Ninin ga Shinobuden

Upon seeing the cover for this series, you may think to yourself: This anime seems like a wacky take on the whole ninja plot. Honestly.....you wouldn't be far off.
Its not perfect, but does have a lot to offer in its short 12 episode run, which come in the form of two 15 minute shorts. This series banks on nothing more than laugh value, and honestly, it doesn't disappoint.

Story: 7/10
While this series is by no means going anywhere with its story, the comedy bits seem to arrive in the right place at the right time, enough to keep you entertained, yet not too frequent to where ... the story relies solely on it alone. All the episode plots conclude at the end, whether it be spring cleaning at the dojo, to watching the gang going mushroom picking. So yeah, you kinda have to take it episode by episode. Sadly none of them will end on any sort of cliffhanger, which doesn't make it the most exciting series out there. To its credit it does do different thing for most of the series, even if some start to feel recycled towards the end.
It should be noted that this series contains a bit of Yuri references, viewers might also find it offensive that the male characters tend to treat the females merely as objects. And I must stress that this "male oriented series" is made only for the laughs, and not the story. So if that isn't your bag, then you probably won't dig this anime.


Artwork: 8/10
The animation is sharp and clear, with bright colorful effects. It truly is nice to look at in the eye candy department. Though I found the backgrounds to be a bit on the bland side (this could be because the animators want you to pay more attention to the characters themselves, and not on the backgrounds), and some of the character's attire come off as more plain than anything else. Certainly not the most well detailed series, but it does have a distinct character design and is bright and colorful!

Sound: 9/10
The opening and closing theme are as you would expect, a party style j-pop song with the cast members doing random activities, high up on the laugh meter. The background beat as well, they have this certain style of circus beat that works good for the theme in the background! My only complaint was the lack in variety with it, that one BG track I mentioned is really the only good track you'll hear, as most others are generic style samurai beats. Overall the music it does have are all catchy and memorable for the most part, and should please the ears.

Characters: 8/10
Each member of this series is well animated and has his/her own different personalities, none of which you will find annoying. Its pretty funny to see Sasuke (head ninja) switch to different ninjas on the fly, whether this was done intentionally is left up for debated. Although there is a good number of cast members, overall you will only get to really know the 5 main characters which you see on the above cover, so its not the most varied cast line up you would otherwise see. Which will be a turn off for some.

Bottom Line: 8/10
If you love comedy with fan service in your anime, then this title was made for you! If you don't, then you will most likely find Ninja Nonsense pointless, as its heart is not with any kind of involving story or deep character development, but simply with its laugh value. For my tastes, this is one of the best comedy anime to come around in a while, what it lacks in substance and story, it makes up for with pure humor!

Ninin ga Shinobuden is a show that is really random, features out of the box scenarios, and overall, an alright set of characters for a comedic anime, but it just doesn't work. Sure, it's random, just not funny. Bobobobo was random, and also actually funny. Ninin ga Shunobuden certainly has some random scenarios, but they don't chain naturally into another joke or scenario that's hilarious like what Bobobo has perfected.

Plus, while this show isn't exactly stale or reuses gags too often, half of the show is ecchi humor which isn't really funny, and the other half is just slapstick which also just gets ... old. Again, onsakumaru feels like don-patch from Bobobo sometimes when the gag comes together, but usually, it just feels you're watching something random for the sake of being random. Either that, or it's just poking fun or making use of Onsakumaru's raunchy personality as a setup for another predictable joke

Sasuke, the supporting ninja(s) are fine, so is Shinobu and Kaede as a duo. They're nothing special, but they fulfill their roles, one as a airheaded boke, the other one as a functional Tsukommi to all the random shenanigans and crap that's going on.

It's just that clearly, Onsakumaru is basically the defining character of the show when it comes to comedic setup and introducing chaos into the show, and he just can't carry the show.

Of course, again, a lot of the scenarios and gags were destined to fail, a lot of them being plain unfunny, or again, random for the sake of being random.

The show starts off introducing us to two of the main characters, Kaede and Shinobu. Both quickly won me over as cute and likeable characters, and thus began the fun ride, or so I thought.

The moment Onsokumaru appears, he immediately came across as an annoying character, the kind who might be okay to a point for comic relief and to provide some antics for the more likeable characters to play off of. Unfortunately it wasn't just a little; he was in nearly every scene, and possibly got more total screen time than either of the above mentioned girls. That such an annoying character was a ... non-stop presence pretty much ruined this anime series for me.

Kaede, Shinobu, and the third main girl Miyabi could have made for a cute, funny and entertaining show, with the support of other characters such as Kaede's mom and dad, rival clan leader Izumi, and others. I could have given the show a 6 or 7 rating if only Onsokumaru had been relegated to a less frequent supporting character, or even left out entirely. That the girls were so likeable is why I didn't give it an even lower rating.