House of Ninjas

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.

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.

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.

Family grief is posistioned as 1 of 2 major themes. Coupled to purpose and sacrifice of freedom towards duty of Shinobi. Much insight is provided into grief ang guilt impacting the family unit. Great use of music, but slow burn till 1/3s in. The secondary theme is glory. Here the opposing Fuma clan and their super natural leader enter. The Fuma fight against the traditional function of the Shinobi, which is military special forces killing machine, embodied by the Hattori family.

Atlast the true purpose of the Fuma clan is revealed after multiple plot twists. Past pacing issues and if you buy into the marriage with the supernatural, nicely done.

In a world where ninjas reside a dysfunctional family of ninjas who have hung up their swords come out of retirement and have to brush up on their rusty skills to combat a rogue rival clan. The Fuma clan have orchestrated an attack and it's up to the Tawaras to thwart them and stop their evil ways. It is an interesting idea but the plot moves a little slow and too many scenes are filmed with low lighting which I personally dislike. Kento Kaku plays Haru Tawara the second son and is the main lead but his entire family have interesting back stories and at just eight episodes it is short but may still have been better as a movie.