Ninja Kamui: Season 1 Episode 9 – Review/ Recap

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Plot Recap

Bigger Plans At Play – Yamaji, Joseph

While Joseph sees the world as a game, him as the only player, and victory in sight if he can stop people like Higan, Emma, and cowardly politicians, Yamaji has his mind on other things. What exactly? That’s hard to say. We only know that he sees Joseph as vile and doesn’t seem above creating a power vacuum or rising in rank beyond what the Ninja Clan could offer.

Round 2 – Joseph, Big D, Mike, Jason, Emma, Higan

Big D, similar to Lil, lives for combat but, unlike Lil, wants a fair fight. With ignoring Joseph, to make sure his hair was right, Big D doesn’t learn or get a chance to call off Joseph sending Auza soldiers. Thus, what should have been Big D vs. Higan featured soldiers whom Emma and Mike focused on.

As for Jason? He and Emma were working on hacking Auza’s servers, but he had to finish that task alone, which with having to hack into satellites and mainframes, was a potential challenge. But it seems he and Emma got far enough for him to finish the work on his own.

Now, as for the battle? Big D remains honorable and fights hard but fair as Emma and Mike mow down Auza soldiers. But, in the end, Big D loses, and thanks to Joseph putting what appears to be some mechanism to turn Big D’s suit into a bomb, while Higan lives, Emma dies.

Goodbye Friend – Mike, Jason, Emma, Higan

Unlike in past episodes, we’re not left on a cliffhanger that leads to a reveal that Emma actually lived. She is dead. We see her true face, take her last breath, and Higan even burns her body. Jason is a blubbering mess throughout all of this, and Mike, since Mike, vicariously, was experiencing the fatherhood he didn’t get to have through Emma.

But all this does for Higan is strengthen his resolve and as he does, his next opponent preps for their battle.

Collected Quote(s)

• • “[…] desperation [is] like courage for cowards.” – Emma

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. 1. Whatever happened to that old man who helped bring Higan back to life earlier in the season?

Cast Guide

Character’s Name	Actor’s Name
Yamaji	Kazuhiro Yamaji
Joseph	Scott Gibbs
Mike	Shawn Hamilton
Jason	Joe Daniels
Emma	Luci Christian
Big D	Joe P

Review

On The Fence

The Fakeouts In The Past Ruined Emma’s Death

Because we’ve had so many moments when it seemed Mike was dead and at least one when it seemed Emma was dead, I didn’t get anything from Emma’s death being explicitly confirmed. I recognize it is sad, but the show made a hero’s death a bait and switch too many times to care at this point.

Lack Of Interest In Yamaji’s Ultimate Plan

Being that Yamaji hasn’t been developed well as a villain, you don’t have much of a reason to take note of his plans. He is subtle in his ambitions, which you have to give him credit for. But he is so subtle that he is forgettable and because he lacks a notable personality, doesn’t really seem to have notable control over the ninjas, and contains a air of mystery that makes him relatively unknown, him finally revealing his plans makes me shrug.

Does the show even have enough episodes to, in this season, rapidly build up Yamaji to be more than representative for the ninjas and instead someone who deserves your attention.

Background Information

Episode Title	Episode 9
Release Date	April 7, 2024
Network	Toonami
Director(s)	Sunghoo Park
Writer(s)	Shigeru Murakoshi, Takayuki Sano
Previous Episode	Season 1/ Episode 8
Series Page	Ninja Kamui
Character Guide	Ninja Kamui Cast and Character Guide

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