Ninja Kamui Episode 3 Review
Ninjas, as the popular imagination came to know them, are said to have first appeared in Feudal Japan. They served as spies, saboteurs, and assassins, either for their feudal lords or as mercenaries for hire. And while it’s doubtful that any of them could walk on water or create shadow clones, plenty of fictional works depict them as capable of such. Now imagine what it would be like if modern-day ninjas existed and relied on the most advanced technology, and you have the premise of Ninja Kamui. A fusion of the ancient and modern-day, serving their lord’s interests. It just so happens that said lords are also a global megacorporation in the vein of Abstergo Industries and the Shinra Electric Power Company.
This is the group that Higan is going up against, and they are everywhere.
A Bunch of Crazy Ninjas
The episode opens up in bloody fashion as we see Lil, a foul-mouthed ninja from Higan’s former clan, assassinating a man. Afterward, he clarifies how turned on he gets by his violence, acting like Deadpool if it wasn’t as funny or spouting out pop culture. He’s essentially the antithesis of Higan and someone who has little to no respect for what ninjas are likely supposed to be like. And if he and the man who killed Higan’s family are the norm under AUZA, it’s not hard to see why Higan and many others left. The whole group might be corrupt now.
Corrupt or not, a ninja’s still a ninja, which means they’re dangerous. That’s best shown when another ninja, Zai, takes down his former mentor, who had left like Higan. The mentor tried to slice Zai up with blades made out of air, and the man impaled him without the former realizing. That’s scary! At least they can be punched or stabbed, though. AUZA, as a corporation, can’t, and that’s what makes their influence so scary.
Abstergo Fused with Shinra
The previous episode clarified that AUZA has enough pull in the authorities to cover up their attempts to kill Higan. In this episode, Agent Moriss is frustrated when the FBI claims the attack at the restaurant was part of some gang war. The audience doesn’t buy it, and neither does Moriss. Despite the subtle warning from his former partner to let it go, Moriss’ sense of justice won’t let him. In true Jim Gordon fashion, he chooses to keep looking. And thanks to his temporary alliance with Higan and the technical know-how of Emma Samanda, he and the audience learn how much power AUZA has.
As a side note, Samanda is starting to grow on me as a character. It helps that she’s voiced by Lucy Christian, the dub voice of Nami from One Piece and Uraraka from My Hero Academia. However, Samanda is tech-savvy enough to turn her car into a mobile computer. Her being a redhead makes her feel like an Expy of Barbara Gordon.
AUZA City, Here We Come!
Thanks to some exposition from Samanda, the show confirms what we already knew: AUZA is the show’s equivalent to Abstergo, though their motives are more in line with Shinra from FF7. They’re motivated by greed and the desire to expand their influence, and, presumably, thanks to the ninjas, they’re on the verge of controlling the world from the shadows. To further the comparisons to Shinra, they even have their own private city, AUZA City!
Much like Shinra, though, it seems that not everyone in AUZA is on the same page. A meeting between an AUZA higher-up and the head of the ninja clan, Yamaji, has the latter chew the former out for what happened at the restaurant. They’re working together, but Yamaji hates it as much as Higan did.
This episode was primarily focused on exposition, but when it got to the action, it cooked. After another ninja comes after Higan, we get another epic fight complete with the same kind of rap insert song we got from episode 2. So, it’s pretty epic.
Once the fight is over, it’s clear that Higan needs to head to AUZA City. The problem is that it’s impossible, even for someone like him, to get in there without getting caught. However, he seems to get a lucky break when he gets a call from an anonymous person that knows his name. We have no idea who they might be, but I’m looking forward to finding out. Plus, I want to see what AUZA’s equivalent to Midgar looks like.
This is getting interesting!
