Tokyo Shinobi Squad

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ever since stumbling upon Jin Narumi's face on some site i was on like an ad, i'm glad i searched the origins of his official art work only to see where it turned out where hes from a Shonen Jump franchise. at first site and then reading the first chapter on VIZ media online, it was great most of everything was reminiscent of the popular Naruto franchise which was one of my favorite Jump franchises but turned into a more somewhat modern/futuristic-like version of it. the plot on globalization gives this manga a lot of potential to where it can have a big long interesting ... story ahead in the future so it's possible to expect more coming from the manga artist on this.

So, xenophobia, eh?

If you've heard of Tokyo Shinobi Squad, it's probably because of its xenophobia accusations, which I honestly won’t even try to say they’re wrong, as soon as the first appearance of the MC you have globalization and immigration being called the source of all crime in Japan. The series is very over the top on its xenophobia for like the first 3 chapters, but massively tones it down after, to the point it’s only from time to time you’ll even notice something that’d make you go “oh yeah the MC is a xenophobe”. And note, the MC is never portrayed in the wrong ... for this, his xenophobia is even called his “righteous beliefs” at some point, so you’re probably going to get it hard to swallow if you can’t get past that.

With the elephant in the room out of the way, let’s talk about the series itself, which I can describe in one word: average. It’s pretty much a generic guild setting but cyberpunk, the plot is barely there and mostly carried by fight after fight, and all but two of the characters are very one note. Jin is your typical MC trying to who tries to act cool, but as said above, he’s a xenophobe who believes in the absolute purity and superiority of Japanese culture, so at least he has something to make him stand out from the crowd. En is probably the highlight of the series, having the most interesting personality, a neat power you don’t usually explored this way in an action shounen, and ironically enough being one of the best representations for dark skinned characters I’ve seen in manga.

Aside from the obviously rushed ending thanks to being axed and the instances of xenophobia sprinkled across it, Tokyo Shinobi Squad is basically a typical action shounen, but it’s at least serviceable enough to keep you entertained for its short run. So if you don’t mind reading a pretty average series that you can probably finish in one or two sits, then I see no harm on this one.

Thank you for reading.

Tokyo Shinobi Squad is the newest typical shonen in the Jump. It follows what the Big Three did and, well, is as basic as you can get. A mindless protagonist that is really strong even though he doesn't look that menacing at first, with a strong sense of justice and willing to do everything for what he believes is right, wow.
The story plots (there have been like 2 or 3 short arcs) are pretty basic, but I find them refreshing because of the setting. I haven't read any manga from this oversaturated genre that is set on a cyberpunk-esque world, and even though the story ... is as basic as it can get, it feels slightly more original than what you can find in other shonen.
Characters are pretty standard, just one dimensional archetypes that each have their cool moments to show off what they're good at, but if you read these kinds of manga you're surely used to this. They're not deep, but are fairly enjoyable if you don't look at it with really critic eyes.
What really sets this manga apart is its character design and overall art. Yeah, the characters may look "really pretty and cute" like in most Jump manga, but I really like their simple futuristic look, even though some characters can be confused because of the low variety in face designs. What is truly impressive is the composition of battle scenes. I can feel the movement and the strength of the impacts, the "ninpo" techniques, and clearly see in my mind how they'd be animated if this was an anime. Pretty good on that area.

Overall, TSS is not bad. It won't blow your mind, but if you don't have anything to read it's pretty entertaining, as long as you look at it as what it is, a generic shonen. Also, at the time of writing this review there's only 10 chapters out, so you can get up to date really quick.

6.5/10