Shinobi no ie: House of Ninjas (2024)

The family that slays together stays together!

House of Ninjas was an entertaining mix of action, humor, and conspiracies with a little romance thrown in for good measure. Three generations living in the same house can be a source of stress on any family, especially for one that has a dark secret.

After a mishap on a mission six years before, a family of ninjas may live in the same house, but they are all going in their own direction. Dad Soichi runs the failing family sake brewery and wants his family to lead a normal life. Mom Yoko is a bored stay at home mom and shoplifts in her spare time. Daughter Nagi is frustrated and puts her own spin on theft. Like his dad, son Haru wants a normal life and spends his nights refilling vending machines and having dinner in the same place so that he can be near the young woman who has her daily meal there. Retired Grandma Ninja keeps an eye on everyone, especially the youngest, Riku. The ninja code puts a crimp in Haru's love life when he is reminded that he’s not allowed to date just anyone, especially a comely reporter. When a rival ninja family reappears, the family will have to pull together to help save the nation.

House of Ninjas had a good balance of humor, romance, and bloody fight scenes. The ninja battles were entertaining and well choreographed if you don’t look too closely. The grannie-on-grannie ninja action was a hoot. The characters could make some inexplicably poor decisions at times. Apparently, ninja families are bad at interpersonal communication. When the going got tough, the family did pull together and have each others’ backs-literally. Each of the actors portrayed their characters well, glum Haru, mischievous Nagi, inquisitive Riku, and two parents who got their groove back. Throw in a deranged cult leader who thought he was god and you have everything you need for a fun ninja, excuse me, shinobi ride.

If you’re looking for a completely serious and blood-soaked drama, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a funny satire of ninjas, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a full-blown romance, this isn’t it. If you are looking for a ninja drama with high stakes, some light and dark humor, family drama exasperated by the ninja code, and a nice little romance, this could be worth a try. I found it compelling and entertaining, with some flaws.

15 February 2024

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A Cure for Those Who Are Nostalgic for Ninja Dramas

I quite liked this. It's been a while since a good, live "ninja/shinobi" or Samurai series has come out and this was a refreshing take. It focuses on a family who are one of the last of their kind. The Hattori family and their rivals, the Fuma clan.

It had all the stealthy and shadowy vibes that you find in most kinds of films or dramas.

While the storyline follows the Tawara/Hattori family, the reveal of the brother's death was done in a timely manner without dragging out the suspense and mystery surrounding it.

The romance part of it was all kept on the DL so it didn't ruin or add too much to the story itself. As for the music, I wasn't really a fan. I think that using a lot of music with English lyrics was a bit distracting especially since the lyrics showed up in subtitles during high-action scenes. I think that in this kind of production, instrumental Japanese music would've been more appropriate, especially during the fighting scenes.

The last fighting scene had a bit of comedic humor that felt out of place but was oddly satisfying (I'm referring to the arm). I do feel like the conclusion could've been better simply because the final scene where ppl died seemed pretty predictable and preventable. Also, it would've been better to see the family push back against their superiors a bit more at the end considering all the sacrifices they had made.

Otherwise, I still enjoyed it. I would n't rewatch the series as a whole but maybe some of the action parts. But if another season came out, I'd definitely watch it!

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