Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    EA Sports Madden NFL 26 Head Coach But Why Tho 5

    Dear EA Sports, Why Can’t I Make A Hot Coach?

    08/14/2025
    Blade in Marvel Rivals Season 3.5

    Blade Can Shut Down The Other Team In Marvel Rivals Season 3.5 If You Know How

    08/08/2025
    John Cena and Cody Rhodes during Summerslam 2025

    The SummerSlam 2025 Main Event Was A Fever Dream We All Needed

    08/08/2025
    Street Fighter 6 Sagat

    Sagat Brings Depth And Approachability To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    08/07/2025
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

    Battlefield 6 Really Wants You To Play Support (But Knows You Won’t)

    07/31/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Anime » REVIEW: ‘Ninja Kamui’ Episode 1

REVIEW: ‘Ninja Kamui’ Episode 1

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson02/11/20245 Mins ReadUpdated:03/15/2024
Ninja Kamui Episode 1
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

There’s a tireless, bruising quality to Ninja Kamui Episode 1. Beginning in an extended sequence of brutality, the series declares its tone with vicious immediacy. A man, unbeknownst to us, is ruthlessly tracked down and executed. He fights back, but it’s for naught, as a deluge of militant ninjas descend on him, stabbing and piercing flesh until he’s immobile. This nameless man means little to the overall plot of the series, but the sequence makes clear just what type of show it will be. Bloody, grim, and directed with the kinetic, adrenaline-fueled pacing fans have come to expect from Sunghoo Park (Jujutsu Kaisen 0, The God of High School).

The series follows a former ninja, Joe Higan, who has escaped his clan and is hiding from his violent past. In Ninja Kamui Episode 1, we meet the disguised version of this character, Joe Logan. He’s a father, married, and exceedingly happy living in solitude on their farm together. On the surface, it’s a perfect life, with an ideal marriage and family. Snippets of moments unveil certain truths of their lives — such as when he must wipe down a handle to a store they just exited.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Similarly, conversations between him and his wife are constantly foreboding as they read or hear about the constant murders taking place in the city. Higan’s wife is concerned, while he says that they’re perfectly safe. Considering the heavy atmosphere of the premiere, it’s easy to deduce who among the two is on the right track.

Most of the premiere episode is indebted to making us care about this small family only so that it stings more by the time it ends. They hold evident, abundant affection for one another. They’re a real family who’ve had to hide who they truly are from any onlookers. While most of the family moments work, the sequence in which Joe/Higan picks up a guitar to serenade his family around the campfire with the series OP just about drags us back out of it. It’s too much, too silly, and fails to work within the darker context of the rest of the series.

However, there’s an argument to be made that it, too, is part of its charm. Drawing from a wealth of classic anime, Nina Kamui captures a particular old-school essence to its straightforward, revenge-inspired plotting and bombastic score. But while that atmosphere is telegraphed, it’s not the strongest element of the series, even if it adds to the color of the premiere.

Ninja Kamui Episode 1

The narrative leans too heavily on montage moments, both pre-disaster and after. The showdown between Joe and the assailing ninjas pulsates with overwhelming dread, even if we know what will happen. It’s a frenzied mess of a fight in terms of excessive bloodshed and the brutal beat-down Joe faces. He races to his son and wife, only to arrive too late, on the cusp of death himself. It’s a shame his wife, Mari, didn’t get a highlight moment of battle, too, even if it was her destiny to die. By giving her a moment of action, the series might’ve avoided the standard man getting revenge for a dead wife trope.

It’s all part of the dramatics that the premiere builds on. It is big, broad, and a little dated, but quickly looked over because it all looks so good. The premiere ends with Joe (now Higan) pouring gasoline over his old life. His true face revealed, he rides away to seek revenge. It’s all a little heavy-handed. This is especially true with the inclusion of the detectives looking to get in on the mystery of how Joe managed to survive, having been in the morgue and pronounced dead for 24 hours by the time he awoke. But the work of Sunghoo Park and character designer Takashi Okazaki helps it all flow.

The biggest draw is the superb action sequences. They have a bursting energy quality as we follow fighters from their perspectives. Each action set piece brings with it a new, ferocious energy. From the opening kinetic sequence with its balletic flow to the bruising showdown as Joe tries to protect his family. The opening, in particular, captures Sunghoo Park’s ability to capture fluid mastery of motion. In this beautifully directed sequence, the action moves from the ground up as the victim moves against the tide of assailants. As he fights and falls to more piercing blows, the camera moves up, capturing the strain of his fight until taking a bird’s eye view of the outcome. It’s a clever way to capture the flow of the action without any obvious intricate cuts and edits. Instead, we’re fully immersed from the start of the fight until its end.

It’s the same between Higan against the ninjas both at his farm home and later atop the hospital’s roof. Blades get the highlight in the series, but the direction ensures that certain attack styles are not overused. So far, no fight is redundant to the last. Instead, fights are broken up as combatants use whatever is on hand to survive. There’s visceral impact to some of Higan’s attacks, especially when they seem to cause him physical pain. By the time he dons his mask, we’ve already witnessed his monstrous capabilities.

Ninja Kamui Episode 1 is a promising premiere for director Sungwoo Park, whose skills are formidable. But while the action itself stuns, the story itself is lacking—the writing remedies this by how the premiere is a clear place setting. The episode readies viewers for what’s to come now that Higan’s tragic story is put into motion. Gripping if a little messy, Episode 1 bruises in action even if it doesn’t land as significant an emotional blow.

Ninja Kamui Episode 1 is out now on MAX (formerly HBO MAX).

Ninja Kamui Episode 1
  • 7/10
    Rating - 7/10
7/10

TL;DR

Ninja Kamui Episode 1 is a promising premiere for director Sungwoo Park, whose skills are formidable. But while the action itself stuns, the story itself leaves something to be desired.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Episode 5 — “Part 5”
Next Article REVIEW: ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Episode 18 — “Lakan”
Allyson Johnson

Allyson Johnson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.

Related Posts

My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 7 Marin
7.5

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 7 — “Capture Those Delicious Moments”

08/16/2025
DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 7
8.0

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 7 – “Feeling Kinda Gloomy”

08/15/2025
Slur / X in Sakamoto Days Episode 16
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Sakamoto Days’ Episode 16 – “Slice Slice Dance”

08/12/2025
Still from See You Tomorrow At The Food Court
8.0

REVIEW: ‘See You Tomorrow At The Food Court’ Is A Delightful Slice-Of-Life

08/11/2025
Gojo's Nerves in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 6
10.0

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 6 — “I’ll Make It Happen. No Matter What, With These Two Hands”

08/10/2025
DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 6
8.5

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 6 – “We Became A Family”

08/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Still from Shin Godzilla
8.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘Shin Godzilla’ Is More Relevant Than Ever

By Sarah Musnicky08/16/2025Updated:08/17/2025

It is understandable how Shin Godzilla succeeded at the box office nearly a decade ago. The strength of its story still stands today.

Botanical Bliss Update Palia But Why Tho 5 News

Palia’s New Botanical Bliss Update Brings New Flora, Decorations, And Quest Mechanic

By Matt Donahue08/18/2025Updated:08/18/2025

The Botanical Bliss update adds new event, more plushes, and a host of quality-of-life improvements and more to celebrate 2 years of Palia.

BOOTS Netflix First Look promotional images News

First Look at Coming-of-Age Story BOOTS, Coming to Netflix This October

By But Why Tho?08/17/2025

Netflix is reporting for duty this fall with the new eight-episode series BOOTS, a comedic drama starring Miles Heizer and Vera Farmiga

Nuestra Magia Secret Lair Art Interviews

EXCLUSIVE: How The ‘Nuestra Magia’ Secret Lair Found Its Identity And Raised Over $1M

By Kate Sánchez08/15/2025Updated:08/15/2025

We spoke with Ovidio Cartagena about Magic: The Gathering’s Nuestra Magia Secret Lair drop, its impact, and the real treasure within.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here