Shinobi no Ittoki

In modern-day Japan, after an attempt is made to kill him, Ittoki Sakuraba learns that he is a direct descendant of and rightful heir to the Iga Ninja clan. His mother sends him to Ninjutsu Gakuen, the only national ninja school in Japan, to study and train as a ninja while investigations are being made to discover who is trying to kill him and why. At the school, Ittoki becomes involved with his new classmates, which include some beautiful yet deadly young ninja girls, but danger is always present, especially when there is a suspected traitor inside the school. ==Cast==

; : :The main protagonist who escapes a failed assassination attempt and enrolls into the Ninja Academy. He is reluctant to become his clan's next chief but is forced to accept reality as he is thrust into the war between his clan and Koga. ; : :Ittoki's uncle and one of Iga's strongest fighters with a reputation of being called "Tokisada the Demi-God". Despite his laidback attitude, Tokisada is powerful in combat and will not hesitate to go into extremes to complete a mission. ; : :Ittoki's childhood friend and bodyguard from the Iga village, who was adopted by Yumika. Though her origins are unknown, she wears a face mask. ; : :Ittoki's mother and the current chief of the Iga village who took over the leadership after the death of her husband. Though she wasn't born into a ninja family, her prudence and courage in the face of death that has earned her the respect of the entire Iga Village. ; : :She's Ittoki and Kosetsu's classmate who appears to be friendly and weak, however unbeknownst to the two and to Suzaku Ban, she's deceptive and manipulative. She belongs to the Fuma Village, whose ways were conservative and radical, they frown about the changing times and prefers the old ways of the ninja. It is hinted that they wanted the Koga and the Iga to go to war among themselves. ; : :She belongs to the Saiga village that is already in danger of disappearing, her village was once known as the technological hub of ninjutsu, where during its heydays was the go-to place for ninjutsu tech. She and her father were the last of the said village, but despite her father's reluctance to let her continue the family tradition of being a ninja, she is still hopeful to revive the village and still invents stuff that she and her friends can use. Despite having moderate fighting skills, she excel in her studies and would often ace any test. She also excels in the use of technology in conjunction with her ninjutsu. ; : :Ittoki's classmate and a ninja from the Koga village. Hiding her ninja status, she "became" Ittoki's temporarily girlfriend in an attempt to kill him. After he escapes and Satomi is arrested, she kills herself behind bars. ; : :Ittoki's rival and classmate from the Ninja Academy. He has a strong prejudiced hate against Ittoki for the Iga clan's murder of Koga's head, a man whom Suzaku had highly admired. ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ;Iboro : ; : ; : ; : ==Production and release==

Planned and produced by TMS Entertainment alongside DMM Pictures, and animated by Troyca, the series is directed by Shū Watanabe, with Minato Takano in charge of series' scripts, Isamu Suzuki designing the characters and serving as chief animation director, and TOMISIRO composing the music. it aired from October 4 to December 20, 2022, on Tokyo MX and AT-X. The opening theme song is , performed by Humbreaders, while the ending theme song is , performed by Hockrockb. Crunchyroll streamed the series, and premiered an English dub which started on October 18, 2022. Episodes ==Reception==

The anime series' first episode garnered generally mixed reviews from Anime News Network's staff during the Fall 2022 season previews. Richard Eisenbeis was critical of the "bog-standard" premiere with its "paint-by-numbers" setup but praised its "spectacular" animation for having "fluid and well-choreographed" action. James Beckett was commendable towards the "incidental details" the production makes with tiny character animations and the pacing for showing Ittoki's normal life before the "ninja action" disrupts it, but felt the series overall will be "less than the sum of its parts", saying it will "devolve into completely forgettable pablum." Caitlin Moore criticized the episode's "tedious pace" of going through "boring details and half-hearted foreshadowing" in its exposition and premise, and found Ittoki to be an "unengaging protagonist" with his "charisma-free everyman nature". Rebecca Silverman was impressed by Ittoki's gymnastic skills but felt irritated by his overly talkative nature and less than smart mindset with the various ninja situations he encounters, concluding that: "All of this very well may come together to form a good fish-out-of-water action comedy, but I can't really say that the episode has left me all that intrigued." Nicholas Dupree was also put off by Ittoki's "insufferable" yelling and lack of personality, and despite praising the solid production and ninja action, he felt the overall execution came across as "bland and dull", critiquing that: "In a much weaker season, this might be worth sticking it out for a cool fight or two, but there's way better uses of your time right now." Fellow ANN editor Grant Jones reviewed the complete anime series, saying: "It is a simply okay series with a few moments of note, but is rather forgettable. There was potential here and it's not entirely wasted, but I can't say I will think about it after the season wraps." ==Notes==