Brief Story Line
From the outside, Haru Tawara (Kento Kaku - Tokyo MER: The Movie etc) seemed like a common young man and had a crush on a woman he always saw in a restaurant, later revealed to be journalist Karen Ito (Riho Yoshioka - Gannibal TV series etc). Secretly though, Haru was from a family of Ninjas or Shinobis that consisted of his parents Soichi (Yosuke Eguchi - Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning etc) & Yoko (Tae Kimura - 24 Japan TV series etc), his younger sister Nagi (Aju Makita - True Mothers etc) and their grandmother Taki (Nobuko Miyamoto - A Taxing Woman etc). Except for the youngest Riku (Tenta Banka) who was not aware of his family real identity.
The Tawara family were actually from Hattori Shinobi clan and had been protecting the country for generations until 6 years ago when a mission went wrong. But with the latest threat to the country by the Fuma clan led by Tsujioka (Takayuki Yamada - The Rakugo Movie etc), the Tawara might have to come out of retirement to protect Japan once again.
So how would the story conclude? You could find out in the series.
End of Brief Story Line
The series started off exactly like I had expected with some stylish fighting involving Ninja and the introduction to the characters. And the pilot episode was a great way to kickstart since the story telling was pretty good and the dynamics of the Taware family were really interesting to watch. From Haru the compassionate guy, to his traditional father Soichi and the lively mother Yoko, and their unique grandmother Taki. And let's not forget the young boy Riku & the college girl Nagi who had their own personal challenges.
But the series was not just for fun as it also had some elements of mystery & thriller and it would not be entertaining if it did not have any villains. I thought the performance of Takayuki Yamada was quite brilliant and he was pretty convincing in his role. I also felt the cast in general did a good job as I really enjoyed their portrayal of their characters. In addition to those I mentioned above, there were some support cast like Kengo Kora (Shin Godzilla etc) as Gaku, Tomorowo Taguchi and Tokio Emoto as Mr. Hamashima & his subordinate Oki who provided some comical relief.
In term of story I thought it was pretty smart as well. It was certainly interesting looking at a family of former Ninja (Shinobi) who tried very hard to fit in the regular world (funniest I think was the mother Yoko). I also like that they provided few twists, even though it was not so surprising, except for the last one before the end. That was totally unexpected and I really loved it when I still got a shock on a twist. With such ending, it would be frustrating if the series is not continued (Netflix please do not disappoint us). Credit has to be given to the creator Dave Boyle (Big Dreams Little Tokyo, Man from Reno etc) who also directed 5 of the 8 episodes.
The action was a big plus for me with some of them looked very cool. Only thing that I thought was a bit of a flaw when I was unable to really differentiate between the good and bad Ninjas as they mostly wore black. Of all the episodes, I absolutely loved the 4th episode which was suspenseful, full of action and had a great ending. However, throughout the whole season, I sometimes felt the pace was a bit inconsistent, it could be thrilling at times but very slow subsequently. There were some comedy, but it could also be very dark (like in the 6th episode).
Overall to me this was a series that was entertaining with the focus of retired Ninja family complete with a bit of romance and some familial problems. The action was swift and violent and it had got some twists too. So if you are like me who used to see some Ninja action movies in the past, it could bring some nostalgic feeling to see them in action in the modern world.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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