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
    Battlefield 6 Classes - Support trailer image

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

    07/31/2025
    Battlefield 6 Multiplayer Reveal promotional image

    Battlefield 6 Classes, Maps, And More: Everything You Need To Know

    07/31/2025
    A glimpse at all the upcoming Star Wars stories coming to the galaxy

    Star Wars Stories: What We Learned At SDCC 2025

    07/25/2025
    Blindspot episode still

    It’s been 5 years since ‘Blindspot’ ended. Why haven’t you watched it yet?

    07/24/2025
    Strange Scaffold

    Strange Scaffold Summer Showcase Delivers Bizarre And Brilliant Games

    07/22/2025
  • Fantasia Festival
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
But Why Tho?
Home » Anime » REVIEW: ‘Ninja Kamui’ Episode 2

REVIEW: ‘Ninja Kamui’ Episode 2

Allyson JohnsonBy Allyson Johnson02/18/20244 Mins ReadUpdated:03/15/2024
Ninja Kamui Episode 2
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

In Ninja Kamui Episode 2, the series better defines its world and lead character. Directed by Sunghoo Park (Jujutsu Kaisen 0), the premiere saw our protagonist, Joe Higan (Kenjiro Tsuda,) suffer an incredible loss in the death of his wife and son. Now, dealing with the fallout of his injuries, he stumbles into a familiar face while setting forth on his plan for vengeance against those who stole his life from him. It’s a grueling, bloody affair that uncovers truths about Joe and the clan he’d previously been a part of.

A former ninja, the organization he used to be a part of, is trying to exact bloody retribution on Joe for betraying their code. In the organization, a ninja’s mission is their life. The history stems from Japan, though the organization would soon expand globally, opening it up to more significant threats. We don’t yet know what pushed Joe and his wife out, but there’s an explicit, oppressive nature to it that makes it understandable why he’d seek a stable life away from violence.

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

Which makes his return to that violence all the more of an emotional wallop. Episode 1 made sure to develop this character so that we feel his emotional turmoil by the time he lost his family. He’s no longer wearing his mask, but he might as well be for how little emotion reads on his face. Little more than a cold, killing machine, his grief is palpable even if he doesn’t express it. Gone is his warmth, replaced by a soldier seeking revenge, even if it means the loss of his life. In his mind, he should to be dead—he technically was. He’s been given a second chance at life but been damned to be a man on borrowed time.

It adds tension to Ninja Kamui Episode 2 as we can see how this is essentially a suicide run. He’s met up with a former acquaintance: a doctor who is able to help patch him up. Despite little bloodshed at the moment, the doctor’s assertion of Joe’s wounds spells a similar, nauseating effect. Joe admits to using a Secret Art of Stark Awareness technique in his rooftop fight in Episode 1. We see the effects in the discolored bruising on his arm, his shoulder dislocated. Despite its simplicity, the overall depiction of these injuries is grotesque.

Ninja Kamui Episode 2

But things only grow steadily in the sheer brutality the series is capable of. Sungwoo Park refuses to hold back as Joe tortures a member of the party who killed his family. Despite being strung up, the man taunts Joe. Joe never gets the information he wants out of the man and doesn’t seem to care before he burns him alive. The moment offers little by way of subtlety. Instead, it goes straight for excess to show how Joe is slowly losing his humanity.

It makes sense for the character to have become this way. It also makes for a less interesting protagonist. Hopefully, with time and more energy spent on his story outside of just revenge, Joe will become a worthwhile lead. The action isn’t enough to make us care, especially with only one main character leading the way.

The rest of the episode revolves around Joe’s continued travels seeking answers. This plays in tandem with Detective Mike Morris (Atsushi Ono) trying to find Joe. The two meet up, and while the investigative element lacks the same force as Joe’s earlier actions, it sets the scene for a highlight fight sequence. There’s a manhunt out for Joe after his escape. Accordingly, Mike witnesses Joe in action when an assailant arrives at their meeting spot. The show comes alive with these moments of action. The direction is crisp and clear, capturing every piece of movement. The sequence fluidity depicts the character in his element as he dispatches the attacker, utilizing the tools around him no matter their original intended use.

Episode 2 closes out with a hint at the overarching plot, introducing a potential big bad with Auza Tech. Ninja Kamui Episode 2 continues to be overwrought in its tone but is buoyed by its staggering action sequences. Heavy-handed but visually stunning, the series is poised to branch out into greater, more expansive plot beats now that the introductory stage is over.

Ninja Kamui Episode 2 is streaming now on MAX (formerly HBO MAX).

Ninja Kamui Episode 2
  • 7/10
    Rating - 7/10
7/10

TL;DR

Ninja Kamui Episode 2 continues to be overwrought in its tone but is buoyed by its staggering action sequences. Heavy-handed but visually stunning, the series is poised to branch out into greater, more expansive plot beats now that the introductory stage is over.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Mashle: Magic and Muscles’ Episode 18 — “Mash Burnedead And You Look, You Lose Your Life”
Next Article REVIEW: ‘True Detective: Night Country’ Season 4 Episode 6 — “Part 6”
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

Marin in My Dress-Up Darling Season 2 Episode 5
9.5

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 5 — “800 Million”

08/03/2025
Seiko in DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 5
7.5

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 5 – “We Can All Stay There Together!”

08/01/2025
My Dress Up Darling Season 2 Episode 4 But Why Tho 2
7.0

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 4 — “Has All My Measurements Memorized”

07/27/2025
Negumi in Kaiju No 8 Season 2 Episode 2
5.5

REVIEW: ‘Kaiju No 8’ Season 2 Episode 2 – “The Next Generation’s Trial”

07/26/2025
DanDaDan Season 2 Episode 4
9.5

REVIEW: ‘DanDaDan’ Season 2 Episode 4 – “That’s, Like, Way Dangerous”

07/24/2025
Marin in My Dress Up Darling Season 2 Episode 3 But Why Tho
10.0

REVIEW: ‘My Dress-Up Darling’ Season 2 Episode 3 — “I Wuuuuv Slice-Of-Life Scenes!”

07/20/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
Wildgate promotional key art
9.0
PC

REVIEW: ‘Wildgate’ Is Co-Op Space Mayhem Done Right

By Adrian Ruiz07/25/2025Updated:07/30/2025

Built for friends and tuned for competition, Wildgate is messy in the best way: smart, surprising, and bursting with room to grow.

Glass Heart
7.0
TV

REVIEW: ‘Glass Heart’ Offers Messy, Musical Catharsis

By Allyson Johnson07/22/2025

The musical drama series ‘Glass Heart’ soars when it focuses on the epic performances of it’s fictional band, TENBLANK.

Simon in An Honest Life But Why Tho
3.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘An Honest Life’ Is Terribly Dishonest About Its Own Politics

By Jason Flatt08/02/2025

An Honest Life is an overly severe misfire about a law student who falls in with anarchist burglars that can’t decide who it resents more.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

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