Ninja Nonsense [Dusty Shelf Anime Review]

I flipped to the back of the last DVD of Ninja Nonsense to check the copyright. 2004 for the original work, and 2006 for the RightStuff DVD. I would bet money that this has just be sitting on my shelf gathering dust for 8 years. Good thing I finally got around to watching it.

Our heroins, Shinobu and Kaede.

The series is called Ninja Nonsense: the Legend of Shinobu, at least in English. The Japanese is Ninin ga Shinobuden (ニニンがシノブ伝) which is a mathematical pun in Japanese.
Ni (2) x Ni (2) ga (grammatical particle*) Shi (4). During the anime the title is shown as 2x2 = Shinobuden. Nonsense, utterly.

The worlds most unpleasant happy face.

Oh yeah, the rating. I suppose I should put that up.

4 out of 5 stars

This series was pretty funny. I mean it is billed as a comedy, so it had better be funny. The humor is there and it lasts. I went back and watched the first episode again, just for review purposes, and still found myself laughing. Endurance, that is a good thing for humor. 

A happiness found only in shitage.

Ninja Nonsense revolves around the trial and tribulations of Shinobu, the only female ninja in her ninja school. 

During her exam in the first episode, Shinobu enters Kaede's room (whilst under the impression that she is invisible) to steal the underwear of a high school girl. However since Shinobu is not exactly the best ninja, she is not invisible and is caught (obviously) by Kaede. In her panic Shinobu summons Onsokumaru (sonic speed ball), or as I refer to him, the most perverted 'happy face' ever.

Break it they will.

This encounter is the start of the 'friendship' between Shinobu and Kaede. I say 'friendship' because the relationship is very ambiguous, and I mean ambiguous like that duo in old SNL skits. During one episode Shinobu refers to Kaede as her 'more than a friend.' It is never explicit, but it is obvious. Just like the old SNL cartoon.

It's very cute, very funny, and very colorful. I can't recommend the dub, as I did not watch it. I watch everything in subs unless the subs are badly done. These were just fine. Easy to read, non obtrusive, and did not disappear into bright shots. 

I do recommend this anime. I liked it alot more than my last Dusty Shelf Review. You can watch Ninja Nonsense on Hulu if you do not happen to have the old DVDs sitting around. I have no idea if it is dubbed of subbed on Hulu, so fair warning there. This anime is still worth a watch, and I may have to try and get a hold of the manga. Which until recently I did not even know was translated into English.

I don't even... words can't... well, you know.

 * Grammatical Particle, there are really no competent equivalents I can think of in the English language to describe the importance of 'wa' and 'ga' in Japanese. But if you really want information, check out this article on Nihon Shock.