Due to an unintentional exodus from the online world this weekend, I decided to finally start Gingaman.

It's a nice series, I got 10 episodes in over the past 2 days. I don't remember precise details because I just kind of watched things back to back to back, so I'll just list off a couple thoughts and feelings in no particular order.

First, the Starbeasts. I love 'em. Their kaiju style just makes them super appealing (Though Gingat is rather lacking...Why no mouth?) and gives them character that other mecha don't have. They also have the advantage of actually having character. They're not only sentient, but actively treated as part of the team, and not just tools. I love it. The Silver Starbeasts look pretty good, too (Though I greatly prefer the normal form, also they should've just used the puppets for Silver Gingat and Gingaverick. Dat CG...). I also enjoy the build up the Silver Starbeasts and GingaiOh got, appearing in episode 7, letting you see some good ol' kaiju action. Really tickles my fancy~
However, I'm not a fan of GingaiOh, to be 100% honest. It feels far too boxy, it's torso is oddly proportioned, and I don't like that Gingalcon forms a portion of the waist and the majority of it is the bowgun (Rather than the wing pack it's designed to look like).

Anyway, the characters. They aight. GingaRed reminds me of Ryuuranger. Energetic and strong, but not a total fireball. GingaBlue is a nice dude, GingaYellow is a scrappy kid with a good heart, GingaPink is just kind of hanging around (Even after her episode, she really isn't doing much but just chilling around), and GingaGreen is your typical straight laced guy. Nothing too special, but they're all likable characters, so I don't mind. I like how they all reacted to losing their forest/home. It wasn't all somber and tears, and they each dealt with it in their own time, but in different ways.
Mokk is neat. Giving me Gosei vibes, but he's actually helpful. Bokk...Yep, he's there, too. The kid is a nice guy, and his dad is cool, too. Yeah, no one to really hate.

The villains...Hm...They're alright. The Balban aren't really wowing me right now. Captain that just kind of stands around, sexy lady that stands by his side berating everyone else's incompetence, smart dude that smarts, and angry general that fails at every turn. Yup. It's not a very creative set up (Though the first 2 or 3 episodes featured about 4 different generals before Sanbash was chosen, so perhaps after he bites the dust or is benched for one of the others, things will get a little more interesting).
Yatotos are effing weird, though. They fit the pirate theme, but...Yeah.

In all, the first 10 episodes were fun and good enough to interest me in more.

2 more episodes of Gingaman down, 11 and 12.
GingaBlue finds love. It was a cute episode. I guess he's more gorilla-ish than I initially thought :lol
A brief misunderstanding ensues, but it's resolved and he gets cake. What can I say, I'm a fan~

12 features a bigger shake up. Sanbash reveals he knows where the Galactic Lights (Or whatever) are located, and his previous plan from 11 (Causing earthquakes) was to uncover the entrance, rather than awaken the Daitanic. His plan in this episode is a lot more interesting, having a monster disguise himself as an injured Hyuuga to trick GingaRed into opening the area it's hidden in, since apparently you need Earth Power to enter.
Blah blah blah, Sanbash dies, so now we're gonna move onto our next general, presumably ninja samurai man. I was kind of surprised they were talking about the lights this early, but I'm glad they didn't appear in this episode.

Ah yes, you're entering the Budo and Bull Black portion of the show. A.K.A. my favorite part of the show. Seriously I love Budo, he is hands down my second favorite Sentai (monster) villain ever.

Is Budo the samurai ninja?
And I've been most excited for BullBlack, so I can't wait to get to him~

Yes, Budo is the samurai guy, who is my favorite of the villains followed by Illias.

Watched the firstGo Busters episode, pretty damn cool imo

Well, Budo's first idea was a bust. Though I don't know how it ended up being so effective. Pipe blowers blowing mold that can kill all trees in the world in only a few hours? First off...What?

So Ginga 13...Huh. So after Mokk tells Ryouma to stop concerning himself with Hyuuga, he and most of the others storm out and there's a bit of regret. Anyway, fast forward and Mokk, infested with aforementioned mold, puts all of his energy (And nearly his life) to get the Gingamen big honking staffs. What can I say, it was totally worth it.
Hm...

Well, it was a tense scene, so I'll give it that. Budo is already hard at work on his next plan because he already has a list of possible locations of the Light, so he doesn't have to randomly think up ideas to possibly awaken the Daitanic.

Another thing I love about Budo is his theme music. God that music is freaking awesome.

Budo is definitely the coolest of of the Barban lieutenants. He probably would have succeeded in his plan if it weren't for SPOILER. I really like the villains in Gingaman in general - I like the space pirate look, and having four lieutenants with four different gimmicks was a neat idea as well.

Seems like there's a lot of love for Budo. Hm...

Well, 14 and 15. These episodes were pretty out there, 15 especially. Saya finds an idol that looks identical to her, and she gives her a life lesson to enjoy what she does, and even manages to craft a GingaPink suit for her for the good ol' switcheroo. And then Ryouma thinks cold medicine should be the size of a jawbreaker and tricks Hikaru into swallowing it whole, which turns out to be a bomb. Couple this with the most incompetent villain and you have one strange episode :lol

They alright, but nothing special.

Gingaman 16 and 17.
So a cranky old man returns to the stables and throws a bitchfit to piss everyone off, all while threatening to fire them (Since he was pretending to be the owner's father), so they have to deal with it.
Turns out he just wanted his home to be like how he remembered it. It was nice, but he was kind of a horrible person. So...No.

Episode 17, though. Budo's next plan was to go full on terrorist mode and use a bunch of people disguised as bombs to walk into large buildings and detonate. Like, holy shit. I'm not really gonna bring up political commentary because I don't feel like getting an infraction.
Anyway, Ryouma and Yuuta are out camping or something for a project and Yuuta wants to be useful to the team. Yuuta sucks at fighting and they share a bit of a heart to heart before things go downhill and Ryouma ends up falling off a cliff due to an explosion.
Things happen, Yuuta finds the villain's lair where he's making the robots, more things happen, Yuuta destroys the control panel and Ryouma gets caught up in an explosion made by a dogpile of the remaining robots.

Afterwards, when the other Gingamen have arrived, a mysterious warrior emerges carrying an unconscious Ryouma.

It was a really fun episode. I enjoyed seeing the Starbeasts taking out a monster in their kaiju forms, which was cool. The villain's plan was actually both effective (Well, in small scale execution, it was. In theory, it's terrible) and scary, and we get the tease of Bull Black, so it's pretty good~

So after some recent discussion I rewatched the first episode on Ninninger and maaaaaaaaaaaybe I'll go through the whole show again. If it plays out that way. Certainly a couple more episodes. Big maybe though.

It hasn't actually been that long since it aired but I'm curious if I'll hit the same rut I did weekly going at my own pace. And also I wanted something to actually post about in the Sentai threads since I have little to say about episodes of Zyuohger every week beyond "it was good yeah!". I figure my perspective on Ninninger is rare enough to be mildly interesting, so without further ado:

Ninninger 1.

Seeing the premiere again reminded me exactly why Ninninger got me hooked so early on. This is a really strong first episode that gives you a great feel for the show. I love how the literal first thing that happens is Takaharu getting into a fight as Akaninger. It's a great way to send a message about the show's style. Big action! Lots of it! And it's always such nice action. I remember one of the interviews before the series aired said they were trying to focus on more unassisted acrobatics than wire-work and the like and it really shows throughout a lot of the show. There's the usual CGI-heavy special attacks but in general the Ninningers are always flipping around in a way that's a lot more energetic than your usual Sentai. The show has a lot of flash in a good way. Their role call is also a personal favorite of mine.

And those mecha scenes! One of my personal pet peeves in Sentai I've had ever since watching Power Rangers as a kid is when teams never use the mecha individually and because they built beautiful practical props for all of them I guess they felt more inclined to show them all off. Obviously Shinobimaru (and later Rodeomaru) have the advantage of being dudes in suits but you get to see a lot of action from the rest of them too. Even the dump truck is made to feel like a cool and important part of the arsenal. Love the touch of having the Rangers ride on top of them too. The scattered motifs of Shurikenjin presented a great opportunity for varied action and it didn't go to waste.

Unfortunately when Gekiatsu Dai-Oh shows up its parts are both crappy CG and only exist to combine. This was genuinely a huge reason I lost interest in the show because the mecha went a long way towards making me love it so much in the first place. One of the big reasons I want to rewatch the whole series is to see if I'll come off more positive on that part of the show going in not expecting anything else.

...well that'll do for now. I could talk about characters and plot and stuff but I'll let that come as it does. I want to try and keep these as brief as I can (by my standards I mean).

Ninnin Rewatch! 2 + 3

Let me just start off by saying I love Ninninger's opening. The narration is pretty hype and the song itself is, much like a lot of Ninninger, retro in a very cool way, being a bragging theme song all about how the Ninningers are gonna totally kick the s*** out of any bad guys they see. I also love the touch of the main villains that haven't shown up yet being in silhouette. A lot of what makes Ninninger great lies in the details and little touches like that add up quickly.

Episode 2 is essentially a classic "energetic Red guy doesn't get along with level-headed Blue dude" plot (mixed in with some more stage-setting) which in context of the franchise was something we hadn't seen in a while. The previous few Blues were all cheery team players so Yakumo's more distant demeanor was sort of refreshing, despite being an old concept. I think Ninninger might have better character development than I remember too because he seems like way more of a jerk here than by the end. The payoff is, of course, that we get to see Shurikenjin Drago for the first time, and the way it plays out is really clever. A lesser show would've simply had them go straight from one form to another, but Ninninger takes advantage of Shurikenjin's unique design by having Shinobimaru jump out of the "throne" to chase after a flying monster. Naturally, he can't get high enough so Dragomaru detaches to bail him out, and then when they reform Shurikenjin Yakumo decides to steal the spotlight. Again, a little moment, but the attention to detail in Ninninger is what makes it awesome.

Episode 3 is a simple focus episode about Nagi that's elevated by some more great action. The climax involves an eeeevil truck that Nagi gets chained to, which might not sound exciting, but the fact that the majority of it involves an actual stunt-actor actually strapped to an ACTUAL moving truck makes it downright compelling. You get so used to everything in Toei shows looking fake it's crazy they decided this was worth the budget. Also some more great mecha stuff to top it off because why not? Dumpmaru even gets to throw some rocks at the monster all by itself! Dawww... it's like it's almost cool...

Continuing on Gingaman (I try to update in pairs, but I only watched one these past two days), 18 featured more Bull Black (Shocking, I know). In the tact you'd expect from someone 3000 years old, he just tries to steal an ancient artifact called the Demon Stone while in an armored truck. Then, in a perfectly logical move, he doesn't talk to the Gingamen at all to lead to them being suspicious of him being evil.

I know he states that he isn't with the Gingaman and doing his own thing, but still, come on. This is tier 1 levels of generic. It makes him confrontative for no reason beyond "Oooh, friend or foe, you'll never know!"

Despite my bitching, it was nice. I liked that they quashed the idea of Ryouma thinking he's his brother quickly, just by watching his swordplay. Black Knight was still really cool, and it's pretty interesting to learn he was the one to bring the lights to Earth.

Ninnin Rewatch! 4 + 5

In episode 4, Akaninger learns a valuable lesson about working as a team. Let me repeat, he learns this 4 episodes in. Naturally, Ninninger makes this extra fun by giving us oden-based character development. Seriously. Takaharu just wants to eat the eggs, since they're his favorite part, but when he eats everything together he finds it tastes even better. This is completely genius in my book. In the climax he proceeds to make it a point to actively stop himself from rushing in headfirst and tells Yakumo to call the shots. I really like this episode and I really like Takaharu. Complaints of him being the center of attention are largely unfounded. Spotlight hogging is his character flaw, and he grows out of it by around halfway through. Rewatching the show I'm still not sure why people say Shunsuke Nishikawa's acting was bad early on either. I mean, the line delivery can be pretty goofy, but Takaharu is a pretty goofy character so it matches perfectly. Not to mention he gets more subtle as the character does, making Takaharu's growth come across very clearly.

Takaharu is not at all the center of attention in Episode 5! I just wanted to mention that so you don't get the idea last episode's lesson didn't stick past that week. This time it's all about Kasumi (and Yakumo). I love how the episode essentially mocks itself (and formulaic Sentai plots in general) by having the resolution to Kasumi's dilemma be that she didn't actually have a dilemma, Yakumo just misunderstood. Again, pretty genius as far as I'm concerned. The talk of everybody's various dreams is important though. The fact that the Ninningers all have their own goals outside of being ninja is very important to the show and this is the first time they really dig into it. The episode also ends with a fight on the Moon. You just can't go wrong with that. You also get to see Ninninger's remarkably thorough world-building come into play as, apparently, UFOmaru is actually an alien that Yoshitaka met and based the other Otomo-nin on. Yes, Ninninger is kind of a kitchen sink of fantasy ideas.

His acting was a bit stiff and awkward at the beginning, but that goes for most toku actors in first episodes because most of them are beginners. We did have Toqger before there, which had a cast of mostly more experienced actors, so that might be a factor why the Ninninger group felt so off to many people.
And to be fair, Nishikawa is not the best actor overall, but he quickly improved during Ninnin.

Did it? Huh.

Anyway, he definitely is pretty awkward early on but it really didn't seem bad enough to be notable. I think he had the right sort of energy from the get-go too, unenthusiastic moetekita~'s not withstanding.

Ninnin Rewatch! Ninninger VS Drive (hey, why not?)

This was actually a lot better than I remember. It's just a tiny bit bogged down by the obligatory movie tie-in stuff (Hi Rider 3! Bye Rider 3!), but it otherwise hits pretty much every beat a good crossover should. The big thing going for it is the chemistry between Akaninger and Drive, who give the whole special a solid backbone by having Shinnosuke's arc of initially be frustrated with Takaharu's antics only to realize they have a lot in common. There're also a lot of fun scenes throughout. We're given the obligatory *misunderstanding* at the start with Drive mistaking the Ninningers for particularly odd Roidmudes, but the ensuing fight is made interesting by actually showing how they counter each other's wildly different abilities. Seeing Shinnosuke and Belt-san completely baffled by giant Roidmudes and giant robots is also a really great bit of perspective. As the audience, you just sort of accept these things as making sense. This special with written by Drive's writer, Riku Sanjo, but it actually works remarkably well as an episode of Ninninger. Everybody is very in-character and this is kind of the first time we really get to see Takaharu be the unexpected voice of reason, which will become more of a thing with him later on. He's the one who stops the fight with Drive to actually ask some questions. He figures out the monster's plan before Shinnosuke, a detective, can. And he gives a spot-on summation of their respective personalities toward the end ("If I'm a hotheaded idiot who rushes in without thinking, you're a hotheaded idiot who overthinks everything"). All around pretty good stuff. I mean, remember when the best you could hope for with a Sentai/Rider crossover was Super Hero Wars? We should really count our blessings here. :p

Oh, and seeing Shunsuke Nishikawa acting opposite Ryoma Takeuchi (Shinnosuke) for 48 minutes really puts into perspective why people thought his acting was crap.

The guys all had been in the business for a while, with Tokacchi, Right and the singer of the opening all being Tenimyu Alumni. Tokacchi also worke´d on music videos for Karaoke bars xD (it was hilarious to see him in one that was basically him standing around looking hot). Hikari had drama roles before, if I remember correctly (He was also in Fourze as Ryusei's best friend). I think Mio also did some stuff before (she had a role in an episode of Goseiger too). And Zet was actually near the end of his acting career, as he retired this year (He was Nobunaga in Movie Taisen Core). For Akira, I think he was mostly a stage actor since that what he mostly does now as well. Kagura was the only real newcomer, as far as I remember.

Yeah, add me to the list of people who can't believe those rangers were acting previously. They didn't seem like they knew how to act at all.

Only one more episode of Gingaman under my belt. I don't know why I've slowed down on watching it, especially since I've hit a part I really enjoy. Hm...

Well, 19. We get more on Bull Black, especially that backstory though. Damn. The Ryouma parallel is strong (Though wasn't it changed to his son in PR?). His more ruthless ways make sense considering he's basically lost everything at this point. I kind of like it. It's overdone to death at this point, but it doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable.
We also get some Goutaurus action. It's underwhelming, to be honest. The prop moves too slowly for something that's supposed to be a bull, and it doesn't seem to have a full sized suit, meaning that it needs to basically be (Poorly) cut into scenes with other giant monsters. No wonder they made Bull Taurus in it's debut episode...Still don't quite get why Black Knight grows giant, but eh. It is what it is.

It was a pretty good episode. I love Bull Black's backstory, and it's nice to see Zahab being the one to do the deed to Bull Black's brother. Damn, no wonder his vendetta is so strong.

Also to note, Budo is using his 4 generals now, so methinks his time is coming.

Ninnin Rewatch! 6 + 7

Episode 6 moves a whole bunch of stuff along at once. It's the first time we see Tsumuji get all angsty about not being a ninja, which naturally comes up a bunch more and has a great payoff. I like Tsumuji a lot. He's a properly dorky dad and his milquetoast mannerisms contrast nicely with how loud a lot of the show is. Gives it some heart. Takaharu's development is also reinforced, getting into a fight with Gabi Raizou (who I haven't mentioned yet so I'll just say he's a simple but effective starter villain) only for the rest of the team to bail him out when things get hairy. Yakumo scolds him for forgetting they work best as a team and Takaharu actually brings up the oden thing from a couple episodes ago before they take him on together. I love direct continuity like that. Ninninger builds on itself really well.

Episode 7 is a nostalgia trip! Or it would be if I've seen Hurricanger and Kakuranger. The show itself doesn't just stop to cater to the crossover though. It's very naturally worked in and a huge plot point is Fuuka trying to swallow her pride and thank Takaharu for saving her last episode. I really can't stress this enough. Ninninger is all about continuity. Even the Hurricanger/Kakuranger shurikens they get at the end keep getting used throughout the show, which is kind of cool. I also really love seeing Akaranger point out that the other ninja Sentai weren't exactly the most stealthy guys around either. At least the Ninningers are upfront about it. :lol

What the Kakurangers lack in stealth they make up with in style~

I wonder if they will keep that episode in the Power rangers version.

I haven't even seen the show but somehow that makes total sense to me.

If they get the actual dudes like Ninninger did (I would be fine with just the voices even), I'd love to see that. If they don't do it, I can imagine we'll see those shuriken on their swords in one shot or another anyway, even if just briefly and from a distance. Like I mentioned, they get used with decent frequency.

Gingaman episode 20 (I'll probably go back to updating in pairs after this one, now that I'm back to an even numbered episode).

Is pretty good. Black Knight continues to be a complete douche with no shame. This time, letting Barban use their plan to basically lower everyone's body temperature until they sleep and, inevitably, die. Why? Because Bull Black wants the Ginga Lights, too, and the plan was already in motion. He even trades blows with GingaRed over this.
Well, basically everyone is out for the count except Red and Black Knight, and Black Knight was basically on Barban's side for half this episode until he decides to stop being a total monster.

Black Knight Bull Black. Because if you can be considered a hero, Kurojishi Rio can be, too.

You should check it out.
They also do have their moments of stealth. It really feels tense~

It's on the Eternal Toku Backlog (pretty much everything is). I don't know why but I haven't really been in the mood to watch new shows in a while. I guess I'm just that crazy but I've been really enjoying this whole Ninnin Rewatch! (can't forget that "!") business so far.

I've rewatched a few shows lately and it's actually a really cool experience picking up all the subtle bits of foreshadowing and such you missed the first time. In some cases I think I even liked the shows better the second time around.

I watched about ten minutes of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger the Movie: The Dinosaur Lord's Splendid Ninja Scroll!. Seemed pretty fun.

Just finished watching Hurricanger. Overall I liked it, I especially like when the villain team varies during the season. The Goraiger introduction/conversion went on just about the right amount of time, any longer would have been too long.

One of my only qualms about the series is that the Hurricangers themselves always seemed to be a couple steps behind their allies - of course this was appropriate at the beginning of the season when they were still newish students but even as the season went on, they always seemed to get beat too easily.

Again, overall I series I liked pretty well. Will probably fall near the middle (above Bio, Zyu, Mega, Oh, probably about level with Car, Kaku, Nin, Gogo, below Dai, Live, Jet, Mask, Ginga, Gao)

Ninnin Rewatch! 8 + 9

Episode 8 is a really solid spotlight episode about Shironinger. Fuuka is having some friends from school over but wants to keep the whole ninja thing under wraps. She's insistent she doesn't want to be a ninja beyond fighting the Kibaoni and is especially worried about Takaharu embarrassing her (hey, you would be too). Naturally this doesn't go well but through some exciting events involving a time-traveling cat monster (man I love toku) she remembers she actually did want to be a ninja as a kid, and shows some real zeal throughout the fight at the end, even throwing Takaharu out of his seat in Shurikenjin so she can sit in the middle. Remember how I said he wasn't the focus of the show?

Episode 9 has more family dynamics with Yakumo's mom showing up. She's a fashion designer who doesn't approve of him being a ninja (they're so last season), but of course by the end she gets over it. I struggle to say much about this episode but it's well done and very enjoyable, despite being a pretty stock plot. Ninninger puts a lot of emphasis on family throughout and it always does a great job of it.

Both of these episodes also feature brief guest appearances by a certain mysterious cowboy, but we'll get to him next time...

That's funny that you'd say that as that was one of the complaints the guys [and gal] on the TokuNet podcast had with it - that it didn't feel like they were a family.

Well, my family and I are completely estranged for the most part. So when I'm with them it's like being with a bunch of strangers. Strangers that I just so happen to share genetics with.

Well there you have it. There's all different kinds of families out there. If they were referring specifically to the main 5 Ninningers' dynamic, I think it's more than justifiable that they aren't super duper close right away since they're cousins. I don't remember exactly what was said but I'm pretty sure the first episode gives the impression they don't get together too often. And naturally this allows for all sorts of character growth throughout the show. They come off way more tight-knit by the end.

As for Shironinger and Akaninger, I don't really know what to say besides they feel like siblings to me, and I have siblings, so I think my perspective is pretty valid.

Keep in mind when I said that I was also talking more about the whole generational thing that's at the center of a lot of the show, especially later on.

i watch 1989 turboranger series on youtube
i love 1989 tubroranger robo

That makes sense - I didn't know this. I'm putting this, the "worst" sentai, on my to-watch list as I totally enjoyed that goofy Dinosaur Lord movie. Is the show essentially that?

Ninnin Rewatch! 10 + Excessive Starninger gushing

Episode 10 is an all-around good 6th Ranger debut bolstered by some great action scenes, which is basically Ninninger's modus operandi, but for some reason the ones in this episode stuck out to me even the first time around. It's probably the little RC Bison Buggy that pushes it over the edge. But enough about the actual episode, I wanna talk about Starninger.

I F***ING LOVE STARNINGER! National stereotypes haven't been this awesome since G Gundam. I love the commitment the show has to the idea he's American. Starting with how his name, despite being Japanese, is given in katakana and in American order (i.e. family name goes last) in the credits. Like I said, Ninninger has a lot of attention to detail that could easily go unappreciated. And then there's the constant English peppered into his dialogue (he even gets the odd full sentence, like in episodes 8 & 9). Sure his pronunciation is bad (not terrible, you'll note), but frankly I think that just makes him more adorable. Kinji himself is a really fleshed out character with a lot of development over the season, but of course I'll talk about that as it comes. I could go on and on like this for a while, but I'll spare you the page space and stop here.

Well personally, I find most Sentai summer movies pretty weak compared to the actual shows, so I'd wager if you liked that, the show will be even better. It's certainly pretty goofy. Ninninger has a lot of fun with itself while still telling a serious-ish story.

Cool - being that people generally don't like it, I'm having to collect it from various sources but, I need some goofy fun.

Gingaman continues.
First up, tomatoes. GingaGreen hates them, but apparently they're also similar to another fruit that heals all wounds for wind warriors. Ain't that a pickle.
Also, people in Japan just grab tomatoes and eat them like apples? I did not know that.
Bull Black's daily douchery involves jacking a tomato truck and destroying all of them on board.

Now, though, the Galactic Lights appear, having apparently been hidden in an ancient, underground spring. I think that should've been around plan B or C, not the absolute last (Honestly, DESTROY ALL TOMATOES should've been your last plan, Budo...)
Being stuck behind an invisible force field, GingaYellow and Pink are forced to fight a general while also constantly bickering. They make up (Kind of) and beat the general, breaking down the wall. In that moment, the lights finally appear and now it's a race to reach them. If Budo or Zahab don't go down to help the monster and retrieve the lights against the guys who are 20 for 20 in every fight, then they're pretty damn stupid.

Also, Bull Black does that thing where he's an asshole and fights the other Star Beasts, and now he has a mysterious pain in his chest. Hm.

Ninnin Rewatch! 11 + 12

Episode 11 mostly serves to establish where Starninger fits into the group dynamic, but it doesn't feel like the rest of the show grinds to a halt to do it. I love the newly updated narration in the opening, which explicitly doesn't treat Kinji as part of the group, reflecting his role early on. Love the culture clash going on at the start with Kinji cooking for everyone ("1500 calories is a bit much for breakfast") and arguing the pronunciation of the word "easy" with Yakumo. Glass houses, Kinji, glass houses.

Episode 12 is totally rad. It has a great feeling of being the end of a "chapter", and really shows how much the Ninningers have grown even just 12 episodes in, and naturally it does this with some great action throughout. This is the first notable instance of Takaharu doing his whole accidentally really insightful bit too, first to Kinji and then again to Gabi Raizou in the climax.

Oh and it shows up in both of these episodes so I figure I'll mention it in its own paragraph: Yoshitaka totally wrote a trashy best-selling autobiography! In English! Remember how I said way back that Ninninger has amazing world-building? I can't get over this, it's called I am the LAST NINJA (and apparently it's the NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR) and the pages are filled with completely comprehensible if clunky English. That's just so awesome! Little stuff like this is what makes me love Ninninger.

EDIT: But you don't have to take my word for it!

That's wonderfully absurd. Madan Senkei Ryukendo is made out of this kind of humor, which is why I love it and, dammit, I'll keep talking about it if I want to!