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"Sakuraba Ittoki was an ordinary student, until his life was turned upside down! He finds out that he is the 19th heir of the famous Iga Ninjas. The Iga must try to defend what is theirs from the Koga, a rivaling clan seeking to end Ittoki's life. Ittoki is left with no choice but to become a shinobi that's strong enough to not only protect himself, but also his village. Now a student at Kokuten Ninja Academy, a high school specializing in shinobi techniques, Ittoki learns the way of the modern-day ninja, equipped with high-tech suits and gadgets. Together with students from other villages, Ittoki clashes with the Koga in an attempt to end the rivalry once and for all.

Source: Crunchyroll"

Genre(s): Action, Drama, Shounen?

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1-3

Well, I somehow tricked myself into watching another 'ninja school' show after all these years... and you know what? It's pretty darn okay!

Ittoki is a likeable kid with a (seemingly) normal family dynamic that is fun to watch until the rug is pulled out from under him. I thought he would be 'in' on the secret until the reveal in episode 1, so it came to me about as much a shock as it did to him that he is a big-wig. The setup with the family withholding the information and secretly protecting him is a bigger stretch than a Naruto filler arc, but they wisely avoid overexplaining how ninjas have integrated into society, or what their purposes are. Focusing on the organizational units themselves helps to paint the conflict and direct attention to where it matters: ninja school. Even there, social cliques are as abrasively Japanese as they have ever been in anime.

The animation is average, maybe a little cheap looking, but what is really unfortunate is that the character designs are just... plain. Like, really plain. Ninja's aren't supposed to be flashy, but this is too subdued. Don't get me wrong, they are somewhat attractive and on-model, but the actual body and facial design seems really mix-and-match- it could be a dozen other shows about high school and you'd never know.

Another complaint, especially as of the third episode, is that while Ittoki is ignorant of ninja knowledge, even Kousetsu, who should know better, is disparaging him as if he should know what ninja suits are. Strange. The Koga/Iga tension being the result of an assassination was needed to bring the hostility beyond the realm of your average bullying, so that was welcome, and the tension there is ripe for the narrative use.

It won't rock your world, but I'm liking what I see so far, and the shounen 'fish-out-of-water-gotta-learn-on-the-fly' tropes haven't gotten old yet.