Manga Review: Shinobi Undercover

 Introduction:

(School Boy Shinobi)

    Shinobi Undercover tells the story of an undercover ninja known as Yodaka Nozuki as he befriends and protects Aoi Mukai. This is a challenge for him on multiple levels, first he has a crippling fear of social situations and second she's get a knack for getting into all kinds of trouble. So far it has been enjoyable, that being said there isn't even a full volume out. As with Ichi The Witches review, I would consider this a "review in progress"

Characters:

(A Klutz, A Socially Anxious, And Two Ninja)

    As mentioned before the two main character are Yodaka Nozuki and Aoi Mukai, however, there are are two other ninja protecting Aoi, one is called Hibari and the other Umineko. (Side note: I say they are called those names because we only get their codenames) I'll start Hibari and Umineko as so far their characters have been fleshed out the least. So far Hibari and Umineko both don't have much to them, they seem to be side characters but the story acts as though they are main characters. The only real things each of them has going for them is that they are ninja who need to befriend Aoi while protecting her. This sounds like a huge negative but you have to keep in mind that there is only three chapters out, as of writing. So I won't count it against the manga to much. 

    Yodaka and Aoi, on the other hand, both have things going for them. Starting with Yodaka, as was said in the last section, he has crippling social anxiety. This means he has never actually made friends, which is a problem for him when he is forced into becoming friends with Aoi. Lastly he is the most renowned ninja in the business, meaning he knows how to take anyone down. 

    Next up is Aoi, she is odd. she knows how to make the ninjas job difficult without even realizing it. The biggest thing as the fact that she is a major klutz and is always getting into some sort of trouble, however she also happens to get into situations that "compromise" her, without even knowing. Another thing that about her is that, while they are friends, she loves putting Yodaka into situations that are difficult for him socially. Whether this is to help him or just "watch him squirm" (as she once put it) is yet to be seen.

    All in all I would say the main characters of shinobi undercover are pretty good. Whether Hibari and Umineko will get better remains to be seen. But so far, I would consider the main characters fair.

Humor:

(Funny Social Anxiety)

    So far the humor in this manga has been pretty good. It mostly centers around two things, Yodaka's social anxiety and Aoi being a klutz. Because of that I could see people either finding it a little offensive, or just plain not funny. I (as someone with social anxiety) found it pretty funny. That being said there isn't that much to say about it because of the fact that it only ever revolves around these two things.

Story

(It's not different, but it's enjoyable)

    The story in this manga is not Shakespeare and it won't blow your socks off. (At least not yet) However, I did find it enjoyable. The story of Shinobi Undercover is that Yodaka, along with hibari and Umineko have been tasked with guarding Aoi, a simple story but one that has lead to a few interesting situations. For example, there is a point where the group goes to sing karaoke, a fairly mundane endeavor, but it all falls apart when a group of gangsters come to kidnap Aoi. Needless to say, it does not end well for the gangsters, however there is some difficulty in one thing I have yet to mention, the shinobi cannot let Aoi know she is being protected. This is most interesting part of the story for me, as it creates odd scenarios you wouldn't get if she did know she was being protected. All in all, it is a good story, not a great one, but a good one.

Conclusion

(In general, good, but not great)

    This manga has a lot of bad and a lot of good, but that is to be expected from a manga that has only three chapters as of writing. I want to give it a higher score saying, it could get better, but that doesn't quite make sense to me. Maybe I'll write an updated review later, when it has more meat to it, but as of right now my major take away is that I shouldn't review manga that have barely started. For right now it gets middle of the road score:

4/7

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