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NININ GA SHINOBUDEN (VOL. 1) |
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Saturday, 06 January 2007 |
 | | ▪ | PUBLISHED BY: | | INFINITY STUDIOS | | | ▪ | ART/AUTHOR: | | RYOICHI KOGA | | | | ▪ | FORMAT/COLOR: | | JAPANESE FORMAT / BW & COLOR | | | ▪ | PAGES: | | 158 | | | ▪ | RATED: | | 13+ | | | ▪ | RELEASE DATE: | | 05/03/2006 | | | ▪ | REVIEW DATE: | | 01/07/2007 | | | ▪ | REVIEWED BY: | | CHRISTOPHER SEAMAN |
NININ GA SHINOBUDEN is a comedy, featuring Shinobu, a ninja in training. Her master is a great big blobby being with one thing on his mind, and being a manga… you don’t need three guesses to figure out what it is. Kaede is Shinobu’s best friend, stalwart in her support of the ninja wannabe, even though that support usually ends up with her being in one wacky situation after another. Episodic, full of high jinks, and low humor, this is a manga that may likely appeal to fans of another comedy about warriors in training- RANMA ½.
This offering from Infinity Studios is lightweight reading perfect for ‘check your brain at the door’ needs among fans of manga. It demands little of the reader, and offers simple entertainment in return. There are many stories in the first anthology, which makes for episodic reading among those looking for a little distraction before going to sleep. The first one sets up the relationship between Shinobu and Kaede, the former meeting the latter during a ninja test involving the theft of the latter’s panties for the lecherous master. Kaede handles the whole incident rather well, all things considered. Then Kaede assists in the education of the ninja, teaching her about Christmas, Valentine’s day, White Day and other events. Shinobu, gullible in the extreme, makes an enthusiastic pupil in the ways of the ninja and the ways of the modern Japanese. She also develops a strong physical attraction to Kaede, a joke developed through the Valentine’s day/White Day stories, leading Kaede to wonder why she keeps getting chocolate from girls only. (Apparently, Shinobu is not the only one…) There’s also a couple of battles with a crocodile that’s moved into the ninja’s pond, the recurring lusts of the master, and endless buffoonery among the other ninja warriors. No…nothing is sacred. Everything is given a lighthearted treatment by the artist and author, Ryoichi Koga.
The artwork is somewhat reminiscent of the simple, stylized material one sees in CYBORG 009 or ASTRO BOY. However, unlike those works, which treat their subject much more seriously, this merely emphasizes the simple nature of the stories and the humor within them. The text and the art works well together, and each of the tales are easy to follow, and usually over in about ten pages. The humor is often lowbrow- we are talking about a blobby looking ninja master obsessing over sex, after all. True, it’s nothing one hasn’t seen in either RANMA or AUSTIN POWERS. Still, one wonders if the 13+ rating is appropriate. Perhaps 15+ or higher would be better, in consideration of some western tastes that exist regarding ‘comics’ in any form. Despite all that, the overall impression one gets from reading this manga is that it is meant to be a light filler, and is not intended for serious consumption. That is not dismissive. Simply put, not everything one reads needs to be weighty and full of deep meaning.
IN SUMMARY:
NININ GA SHINOBUDEN moves lightly and swiftly from cover to cover like a ninja leaping across rooftops in the dark. It offers humor and escapist action from cover to cover, and features in Shinobu and Kaede two endearing and entertaining characters for readers of this yarn from Infinity Studios. |
