Overview (Spoilers Below): Both burning with hatred in the aftermath of Kabuchika, Shinoha and Kiwami take a spontaneous nighttime drive. They learn of each other’s loss while discussing Flash Princess and make an inspiring pledge to each other. Charismatic figures from each side, the Cursed Blood Ninja Brothers and the gokudo’s bosozoku “god”, each rally their troops. There’s no running from this deadly battle of fate!
Our Take: We’re only four episodes in, and we’re already down two ninjas, thanks to the gokudo’s mysterious drugs. I’m starting to think that the Eight Imperial Ninja may have been losing their edge. Though, to be fair, the Eight Gokudo of Destruction wasn’t so fortunate either, though we did find out at the end that Gamute survived the explosion from the last episode for some reason. It didn’t even mention how she survived. She just appeared out of nowhere like nothing happened. Having poor voice direction is one thing, but a plot hole like this can really drag the show down for me. Following two back-to-back battles between both sides, this episode is where the war really starts to heat up. Not only is the Imperial Ninja getting the team back together, but the Gokudo is also rallying up their own band to increase their chances of winning. For the latter, the gokudo legend, Hiroki Yajima, or “Zokugami”, has reunited with his old pals, including Alpha and Omega, along with his ruthless biker gang, to stir up more trouble. Essentially, the episode serves as both a breather and a teaser for the bigger war ahead, as the ninja and gokudo go all out with their large crews in tow. Unsurprisingly, this spells bad news for the innocent people who are about to get caught in the middle. The subpar direction of its depth and vocal performances still hindered the show’s potential, but in terms of the setup, it’s tolerable enough to see how far both sides will go to win their war.