Shinobi Life

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Ninja in a Shoujo genre? You don't read that often in these sort of series.

In my own opinion, most of shoujo series often revolves around in school. You got your typical popular main character then for some reason most of the entire campus have a crush on them. Others would form a club that protects him/her and if you are unworthy to get the attention of these popular people you'll be threaten and be bullied etc.... So this series is a nice change from the usual stuff.

Kagetora is a ninja who for unknown reason ended up in the future where he meets a girl that ... resembles his master. Thinking she is the real Princess he protects her from harm. The story is somewhat shallow especially Beni's family problems and the things that revolves around (pretty much most of the stuff in 1-2 chapters). Although it started somewhat mediocre the series proved to be one of a kind cause it is more focused on Ninja rather than love, love, love. Pretty fast paced for a shoujo series but it's definitely well done (suitable) for its theme.

The art is nice. Clean, not too heavy. I haven't noticed any of the usual stuff most shoujo panels have.. No flowers, bubbles, sparkles etc.... Though (well for me) the art seems it was done with laziness cause sometimes the shading look rushed but nothing else to complain here. Though it felt like a lazy art it is also quite relaxing.

The characters are a bit mixed. Well of course Kagetora's personality is what you should expect from a ninja. A disciplined, honest, protective, somewhat old fashioned.. So he's a great character. In the other hand the female lead (isn't as likeable) the first time she gets introduce you might feel that she isn't a good female lead. But slowly the readers will come to like her. I think Beni's character is developed rather slowly but in a good way. Heck I don't like her the first time but when you read more and more bit by bit you'll end up liking her.

Just as I expected, I enjoyed reading this series. I can't wait to read more. The thing I like about this series is the somewhat "unrequited love". One of the thing I like is the feel of bitter but yet sweet moments.... It has the master X servant theme so the series is much more enjoyable and memorable. I also enjoyed stories that involves ninjas.

If you are looking for a nice shoujo packed with action and dreamy ninja, then this is for you. What makes this series stand from the other, is it doesn't have the overly dramatic, cheesy, lines. It doesn't have those typical word of wisdom when it comes to love. If you are getting tired of the usual cliche shoujo romance, but still craving for more romance junk, then this one is worth a try!

This manga is profoundly different in so many ways. Yet in some way reminiscent. While enjoyable to read it went by far to quickly.

The time travel was one of the best parts about this manga. It made me consistently have to think about where the characters where in time. The quickly established relationships between the characters evolved smoothly, even with the time travel. I enjoyed watching these characters grow.

This manga is far too short, I for one wished there was more!

I highly recommend this for a quick, romantic, action packed read!

{ Story-10} Outstanding every heard of never judge a book by its cover...ya this is one of those, i mean i've probably overlooked this one numerous times. Its about a female whose had quite a rough past with her father; doing what he does for his occupation his daughter has been kidnapped and faced lots of near death situations. A shinobi from a different era falls in a lake in a attempt to save his princess who he dutifully bodyguards; unknowingly time slips to present life.

{Art-9} The art is very nice in some mangas i've come across, i had to carefully ... look at the pictures to see just what the hell i was looking at

{Character-9} Nothing clique about the characters and they seem to be very original...all with some bad memories, and facing difficult situations ( little tragedy involved but nothing to make you pause the manga so that you can find tissue to wipe away tears)

{Enjoyment-9} Reading the genre its very misunderstood...comedy little to none...it has a mature atmosphere. Not a strict mature setting but enough romance to hope things work out between the shinobi "Romeo and Juilet"

{Overall-9} Its added to my favorite mangas list with hardly none...i dont really understand why its ranked low nor rated as average...but its one i recommend so do read when you've spared the time

Wow, I just taught it will be just another love/drama manga, but when I really got into it, I was overwhelmed!!! It has the love part, sad parts, action, etc., it has all I ever wanted to see in a manga!!! Really loved it, read it in two days, and now I'm so sad it came to an end. Really the best manga I've read so far :* :')

This is definitely one of the best manga I have ever read. It has an AMAZING plot, a bit of action and drama, but then all the lovey dovey things a shoujo manga should have. I can really relate to the characters, and I find myself sitting on the edge of my seat due to the crazy twists and unexpected obstacles. It has so many concepts that make you think, and it just feels good to read. I recommend to anyone!!!! Yes, it's a bit lovey dovey, but overall I could see anyone reading this and enjoying it!

I'll keep this short and simple:
Do not let the first chapters fool you!

I had Shinobi Life on my on hold -list for years. And while it kept popping up as a recommended series, I always thought I'd pick it up later.
Today "later" finally arrived. After reading the first four chapters I started feeling quite fed up. Coincidentally my previous attempt at Shinobi Life ended at chap 4 so I thought I'd skim or crawl through a couple more before giving up indefinitely.
9 hours and 64 chapters later I am SO grateful for my stubborn streak!
The cheesy time-travel setup with overreacting characters eventually gave way ... to a story filled with so many intricately performed plot twists and layers upon layers of character development that it had me completely wrapped around its proverbial finger towards the end. If something, Shinobi life reminded me of reading The Time Traveler's Wife: the time jumping plot messes with with your brain but in a very reader friendly way - making it both an emotionally and intellectually pleasing read.

I can start to say that I think Shinobi Life (Ninja Life) was a really great manga. After watched a lot of anime I started to feel like some themes and character stereo/archetypes circulated pretty frequently in some genres. So I deiced to give Shinobi Life a try, do to it contained some of my favorite genres (Action, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Martial arts, Romance, Shoujo, Super Natural), but in a new combination. And I wasn't disappointed.

I can for starter begin with the art. Even do it was really pretty characters, they had a unique kind of look. All have there own personal traits, but ... the same style is used so you see a clear connection between the characters. Not seen that style before. I really growed to enjoy the visuals.

The story and character is what made me read the whole 13 volumes in just three days due. The combination of Ninjas, Time Travelling and Shoujo works really well. The manaka has done a great job binding the story together with the characters. Shore, we are getting some cliches here and there, but they are right timed and they doesn´t just feel like something out of place. But overall the story's pace and well woven red thread, was more then enough. I liked all characters. Some may start out some stereotypical and annoying, but if you bear with them they develop very nicely. For a Shoujo we have surprisingly much action and gore (the ninja tittle isn´t just there for show), and focus on other characters and their stories. To see how the time travelling and romance/drama themes developed was nothing but awesome as well.

Loved the end and how the story played out. So for me it´s a clear 10. I would have liked at least the double amount of what that come from. I wish that they would adapt this one to 24 epidoeisch anime. The Shinobi Life would had done it self very nicely on screen.

Well i like a lot about this manga but i would have to say what i like the most is the overall story a ninja that falls in a time hole to the future thats freaking awesome the art is pretty good very funny parts and it keeps getting more tense with the romance and story and very dramitic at times so i like this manga i hope they make a anime when the manga is done i recommend.

I haven't read a lot of mangas since most of the mangas I like are still going on. I stumbled Shinobi Life here on my page under recommendations for my life of Inuyasha.

Story:
Plot wise, kinda common but progress of the story was good. A bit predictable but I can say it was entertaining. I enjoyed every bit of twist it presented though the ending was rushed (especially the last chapter which felt like an Omake instead of the real ending) I had fun reading this manga.

Art:
Art is beautiful! It didn't give me the "ZOMG THIS ART JUST GAVE ME ANOTHER BISHIE FETISH" kind, but ... it was good and enough to make me blush when reading some intimate scenes.

Character:
The same with Moe Kare, you cannot hate anyone in this manga (oh wait, I hated that bitch girl who broke up the couple. EFFFFF UUUUUU, BISH!). This manga follows a series of unfortunate events that leads the antagonist to such hatred but was resolved in the end. TOO fast though.

Enjoyment:
Yeah it was good. I loved the art, story progress was nice, twists were a bit predictable, there were a few loop holes unanswered though one can say Rihito's dad is just a jerk who wants power and his mom is... crazy and needs help.

Overall: 8/10
Very good for a past time. Would recommend this to those who love a romance, time traveling and ninjas!

---WRITING AFTER 6 CHAPTERS---

ok just let me say this...... A NINJA!.........IN A SHOJO MANGA!!!!

ahh thats better.

Although this manga revolves around a ninja who protects a girl. This is definitely no Naruto romance... It is very unique and refreshing to see a shojo manga dare to put so much action into its story. Don't get me wrong this manga still has that "Lovey Dovey" feel to it, but it also has more action than the usual shojo would.

Story : My first sentence of this review is basically the reason why I've rated this so high. Very nice story plot so far and has me on ... the edge of my seat (well kinda).


Art : The Art is good, not FANTASTIC but better than most manga i've seen thus far. If i had to point out a bad point, it would be that the background art was too simplistic....But hey, it doesn't really matter in my book.


Character : I'm really enjoying the characters of this story so far. We've got Kagetora, the honorable and trustworthy ninja who would go to the end of the earth for Beni, the tsundere with no friends prior to kagetora's appearance and Beni's father, who is a cold person who doesn't care one bit for his daughter. Although thats only a few of the characters, they are real interesting to see grow during the story, especially the relationship between kagetora and beni.


Enjoyment : Im not one for sitting down and reading manga (more of an anime guy) , but this manga has made me sit in my computer seat (giving me an aching back!) for almost 3 hours. so yeah, im thoroughly enjoying it. It has a great balance of action and romance.

Overall : I think it is a very underrated manga and I would definitely recommend it to people who are looking for a romance that is slightly out of the ordinary, but by no means bad.

-kaydee

This is a story with romance, ninjas and time travel.

The plot is continuously evolving, always keeping the reader in question.

The relationship between the main characters would be described as a typical "shojo" level, and does not involve mature content (at this time).

Overall this story produces a hate-love type of relationship between the characters and the readers, as the author will evoke strong feelings as you progress.

I strongly recommended this series!

Shinobi Life truly was a awesome manga! I'm not just giving it 10s for nothing, after all. It was unique in storyline, had lovable characters and simply made me want to keep reading forever.

Story - 9

Might have been a 10, but there is a point where the story seems to be repeating itself - the characters getting into the same situations and not learning from it - but that changed and an exciting element was added.

Art - 9

Effort and creativity was put into the art. Also, there would have to have been a bit of research and practice on drawing the historical images.

Character - ... 10

I fell in love with many of the characters, simply because each one seemed to be their own person. They had their own personal antics and way of acting towards eachother, and their backstory's were shown clearly without being obvious.

Enjoyment - 10

I dont know how anyone could NOT enjoy this manga. It's absolutely unique ( i mean, a ninja!?) and definitely makes the story fun but full of action. Even guys might enjoy this!

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ Historical fantasy is always a little fun, thus quite a few shoujo manga are centered on the interesting genre. Add the fact that there are ninjas involved and you already have quite the devoted fan base. That's "Shinobi Life" for you.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ Right from the beginning, this series starts with a little bit of a melodramatic scene. The mangaka paints Beni as an angsty teenager who'd throw her life away to spite her cold-hearted father, but that's only what's on the surface. As we delve into her life, we see that her father's attitude toward her is ... almost indifferent but also inexplicable, and the reason for that is revealed later in the story. At the start, though, Beni is almost annoying in her demeanor and spiteful words to her dad, but she rounds out as the chapters go on.

Enter Kagetora. He doesn't understand anything of the modern world, so even though he wants to be useful, he depends on Beni to teach him what he needs to know. Upon seeing her, he sees resemblances to the princess and decides from her name that she must be Beni-hime's reincarnation, thus he promises to protect her as he did the princess. The humor is in his reactions to everyday appliances and customs, but he slowly adjusts to living there and follows Beni's orders dutifully.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ As one would expect, the romance of the century is between Beni and Kagetora. If you couldn't tell from the fantastic cover art, their love is a fierce one. Alongside fighting enemies of different time periods, they also battle their feelings for each other. Kagetora adheres to the rules of the past and believes him too lowly to love a princess, and Beni wonders if he's using her as a replacement for the princess of the other generation rather than loving her for herself. The first conflict is pretty stale and stereotypical, but the other is made more intense by the mangaka's portrayal of raw emotion in their faces and muddled thoughts.

While the story started in the present, the bulk of it takes place in the past as they travel back to it. Of course, as a ninja Kagetora has a whole lot of interesting backstory. (The time portal isn't something that can be explained, though; it's just some act of magic.) The way he grew up and who raised him is all revealed when they go back in time, and all of it connects to Beni's existence today. It's an intriguing albeit complicated way of weaving their stories together to make sense of the modern situation.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ As cool as time travel is, though, I have to admit that I'm normally not a huge fan of it. It's overly perplexing, and though it seems to make sense, I still think going back in time to do something for yourself in the past just isn't possible. Nevertheless, the pieces still fit together (I think), so if you're okay with not thinking too hard about the circumstances, it'll be alright. Bias aside, though, I do believe that the amount of time-traveling in this manga is a bit excessive. It's not as brain-hurting as it is in something like "Tsubasa Chronicles," though, so don't sweat it.

I think the majority of the characters in this manga are well-developed or at least have some juicy backstories. One of them in particular has a stark personality change, but the others are pretty deep and have a lot to contribute to the plot.

Some people may think that Beni is aggravating in her spunk and stubbornness, but I can see the reasons why Kagetora and the others like her. She definitely changes from the way she was in the beginning once she realizes what's at stake and what others have been through. At first she seemed like a spoiled brat, but underneath that she really does care about a lot of things. Consequently she transforms into one of the nicest characters.

✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ ✣ Though this isn't my favorite manga, I do realize why a lot of people enjoyed it in its prime. The romance is definitely a huge factor, and time travel is probably cool for most readers. The artwork for me is absolutely stunning. It's not drop-dead gorgeous, but it's definitely better than typical shoujo. I always stare a little longer at the cover of every volume before reading the next chapter. All in all, though, I would recommend it for those interested in historical shoujo and fantasy, and I'm sure anyone who picks it up for the art will be impressed with the story as well.

I like the romance/relationship between two main characters so much.
They overcame obstacles and bittersweet memories. I was moved to tears.
*clap clap clap

Shinobi Life is a 13 volume shoujo manga series by Shoko Conami and published between the years 2006 - 2012.

In North America, Tokyo Pop only published volumes 1-7 in English before shutting down shop.

In this review I will only spoil a few plot points to explain the series overall, but I assure you, this character driven saga has much more to offer than bones I'll extract here.

The plot opens with Beni Fujiwara, daughter of a wealthy Japanese family, being kidnapped. Only there is something off about this kidnapping. Beni does not seem fearful, but her kidnapper does.

Before we get an answer on ... what is really going on here, a Ninja falls from the sky.



What a way to open a scene, right?

We quickly learn that Beni has been putting herself in danger to get back at her father, whom she blames her mothers death on.

And that our fallen ninja keeps calling Beni, Princess Beni.



The rest of the first volume is loaded with absurdist humor and misunderstandings as Beni comes to the realization that the man in the ninja costume, Kagetora, might actually be from the past.

Kagetora protected her ancestor, Princess Beni, whom she looks exactly like.

Kagetora thinks he is protecting the Princess in some alternate dimension of the enemy.



While this early plot reads as farfetched and very silly, the first volume ends with a trip to the past and the first inkling that there might be much more substance to the story long term.



I'm glad I did not stop reading.

What started out as a silly story, full of exploited misunderstandings, and a parent versus child feud taken too far, suddenly turns into a heartwarming tale about a secret Shinobi, ninja, village from a time forgotten.

And the story of two orphaned boys who grow up knowing no other life than the Shinobi life.



Our female protagonist falls in love with Kagetora along the way and is plagued by the worry that she is just a replacement for the princess he has lost.

But regardless of her feelings, Beni's father has forbidden a relationship with Kagetora. With his resources, there isn't a place anywhere in the world they could escape him.

Beni pleads with Kagetora to escape to the past with her, but Kagetora knows they won't find the happiness they seek there either.



But before they can find out. They stumble through the portal, and are separated. Landing them both in different timelines.

And this marks the real beginning of our story.

Beni finds herself taken into the Shinobi village by Kagetora. But he is not her Kagetora.

Instead it is his past self of fourteen years old. Training to be a ninja, back before the violent scars covered his body.



Three Things Were Done Expertly in This Manga:
1. Time Travel
2. Character Incorporation
3. Romance

Time Travel

The way time travel works in this story really helps to raise the stakes.

The portals are always located in the same place. In the past you must jump off a certain cliff. In the future you must jump off a certain building. However, you cannot choose what time in the past you will land.


If you are not physically tethered to the other person you will be separated by time travel.

Thus when our characters get separated it becomes a major hurtle for them to get back on the same timeline. Finding one another requires jumping through time over and over again until finally meeting by chance.

It is a desperate task, and yet they do it to once again be together.

Time travel also has one great danger.




Character Incorporation

The story starts out with Beni and Kagetora, a powerful father, and a handful of petty antagonists. But things quickly escalate. The petty antagonists become a real threat and the father becomes a major barrier.



At the time of Beni's separation from Kagetora, both their lives are in serious danger from Hitake. Another time traveling ninja.

But through the time travel plot we learn the pasts of every single character, witnessing what happened to turn them into who they are today.

Because the time travel lands the characters at random along the time line we put the pieces of this puzzle together out of order, but in a way where each new reveal hits with a punch to the gut.



I often felt conflicted about hating the bad guys & flipping the pages faster to learn the rest of the story.

Like these individuals had a karmic destiny to stay together. Every single character was fully fleshed out and important to the plot by its end.


Romance

The insta-love in this series worked for me because of the time travel plot.



Beni and Kagetora have many obstacles to overcome to be happy together. There are not only external barriers barring their way, but also the internal confusion nagging at both of them.

The antagonists accuse Kagetora of using Beni as a replacement for Princess Beni.

Though Kagetora and Beni feel in their hearts that it is not true, neither can prove it.

Untilll...

Beni travels to the past and has the unique opportunity to meet the fourteen year old Kagetora.

She gets to witness firsthand how he became the man he is now. And the origin of the score he must settle with Hitake, his rival.

But most importantly, she gets her proof that she is not a replacement for Princess Beni, because, by traveling back to the past, she actually met Kagetora first.

The mystery which remains, is why does he not remember? And if you want to find out why, you should read Shinobi Life!



This manga was an excellent read. I highly recommend it to you. It is a love story at heart, but the larger plot which ties all the characters together through time and space is even more excellent.

It is unfortunate that we did not see a full English publication in the past, but perhaps we can get it in the future now that Tokyo Pop has reemerged.

When I first saw the tags for Shinobi Life, I was surprised. A shoujo manga with ninjas and time travelling? Shinobi Life has a great premise. Unfortunately, as with time travel plots, not much happens, instead most of the manga is spent figuring out the current situation. Everything starts going downhill after chapter 22, because it starts getting repetitive, which leads me to my second point: the events that happen in the manga are contrived as hell. It's like all logic is thrown out of the window just to have have one character meet another and to add more drama and plot points.

Nevertheless, I ... enjoyed this manga. As a shoujo fan, this was a good twist on the over saturated genre, and it was quite action-packed and fun. Also, I really like the art.

[!!MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!]

Story: 8/10
It's not your typical romance manga but a time travel twist added to it. This makes the story quite interesting. The story has a happy ending for the main characters but sad endings for 4 side characters. Renkaku and Enji, Hachikuma and Hirono [I think I took the name right] have tragic fate. Other than that, it was mysterious and happy ending.

Art: 8/10
It was good.

Character: 9/10
They are relatable and you will feel for them in case you are capable of attaching yourself to the situation.
...
Enjoyment: 10/10
Great pace and not boring at all.

Overall: 8/10
It is built on fate at the center. I still wanted the father [Hachikuma] to tell his wife that she will die if she goes back and somehow save her. I also didn't want Renkaku to die. But it's just me as I previously had no problem with character's death in any anime/manga but after watching 'Your lie in April', every time there is death or loss of love, I feel something deep inside hurt. But oh well!

Loved it :D

I thought it would be the usual shoujo manga, but I was totally wrong.

The time travelling plot was very interesting and I did not guess what will happen next. Also, it was a happy ending :)

The reader will experience laughter, sadness, pain, love, friendship, brotherhood, etc.

The manga has an unique and beautiful art. It has awesome characters where at first when you get to know them, you think they are in a certain way. However the more you continue reading, you find out the reasons why they are in that why, learn to ... understand them and love them. Moreover, an awesome story ^_^

Furthermore, this manga is not that long if you want to read something fast. It took me only 2 days and it can also take you one day. It they do an anime for this manga, I would definitely watch it :D

Worth reading :D