House of Ninjas

What if Ninja’s still existed in modern day Japan?

House of Ninjas brings us into that very world, where a family of former Shinobis are forced to raise their katanas once again, as Japan faces a threat from a new religious group, the Gentenkai - who are dead set on ushering Japan into an age of global supremacy.

This was tailor made for me!

It had shades of the comedic family dynamics in Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004), the storylines were reminiscent of pre-Ninja war Naruto (1999), and it’s everything I wish Spy x Family (2019) was, and then some.

What I enjoyed the most was how the story steadily progressed from this action infused, family-comedy to a mature (yet still family centric) story about rival ninja clans who find themselves reigniting a century long battle in modern day Japan.

The humanizing element of not following your heart, and that ache of the continuous decisions away from it catching up with you, is the real crux of this story.

It’s the side of Shinobi’s that are at odds with the rules they must abide by, and how that conflicts with what they personally stand for.

The push/pull dynamic between the regrets of the families past, and the decisions that could lead them down that same path in the present, is captured through some excellent camerawork that showcases the lingering of the light and dark within the shadows in the world of a Shinobi.

At times I worried that with the amount of story they were telling things would go off the rails but House of Ninjas continuously found a way to ground itself in real world dynamics, never allowing itself to drift into an unimaginable territory of absurd action.

I say that because this has all the feels of an Anime, while removing all the cursed qualities of a live-action adaption.

A lot of the parts of Anime that turn casual audiences off are instead replaced by this carefully crafted history and mythology that rewards viewers with a world you’re going to want to jump right back into as soon as the episode ends.

This is due in most part to the fantastic writing by creator Dave Boyle, who had a clear and fully realized vision that he was able to perfectly capture and bring to life.

Netflix has an undeniable hit on their hands with House of Ninjas, that will leave audiences begging for a second season, while adding to a growing catalogue of television series that are ushering in a golden age of Japanese based stories on the small screen.

Enjoy!

8.1/10 🍿 🎥

Runtime: 50mins

Episodes: 8

Where: Now Streaming on Netflix.

House of Ninjas Review (2024) The Richmond Reviewer - February 19th, 2024.

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