Ninja Kamui Is The Best New Anime Airing Right Now

Every anime season brings a multitude of new shows to anime fans' screens. While some of these new shows fail to make an impact, others quickly gain a massive audience and critical praise. Ninja Kamui, Adult Swim's new anime, falls into the latter category. Thanks to its unique storyline, gorgeous animation, and excellent characters, it is quickly cementing itself as one of the season's most popular new anime, with many fans already declaring it one of 2024's best new anime franchises, which is no small feat when it is up against heavy hitters like Solo Leveling, Delicious in Dungeon, and 7th Time Loop. But what is Ninja Kamui, and why is it the best new anime of the season?

Directed by Jujutsu Kaisen and The God of High School director Sunghoo Park and produced by E&H Production and Sola Entertainment, Ninja Kamui follows Joe Higan. Higan used to be a ninja, but he went into hiding after escaping his clan, opting to live in rural America under the name Joe Logan. Alas, this plan doesn't work forever. One night, a group of assassins from Joe's old clan break into his house and ambush him. These assassins quickly do their job, killing Joe and his family before vanishing into the night. However, several days later, Joe comes back to life in the morgue. Unsure how he survived, Joe embarks on a mission to kill every last member of his old clan. As he undertakes this quest, Mike Moriss and Emma Samanda, two F.B.I. agents, begin investigating a series of murders, quickly getting tangled in something bigger than they could have ever dreamed.

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Ninja Kamui Is A Modern Take On An Old Idea

This story is a big reason for Ninja Kamui's instant popularity. While revenge narratives and retired assassins being dragged back into the business after trying to escape are far from original story concepts, Ninja Kamui presents a stylish modern twist on these ideas. One big way it does this is by bringing its ninja clan firmly into the near future, as while they use swords, throwing needles, and shuriken, they also employ night vision, battle armor, holograms, and cybernetics. Because of this, familiar set pieces are given new life, and even seasoned fans of the genre will be kept on their toes as scenes go in unexpected directions. On top of this, the first four episodes make it clear that the story won't follow the classic structure beat for beat, as several bits of foreshadowing lay the groundwork for a much bigger plot that touches on several modern anxieties, including the invasive nature of technology and the issues with capitalism.

Ninja Kamui's plot is supported by its fantastic cast, as all the characters are well-realized and feel deeply human. While viewers don't get to see Joe with his family for very long, the early scenes do a fantastic job of capturing the feeling of a happy family who, despite their struggles, love each other deeply without becoming overly saccharin. This makes the scene when the assassins arrive one of the most effective emotional gut punches in recent anime history, even if the viewer already knows the story. This is a massive achievement, considering it happens ten minutes into the first episode.

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Joe is an even more fascinating and well-handled character after the incident, as the show goes to great lengths to show that he is a broken man carrying a heavy burden. His low, often monotone voice, blank expression, and distant stare perfectly convey a deeply traumatized man who is depersonalizing to avoid dealing with his grief. In fact, Joe is surrounded by a scary aura, as it feels like he could lash out at any moment without reason. This makes him stand out against other heroes in the genre, who, while emotionally damaged, tend to quickly move past their traumas and become generic heroes. So, by giving Joe this aura, the writers of Ninja Kamui give the story a darker and more grounded feel, as while the audience wants to root for Joe, it's clear he is closer to a figure of pity than a traditional hero.

The side characters are equally good. While Mike Moriss is based on the classic "good cop" archetype, the writers have done a stunning job fleshing him out and making him a remarkable and intriguing character. From the earliest scenes, it's clear that he's conflicted about his role in the investigation, clashing with his boss when he suggests that Mike let the case go. This, plus his distrust of the latest wave of technology, captures the feeling of a man struggling to find his place in a rapidly changing world. This personality contrasts wonderfully with Emma Samanda, his partner. Unlike Mike, Emma is more open to technology and embraces its potential. Emma is also more open to bending the rules and silently acting against the department, placating her superiors by pretending to fall in line when needed. Because of this, the pair make a great double act, as they show how complex the pursuit of justice can be and how the generation gap affects our perception of the world around us. As the story continues, it seems likely that these traits will enter the spotlight more often as the pair pull out all the stops to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.

The show's various antagonistic forces are also cleverly handled. Rather than just being a single army that is evil for the sake of it, Ninja Kamui goes out of its way to show the tangled web of relationships that bind the various sub-factions and members together. All the characters feel like they have a history with one another, affecting how and when they work together. This nuance adds so much depth to the show, as it makes the world feel alive and opens up many storytelling opportunities as different characters enact gambits and try to seize power, adding another layer of unpredictability to the story.

The Uniquely American Look Of Ninja Kamui

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One of the most interesting and arresting things about Ninja Kamui is its visual style and animation. Technically, the animation is fantastic, with detailed scenes and fluid character movements. But it also goes beyond that, with the animators working hard to create a show with a very unusual atmosphere. A big part of this atmosphere comes from Ninja Kamui's backgrounds, as they quickly establish a feeling of time and place. This is seen clearly in the first half of episode one, where the backgrounds help enhance the utopic atmosphere of Joe's new rural life. Later on, the city scenes perfectly evoke the feeling of a modern American metropolis, from the clean window-covered high-rise office blocks to the dirty alleyways and abandoned warehouses that the destitute call home. Because of this, Ninja Kamui has a uniquely American feel. While other anime series have emulated the look of American spaces, few have captured their spirit, both the good and the bad, as effectively as Ninja Kamui, making it stand out against other shows.

It enhances this with masterful use of lighting, shade, and shot choice. The best example of this is the scene where Joe's family is killed, as the show does an incredible job of making the carnage feel visceral and hard-hitting, using many subtle tricks to make viewers understand Joe's anguish. For instance, Joe's wife's body is only seen through a bedroom door, but this door is to the side of the shot, and the whole thing is at a slight angle. This odd framing and angle help capture Joe's panic and confusion. It also subverts the images of happy domesticity viewers had seen up to that point, clearly communicating that something terrible has happened in the house and that the warmth and love that once inhabited it has gone. Plus, the body is bathed in red light, which makes the image feel even more violent and disturbing, making the moment viscerally unsettling. Tricks like this are repeated throughout the show, and they help make each location feel like a living space and allow the audience to step into Joe's head and sense how he feels about the places he visits.

Ninja Kamui also makes excellent use of the grotesque to enhance the show's vibe and make everything more impactful. Frequently, shots will zoom tightly into characters' faces, showing the muscles in their face moving, their eyes bulging, or drops of saliva coming from their mouth. This helps make the characters feel strange and unfamiliar, showing how their violent lives have alienated them from society, leaving them indifferent to human suffering, further adding to the show's gritty atmosphere. It also helps ground the combat and make the violence feel more visceral because Ninja Kamui often uses these grotesque close-ups to depict people getting hit, which helps to convey the immense, mind-shattering pain the victim is enduring. This wonderfully grounds the combat as it reminds viewers how painful these fights would be, making every hit feel like a big deal.

Plus, the show isn't afraid to mix things up, with Ninja Kamui sometimes using other animation styles. This is best seen at the start of episode two, where a flashback sequence switches to a different style that uses still drawings and manipulated photographs with a limited color palette. This helps keep the show fresh and visually interesting, making Ninja Kamui all the more mesmerizing.

The show's fights are also a visual treat. They're all wonderfully animated and easy to follow, no matter how many combatants are involved. On top of this, each fight features distinctive and creative choreography, meaning that viewers remain on the edge of their seats the entire time, never knowing what's coming next. This is only enhanced in later episodes where the show introduces characters with weird and otherworldly abilities, opening up more options for unique fight sequences, especially when Joe deploys his own repertoire of special moves. Plus, in a nice touch, these abilities are shown to have flaws and counters. So, as the story progresses, viewers can see fighters adapting to each other's tricks and coming up with tactics to counteract their opponent's abilities. This means the fights always feel interesting, as a powerful ability can become useless at a crucial moment, meaning that fights don't play out the same way twice.

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These fights are also elevated by Ninja Kamui's expert use of gore. It straddles a fine line where the blood is stylish and over-the-top without ever becoming so exaggerated that it loses its sense of brutality. This balance helps hammer home the show's core idea, showing how dirty and painful the life of an assassin is. This is best seen during episode two when Joe opts to burn a man alive after he refuses to give Joe the information he wants. While this moment is stylized, the animation doesn't sanitize the moment or shy away from showing how horrific the idea is. This perfectly showcases how brutal the assassins are and how broken Joe must be to even consider such an action. This is a stunning move as it means that the violence continues to feel impactful, no matter how flashy or supernatural it gets, helping to further bolster the show's gritty tone.

Ninja Kamui backs all of this up with an excellent soundtrack. Created by R.O.N., this soundtrack features several musical styles, including ambient industrial, heavy metal, and rap. While this mix is unusual for anime, it suits the tone Ninja Kamui is going for, capturing the musical melting pot that soundtracks modern America, further adding to the show's distinctive sense of place. These songs are also woven into the episodes. Which further enhances the show's unique atmosphere. This is doubly true for the fight songs, as Ninja Kamui uses them to enrich the rhythm of the combat, making every strike and movement feel more intense.

It is easy to see why Ninja Kamui is doing so well. While revenge stories are nothing new to anime fans, few series have taken the idea in such a unique direction, combining the concept with other genres and new ideas. Plus, few series have created such gripping and well-rounded characters, with Joe being one of the most fascinating anime leads in recent memory. This is all wrapped in some excellent, highly creative, and visually unique animation, meaning that once someone starts watching Ninja Kamui, it is hard to stop, as the show is quite unlike any other anime series currently on offer. Because of this, it's easy to see why it's been praised by fans and critics alike and why many critics have already saved it a place on their best of 2024 lists.