Anime / Ninjala

Ninjala is an anime produced by OLM Incorporated based on the 2020 video game with the same name.

After Burton and Berecca perfected the Ninja Gum formula and were forced to fight off their supposed partner "Ron," who intended to steal the Ninja Gum data, they discovered too late that the Ninja Gum came with a side effect that reverts adults to a child after consumption. As the two ninja scientists headed off to join the WNA as students in hopes of finding a cure for their condition, several kids discovered their ninja ancestry and headed off to join the WNA so that they could learn to become powerful ninja. As two strange late arrivals, a familiar face as well as a new one, also enlist themselves to the WNA, Burton and Berecca soon find that they're secretly hunted by ninja assassins, and if that wasn't bad enough, bizarre creatures that the kids dubbed the "Space Ninja" are suddenly involved.

The anime premiered on January 8, 2022 on Tokyo TV, and each episode is available for a limited time on the official YouTube channel.

Tropes

• Action Hero: There's plenty of kunoichi kicking ass throughout the series.
• Adaptational Heroism: Leonard is an enigmatic antagonist in the game's story mode and is working with the WNA. In the anime, he's being actively hunted down by them and is firmly on the good guys' side.
• Aerith and Bob: The names of the characters range on a spectrum of this. The most Aerith-Sounding ones among them would have to go towards Berecca.
• Alternate Timeline: The game takes place in an Alternate Universe of Earth where ninjas had a major influence on global history and their imagery dominates pop culture. The names of many geographic locations are different but based on real life locations, such as Eagle City, Komerika (New York City, USA), and the country of Oedo (Japan).
• The Anime of the Game: Obviously.
• Ambiguously Evil: It's unknown if Ron has any intentions to harm Burton and Berecca, if he even recognized them in their kid forms. Jane is also this from Burton and Berecca's perspective, but she's at least willing to become friends with the kids (just in case their plan went south). He later turns out to be on the good guys' side, thus averting this trope.
• Anti-Hero: Doma.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Lucy's modus operandi. She'll take any opportunity she can to deliver an ass-kicking, even if she's been explicitly ordered not to.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: When Burton confronts Ron at night to ask if Ron had cut the rope while Burton was climbing, Ron quickly kills ninja assassins who were after Ron. Ron then gives Burton one of his weapons and they assume this pose.
• Badass Adorable: All eight of the main cast, they may be kids (or adults in child forms as is the case for half of them), but they can still kick some serious butt.
• Big Damn Heroes:
  • Ron comes to Jane's aid in Episode 8 when she's targeted by Allen's assassins.
  • In episode 16, Burton and Ron save Berecca from being murdered by Tsukikage, who is disguised as an assistant teacher.
  • The rest of the crew swoops in to aid Berecca, Kappei, and Jane when they get caught up in the crossfire between WNA and the Shadow Ninja.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: After the success of creating the ninja gum, Ron wastes no time to attempt to kill Burton and Berecca for their research. Somewhat subverted when it turns out he was Just Following Orders and then betrayed by his boss.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: The Space Ninja appear to have colorful goo-like bodies, and have all sorts of strange abilities. They are highly resistant against all forms of damage except for those of Gum Weapons or being overwhelmed by flying object controlled by Lucy's powers, and they dissolve into light upon death.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: "Twilight at the Ancient Ruins" reveals that Gibbet, an outwardly cold and stern tactician, has actually been raising plants underground in secret due to being afraid of being ridiculed for his passion.
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: A rather humorous downplayed variation. The WNA staff can't stand it when Bruce makes his awful puns. With Bruce accidentally boarding on the Settlekettle, this means that everyone on Earth is safe from his puns... if only they didn't end up imitating him on accident in his absence, which shows just how much he rubbed off on them.
• Cliffhanger: Episode 19 ends with Berecca and Burton finding an exhausted Leonard on the ground.
• The Conspiracy: There are a lot of implications that the WNA has some hidden motives.
  • Ron is investigating the company after being targeted.
  • Jane is similarly hunted down when she discovers hidden data linking Allen, the head of WNA's Intelligence Division, with Harold Cook, the president of Komerika. It's later revealed that Allen was also hiding his true motives from Harold from the very start.
• The Corruptor: Luke. His desire to form a One World Order with himself and the Shadow Ninjas at the helm involves manipulating Lucy and all five Bottle Collectors to his side, then using puppetry on Harold to make him order a missile strike on the civilians on Eagle City all because they wouldn't respect him for who he was.
• Crazy Survivalist: Ezet starts out as this. As it turns out, almost all Meluzians, Mallet and Bucket excluded, follow this mindset as well.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Van and Kappei are usually comedic relief for the most part, but they're still plenty capable of bringing down enemies. Van in particular managed to catch Jane off guard despite her memorizing his combat data.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Not exactly dark, but Lucy had a troubled past before attending the WNA Academy. She unlocked a hidden power when some bullies attempted to attack her friends, and everyone got scared of her as a result, labeling her as a monster. It got so bad that she had to transfer schools and became cold and distant until she met Chloe.
• Deadpan Snarker: Ron, and occasionally even Lucy as well.
• Defrosting Ice King:
  • In his earlier appearances where his intentions were still unclear, Ron gradually begins to smile more often, especially in the 14th episode where he's shown grinning particularly after Burton offers some aid in warding off two ninja assassins and as he's watching the rest of the kids playing in the new hideout.
  • Due to the circumstances which they went through throughout generations, most Meluzian soldiers developed a cold Crazy Survivalist mindset, often perceiving pleasurable things as pointless. However, the presence of the main gang gradually helps them to lighten up.
    • Van and Kappei make Robbit try out a stew that they cooked from Meluzian ingredients, allowing him to realize how good it is for food to be tasty. About three episodes later, he and other soldiers are shown gleefully awaiting the dish that Van and Kappei prepared for them.
    • Gibbet enjoys growing plants, but fears that the others would ridicule him for his passion. When Burton discovers this, he assures him that it's nothing for him to be ashamed of, and later, when he realized that the cactus Gibbet was trying to get to bloom needed moonlight, convinces him to bring it outside and show everyone its beauty. He's much less embarrassed about his passion in his next appearance.

• Determinator: In episode 87, Bruce attacks the statue powered Gumdiva head on despite him not having a proper advantage against even the weaker Space Ninja. His refusal to back down in spite of the obvious disadvantage not only inspires everyone else to keep fighting, but he also manages to damage the Gumdiva's leg enough for Ezet to break it.
• Disappeared Dad:
  • Van's father was absent for most of his life. Van wanting to find his dad after he has a nightmare of him getting killed serves as his Call to Adventure.
  • Berecca's father was killed years prior to the series by the Shadow Ninja, who were after his and Leonard's research.
• Doppelgänger Spin: Ron can create illusions of clones of himself to throw opponents off guard.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Implied to be the reason the Shadow Ninja were formed.
• Eagle Land: Eagle City in the country of Komerika, which are stand-ins for New York and the United States of America respectively.
• Emergency Authority: Horrifically invoked in episode 55 when Luke disguised as Master Shadow imposes martial law on Eagle City following a Space Ninja attack he staged as part of a plot to establish a Shadow Ninja dictatorship over the entire world.
• Emotionless Girl: Naomi barely makes any expression at all, having the same neutral look on her face almost all the time and usually speaking on a deadpan monotone voice.
• Evolving Credits: The ending credits has changed over the course of the show, the first change being in episode 20. The changes are based on the current status quo. For instance, the credits introduced in episode 80 show the Meluzian trio alongside the main characters, reflecting how they're currently working together to save Meluz from the Space Ninjas.
• Expospeak Gag: Burton tries to explain to the kids how to blow bubblegum using the laws of physics, which only confuses them.
• Fanservice: There's a very brief moment in Episode 19 where Coach Amy is shown relaxing in a swimsuit as Coach Bruce explains that she's on vacation that day.
• Fell Asleep Crying: For a brief moment in Episode 11, Emma cries in her sleep while softly calling out for her parents.
• Fictional Earth: The series takes place on an alternate Earth where ninja had a much greater impact on world history, and many real-world locations and country are renamed.
• Forced Transformation: In episode 44, the kids are turned into poop after both Van and Kappei's Giant Gum Weapons collide.
• Fountain of Youth: A strange side effect of the Ninja-Gum; any adult who chews it turns into a child for some reason. This is what happened to Burton, Berecca, Ron, and Jane.
• Gender-Equal Ensemble: The main cast consists of four males (Van, Ron, Burton, and Kappei) and four females (Berecca, Lucy, Emma, and Jane). In addition, two each are actually adults turned into children by the Ninja Gum^note Burton and Ron for the males, Berecca and Jane for the females.
• Gentle Giant: Coach Bruce, one of the two teachers of the main cast's class. He towers over the other characters and is constantly showing nothing but care and support towards his students, even going as far as to have a chat with Burton when he thinks he's stressed out.
• Good Parents: Lucy's parents. They are extremely supportive of Lucy and show great concern when she's feeling down after her powers awaken. Her mother is ultimately the one who encourages Lucy to embrace her truest self.
• He Knows Too Much: Burton, Berecca, Ron, and Jane are all being hunted down for this reason by Allen, the head of WNA's Intelligence Division, with the WNA Academy being the only real safe place for them. Later on, Leonard is in the boat, likely for the same reasons.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Burton delivers one such speech to Luke after having foiled his One World Order plot using his inherited Rising Devil techniques against the latter. The latter responds by using a smoke bomb to retreat.
• Hidden Agenda Villain:
  • Allen, the leader of WNA's intelligence division, wants to take over the organization and is apparently working with the Komerican president, Harold Cook. He's also implied to be building an army for this purpose. His reasons for all of this, what Harold has to do with it, or why Allen chose to hide his true motives from Harold in the first place, remains a mystery.
  • Luke, the (former) WNA chairman, is this as well. Despite forming the WNA alongside Genryusai, he eventually gives in to his despair over the hardships he faced and is driven to lead the Shadow Ninja under the moniker "Master Shadow" to establish a world led by Shadow Ninja.
• Instant Expert: Despite moving awkwardly in his new child body, Ron is able to dodge Van's attacks with little effort and defeats him in one strike.
• Irony: Bruce ends up accidentally joining the main gang on the mission to save Meluz. Turns out, jokes and puns are some of the few things that Meluzians are irritated by, forcing Bruce to restrain himself from telling jokes around them.
• It Can Think: A certain type of Space Ninja is noticeably more intelligent than the rest, and commonly are the ones giving orders to the other Space Ninja. There are both male and female variants of them. It escalates in episode 83 with the reveal of a King Mook variant called the Gumdiva, who is intelligent enough to speak Japanese.
• Karma Houdini: Burton tries to steal food to power himself up with a smoothie for the final match of the Ninjala tournament, but he ends up losing the carrot when Dan comes to check what's going on. When Dan returns the carrot before the match to silently shame Burton for being a thief, Coach Bruce recognizes the thievery, but because he was banned from announcing at the beginning of the episode and Coach Amy didn't care, Burton gets away with it without being called out.
• Kid-Appeal Character: Van and Kappei.
• Lampshade Hanging: Burton is perplexed as to how the WNA has their hands on the Ninja Gum when he invented it less than a week prior, and even more so about how Van is already familiar with it.
• Le Parkour: Being ninja and all, the cast does this on the regular.
• Lethal Chef: A small recurring gag in the series is Burton trying to make smoothies to undo the Ninja Gum's Fountain of Youth effect, usually tasting rather awful. Ironically, Keith is even worse at making them, only managing to make them look appealing.
• Living Is More than Surviving: Sometime during the Meluz's long history of war, the idea that comedy and entertainment are pointless wastes of time took hold in the minds of the Meluzians, leading them to maintaining a Crazy Survivalist mindset with the exception of the rare few like Mallet and Bucket, who are viewed as weird for being that way. However, the main gang from Earth gradually help them to learn the value of enjoying life, with Berecca reassuring Mallet and Bucket that it's good to allow laughter and fun in their lives, and Kappei and Van show Robbit that it's good to have tasty food.
• Magical Eye: Revealed as a reason Lucy wears an Eyepatch of Power. It's unclear if the eye itself is the actual source of her power, though.
• Master of Disguise: Tsukikage's signature power is being able to take any form he wants. He uses this to disguise himself as a teacher, a young girl, a sick boy, and a hunched elderly woman.
• McNinja: Most of the characters don't seem to be of Japanese ethnicity. However, it's stated that everyone with ninja abilities is descended from the original Japanese ninja from centuries ago, meaning that all of them might have at least some Japanese in them.
• Merchandise-Driven: The anime was obviously made to help promote the game, featuring several references to the game as well as most episodes having a small segment at the end discussing a particular weapon from the game.
• Nerves of Steel: Ron is always calm and collected no matter what the situation is.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When the kids are trying to capture the Space Ninja on their own in episode 13, Lucy is so bloodthirsty that she kills the one they're about to capture instead. Fortunately, the capture team arrives and catches another one.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: The Space Ninja. While they do go down easily from Gum Weapons, they're able to shrug off nearly any other form of damage. Meluz is a good example of a planet that lacks the means to defeat the Space Ninja, as it came to the point where Meluz had to send people to fetch Ninja Gum from Earth (which they, unfortunately, are unable to use, necessitating that they bring the main cast back with them). Their indestructibility to anything that aren't Gum Weapons is best shown in "Mission 1: Food Surveillance" where Robbit is visibly cutting the Space Ninja open, only for the cuts to immediately close.
• Ninja: The series isn't called "Ninjala" for nothing. The whole series revolves around ninja, and they've had a much bigger impact on world history in this world. Pretty much every major character in this series is one.
• Ninja School: The WNA Academy is a facility where the WNA train children with ninja heritage to become ninja themselves. It serves as the main setting for the anime.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Despite it being unclear about how much Burton and Jane figured out about whether each other knows about how they weren't originally kids, in episode 12 they both figure out that they both have a similar pattern of reasoning and get along well.
• Not So Stoic: Played for Laughs when Naomi screams in agony after taking a sip of Keith's smoothie before passing out.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome:
  • In episode 11, Ron and Burton team up to fend off the ninja assassins who came after them. By morning, Berecca is confused as to why Burton and Ron are suddenly getting along.
  • In episode 63, while everyone else at the WNA Academy is busy fending off Luke directly, Keith and May literally knock some sense into Harold to get him to call off the missile strike that Luke manipulated him into ordering earlier.
• Oh, Crap!: Burton panics when he notices he accidentally threw Goro into the gum making machine.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • In episode 14, Berecca notes that Burton has been acting strange, and tails him in hopes of figuring out what's wrong. Turns out he was building a new secret base for himself and Berecca, and wanted to surprise her with it.
  • This happens again in episode 45, to the point that Burton hires Ron as his temporary Praetorian Guard of the hideout. This time, it turns out he was genetically constructing a very specific flower special to Berecca's father.
• Parental Abandonment: A surprising amount of it, actually:
  • Van's dad is absent for most of Van's life. This is implied to be for his family's protection, since he's a ninja and having Van around could put him in danger.
  • Berecca's father, Professor Sean, was allegedly killed by Shadow Ninja. Her mother is never mentioned at all.
  • Emma lives in an orphanage before going to WNA. It's heavily implied that something happened to her parents, and she has a picture of herself as a baby with them.
  • Kappei lives with his grandfather, Gen'unsai. His parents are never mentioned.
• Plagued by Nightmares: In the midst of Luke's plot to take over the world, Burton begins having nightmares of his ancestor, Hattori Hanzo. It turns out this is because Burton can use Rising Devil, a tactic that previously could only be used by Hanzo himself.
• Platonic Life-Partners:
  • Burton and Berecca. They're almost always seen together, and have known each other since they were children.
  • Ron and Jane appear to be this as well, as they are quite close and commonly work together.
• Power-Up Food: Ninja-Gum is known to unlock "the power of the Shinobi" to any ninja descendants who chew it and provides them with many new abilities. It also has a mysterious Fountain of Youth effect on any adult who chews it, but the reasons for this remain unknown. In addition, it seems to have varying effects depending on the species that consumes it: humans receive its (mostly) intended effect, Space Ninja sometimes get multiplied, and Meluzians can't get any of its powers, as it intoxicates them instead.
• Properly Paranoid: After being fooled by a falsely weakened Space Ninja, Burton insists on guarding the factory even though the WNA deemed it unlikely that the Space Ninja wouldn't fall for the trap that they set up. Sure enough, while the rest of the WNA are fending off the Space Ninja at the assigned spot, the actual main army shows up at the factory like Burton suspected.
• Punched Across the Room: Happens several times throughout the series, often with the word "IPPON!" appearing on screen right after, referencing the game's mechanic of the same name.
• Pungeon Master: Part of Bruce's character.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Lucy's left eye turns a combination of this and slight Supernatural Gold Eyes after her powers awaken.
• Resigned in Disgrace: It was already hard enough on the previous WNA board of directors after Allen's corruption was exposed after they never truly suspected it, but after Luke's One World Order plot is foiled when they also never suspected him, it finally takes its toll on them and everyone except Genryusai resigns.
• Retcon: A lot of the scenes from the promotional webtoon are changed or completely redone for the official anime, effectively rendering it obsolete.
  • During Burton's recap before the anime opening, Burton and Berecca discover they turned into kids when they look at their reflections in a river. There is no such scene in the webtoon, where they instead discover they've transformed in their lab when they show each other's reflections with a hand mirror.
  • The reason Ron and Jane chew Ninja Gum is changed: when Ron realized that they're about to be blown up by a bomb, he makes Jane and himself chew Ninja Gum so that they would be small enough to escape. In the webtoon, Jane chewed the gum on accident, and Ron chewed the gum for the sake of not drawing attention.
• The Reveal:
  • The kids (Van, Lucy, and Kappei) learn that their families are descendants of ninja, and are given an opportunity to hone in on their skills by attending the World Ninja Association and taking part in the Ninjala tournament. Emma, an orphan, learns about this from a talent agent who reveals herself to be a WNA recruiter. The adults (Burton, Berecca, Ron, and Jane) learn that there may be something shady going on in the WNA and, after becoming children thanks to the Ninja Gum, compete in Ninjala to find out the truth and return to normal.
  • Later on, it's revealed that the reason that none of the adults have tried to use ninja gum is because Allen lied to them that it causes them to be unable to use ninjutsu in order to conceal its Fountain of Youth properties.
  • Despite the initial shock, Chloe still considers Lucy one of her closest friends even after learning about her terrifying abilities from her parents and is thankful that Lucy saved her life on that day with the car accident.
• The Rival: Van and Kappei are this to each other, constantly trying to outperform each other in literally everything. Hilarity Ensues.
• Sarcastic Confession: In "Cathedral Clash", while telling Odette about how she should stop talking about "disappearing", when Odette states that she doesn't need to be lectured by a child, Jane claims to be a full grown adult, getting Odette to laugh.
• The Scream: Burton pulls one after seeing that the Ninja-Gum turned him into a child.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After its defeat on Meluz, the Gumdiva, along with several other Space Ninjas, flee Meluz via UFO.
• Secret-Keeper: Genryusai figures out that Burton and Berecca used to be adults and that the head of the WNA's Intelligence Division is on their trail after the latter two broke into the WNA Headquarters searching up confidential information about the Ninja Gum and the WNA itself. He advises that it's best if the two stayed as kids until the right time has come, as turning back to adults wouldn't be their best option at that point.
• Ship Tease: Burton and Berecca are very close to each other and almost never seen alone. There are several moments between the two throughout the anime.
• Shout-Out: Ezet's Imagine Spot in episode 69 has scenes parodying Psycho and The Shining
• Sixth Ranger: Dan, Tyler, Keith, May, and Naomi, students who debuted in the Ninjala tournament arc, frequently appeared alongside the original eight main characters after their debuts.
• Space "X": "Space Ninja", as named by the kids, are allegedly aliens and are a recurring enemy throughout the series.
• Spotting the Thread: Aside from Ron looking familiar and acting cold, Burton and Berecca notice that Jane acts suspicious as well, but they still haven't made any confirmations yet.
• Stock Shōnen Hero: Van carries some traits of the shonen protagonist archetype such as being an Idiot Hero.
• String Theory: In episode 46, after the mysterious "Ninjaman" begins disarming situations in Eagle City left and right, Burton, Berecca, and Emma attempt to pinpoint the locations of his appearances and connect them in sequential order. When Genryusai looks at their work, he instantly realizes that "Ninjaman" is actually Doma, a former classmate of his—the resulting symbol drawn on the map gave it away.
• The Stoic:
  • Ron rarely emotes through the series, usually having a small frown on his face.
  • Coach Amy, who usually talks in a deadpan tone and rarely smiles.
  • Naomi as well, who isn't very expressive at all.
• Super Serum: More or less what the Ninja-Gum is for those descended from ninja heritage. It awakens the "power of the shinobi" with them, increasing their speed and agility and giving them several useful abilities.
• Superpowerful Genetics: Burton can use Rising Devil, a tactic that was previously only available to his ancestor, Hattori Hanzo.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: While she doesn't exactly become evil, this is partially why Lucy is depicted as Cute and Psycho:
  • In the past, she unleashed an untapped power to save her friends on two separate occasions: two from bullies and a newer one from an out-of-control car. The friends she saved from the bullies ran from her and called her a monster after seeing her in action. While her other friend later didn't see the connection (Lucy tried to hide it in order to avoid this), other bystanders asked "what kind of monster is responsible" due to the collateral damage made while saving her, though she ran off before anyone noticed. Upon attending WNA academy, encouraged by her parents, she embraces her power and "monster" motif as her own way of being herself.
  Lucy: I'm exactly... who I'm supposed to be!
• This Cannot Be!:
  • Dan's reaction to Burton being Hattori Hanzo's descendant; Luke, even more so.
  • Ezet, as knowledgeable as he is in Space Ninja, is very surprised to learn that Gumchi is a uniquely docile specimen of Space Ninja. This certainly doesn't help his nerves.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In episode 67, Dan has trouble getting Emma to go along with his preferred method of training. In his frustration, he walks in on one of Emma's dance sessions, after which Emma reveals part of her Dark and Troubled Past. Dan then realizes that forcing his methods onto others may have been a mistake, and decides to let his teammates do what works best for them. This serves him well, as Dan and Emma end up syncing their contrasting battle styles to score another victory for their team.
• Totem Pole Trench: In episode 58, Berecca, Burton, and Emma infiltrates the town hall, wearing a red coat to get the mayor's attention.
• Vocal Dissonance: The adults who transformed into kids through Ninja Gum keep their voices, but no one seems to notice. This is especially noticeable when the main cast consists of a mix between actual kids and the adults who turned into kids. This seems to be intentional, as a flashback to Berecca when she was actually eight years old depicts her with a higher pitched voice.
• Voice of the Legion: Tsukikage's voice temporary becomes this as he switches between and his disguise as "Eliza" and his true form, with both voices speaking over each other.
• Would Hurt a Child: Pretty much everyone who goes against or is hunting down the cast. This includes the head of WNA's Intelligence Divison, the Oniwabanshu, and the Shadow Ninja. No one stops to think about this at any point.
• World of Technicolor Hair: Unnatural hair colors seems to be a common trait in the Ninjala universe as Berecca has naturally pink hair, while Kappei and Lucy have light blue hair. Van has white hair with a purple streak, but it's unclear whether the streak is part of his natural hair or dyed.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The lore reveals the ninjas were hunted down once their services were no longer necessary in Japan. The remaining ninja scattered across the world to escape before fading away from history.
• You Monster!: Because of her hidden powers, which involves summoning tentacle-like objects, Lucy suffers the former by the first friends she saved from a duo of delinquents. She attempts to avoid this until she was forced to save a newer friend from an incoming car. She doesn't say it, as she didn't see Lucy do it, but other bystanders do, though they never see her either. Lucy soon believes the latter and says it word for word, but later makes it her new persona when attending WNA Academy.

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