House of Ninjas

 House of Ninjas is Netflix jdorama directed by Dave Boyle who is American. I think it is interesting to see foreigners directing Japanese shows. One of my favourite movies from last year was the Yakusho Koji movie Perfect Days directed by German director Wim Wenders and it did not feel like a non-Japanese movie.

House of Ninjas is a family drama about a family the Tawaras that is descended from the Hanzo clan of Ninjas. They try to live a normal life and boring life. Dad played by Eguchi Yosuke runs a sake brewery which used to be his cover but he is desperate to save it. Mom played by Kimura Tae shoplifts because she is bored. Second oldest son played by Kaku Kento refills vending machines and uses his throwing skills when his partnet is not watching. There is grandma and a daughter and a youngest son who does not realise his family is ninja.

While House of Ninjas is a family drama, there is a bit of violence with plenty of blood and ninjas dying. While it is not a kid's show, House of Ninja tells you not to take it seriously with the Bureau of Ninja Management and you have the main character of the story, the son played by Kaku Kento who refuses to kill in a world of kill of be killed. I really got bothered by this bit because it is annoying. Mom and dad kill because the ninja are at war and this guy puts everyone in danger with his no kill bullshit.

It is a so-so family drama because the chemistry is nothing special and there is not much humour. The jokes are mostly from granny doing ninja things without the grandson noticing. I love the cast and Eguchi Yosuke and Kimura Tae is a dream pairing for me. Not to mention Yamada Takayuki as the villain. The fighting is decent but did not get to that level I wanted. It felt like House of Ninjas wanted to be everything but did not doing anything well.

That being said, I love the budget and I can see that everyone involved in the show tried really hard. The house set is amazing and they did some action scenes on the roof of the house. No jdorama has the money to build such a nice house in a studio for shooting. 0.5 no Otoko did it but they did not shoot the roof. 

I never felt the need to fast forward but nothing in House of Ninjas really gelled for me. Maybe it needed more humour or maybe it was all the English songs. I would not mind watching season 2 but I would not mind if it never happened. 

I cannot rate House of Ninjas a meh because I don't dislike it and the effort is there. Also happy that Pierre Taki is in it though his role is minor. There should be a Netflix rule that any jdorama must have Pierre Taki in it since he has been cancelled everywhere else. I just don't get the tone of the series. Somewhere between meh and watchable for me.