Under Ninja vol. 5

Kuro Kumogakure’s infiltration of Kodan High School has hit a few hitches.  There was the gang of gals that tried to take him and his friends down at the start of the, and he found himself drawn into Eita’s bullying situation as well.  Yet he managed to deal with both of these issues, and has even let the enemy ninja leader in the boiler room know that Kuro has the destructive power of TON at his fingertips.  So what’s next on our slacker ninja’s agenda?  Going over to another school to beat up all of its delinquents at the request of one of Eita’s bullies.  Why?  Why not.  It sure beats the situation that Suzuki has now found herself in:  Fighting off the attack of a completely invisible psychotic ninja assassin.

Now that I’ve finally read past where “Oshi no Ko’s” anime adaptation left off, “Under Ninja” can now take its place as the series I’m following where pretty much everything I read in the manga has been spoiled for me.  Which is to say that actually dramatic bits – like the introduction of TON, or the cliffhanger battle at the volume’s end – didn’t hit me as hard as they would someone who wasn’t expecting them.  Nor did the volume’s more eccentric bits, such as the introduction of a certain cat or Shion’s unexpected romance of Mako.  Not that I didn’t enjoy being reminded of them; but, it’s safe to say that this series isn’t going to be as enjoyable as it was until it gets past the point of its anime adaptation in another two (or three) volumes.