Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou (Shinobu's Pure Heart)

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Japanese: 忍者シノブさんの純情

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 5

Chapters: 30

Status: Finished

Published: Nov 12, 2014 to Apr 12, 2017

Genres: Comedy, Romance

Theme: School

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Gessan

Authors: Yuzuchiri (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.67¹ (scored by 4,633 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1898²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1982

Members: 9,956

Favorites: 85

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7.67

Ranked #1898Popularity #1982Members 9,956

MangaGessanYuzuchiri (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /5

Chapters: /30

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Synopsis

Shinobu is just an average schoolgirl and most certainly not a ninja—at least, that is what she claims. Class representative Hitoyoshi Kageyama finds this hard to believe though, as he is the only person to regularly see her scaling walls, throwing shuriken, lobbing smoke bombs, and disappearing without a trace.

Despite being an expert at combat and infiltration, Shinobu is completely inexperienced when it comes to friendship and romance. She accordingly struggles with expressing her feelings to Hitoyoshi, who is unfortunately also quite dense. Still, the two of them gradually grow closer to each other through various interactions and school activities. In the process, Shinobu also experiences life as a normal high-schooler.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Characters

Shinobu

Main

Kageyama, Hitoyoshi

Main

Takuma, Inoue

Supporting

Hasunuma, Yuuto

Supporting

Kazama, Sasuke

Supporting

Hasunuma, Saeko

Supporting

Kageyama, Tsukushi

Supporting

Yamato, Kazumi

Supporting

Ichijouin, Shizuka

Supporting

Akari

Supporting

Reviews

Jun 29, 2023

darkpixelftw

Recommended

TL:DR
Wholesome, drama-free romcom. Primary focus is on the comedy aspect with the romance sprinkled in. Fun characters and a strong supporting cast. The ninja conceit isn't that important to the plot but it is a funny gag that doesn't over stay it's welcome.

Story: 8/10
Despite the short length of 30 chapters, this is a densely packed manga that manages to never feel rushed. In fact, this manga is maintains good pacing and even creates a nice cast of side characters (more on that below). Very impressive writing that i did not expect from a manga with such a silly premise.

As mentioned, the pacing is good with ... no chapter feeling wasted. You'll find that comedy is definitely the main focus but each chapter usually has some element that advances the romance, resulting in the romance progressing at a steady rate. There are some of the usual events (cultural festival etc) but complicated by the female lead being a perfectly normal high school girl who is not a ninja.

The central gag is used sparingly enough that it never loses it's charm. The characters are enjoyable enough that it never needs to rely entirely on the ninja gag, preventing the comedy becoming repetitive. The cast is good enough that they can carry the manga without contrivances or external events, keeping the manga enjoyable and engaging.

I have to respect an author that knows when to end their work. It can be the most difficult part yet I wasn't left unsatisfied by the ending. This is one of those romances that ends immediately after the couple gets together so I would have liked some chapters showing the MCs in a relationship together and expand on the supporting cast a little more as well. This is really up to personal preference however, the gag would certainly wear thin if the author wasn't careful.

Character: 7/10
The male MC is the archetypal shounen romance protagonist who is, in the tradition of all shounen romance, dense as lead and kind to a fault. He is relatively like-able despite the cliché personality. Actually, the way he's written makes it feel like both reader and author are in on the joke, the manga parodying the typical “too nice to live” character type at times. Unfortunately I can't say the same for his denseness, which entails the usual ignoring of very obvious signs of someone coming onto them. I don't think he was ever too frustrating but it's still a cliché that needs to die already.

The female MC is also a little cookie-cutter, being a shy, awkward girl. Being a ninja obviously changes this somewhat though they never make this the core or only part of her character so she does get to be more than just a ninja with attempts at showing other sides of her. However, she never really breaks out of the typical “shy girl” archetype.

The chemistry between the main pair is very good, I enjoyed seeming them together.

Despite the short length, the author manages to produce a well-developed supporting cast. It feels like they have their own personalities, and that they exist for more than supporting the main couple (or being superfluous love rivals). They also mesh well with the main pair. Obviously, with such a short run, you aren't going to get very deep or realistic characters but I found the whole cast to be enjoyable .In fact, the only real flaw I can give is that I'd have like to see them more!

Art
The art is simple but the character design is good and the artist is certainly capable of drawing cute moments. However, it can be too simple sometimes, with blushes being little more than lines overlaid on the face. The faces are also not the most expressive at times. Still, it's not much of a flaw and I never felt like the art took me out of the story.

Overall: 8/10
Overall, this is a surprisingly well written manga. Pretty funny, with a strong cast and good chemistry between characters. It's a pretty cute and wholesome romance with little drama. It never gets very sappy, mainly focusing on getting a laugh from the reader. My only real complaint is that it ends when the MCs get together.. Other than that, I recommend this to anyone who likes romcoms.

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Jun 18, 2019

RemiKG

Recommended

It is a really cute Romcom, but definitely not in the traditional sense.

The story is original, with this being my first encounter with the premise. Each chapter was funny and/or heartwarming. The reason I give the story an 8 is because they didn't kiss and we didn't see them do romantic stuff.

The characters were alright. Actually, the one I disliked the most was Hitoyoshi, the main character (other than Shinobu). He was so fucking dense.

The art was good, I didn't once feel empty. Sometimes, mangaka will leave a textbox with a white or black background, and it makes me feel disgusted when it pulls me ...

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May 30, 2019

hexashadow13

Recommended

tl;dr: A pretty standard laid back rom-com where the heroine is a ninja, though that aspect isn't used all that much to its detriment.

This manga has ninjas, or rather a single ninja mainly, but for the most part it's a pretty standard laidback rom-com without much of an overarching plot and instead a bunch of small stories where things slowly develop. The relationship between the two characters, one being somewhat of a stalker and the other being really nice but dense worked well enough I suppose, and there were cute moments, slowly building up the relationship to a predictable but solid enough ending. The issue is that it ...

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Poll: Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou Chapter 30 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 17, 2017	19 replies	by 2132 »» Aug 20, 2021 11:23 PM
Poll: Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou Chapter 10 Discussion Stark700 - Aug 11, 2017	4 replies	by waalex11 »» Jul 21, 2020 7:36 AM
Poll: Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou Chapter 1 Discussion Stark700 - Jul 30, 2017	3 replies	by waalex11 »» Jul 17, 2020 12:20 PM
Poll: Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou Chapter 28 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 16, 2017	2 replies	by GiantQAACSleier »» May 19, 2019 11:49 AM
Poll: Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou Chapter 17 Discussion Stark700 - Sep 6, 2017	2 replies	by Altay545 »» Dec 12, 2018 1:25 AM

Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou
Shinobu's Pure Heart
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Ninja Shinobu-san no Junjou
Shinobu's Pure Heart
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