[Fish Sandwich]

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...