Need_for_Steed

Under Ninja is an anime watcher's anime. If you have a lot of exposure to anime and have gotten tired of seeing the same tropes and narratives over and over, this is your anime. It's truly unlikely anything else, and it scratches that novelty-seeking itch. Something you'll notice about users who give this a low score is that they are newer accounts, and probably joined MAL during COVID. These newcomers have little exposure to anime, which is practically a prerequisite to be able to appreciate Under Ninja's subversion to anything and everything previously established within the world of anime and manga. Newcomers can't know what's being subvertedif they don't know what's being subverted. Under Ninja's boldness in its originality and well-executed absurdism is a monumental achievement that kept me simultaneously impressed and laughing. It's my personal favorite anime of Fall 2023.

Gsarthotegga

Under Ninja is a weird series within a gritty urban ninja fiction niche that combines semi-realistic character dynamics and setting with absurdist humor and action sequences, bolstered by familiar ninjitsu tricks and advanced technology, like invisibility suits, high-tech shurikens, drones, satellite beam weapons, etc. UN creates its offbeat world with non-linear storytelling, a Samurai Champloo hip-hopish aesthetic, and a conspiratorial hidden society of feuding ninja factions in modern-day Japan that are everywhere and yet nowhere. The series does a superb job of building up the mystique of the ninja organization's limitless potential domestically and internationally. There was a book about the labyrinthine Japanese underground tunnel systemsand why the government built them, and that is alluded to here, along with speculation about the bubble economy burst, hidden snuff films on public TV, and numerous other subplots that piggyback off of real-life conspiracies. Incorporated are also light amounts of social commentary, mostly about bullying and cyclical violence, which ties in nicely with the ninja selection process. The series is also more political than is average for an anime in a real-world geopolitical way, as the ninja organization was fractured by Japan's loss during WWII, with one side refusing peace as a result, manipulating Japan and the world from within the shadows. A lot is going on, as you see things from the eyes of the organization from various ranks, as well as foreigners, high school students, and drunks lounging around the apartment building. More than anything else, it's probably the bizarre humor and heavy doses of vulgarity and crudeness which seal the deal and make the series standout: A Russian wannabe-ninja lopping off wieners because of a presumed hidden message in street graffiti, a guy farting through a tube to launch a dart, plenty of comic relief centered around men stealing bras and putting them on like it's some mystical object, a talking cat riding a motorcycle, etc. Until we got to the school arc, the author wanted to emphasize unappealing facial features, moles, missing teeth, pimples, etc., which is probably not helped by this adaptation being subpar and having mediocre animation and largely hideous art. Yet even the least sordid environment, the school, has the prettiest girl in the class picking her nose in public. The title "Under Ninja" simultaneously alludes to an underground ninja organization and acknowledges the scuzzy, low-brow atmosphere the series goes for. Then there are the scenes where the fat crosseyed ninja in a filthy wifebeater trots onto a schoolyard, manboobs flopping in the breeze, and offers to pump his breast milk with a hand pump to children, petitioning them to lap it up straight from the source. Creepy and off-putting content like this is the kind of thing you might see on a trashy comedy show at 2 AM during a bout of insomnia, leaving you wondering if you just had a nightmare the next day. No one else around you can confirm or deny what you saw and will think you're a tin-foil-hat schizo for mentioning it. That's my impression of such a revolting scene, but it exists in UN. An unexpected "twist" involving this character decreases the grossness, but the mere presence is among the best examples of the author's bizarre humor. The characters are quirkier than usual, and it's an improvement over watching the same colorless archetypes so common to anime. You have one ninja who is a ventriloquist using a teddy bear, but his lines, acting, and the contrast between his normal voice and the "bear's" are hilarious. The MC is one of the better examples I can think of when it comes to deadpan liars and bullshitters. Suzuki has an old man complex; her sadistic glee as an editor is also priceless. The talking cat is a regular support character and a sassy, chatty motorcycle! While these are some of the most notable characters, even the most minor or "normal" characters are intriguing due to the character dynamics and non-linear presentation. UN seems charmless and crass at first, and it often is the latter, but if you can get past the initial disgust, there's a unique grimy charm. Some of the banter has an SoL feel, and the non-linear plot adds to that because the importance or meaning of many scenes seems uncertain until we connect them with later events. The stitch job keeps things interesting, but a few parts can be confusing, and it took me a while to figure out who is who with a couple of characters. Paying close attention helps, as I've occasionally heard that the anime adaptation takes the non-linear nature of the manga and chops it up even more than the Russian ninja-wannabe chops up wieners.