English Dub Season Review: Ninja vs. Gokudo Season One

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The ninja banish evil from the shadows.  The gokudo gather lonely outcasts and commit crimes.  The grudge they forged centuries ago is rekindled in the present day.  The ninja Shinoha (Conradie van Heerden) meets Kiwami (Nate Prentice), a gokudo with the face of a businessman.  Unknowing of the other’s identity, they bond over anime, but the war between ninja and gokudo intensifies.  Who will survive and who will perish, ninja or gokudo?

Our Take:

Ninja vs. Gokudo is an anime adaptation of a manga series written and illustrated by Shinsuke Kondo.  It is directed by Toshinori Watabe, with Keiichirō Ōchi writing the screenplays and Toshiyuki Matsutake designing the characters.  It is produced by Studio Deen, known for shows such as Ranma 1/2, Fruits Basket, Re:Monster, and Twilight Out of Focus.  The opening theme song, “Sweet Disaster”, is performed by Miyavi, and the ending theme song, “Until You Die Out”, is sung by Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I usually try to give specific shows or movies a fair shot whenever they struggle to meet my expectations.  While a couple of them may not be to my liking, I can usually find a few merits to make my experiences with them tolerable, notably their art designs.  That is, until I came across this particular anime that made me rethink my beliefs, and not for the better.  The one I’m referring to is Ninja vs. Gokudo, another anime released on Prime Video that promises high-octane action and visual grandeur, set in a modern-day war between ninjas and gangsters.  However, this ongoing conflict becomes more complicated when one member from each side, Shinoha Tanaka from the Eight Imperial Ninja and Kiwami Kimura from the Gokudos, becomes friends over their favorite show, unaware of their true identities.  As the war escalates into dangerous territory, so do the signs that could test their unexpected bond.

This concept undoubtedly underscores a narrative involving two people from different sides becoming friends, only to turn into enemies near its conclusion.  In fact, the show pokes fun at this trope through Shinoha and Kiwami’s love of a fictional magical girl anime.  In its first couple of episodes, the series offered a bit of satire of the sentimental trope that has audiences rooting for unexpected friends to remain on good terms despite their differing beliefs standing in the way.  However, once the war began to dominate the remaining season, the show immediately went downhill.  This brings me back to my belief in giving a specific show or movie a fair chance if it doesn’t surprise me with its direction.  While I did find a small piece of merit in this show, it’s not enough to keep me from considering that Ninja vs. Gokudo may be the only series I gave up on at the start of the season.

One particular merit that improved its watchability just a smidge was its art design.  Studio Deen usually brings vibrancy and dynamic energy to its designs and presentations, notably in Twilight Out of Focus, a surprisingly watchable addition to the BL collection.  There are also some pretty decent moments in the studio’s visually chaotic designs in The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess, at least so far.  For Ninja vs. Gokudo, the animation style was suitably utilized to reflect the manga’s straightforward yet occasionally striking characters.  However, when it comes to the innovation of its action scenes, the presentation doesn’t quite hit as hard as a ninja decapitating a gokudo, especially in terms of character movements and suspense.  It undoubtedly looks respectable in its art style, but that’s essentially all there is to it.

Besides that one merit, Ninja vs. Gokudo might be the only anime that I want to remove from my brain immediately.  It’s not just because of the horrible English dubbing that makes its cheesiness intolerable, but also how it handles its straightforward narrative.  The first season focuses on the unexpected bond between a ninja and a gokudo amid the war between the two clans.  With this element, the show could’ve been another example of it emphasizing the importance of friendship and generational history.  Additionally, Shinoha and Kiwami’s obsession with the magic-princess anime offered a clear satire of its narrative trope of best friends turned enemies through deception and secrecy.  

While there were a few moments of Shinoha and Kiwami hanging out, the series primarily focuses on its good-versus-evil storyline, which lacks the fun, innovation, and even the comical charm of other familiar shows.  It’s a straightforward, repetitive, and lackluster portrayal of its themes that lacks a clear sense of its own identity.  Was it trying to be an action comedy that satirizes its friends-turned-enemies trope, or an action-packed extravaganza highlighting the war between the two sides?  Series director Toshinori Watabe attempted to blend both, but ended up favoring one side over the other, resulting in a pretty dull battle that’s built on manipulative emotion and one-dimensional characters.  The “Great Burial of Love” arc is a major example of how disappointing and boring the series turned out to be.  This crucial battle was supposed to add emotional heft to this “turning tide” of the war.  However, its uneven pacing and direction didn’t give the arc much breathing room to emphasize character development, even when some of them bit the dust. 

As for the English dub, it’s just one of those elements that you have to hear to believe.  This dub is the main reason why I gave up on this series before the halfway point.  I know that the other English-dubbed anime from sites outside Crunchyroll weren’t exactly top-tier, especially those on Amazon Prime Video.  However, at least some of them were able to make their mediocre voice directions tolerable.  The English dub of Ninja vs. Gokudo felt like it wasn’t even trying to make its forced line delivery bearable.  Undoubtedly, it has a slew of promising voice actors, including Conradie van Heerden, whose voice matches Shinoha’s unexpressive tone and rage, and Nate Prentice, who blends Kiwami’s cheerfulness and villainy.  Unfortunately, that hardly matters when the voice direction faltered in making their line deliveries genuine.  Even when they attempt to express some emotion in their performances, they still come off as flat, corny, and uninspiring, and not in a laughable way.  It goes without saying that this show’s English dub may be the worst thing I’ve heard in an anime so far, regardless of quality.

Ninja vs. Gokudo could have been another enjoyable, action-packed anime that uses its straightforward narrative to underscore its amusing concept, particularly its take on the friends-turned-enemies trope.  Instead, it’s an uninspired, irritatingly mindless experience that makes me want to get decapitated myself so I don’t have it etched into my brain for the rest of my life.  Despite the potential in its actors and art style, the show swiftly navigated its narrative cliches without adding much creativity or interest to help it stand out from similar projects.  As a result, it becomes a strong contender for the worst anime of the year in my eyes, maybe even the worst I’ve seen period.  Regarding its terrible dub performances, uneven direction, mediocre storytelling, and characters that are forgettable or annoying, this is one war that I refuse to participate in further.