English Dub Review: Ninja Kamui “Episode 2”

Joe continues on his path for revenge. Meanwhile, FBI agents Emma and Mike try to find more about Joe and his connections to the previous victims…

Episode 1 set the bar for what kind of show we’re dealing with: Revenge is a dish best served over a pile of 1000 dead bodies. Revenge will be a topic explored, but it’s really just an excuse to have our main character fight a bunch of ninjas in the most brutal way every episode. How does episode 2 fare? 

It’s not a full on set-up episode, but it isn’t not as action packed as the first. There still is a cool as hell fight by the end of it, safe to say that’s pretty much a given for every episode of the show! The second we start focusing on the more “serious” elements, that’s when the show starts losing me a bit. Luckily there’s still bits of levity scattered throughout to prevent the experience from becoming too self-serious about its premise. The triple-take joke with the Uber Eats delivery guy coming in at the worst moment– before the last guy that comes in being an assassin legitimately got me. More stuff like that in the future please!

On the other hand, moments where Joe’s slowly torturing the man who killed his family aren’t as enthralling for me. Even his character defining monologue feels flat because I’ve heard that same speech in billions of other shows before! The “revenge” plot is the most unoriginal thing about the show so far, and its true creativity shines within the fights. But not even the biggest action fanboys want a show that’s nothing but 24 minutes of fighting. I really hope future episodes manage to find a better middle ground in the future. I wanna have fun while watching Ninja Kamui, I certainly wasn’t bored this episode, but I wish I was a little more engaged.