Ninja House is a new eight-episode Netflix series developed, directed and written by Dave Boyle and based on a story by Yoshiaki Murao, Takafumi Imai and Kento Kaku, who also stars. Kaku is Haru, the most reluctant member of the Tawara family. He does not wish to succeed his father as head of a sake brewery, especially since the Tawara family’s traditional business is actually brewing. ninja, or ninja, who have served for generations as Japan’s secret protectors. With the emergence of a new threat, Haru, his sister, his mother, and her father must confront their true legacy while continuing to process a profound family tragedy. Yosuke Eguchi, Tae Kimura, Kengo Kora, Aju Makita and Riho Yoshioka co-star alongside Kaku.
NINJ HOUSE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: In the shadows, on the deck of a huge freighter, masked figures dressed in black face each other with short, single-edged swords. As their silver swords clash in the darkness, someone falls from the deck into Tokyo Bay. “Gaku!â€
The essence: With the Tokyo gubernatorial election on the horizon, we learn that one of the candidates was kidnapped by unknown parties, only to re-emerge unharmed just hours later. And when we meet Haru Tawara (Kaku) on his third shift at work refilling the city’s vending machines, it quickly becomes apparent that he’s hiding his true abilities. How obvious? From a distance, he accurately throws soda cans like darts at the machines. Haru, like his father Souichi (Eguchi), mother Yoko (Kimura) and sister Nagi (Aju Makita), is actually a highly trained ninja, capable of silent stealth and deadly swordplay. the historical story. ninja Traditions of the Tawara clan.
For now, anyway, those traditions are on the shelf. The sword battle that opened. Ninja House He may have rescued a politician, but it resulted in the loss of Gaku (Kora), Tawara’s firstborn son and Haru and Nagi’s hero. Souichi has turned his back on the old ways and is determined to live like normal citizens, especially when it comes to raising eight-year-old Riku (Tenta Banka), who is unaware of his family’s secret. But Souichi’s brewery is failing, the family compound is in ruins, and Yoko steals trinkets using ninja sleights of hand just to feel alive. Not only that, but Nagi has become an art thief, basking in the distant glory of bewildered police officers and reporters. Additionally, both Nagi and Haru have potential for a new romance in their lives. But the laws of ninja Prohibit any external contact that could endanger the clan.
Hamashima (Tomorowo Taguchi) works on cultural affairs for the government, but also wants to take advantage of the Tawara to quell a new threat that arises. There are rumors of new poisons at crime scenes and growing cult behavior, and journalist Karen Ito (Yoshioka), whom Haru loves, is getting closer to the truth about ninjas working in the shadows. It seems clear that the Tawara clan will once again be called into action, whether Souichi likes it or not. But while their fighting skills are formidable, the family may not be prepared for how close the new danger comes.
What shows will it remind you of? Everyone in the Tawara clan already knows that they are ninjas. (Well, everyone except little Riku, but it looks like even that will change.) Ninja House takes place in Tokyo, Japan, instead of bouncing between Taipei, Taiwan and Los Angeles, California. But a similar sense of duty to both family and tradition guides The sun brothersthe recent Netflix action comedy starring Michelle Yeoh.
Our opinion: As Ninja House gets going, the music cues are a little iffy, and the fight scenes are dimly lit. (In those sequences, everyone is also dressed in head-to-toe black and the traditional ninja hood, making it even more difficult to follow who is doing what and to whom.) Some of the specific ninja actions we see are tantalizing, like Haru’s trick with the cans, Yoko’s ability to jump onto the family’s roof effortlessly, or Nagi using a piece of black silk to descend undetected from the roofs. ceilings of art museums. But we hope that Haru and Souichi quickly overcome their reluctance to engage in ninja activities, because more fight scenes and more clearly defined action would be a blessing for the series. After all, it is called Ninja HouseNo House of those who used to be ninjas.
There are signs that this will happen. The first episode also includes a tense knife fight in a crowded nightclub that forces its participants to remain unnoticed even as they stab each other. And what we learn about the emerging fanatical threat against Japan is full of intriguing bits that connect to both. ninja traditions and the Tawara family itself, with the potential to really break the calm that Souichi is trying to maintain. It’s enough to keep us interested. We just need more and fast.
Sex and skin: None.
Parting Shot: They both wear masks and for very different reasons. But when Haru and Karen’s eyes meet with sudden, unexpected recognition, Ninja House makes up for the brief flashes of chemistry between Kento Kaku and Riho Yoshioka we witnessed earlier.
Sleeping star: Nobuko Miyamoto doesn’t even have a spoken line in the premiere episode of Ninja House. But Miyamoto’s charming matriarchal presence in the Tawara family compound offers clues as to how pivotal his grandmother’s character will be in the series’ new missions. ninja deploy.
Most pilot line: On the Tokyo subway, a seemingly random act of kindness turns out to have potentially major consequences. —Raisins. That goodness will lead to the success of our eclipse. It’s almost time. Wait for instructions…â€
Our call: TRANSMIT IT. Ninja House wraps its family dynamic in the functional fighting attire of its titular warriors. We want to see more members of the Tawara family fighting together against their mysterious new adversaries, and the threads it weaves into the history of the ninja clan are another intriguing element.
Johnny Loftus (@glennganges) is a freelance writer and editor living in Chicago. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift.