10 Best Ninja Anime (Other Than Naruto)

The Naruto franchise is often considered the pinacle of ninja fiction, but there are many other anime and manga that due the topic justice. Ninjas have always been popular protagonists for Japan's writers, as they provide easy access to secret societies, shadow wars, and elaborate magic powers. Since Masashi Kishimoto's orange-clad ninja is the most well-known, many other ninja tales often go unnoticed by anime fans.

Thankfully, ninja stories are flexible, and lend themselves well to a variety of genres. Japan's shinobi and kunoichi have starred in dark and dire political thrillers, science-fiction adventures, or even romantic comedies. For those wanting to try something new, or just seeking to satisfy their ninja fix between releases of Boruto, the options are myriad and only limited by one's tastes.

Related: 10 Best Anime Fans Of Naruto Need To Watch

10 Brave 10

Brave 10 is best described as "Naruto without Naruto", as it echoes many of the latter's hallmarks: characters with emphasized quirkiness, fanciful superpowers, and lots of fighting sequences. This historical fantasy follows Saizo Kirigakure, a former Iga ninja who finds himself working as a bodyguard for a priestess named Isanami. The two get recruited by the samurai Yukimura Sanada to fill out his "10 Braves", a group of ninja who help him protect his territory, as well as the secret power within Isanami. Opposing them are a variety of other historically-inspired villains, including Ieyasu Tokugawa and Hanzo Hattori.

TMS Entertainment produced a 12-episode series in 2012. Disappointingly, the run only covers a small part of Kairi Shimotsuki's original manga, which ran for eight volumes before receiving a nine volume sequel. Nonetheless, with this brevity, the adaptation provides a short and sweet complement to Naruto. Even Saizo is an absolute delight, as his brooding, black-haired appearance makes him resemble Sasuke Uchiha. For those with an afternoon to spare, Brave 10 might be worth checking out, especially since all its episodes have been officially uploaded to YouTube.

9 Ninja Slayer

This Original Net Animation (ONA) is the definition of "deranged". Relishing in its excess and absurdity, Ninja Slayer nominally shows Kenji Fujikido's quest for revenge against the "evil ninja" who killed his family – the titular Ninja Slayer battles with bugmen, cyborgs with towering pillar heads, and villains named "Demolition Ninja" or "Hugeshuriken", while aided by a collection of female sidekicks whose proportions and outfits parody the clichés of 90s anime.

Trigger's sense of humor might be hit-or-miss, as they often poorly animate the 10-minute episodes for the sake of parody, which could cause some potential audiences to look the other way, and the frequent sexual harassment aimed at one of the female characters might not sit well either. It's a far cry from their critically-acclaimed drama like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Nonetheless, the ONA exudes pure fun: seeing the characters move to and fro like paper-cut outs, while the voice actors use their most dramatic performances is sure to put a smile on one's face. Ninja Slayer is an exhilarating once-in-a-lifetime experience that must be seen to be believed.

8 Blackfox

Produced by 3Hz, Blackfox is what you get when you portray a superhero origin story with ninjas. It follows Rikka Isurugi, who uses the ninja training and robotic pets passed down to her by her family to hunt down the people who stole their research.

Despite being a Japanese production, its aesthetic feels lifted out of a Western comic, as Rikka explores an American-style city, and her struggle with revenge is familiar to any fan of comics like Batman. Thanks to it unknowingly aping such comic conventions, Blackfox is a bit of a curiosity as an animated film.

7 Ninja Ryukendan

While its title may not give it away, this is actually a sequel to the Ninja Gaiden trilogy for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which follows the "Dragon Ninja" Ryu Hayabusa and Robert Sturgeon's last adventure as they stop the resurrection of the Evil God again.

There are plenty of things to be fascinated about this Original Video Animation: its slick animation, its relation to a video game from decades past, or how it's a snapshot of the world during the 1990s. Anime aficionados or video game diehards owe it to themselves to watch Ninja Ryukendan for its place in animation history.

6 Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl

Jubei-chan is something of a cult classic, thanks to its outlandish premise. 300 years after Jubei Yagyu's death, his skills are passed on to Jiyu Nanohana via a magic eye patch. Every time she puts it on, she transforms her into a ninja alter-ego, who has to fight off the Ryujouji School, which is intent on defeating Jubei's latest incarnation. The resulting series is a send-up of the magical girl formula, where the heroine transforms into a ninja, with the use of a "cute" eye patch, while she is aided by pushy grown man rather than a cute mascot.

While the anime is farcical in its first half, with a number of characters that verging caricature, it does become more dramatic in the latter half as it begins to examine the severity of the Ryujouji feud and the effect it has on Jiyu's life and her family. Madhouse would go on to produce a second season in 2004, which doubles down on both the drama and the comedy. While female ninjas have come and gone, none have replicated Jubei-chan's formula.

5 Ayakashi Triangle

Kentaro Yabuki is already well-known for his romantic comedy To Love Ru, and Ayakashi Triangle has all the same trademarks, albeit with ninjas. This urban fantasy revolves around Matsuri Kazamari, a ninja who exorcises ayakashi, the local supernatural threat. His troubles begin after defeating the ayakashi Shirogane, who uses the last of his strength to curse the ninja into physically transforming into a girl. The story follows his efforts juggling ayakashi exorcisms, finding a way to remove his curse, and his budding romance with lead heroine Suzu as the two deal with expectations of gender identities.

The best thing about Ayakashi Triangle is how it manages to ensure its female protagonists remain combat capable, even at its most risqué: Matsuri's never reduced to a joke even after being transformed into a girl, and Suzu finds effective ways of fighting. The willingness of the manga to sincerely grapple with LGBTQIA themes is also a breath of fresh air given the frequency of anime to fall back on stereotypes. While Studio Connect's adaptation was delayed due to COVID-19, it's thankfully back on the air again.

4 In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki

Kunoichi Tsubaki is what you'd get if Naruto was a slice-of-life comedy. The eponymous Tsubaki is a student of Akane Class, an isolated group of female ninjas-in-training, who one day discover the existence of men and begin to question where they've gone, so she can find one for herself. While this sounds like the starting point of a boy-meets-girl romance, it quickly falls into the background, while the story instead follows the day-to-day antics of the very large ensemble cast as they bounce off each other while going about their lives as ninja students.

CloverWorks' adaptation of the vignettes makes for a charming experience about what a ninja's ordinary life might look like. All the classic ninja imagery popularized in Naruto is amusingly redeployed by Tsubaki and her peers for mundane activities like skipping class or stealing extra portions for lunch, though there are also plenty of action sequences to prevent it from getting too saccharine. For those wanting a break from seeing ninjas in epic battles for the fate of the world, and want something with lower stakes, all episodes of In the Heart of Kunoichi Tsubaki are currently available on Crunchyroll.

3 Hell's Paradise: Jigokuraku

Jigokuraku is worth mentioning as a recent standout example of ninja fiction that's willing to take a dive into the horror genre. The story follows Gabimaru the Hollow, a ninja on death row. As execution attempts fail due to his durable body, he is given a new choice: join nine other criminals with death sentences to explore the deadly Kotaku Island, find the elixir of immortality, and return with a full pardon. What follows is part-battle royale and part-supernatural mystery as Gabimaru finds allies among the various killers, and discovers the source of the Island's monsters.

Jigokuraku is a change of pace, with its visceral horror and cast of miscreants inhabiting a dark interpretation of Edo-era Japan. That, and the fact it is being adapted by MAPPA made it a highly anticipated show for the 2023 spring season. The studio once again proves its chops with stylish art direction, accompanied by gorgeous renderings of Kotaku Island's jungles and monsters. While the second season of Jigokuraku has already been announced, the manga is already finished at 127 chapters. The first season is available on Crunchyroll under the title Hell's Paradise.

2 Basilisk

Also known as Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls, this anime by Gonzo has been nicknamed "Romeo and Juliet with ninjas" for good reason. This story depicts the Iga and Kouga as rival ninja clans with a bitter history. When Ieyasu Tokugawa asks both sides to select their 10 best ninjas and represent his two sons in a shadow war to determine the next Shogun that will lead the country, the powder keg is finally lit, and the two clans fight to settle things once and for all, despite their leaders, Gennosuke and Oboro, being in love and seeking only peace.

This battle to the death milks the story for all the tragedy it's worth and remains unpredictable until the very end as the large cast of characters strategically picks each other off with a variety of special powers that would not be out of place in Naruto. Despite the body count, the anime manages to find time to inject enough characterization into its cast to make their inevitable ends sadder still.

This animated movie, which is often seen in lists for "best anime", follows a wandering ronin named Jubei Kibagami, who, after rescuing the female ninja Kagero, finds himself unwillingly recruited to kill the Eight Devils of Kimon, a team of ninjas who are supporting anti-government forces that are preparing for a coup. After being poisoned to ensure his compliance with the promise of an antidote, Jubei has to hunt down all eight ninjas before his time runs out, while armed only with his sword and his wits. In 2003, Madhouse, which was involved in the movie also released a TV sequel, known simply as Ninja Scroll: The Series.

The influence this film had during the wave of anime being introduced to the West in the 90s is monumental. It was one of Yoshiki Kawariji's many films that showed new audiences how the medium could be pushed to the limit with gorgeous artwork and mature storylines, even if it also created the stereotype that all anime was over the top and extremelely violent. Nonetheless, before Naruto took the world by storm, Ninja Scroll was the seminal ninja movie, and today still holds high regard among anime fans for its hand-drawn artistry.

These are only a few of the many ninja stories that have come out alongside Naruto, and their depictions of these mythological spies and warriors are as varied as there are shows about them. Whether viewers want laughs, thrills, or just plain non-stop action, there is always a way to mix it up with ninja imagery. Thankfully, most of them can be quickly watched and read, given how many have finished broadcast or exist as movies. Hopefully this selection of 10 can help viewers begin branching out and exploring what else exists in the shadow of Naruto and Boruto, too.