REVIEW: ‘Ninja Kamui’ Episode 1

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.

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.

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).