kirei Kisegawa
;Ryoko Suzunone
;Satomi Tsubaki
;Suzaku Ban
;Himura Takane
;Kōzō Moriyama
;Reiha Tsuge
;Hoō Ban
;Enbi Takane
;Kidō Minobe
;Shione Kōzuki
;Hayato Goshogawara
;Genji Karajishi
;Jūzen Jiraibō
;Kominami Mitsuhashi
;Gantetsu Suzunone
;Kisuke Ninokuru
;Kurōdo Dazai
;Yachiyo Mochizuki
;Amadeus Yoshinaka Nishina
;Enya
;Iboro
;Mandara Samuragōchi
;Benkei-Musō
;Samon
Production and release
Planned and produced by TMS Entertainment alongside DMM Pictures, and animated by Troyca, the series is directed by Shū Watanabe, with Minato Takano in charge of series' scripts, Isamu Suzuki designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and TOMISIRO composing the music. it aired from October 4 to December 20, 2022, on Tokyo MX and AT-X. The opening theme song is "Hikari", performed by Humbreaders, while the ending theme song is "Oboetate", performed by Hockrockb. Crunchyroll streamed the series, and premiered an English dub which started on October 18, 2022.
Reception
The anime series' first episode garnered generally mixed reviews from Anime News Network's staff during the Fall 2022 season previews. Richard Eisenbeis was critical of the "bog-standard" premiere with its "paint-by-numbers" setup but praised its "spectacular" animation for having "fluid and well-choreographed" action. James Beckett was commendable towards the "incidental details" the production makes with tiny character animations and the pacing for showing Ittoki's normal life before the "ninja action" disrupts it, but felt the series overall will be "less than the sum of its parts", saying it will "devolve into completely forgettable pablum." Caitlin Moore criticized the episode's "tedious pace" of going through "boring details and half-hearted foreshadowing" in its exposition and premise, and found Ittoki to be an "unengaging protagonist" with his "charisma-free everyman nature". Rebecca Silverman was impressed by Ittoki's gymnastic skills but felt irritated by his overly talkative nature and less than smart mindset with the various ninja situations he encounters, concluding that: "All of this very well may come together to form a good fish-out-of-water action comedy, but I can't really say that the episode has left me all that intrigued." Nicholas Dupree was also put off by Ittoki's "insufferable" yelling and lack of personality, and despite praising the solid production and ninja action, he felt the overall execution came across as "bland and dull", critiquing that: "In a much weaker season, this might be worth sticking it out for a cool fight or two, but there's way better uses of your time right now." Fellow ANN editor Grant Jones reviewed the complete anime series, saying: "It is a simply okay series with a few moments of note, but is rather forgettable. There was potential here and it's not entirely wasted, but I can't say I will think about it after the season wraps."