Everybody had to watch Ninja Kamui after they’d seen Higan’s first fight on screen. Higan woke up and chose violence for the entire first season, literally.
And who could blame him? The premise of Ninja Kamui is dark yet simple. It’s about a man who fled his dark past with the love of his life. But both of them couldn’t keep running. At the onset of the first episode, Higan’s wife and child are killed in front of him by ninjas. It was brutal, but it effectively got us hooked on cheering Higan down the path of revenge.
So is there going to be another season for this ninja, who has reached the end of the road? It’s hard to say since Adult Swim hasn’t made any mention of a sequel to Ninja Kamui. Higan was able to complete his revenge by the 13th episode. There’s nothing left to explore unless seeing Higan live his life after freeing himself from the ninja code is something you’re interested in.
Additionally, fans were generally unhappy with the addition of mecha suits (gusoku gear) to the anime. Plot-wise, the gusoku gear was essential to further enhance the physical abilities of ninjas. This is why Higan didn’t stand a chance to fight ninjas clad in gusoku gear at first. But even if Higan got stronger with the gusoku gear, this didn’t translate well into the animation.
The fight scenes involving the mecha suits often looked sluggish, which wasn’t great since this is an anime about modern ninjas. Higan’s suit was supposed to adapt to his secret art, but his suit’s movements were clunky during his last fight with Yamaji.
Mecha suits are divisive, and many fans didn’t appreciate the use of them in Ninja Kamui. But mecha haters can look on the bright side. Higan threw his gusoku gear and mask away after fulfilling his revenge, which may indicate that Ninja Kamui is never coming back with those high-tech suits.
(featured image: Adult Swim)
