Did Ninja Kamui fall off? The decline in popularity explored

Modified May 16, 2024 01:30 GMT

Did Ninja Kamui fall off? The decline in popularity explored (Image via E&H Production)

Ninja Kamui completed its airing on May 5, 2024, and was one of the Winter 2024 anime series with the strongest starts with its first episode. But the series couldn't grasp its greatness once it entered the second half.

Surprisingly, the series' main selling point was its director, who had previously been affiliated with the MAPPA studio. The director became known for directing anime series like Jujutsu Kaisen and The God of High School. Ironically, the direction could have led to the series's decline as it wasn't consistent in the second half.

After episode 5, the series started using CGI (or 3D animation) as its main resort for animating fight scenes. As seen in the past, CGI has always been a hit or miss, with some nailing it perfectly and some missing it horribly, one of which was Ninja Kamui.

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Exploring the fall of the Ninja Kamui anime series

Higan as seen in Ninja Kamui (Image via E&H Production)

Ninja Kamui is an original anime series animated by animation studio E&H Production. The studio is famous for its founder, Sunghoo Park, who was affiliated with the animation studio MAPPA in the past as a director. He left the studio to showcase his direction skills in his own studio, thus establishing the E&H Production.

The series' first episode aired on February 11, 2024. The episode amazed fans with the outstanding animation and scene choreography such that the series became one of the best anime series of the Winter 2024 Anime Season.

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One of the best fight scenes of this anime was featured in its first episode, where Higan, the main protagonist, fought ninjas from the clan he used to work at. The fight scene was filled with adrenaline-rushing moments, focusing on Higan's every movement as he mercilessly killed every ninja with his own hands.

This became the hallmark of the anime. Fans were expecting the series to continue delivering such amazing animation scenes in the future, too, which continued until episode 6.

Ninja Kamui episode 6 featured Higan meeting Emma. This undercover FBI agent informs Higan that fighting with his fists wouldn't harm the organization, so he should use Kamui, an advanced robotic suit, which could make his power much stronger than that of a normal body.

Higan's Kamui body suit (Image via E&H Production)

While Higan synchronized his body with Kamui to use the robotic suit in battle, Lil found their location and attacked them. Emma tried to hold him back but she was utterly defeated, but the time she bought was enough for Higan to wear Kamui.

The protagonist fought Lil, but this fight was a blend of 2D and 3D animation compared to the previous fights in the series. This became the reason for the decline in its popularity.

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However, adding 3D animation doesn't make an anime series bad as many anime series blend 3D animation with their 2D animation, but they mask the former animation style. This makes the scene not look too robotic, thus making it perfect for fans to enjoy. Ninja Kamui, on the other side, didn't use this method and resorted to showing fans a blend of 3D and 2D animation.

There is no doubt that Sunghoo Park is one of the best directors in the series, but what he needs to perfect is the correct proportions of 3D and 2D animation. If he manages to do so, his studio could thrive and join the names of big animation studios in Japan.

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