Under Ninja vol. 1

Kengo Hanazawa has already given us one one good series with his zombie epic “I Am A Hero.”  If you thought that his next would continue to push boundaries in the horror genre, or focus on the struggles of the mentally disturbed, you’d be wrong.  (So far.)  “Under Ninja” is more of an oddball slice-of-life series that looks to examine the struggles of a very specific working class in Japan:  Ninja.

We’re told at the start of the volume that while ninjas were the Allied forces’ biggest concern during WWII their organizational structure was subsequently dismantled and rebuilt post-war.  Today, there are said to be 200,000 ninjas living in Japan who have blended in with their surroundings, doing regular jobs until they’re called upon.  While there are some who are called upon to perform the kind of black ops that require the highest skills and utmost secrecy, most of the ninja are just living ordinary lives.

Kuro Kumogakure is just one such ninja.  We’re introduced to this seventeen-year-old as he blows toothpick darts into the ceiling of his run-down apartment.  It’s clear that he hasn’t been on a mission in a while, but that’s about to change.  After a deliveryman brings him a package containing a school blazer and a hoodie, Kumo finds out that his job is going to involve infiltrating a highschool.  Before that, however, he’s got to stop a foreigner who wants to become a ninja and has figured that the best way to do it is by cutting off schlongs.

More on the schlong-slicer in a bit.  While the subject matter and tone of this series is very different from “I Am A Hero” it maintains the same decompressed pace which marked that series.  Hanazawa wasn’t in a hurry to get where he wanted to go in that series, and his approach hasn’t changed here at all.  That series did have a big advantage in that Dark Horse released each volume in a two-in-one omnibus format.  This meant that you got a lot more content with each volume and it always felt like the story made substantial progress every time you read a new one.

Dark Horse could release the series like that because it was finished by the time they started publishing it.  Denpa, the publisher of “Under Ninja,” has decided not to go down that route.  Likely because the series is still ongoing at this time.  That does mean it’s harder to get a handle on where the series is going based on this volume alone.  It’s all about introducing the cast, setting up plot threads, and hinting vaguely about the title character, who is said to be the head of all ninja.

That being said, the setup we get in this volume is mostly good.  Kuro makes a good impression as the series protagonist.  He may be a layabout, but he’s not lazy, and he’s clever enough to solve any issues facing him.  Whether they’re the matter of securing toilet paper while not looking at his drunken neighbor Kawado, or figuring out the secret behind the hoodie that was delivered to him, he gets the job done.  It’s also hard not to appreciate his genial, chill nature.  When Kawado poses as his mother on the phone to set up an appointment to enroll at a local high school, it’s very obvious to the reader that she’s doing a terrible job of it.  Yet, once it’s over, Kuro compliments her by thanking her for the realistic performance, saying that “It gave some nice gritty family background color.”

While basing the series around Kuro looks to be a good idea at this point, the rest of the cast isn’t sketched out as well yet.  Kawado gets the best bits, being a drunken troll who syncs well with the protagonist but has no time for his loudmouth roommate Ohno.  He’s a salaryman who might also be an underwear thief (it’s complicated…) and it’s fun to watch his overbearing nature bounce harmlessly off of Kuro’s chill vibes.  The deliveryman who brings Kuro his gear is also implied to be some kind of important figure in the ninja organization, but at this point he’s more of a plot device than an actual character.

Then you’ve got the schlong-slicer.  That’s not who he is at first, as he initially appears to be your average clueless caucasian who watched too many “Naruto” episodes and decided he wanted to be a ninja.  His introductory scene gives the impression that this character is going to be a punching bag for this series and while I have no problem with that, your mileage may vary based on this kind of humor.

However, the character’s nature takes on a darker, more tragic vibe when you find out why he’s trying to be a ninja.  It turns out that some bad people have kidnapped his baby daughter and are forcing him to infiltrate Japan’s ninja organization with her life as leverage.  That… makes it kind of hard to laugh at this guy even after he starts slicing schlongs.  This makes me curious/anxious/worried to see where Hanazawa is going with this character and the sooner he decides on how seriously we’re meant to take him the better.

This first volume of “Under Ninja” is an odd one.  It’s not quite a comedy.  Not quite an action series.  Not quite a suspense series either.  It would be a mess if it didn’t feel like Hanazawa had a good handle on his characters, the tone of the series, and a general feeling that this is actually going to go somewhere.  Very slowly at the moment, but things are moving along nonetheless.  I appreciate this first volume for its oddness compared to other titles on the market, even as I realize that I’m not going to have an idea if it’s genuinely good until vol. 2.  Or even vol. 3 and hopefully not longer than that.