Ninninger 30 sanjou!

[takenoko]

http://wiki.tvnihon.com/wiki/Ninninger_Shinobi_no_30

An okay episode I guess. For a guest star, it seemed like Kikyou did more acting than the Ninningers do on a regular basis.

Pacing felt good, and it was surprisingly not annoying despite being a Takaharu focused episode.

I don't think anyone in this series knows what the word Last means.

Kind of hope Kikyou hangs around, but not as Takaharu's girlfriend. Frankly, I think she's interested in Ise instead.

Awesome seeing Baba Ryouma again.

Trivia: Ise Kiroku is named after ending singer Ise Daiki. Just switch the dai and the ki around and replace dai (大) with roku (六), since the kanji look similar. I thought that was a nice touch.

[Slowking]

Trivia: Ise Kiroku is named after ending singer Ise Daiki. Just switch the dai and the ki around and replace dai (大) with roku (六), since the kanji look similar. I thought that was a nice touch.

Haha, nice catch

Kind of an alright episode - I didn't mind Takaharu that much. My main issue is still the pacing within the episodes; it's as if they try to do too many things at once.

Baba Ryouma was great, as always.

What happened to Paonmaru, Surfermaru etc.?

[Arigomi]

I'm surprised that they didn't do more to make a SASUKE reference when Takaharu ran the obstacle course.

Using hand signs to open the secret passage felt a little odd due to the lack of a sound effect.

I liked the directing for this episode. They used a lot of interesting camera angles to capture the feel of a ninja movie.

[xiiliea]

Spoiler

[VerusMaya II]

I thought that was odd too xiiliea but it's not an uncommon way to show off the belt. I've seen it before at least.

Anyway, it was a fairly good episode. Kikyou definitely is more interested in sempai sensei than Takaharu but god forbid the Red doesn't get all the power-ups and the ladies.

[Lunagel]

Meh. It wasn't half bad, and it was better than I thought it would be, given the magazine scans. Loved seeing Baba Ryouma again, whoo.

Still, you know it's bad when the villain does a more proper job of being a ninja than the Red.

[Lunchboxx]

Good episode, and I'm glad that I was wrong about Kikyou being a trap. I voice the same opinion with Takenoko, and hope she makes more appearances. Hell given her color, I'd wouldn't mind if she became a ranger, much like the extra rangers were in Kyouryuger.

4/5

[mholden020]

Interesting episode. Seemed a bit more story-driven instead of MOTW-driven, which is always nice, but it seemed like the writers wanted to point out that they can actually write a story-driven episode and happened to forget the other five Ninningers during the process. Takaharu didn't even start in the same mech as the others, why is there still a 6th seat in Shurikenjin anymore?

4/5 for me since it actually had a plot, but it gets some partial points for continuing the gag about kids thinking Takaharu is a wee bit strange. Now that we're into the 30s, hopefully we get out of the mid-season filler stage soon.

[ViRGE]

That was an odd episode, and I'm at a bit of a loss to evaluate it.

On the one hand it was clearly a story driven episode as mholden020 notes, and that's nice. It feels like we haven't had a ton of those. Especially episodes where I don't resume hating Takaharu in the end. Other than the opening act, it was all played straight with the appropriate amount of gravitas.

On the other hand there are certain elements of the plot that just don't make sense to me. Why does Kyuuemon need to train children to be ninjas? He's been summoning monsters and mooks out of thin air for over half a year now. And who exactly is Kikyou? We're told she has a history with Takuharu, but it's never really elaborated upon. He went off training? When?

Really she just sort of feels to be here because the plot dictates it. Which is a shame because the actress did very well in this episode as a guest star (takenoko is right on the nose there). Getting someone who can act and move seems like all too rare of a combination these days for the guest stars.

Finally, I don't suppose anyone knows where this episode was filmed? I get the impression that this whole episode was set up as it was because they wanted to do a location shoot at a specific spot, so I'm curious what that spot is.

[takenoko]

>And who exactly is Kikyou? We're told she has a history with Takuharu, but it's never really elaborated upon.

They said at the beginning that he met her on his journey while training. It's Takaharu, so they probably just practiced ninja stuff together.

>He went off training? When?

He was training up to the point when he appears in episode 1. Her thinking Grandpa is dead is another indication of this.

>Finally, I don't suppose anyone knows where this episode was filmed? I get the impression that this whole episode was set up as it was because they wanted to do a location shoot at a specific spot, so I'm curious what that spot is.

Beats me. Sounds like a luna question. I'm guessing this is a ninja spot for kids, so maybe it's part of the Iga ninja attraction?

[Lunagel]

90% sure it's this place: ninjamura.com

EDIT: Scratch that, 100% certain, found a link from the production blog. This is the place.

[Phoenix512]

Why does Kyuuemon need to train children to be ninjas? He's been summoning monsters and mooks out of thin air for over half a year now.

He doesn't exactly care about the individual schemes of his assassins but rather the part he gets from their dead giant bodies. I also thought the ninja kids was more of Masakage's idea than Kyuuemon.

[Lunchboxx]

Also I stupidly forgot to mention that it was great to see Baba Ryouma again. Go-Busters is my favorite all time sentai, and I should of mentioned him in my original post.

[Shipuujin]

That was a great episode. The Kikyou / Akaninger duo battle was well choreographed.

I liked how the Ninningers were immediately suspecting the Ninja School to be a trap. The pacing felt great in this episode as well!

I kind of hope to see more of Kikyou as well. She was a nice juxtaposition to Takaharu's character and a great fighter as well. Who needs to transform?

Seems Kyuuemon is almost done with whatever his plan is. I wonder if that signals a death flag for him? Then again, I feel that he will be around for the whole series.

[ViRGE]

90% sure it's this place: ninjamura.com

EDIT: Scratch that, 100% certain, found a link from the production blog. This is the place.

Hero, savior, and encyclopedia all in one. Thanks Luna!