Ninja vs. Gokudo Premiere Review: A Rough, Brown Brawl

Ninja vs. Gokudo arrives with a premise built for chaos: the idea that ninja and yakuza have been locked in conflict for centuries, a feud that spills over into modern Tokyo. Sadly, the first episode does not quite deliver on that promise.

The most immediate problem is the look. The art has a stiff, slightly off quality, with faces and especially noses that never quite sit right, all wrapped in a heavy palette of browns and thick black outlines. It is, frankly, not a very appealing show to watch.

For an action series, the fights are surprisingly flat too. The show tries to sell how fast the ninja Shinoha is with streaks of light and the sound of a broken sound barrier, but even the bloody payoffs feel brief and underwhelming rather than thrilling.

The story leans into its silliness, with the gokudō committing crimes while the ninja quietly support the police from the shadows, often handling cases before the authorities even arrive. It can feel a little like a children’s game stretched into an anime.

The result is a premiere that lands as predictable and somewhat disappointing. Ninja vs. Gokudo is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

My take: I love a goofy, over the top concept, but this one struggles to make its action or its art land. There may be fun to be found here for the right viewer, though the opening did not win me over.