Ninja Kamui

Episode 5

After spending the last couple of weeks cooling things down, this episode finally ramps things back up. It offers the most amount of action and spectacle we've gotten since the premiere. Where we last left things off, Higan's attempt to break into Auza City was interrupted by Zai, and while I was expecting that to result in a fight, Zai just tells him that a traitor like him will never have his way and walks off. That feels like a massive tease. Thankfully this isn't too much of a setback for Higan or the audience getting some obligatory ninja theatrics as Lil and the rest of the Auza Ninja Squad propose letting Higan stroll right into the city so they can fight him on their terms. Despite a warning from his mysterious benefactor that this is a trap, Higan is so juiced up on revenge that he rushes in and starts carving up ninja mooks left and right, while music that sounds like it was ripped straight out of an AMV from 2005 plays in the background. In other words, this is the exact aesthetic I'm here for, and it's the most fun I've had with the show in the last few episodes.

Unfortunately though, as cool as all that action is, I have to dock some points for taste, because when our main ninja baddies swoop in to gang up on Higan, they come out in some tokusatsu-esque cyber armor, and while I'd normally be here for that, the design of said armor looks silly more than anything else (though I do like that Big D's accounts for his hair, and I respect the commitment) and redundant given that it ends up making them look less distinct overall. I was also surprised their group attack on Higan not only works but has him practically on death's door until Aska suddenly betrays them and rescues Higan for currently unknown reasons (we'll get back to this in a moment). Given the show's overall vibe, I was expecting Higan to be portrayed as an unstoppable force of vengeance but I was also looking forward to him picking off these guys one at a time throughout a few episodes rather than all at once. It's probably for the best that Higan lost here even if it is a letdown.

While all that's going down, Mike follows up on Emma's lead from the last episode and tracks down a former Auza researcher who knows how to get into their systems. This leads to the discovery that Auza has hired a few corporate spies with Emma's name being among them, but as they find this out, they get attacked by the FBI and give us a pretty decent car chase. Given how convenient the timing is there, the obvious assumption is that Emma has been working for Auza as their spy all along, but that would be a bit too easy and would also be strange considering she actively warned Mike that his movements were being tracked. My theory is that Emma is actually Aska, and has been secretly helping Higan take down Auza for her reasons. It would be more fun and somewhat less predictable than Aska turning out to be Mari in disguise for whatever reason, so hopefully I end up hitting the mark there. I think this was an improvement over the last couple of episodes, and while I wouldn't call it a full return to form, I'm at least curious to see where it's going next.

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

Ninja Kamui airs on Adult Swim and streams on Max.