Posted in: Netflix, TV | Tagged: Dave Boyle, House of Ninjas, Kento Kaku, martial arts, netflix, ninja action, Shinobi

House of Ninjas: Netflix's New Ninja Series is Cool AF – Why Hide it?

House of Ninjas might be the coolest new Netflix series, full of comedy & martial arts action, yet hidden like a ninja -as if it's a secret.

Netflix has a cool new Japanese series out this week called House of Ninjas that's like ninjas – it's hidden from viewers unless they happen to come across it while flicking through Netflix. It has a trailer out on YouTube but it doesn't show up on the front page. Why does Netflix hide good shows when they're from Asia? TV series are not ninjas – they have to be out in the open for people to know they exist in order to watch them!

Anyway, House of Ninjas is a semi-comedic action series from ex-patriate indie filmmaker Dave Boyle about a family of ninjas in contemporary Tokyo passing for normal. They're direct descendants of the legendary Hatori Hanzo, originally pledged to be the secret protectors of the nation until a tragedy on their last mission prompts the father to declare their retirement from the world of the shinobi.

Now everyone in the Tawara family is going a bit nuts from boredom. Haru (series lead and co-creator Kento Kaku) stocks vending machines and stokes his crush on a woman (Riho Yoshioka) he sees every night at his local diner. His mom, Yoko (Tae Kimura), is bored of domesticity and shoplifts to keep things interesting. His dad, Soichi (Yosuke Eguchi), is tormented by the loss of Haru's older brother, Gaku (Kengo Kora), and bides his time running a sake business. Nagi (Aju Makita), Haru's sister, skips class to go on secret missions she hides from her family.

And then there's the unassuming Riku (Tenta Banka), Haru's little brother, and the secretly lethal Taki (Noboku Miyamoto), Haru's grandmother, who helps around the house and pretending to be a sweet old lady.  Soichi wants Haru to one day take over the family business — sake brewing — but Haru just isn't interested. When the family lost Gaku, everything changed… Back then, they were all ninjas who were working together to serve justice. Now they've given it up. That is, until — one by one — the Tawara clan is pulled back in by an impending threat to the country.

House of Ninjas is like the Japanese equivalent of a CW series – that's the CW back when it was cool – only with really good action. The jokes land, the oddball character beats are funny, and the plot is twisty. It's a new hidden gem on Netflix that shouldn't be hidden like ninjas. Come on, Netflix, step up your hype game! You can't live on Stranger Things forever!

House of Ninjas is now streaming on Netflix.

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