English Dub Review: Ninja Kamui “Episode 9”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Higan, Emma, Mike, and Jason kick off their plan to sabotage Auza’s operation. Big D arrives to face them, but is quickly defeated Higan. However, Joseph puts in a bomb that is intended to kill all five, but only manages to kill Big D and Emma. Elsewhere, Zai witnesses the completion of his own armored suit.

OUR TAKE

That’s two lieutenants down, technically three with Emma now dead, leaving only Dilly and Zai as actual combat threats. I’ll get to talking about Emma, but first let’s wrap up talking about D. He was definitely the coolest of the four, and knew it very well, having massive drip and a clear sense of honor. It’s a shame then that his armor focused so much on fighting with giant energy centipedes and fighting with his feet for some reason, since using his arms probably would’ve come in handy. The way he dies also acts as a clear example of why Joseph’s influence is a corrupting force on the Ninjas, as he puts a bomb in the suit in order to take out more of them and dishonoring Big D’s defeat. Though if that wasn’t clear on its own, there’s also a scene of being a whiny asshole to both the head of the Ninjas and his investors. So, if you didn’t want this guy to get stabbed through the throat with a katana before, you very likely do now. And given how this show handles taking out its villains, it’ll probably occur exactly that way, so just sit tight for a few more weeks.

Now there’s Emma’s death to talk about and it’s not going to be fun. Last week I expected Mike to die as he was the older father figure mentor who was two weeks from retirement, so he basically had a coat made of death flags. Instead, he gets a fake out death and Emma is taken out in the Big D’s explosive release. To be clear, subverting a cliche is not bad in and of itself. Often times it can end up being pretty cool, unless the subversion ironically becomes used more than the initial cliche and becomes a cliche itself. But in this case, we end up switching out one cliche for another, with Emma now being the second female character being killed off just to further motivate a male character, with Higan’s wife Mai being the first. Now the only named woman in the show is Dilly and she’s probably on the chopping block next. Oh well, three episodes left.