REVIEW: ‘Shinobi no Ittoki,’ Episode 4 – “Crafters and Users”

Shinobi no Ittoki is an action anime produced by Troyca. Having failed his first test, Ittoki is looking to regain some lost ground as the school’s next challenge comes up. But with his woefully inadequate knowledge, can he hope to overcome the challenges before him in Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4?

From the moment he discovered he was the heir to a secret ninja clan, Ittoki has been in over his head. With him still struggling to catch up with students that have been training to be ninjas since they were born, it’s no surprise that he is far behind his classmates. This obviousness makes Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4‘s most recurring moment extremely annoying. Everyone is constantly calling him stupid.

If it was just the Koga clan bullies, sure I get it. Making fun of things is what bullies do. But even Ittoki’s newfound friends seem incapable of letting a single moment of his reasonable lack of knowledge slide by without taking a dig at the poor kid. Even Kousetsu, whose adherence to her honor code requires her to follow Ittoki into the darkest of perils doesn’t keep her from badgering him about not having information she has been an active part of shielding him from until just recently. It’s nothing but annoying to see Ittoki brow-beaten like this by everyone, and no one is willing to acknowledge the obvious flaw in their harassment.

Despite this constant pestering, Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4 manages to pull together a solid overall story. The newest challenge set before the students is to acquire the answers to an upcoming test. The group pools its skills to come up with a plan to win the day. Unbeknownst to them, some of the Koga Clan students have plans to hamper their attempts.

The episode’s misadventure is an entertaining time full of slip-ups and quick thinking as the team tries to salvage the day from total failure. It lets some of the last episode’s newly introduced classmates shine while giving Ittoki some valuable learning experience.

Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4 also has a side story revolving around Ittoki’s uncle, Tokisada. He begins to investigate Koga and what they may be up to, even while others attempt to keep an eye on him. This side story does a good job of building up the larger conflict between the Iga and Koga clans, as well as providing some grounding for the farce-heavy main narrative.

The animation does a solid job of bringing the comical misadventure of Ittoki and his classmates to life. Bouncing between awkward slip-ups and slick ninja moves, the animation manages to balance both elements with each other well. In the backup story, the animation reinforces how formidable the story wants the viewer to see Tokisada as.

When all is said and done, Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4 crafts what could’ve been a perfectly solid story and hamstrings it by constantly crappy on its protagonist in a way that comes across as completely unreasonable and obnoxious.

Shinobi no Ittoki Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.