Ninja Kamui Anime Deemed A Success By Toonami Co-Founder Despite Criticism From Fans
In fact, the project was so successful that Jason hints at the prospects of Season 2 actually happening sometime in the future.
Ninja Kamui is one of those modern shonen anime that quickly gained a lot of traction amongst the western community, especially when its quality was comparable to shows like Jujutsu Kaisen. And that comparison is a fair one, considering the director of Ninja Kamui is a former Jujutsu Kaisen director, Sunghoo Park.
The initial episodes garnered so much praise from fans that some wondered whether the anime-original series could be considered an underrated classic. The potential was at its peak and before it could gain that status, the show’s quality in terms of animation and storytelling dropped significantly towards the end, especially when it derailed fully into mecha.
Viewers are left with something that is almost a separate genre, not to mention lesser quality, for multiple episodes. Even worse, the show returns to its poorly-animated CGI in the last two episodes after giving the sense that it will heal in Episode 11. We can’t stress this enough: CGI is NOT the problem; what is wrong with the show is the way it was executed, which contradicts its marketing.
Like, imagine a show with JJK level quality animation but it ended up being Ex-Arm level towards the end! That’s how frustrated the fans were, hence the low 7.16 rating on MAL!
From Jujutsu Kaisen level action to Ex-Arm level animation quality.
Ninja Kamui's downfall needs to be studied#NinjaKamui pic.twitter.com/ZNA346wmc8
— Anime Explained (@AnimeExplained_) May 9, 2024
But despite all of this, Jason DeMarco, the co-creator of Toonami, recently stated in a Q&A thread on Twitter that Toonami, Cartoon Network, and Max were thrilled with Ninja Kamui’s performance in the TRP department, along with the networks’ higher-ups.
In fact, the project was so successful that Jason hints at the prospects of Season 2 actually happening sometime in the future.
(Note: Jason is NUNEKIN KAMUI DEMARCO in the Tweets mentioned below.)
Concept art can and will be shared at some point but that’s up to Park, S2 is not officially renewed but the Network and Max are thrilled w/S1
— NUNEKIN KAMUI DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) May 6, 2024
Toonami is doing well and both the network and our bosses are happy with our ratings and the performance of our original series!
— NUNEKIN KAMUI DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) May 6, 2024
Although Ninja Kamui has been praised by studios and fans alike, previous anime originals, such as Housing Complex C have received a mixed reception. The subsequent installments of FLCL have caused a rift among anime enthusiasts due to their inability to replicate the enchantment of the original six-episode series released in 2000.
Ninja Kamui was also different in the sense that it was made by a successful director. According to DeMarco, Park was asked if he was interested in doing a throwback ninja anime. He said, “Hell yeah!”, but only if they gave him total freedom in story and animation-style.
And it worked… to a certain extent. Nevertheless, fans still expect Sunghoo Park to do a better job for Season 2, if it is confirmed.
About Ninja Kamui:
Ninja Kamui is an original anime series produced by E&H Production and Sola Entertainment, with executive production by Williams Street. The series aired from February 11, 2024 – May 5, 2024 for 13 episodes in the United States on Adult Swim’s Toonami programming block and in Canada on Adult Swim Canada.
The series was directed by the famous Sunghoo Park, who was a former MAPPA director of Jujutsu Kaisen and also features character designs by Afro Samurai’s Takashi Okazaki.
Adult Swim describes the overall plot of Ninja Kamui as follows:
Ninja Kamui follows Joe Higan who is a Nukenin – a former ninja who escaped his clan and is hiding from his violent past in rural America with his family. One night, he is ambushed by a team of assassins from his former organization who exact a bloody retribution on Joe and his family for betraying their ancient code. Rising from his seeming “death,” Joe will re-emerge as his former self – Ninja Kamui – to avenge his family and friends. Kamui is a 21st century ninja, a shadowy anachronism who pits his ancient skills against high-tech weaponry with brutal finesse. He must face off against trained assassins, combat cyborgs, and rival ninjas to bring down the very clan that made him.
Source: Jason DeMarco’s Official Twitter, via CBR
