Ninja Cadets!

Original Title: Ninja者
Romanized: Ninja Mono
Literal: Ninja People

Plot Synopsis

Years ago, the Byakuro castle was invaded and its inhabitants slaughtered by the evil Kabusu ninja. Few escaped, but among them was the infant Byakuro Princess. She is no ordinary girl; when she uses a certain mystic scroll, she can call upon untold power, enough to conquer Japan, and possibly the entire world. But although the princess escaped, the scroll remains within Byakuro castle.

Now, a group of young Ninja Cadets--the Princess among them--are being sent on their final test: Recapture the scroll from the occupied castle! (Plus, they get to keep any other cool magical scrolls they find.) Thus, off set Sakura, master of the sword and shuriken; Matsuri, deadly with her fists, hotheaded, and afraid of frogs; Hayashi, quiet, pale, and a skilled chemist and master of explosives; Pochi, young but a brave and capable swordsman; and Yume, who's... a good cook.

Quick Review

Rating: 2.5 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2006-06-23

Ninja Cadets is very much like a cross between Ninja Scroll and Battle Athletes--it has the theme and (despite appearances) violence of Ninja Scroll, and it has the cute characters and youthful determination of a series like Battle Athletes. The odd combo makes for a fun romp, and there's potential in the characters and quality visuals--in particular some slick ninja swordfighting and shuriken throwing. But, it's marred by harried pacing, silly action whenever the opponent isn't another ninja, and straight-from-a-bad-videogame monster design. It's also, perhaps not surprisingly, cut short after two episodes.

Might be fun as a rental with friends, but not worth much attention otherwise unless it sounds outrageously appealing.

US DVD Review

AnimeWorks' DVD is passible, little more. The video transfer is relatively grainy and the compression artifacts are noticeable. The audio is better, consisting of decent Japanese and English stereo audio tracks, plus an English subtitle track. Bonus features consist of some outtakes from the dub (which aren't funny at all), and a decent image gallery (except for some reason they didn't want you to fast forward through it), plus the full credits for both the Japanese version and the English dub. Better in the extras section than nowhere at all, I say. Oh, and you get to hear the particularly high-pitched voice of one of the ninja girls from the dub announcing the features when you select them in the menus.

Content Guide

Despite the cute look, there's a hefty amount of bloody violence and a relatively innocent hotspring scene, hence AnimeWorks' 13-up rating (though even 16-up isn't out of the question if you're quite strict).

Violence: 3 - Fairly graphic violence, particularly in the opening sequence.

Nudity: 2 - One hot spring scene.

Sex/Mature Themes: 0 - Absolutely nothing.

Language: 1 - Not noteworthy.

Notes and Trivia

Nothing interesting.

Availability

Available in the US on hybrid DVD from AnimeWorks, though that appears to be going out of print. Was originally available on a single subtitled or dubbed VHS volume, both out of print.

As of this writing RighStuf is clearing out their stock of the DVD for about $7, while supplies last.

Looking to buy? Try these stores: RightStuf (search) | AnimeNation | Akemi's a(nime)Store