House of Ninjas

I'm just on episode 1, and the show's looking pretty cool and interesting. A bit of janky wire work (jumping into a building), but nothing too bad. Atmospheric and stylish in a Netflix kind of way.

But the music! It's like they thought the story was a bit dark and wanted to lighten the tone to appeal to a wider audience by adding a stupid score that constantly undermines what's happening. Little comic glockenspiel style runs, oompah oompah beats, clarinet trills. Even when trying to be serious, the music gives the whole thing a cheap, B-movie feel. It gets very irritating.

But maybe others like it. I could be missing something, and there *are* some comedic elements (though usually deadpan).

On the whole, very promising. Just put on some headphones while reading the subtitles.

The fight scene at the end of episode 6, has become one of my favourite fight scenes. It looks like something out of a European arthouse movie. The series has a lot to offer, either way. Despite having its ups and downs, the plot is pretty interesting. Despite being a series about ninjas, it looks deeper into the tenets of the Shinobi. These people have a personal life, they feel pain. It's not just about fighting and heroism, and whatsoever, but rather about the moral dilemmas of people who are supposed to be killing machine. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually liked Haru. He simply does not want to take a life and his inability to do so is seen as a taboo. Oh, and the soundtrack! I love it when they use Classics in movies and series.

Japanese Drama '' House of Ninjas '' is an action-packed drama about a family of ninjas and a big criminal case they get involved with.

The whole '' mythology '' around ninjas, their tactics, their way of life, and their secrets, they were intriguing and enjoyable, even though the drama gave a more humane side to the supernatural warriors.

They also focused more on the family, even though there were plenty of fighting scenes to keep things entertaining. However, the dynamics of the family members, their love for each other, and the way they worked together, were the most enjoyable part of the story. The twists of the story were also well handled and unpredictable.

And yet, the story felt somehow anticlimactic and lukewarm. The ending was also not the typical happy ending, probably suggesting a second season to follow.

Finally, the performances were all enjoyable.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

I remember growing up in the 80s watching movies by Sonny Chiba; Raizo Ichikawa; and of course Sho Kosugi. Those ninja movies were just fun and amazing to watch. And then after a while, it seemed like they kind of phased themselves out. I'm very happy to see a revival of great martial art movies. It's awesome to see Netflix create the series That at least, in my humble opinion has brought back the Shinobis. If you're into martial art Ninja movies with some storylines, then this series is definitely for you. What I enjoyed about is that not only doesn't have some good choreography, but also great storyline to go with it. I'm already looking forward to the next season and I hope they renew it.

This series will be one-starred as boring by hard-core action lovers. And by anyone who detests painfully corny music, which almost ruined the whole series for me. (It might even have been a 10 star for me but its theme song "My House" is so nauseating that I wore out my mute button. But I did find the story unique and absorbing and all the veteran actors were superb. Episode 5 was the game changer that got me hooked, culminating in a scene that had a Jesus-wandering-in-the-desert vibe. Really striking scenery. Btw, If you are a Japanese drama fan, you will recognize the Shinobi ninja hero father from Rurouni Kenshin movies. Meanwhile the the evil cult leader of the Fuma Clan was the protagonist of the cool Japanese series "The Naked Director". He is menacingly terrific here. I can't place the Shinobi mom, but her acting was intense but subtle/spot-on perfect. Like Michelle Yeoh, she may be an aging Asian beauty but she's a total scene stealer.