Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash! is a television anime adaptation produced by Artland aired in Japan between January 6, 2013 and March 24, 2013. The series is directed by Takashi Watanabe with scripts by Takao Yoshioka and character designs by Takashi Torii.[1] The anime is licensed in North America by Funimation Entertainment, who streamed the series as it aired.[2] The English dub version of the DVD was released to the on U.S. in July 29, 2014. Ninja Flash is a retelling of Senran Kagura: Burst. The second season of Senran Kagura was announced, though it does not continue after the events of Ninja Flash, but after Peach Beach Splash. [3]
"Super cute Asuka and her curvy companions appear to be your typical high school students, but they’ve got an outrageous secret: they’re learning the wild ways of the ninja! Get a lesson in action, naughtiness, and sexy slapstick fun as Asuka's gang takes on the toughest (and hottest) fighters in town! Fan service fanatics won’t want to miss a minute!"
- Crunchyroll description
Characters[]
- Asuka
- Japanese Voice Actor: Hitomi Harada · English Voice Actor: Felecia Angelle
A 2nd-year student at Hanzō National Academy. As grandaughter of the legendary shinobi, Hanzō, she bears a great role in upholding her duties as a shinobi.
- Ikaruga
- Japanese Voice Actor: Asami Imai · English Voice Actor: Alexis Tipton
A 3rd-year student at Hanzō National Academy. Adopted by a high-class family and was given their heirloom's Hien, she wields finesse and holds the group together at desperate times.
- Katsuragi
- Japanese Voice Actor: Yū Kobayashi · English Voice Actor: Brittney Karbowski
A 3rd-year student at Hanzō National Academy. She gropes any girls' breasts when given any chance, but still carries her duties to pardon her parents who became renegades and had to run away.
- Yagyū
- Japanese Voice Actor: Kaori Mizuhashi · English Voice Actor: Bryn Apprill
A 1st-year student at Hanzō National Academy. Losing her young sister in a car accident, she has a distant attitude with most people, but holds a great affection towards Hibari.
- Hibari
- Japanese Voice Actor: Yuka Iguchi · English Voice Actor: Megan Shipman
A 1st-year student at Hanzō National Academy. She sometimes acts apathetic with her abilities and acts like she is holding everyone else behind, but tries her best to keep up with the others.
- Kiriya
- Japanese Voice Actor: Keiji Fujiwara · English Voice Actor: Philip Weber
A master teacher at Hanzō National Academy. He tutors the shinobi team in Hanzō Academy to bring them to their full potential.
- Narrator
- Japanese Voice Actor: Kotaro Fujimoto · English Voice Actor: Kent Williams
A voice in the anime that explains the concepts and the characters in the anime.
- Hanzō
- Japanese Voice Actor: Kanehira Yamamoto · English Voice Actor: Bill Brooks
A legendary shinobi and Asuka's grandfather. He is an owner of a sushi restaraunt and has Hanzō Academy named after him.
Plot[]
This summary will cover the main plot points of the whole season, and will thus contain some spoilers.
The show primarily follows the Hanzō class (Asuka, Ikaruga, Katsuragi, Yagyū, and Hibari) under the tutelage of Kiriya, with the main Hebijo students (Homura, Yomi, Hikage, Mirai, and Haruka) acting as the antagonists.
The story starts by introducing the Hanzō characters and the concept of shinobi. While on their first mission given by Kiriya, Asuka runs into Homura, but is yet unaware of her status as evil shinobi, while the others get ambushed by mannequins. Kiriya explains these mannequins were likely controlled by an evil shinobi targeting the Hanzō girls. Soon after, Hanzō himself visits the school to support the class with their training, but he also reveals to Kiriya that the mannequin-attack was indeed instigated by Hebijo Clandistine Girls' Academy, setting the main conflict of the story in motion.
During their training, the Hanzō team gets attacked by the Hebijo twice, one time by Hikage and Mirai, and once more by all elite Hebijo students by being trapped into shinobi barriers, where Asuka learns that Homura is an evil shinobi. Both times they manage to defend themselves, and on the second time Haruka promises Hibari to retreat if she takes an earring as a token of friendship. After this, Kiriya decides to ramp up the intensity of the girls' training and to enlist the help of Daidōji, to find out which of the girls houses the most potential, with Asuka being the chosen one.
Meanwhile, Hebijo's main investor, Dōgen, orders the elite class and their instructor Suzune to acquire Hanzō Academy's Super-Secret Ninja Art Scroll. Haruka had planned for this, as her token of friendship was actually a mind-control device with which she orders Hibari to steal the scroll and deliver it to her. Feeling guilty, Hibari decides to join Hebijo to try to get the scroll back. The rest of the Hanzō class then follows after her to try to get Hibari and the scroll back from Hebijo.
In the final stage of the story, the Hanzō class starts their attack on Hebijo, making their way into the academy and fighting the Hebijo elite members one-on-one in shinobi barriers. However, during these fights it is also revealed that Dōgen was using the elite class for his own personal gains, interrupting the final fight between Asuka and Homura. Everyone rushes to the top of the academy, where they see Asuka and Homura being abducted into a shinobi barrier set by Dōgen. The Hanzō students, seeing the Hebijo students worry over Homura the same way they worry over Asuka, feel convinced that they're not so different after all, so they set their differences aside to all send their powers to Asuka and Homura in their fight against Dōgen, and they manage to defeat him using the power of the Super-Secret Ninja Art scrolls.
After the battle, Dōgen tries to escape and self-destruct the academy with everyone inside. However, Suzune manages to capture him and throw him into the crumbling academy. The elite Hebijo students go back into the building to rescue the normal students and order the Hanzō to return home. The Hanzō girls worry about the Hebijo girls, but Kiriya informs them that no sign of casualties were found in the academy's ruins, so they rest assured that they will cross swords again in the future..
Episode list[]
| # | Episode Title | Description | Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ninja That Stand Atop Skyscrapers (Matenrō ni Tatsu Ninja, 摩天楼に立つ忍者) |
A young shinobi named Asuka carries out a daring mission. The following day, she returns to Hanzō Academy in Asakusa, Tokyo, where she secretly trains with four other classmates. Their afternoon field work holds an unexpected surprise in store for them. | 2013-01-06 |
| 2 | The Legendary Shinobi Appears (Densetsu no Shinobi Arawaru, 伝説の忍あらわる) |
Asuka and the others continue training, but are forbidden from any contact with those outside the school. Asuka feels disappointed when everyone but herself is able to perform the ninja animal-summoning technique. Asuka's Grandpa Hanzō visits the school. | 2013-01-13 |
| 3 | Moonlight Intruder (Gekka no Shinnyūsha, 月下の侵入者) |
Ikaruga and Asuka are confronted by an overpowering Yomi outside the supermarket. Following the confrontation, Ikaruga is left with doubts about her abilities. Meanwhile, Ikaruga's adopted brother turns up missing. Asuka faces her fear of frogs. | 2013-01-20 |
| 4 | Seaside Training - Shinobi Island (Rinkai Shugyō Shinobitō, 臨海修行・忍島) |
The class members travel to Shinobi Island, a training ground used by shinobi for centuries. Upon their arrival, they are tasked with cleaning the boarding house, where Hibari discovers the written aspiration of a past student to become a "Super-ninja." | 2013-01-27 |
| 5 | Sneak Attack! Hanzō Academy (Kishū! Hanzō Gakuin!, 奇襲!半蔵学院) |
The Hanzō girls train even harder to be ready for the Hebijo shinobi's next move. The Hebijo girls sneak onto campus to locate the Hanzō girls' training facility. Upon finding the old schoolhouse, it is placed in a kekkai, trapping the Hanzō girls inside! | 2013-02-03 |
| 6 | Interlocking Shinobi Kekkai Barriers (Rendō Shinobi Kekkai, 連動忍結界) |
The Hanzō shinobi continue to fight one-on-one against the Hebijo shinobi. When Yagyū manages to defeat her opponent and free herself from her pocket of kekkai space, she attempts to enter Hibari's pocket to protect her, at great physical risk to herself. | 2013-02-10 |
| 7 | Hiking Terror (Kyōfu no Haikingu, 恐怖のハイキング) |
Still reeling from the blow they were dealt by Hebijo, Kiriya decides to ramp up the girls' training with a mountain-climbing training excursion. This so-called "Hai-kin-gu" training provides many challenges to the Hanzō team, both together and separately. | 2013-02-17 |
| 8 | A Shinobi Classroom Retrospective (Tsuioku no Shinobi Kyōshitsu, 追憶の忍教室) |
Kiriya's training of the girls turns especially strict. Afterward, he reminisces about the time two years earlier when Ikaruga and Katsuragi were new students. As Asuka, Hibari, and Yagyū join in later on, the road to the team's formation is revealed. | 2013-02-24 |
| 9 | Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy (Hiritsu Hebi Joshigakuen, 秘立蛇女子学園) |
Under Haruka's control, Hibari breaks into Hanzō Academy's depository and takes the super-secret ninja art scroll. After Haruka leaves with the scroll, Hibari feels that she has betrayed the others, and runs away from the academy to get the scroll back. | 2013-03-03 |
| 10 | Yin and Yang (In to Yō, 陰と陽) |
With the map from Suzune, the Hanzō Academy shinobi prepare to attack the Hebijo base. As Hibari learns more about Hebijo's training methods, she is determined to take back the secret scroll. Suzune gets in hot water for luring the Hanzō shinobi to Hebijo. | 2013-03-10 |
| 11 | Castle Showdown (Kessen Tenshukaku, 決戦天守閣) |
Yomi waits in ambush to keep the Hanzō shinobi from moving forward. As Ikaruga takes matters into her own hands, Hibari is desperate to escape her cell and tell the others not to fight the Hebijo students, as it will mean their deaths if they lose. | 2013-03-17 |
| 12 | Super-Secret Ninja Art (Chō Hiden Ninpō, 超秘伝忍法) |
Fierce battles continue to be waged as the Hanzō Academy shinobi try to reach the castle's top floor. Meanwhile, outside, Kiriya, Daidoji, and Suzune have a confrontation of their own. With everything at stake, Asuka and Homura engage in one last showdown. | 2013-03-24 |
Theme songs[]
- Opening theme
- "Break Your World" (ep 1 - 12) by
- Ending themes
- "Fighting Dreamer" (ep 1 - 3, 8) by
- "Yamiyo wa Otome wo Hana ni Suru" (闇夜は乙女を花にする The Flowers of the Girls of the Night) (ep 4 - 6, 9) by
- "Shissōron" (疾走論 Theory Sprint) (ep 7, 10 - 12) by
Bonus Episodes[]
The following six episodes were originally released with the BD/DVD volume releases. However due to Funimation not acquiring the rights to these episodes they were excluded from the English dub.[4]
| # | Episode Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heart-pounding Body Measurement (Dokidoki Karada Sokutei, どきどき身体測定) |
2013-03-27 |
| 2 | Protect Hibari's Naked Body! (Hibari no Hadaka o Kakusu no da!, 雲雀の裸を隠すのだ！) |
2013-04-24 |
| 3 | I Want to Put my Face in your Chest! (Sono Mune ni Kao o Umetai!, その胸に顔を埋めたい！) |
2013-05-29 |
| 4 | Ikaruga Style Exercise (Ikaruga-shiki Ekusasaizu, 斑鳩式エクササイズ) |
2013-06-26 |
| 5 | Forbidden! The Sealed Fear! (Kindan! Akazunoma no Kyōfu!, 禁断！開かずの間の恐怖！) |
2013-07-24 |
| 6 | A Rival Showdown Without Humanity or Justice! (Jingi Naki Raibaru Taiketsu!, 仁義なきライバル対決!) |
2013-08-28 |
References[]
- ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.co.uk/news/2012-12-24/senran-kagura-tv-anime-ad-aired
- ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-01-1/funimation-to-stream-senran-kagura-tv-anime
- ↑ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-08-01/senran-kagura-games-get-2nd-tv-anime-season/.119592
- ↑ https://blog.funimation.com//2014/07/28/important-notice-about-the-senran-kagura-release/