From time-traveling ninjas to paint-by-numbers shoujo.
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Shoko Conami
Translation: Lori Riser
Adaptation: Ysabet MacFarlane
What They Say
An average high school girl is suddenly saved by a time-slipping ninja who thinks she is a princess he has sworn to protect. Romance blooms as he tries to protect her in the crazy modern world.
The Review!
Content:
Kagetora might have been captured by a dangerous ninja from the past, and one working for Beni's fiancée at that, but that doesn't mean our no-nonsense heroine is going to give up. When she goes to confront Rihito, Beni discovers that there's more to their arranged marriage than meets the eye. Beni also agrees to her fiancée’s terms: she won't try to break off their engagement, in return for Kagetora's safety. It's a plot development that's easy to see coming, given the fact that the lead characters have already developed more trust in each other over two volumes than most shoujo couples do over the run of an entire series.
There's another twist in the story that I won't spoil, partly because it comes out of left field, and partly because it's so unimportant to the rest of the volume that I don't have to ruin the surprise. The latter half of the volume shifts the entire focus back to the developing love triangle between Beni, Kagetora, and Rihito. Thankfully, we're never subjected to Beni being confused about where her true feelings lie; it's clear that she loves Kagetora. Although this is a welcome relief from series that show their heroines being indecisive about everything, it's clear from the beginning how this entire storyline is going to play out--even the "twist" in the very last pages of the volume. It's not a bad storyline, and it's resolved quickly enough to allow for something more exciting in the next volume, but it's still not compelling enough to pull the reader in.
In Summary:
With each volume of Shinobi Life, I'm left scratching my head and thinking about the potential. There's so much that could be done with this story, and instead we get a generic storyline with twist thrown in that, although contributing to certain parts of the storyline, is dropped almost as soon as it is mentioned and feels like an attempt to add some flair to an otherwise typical storyline. The lead characters do act with some level of maturity, and their affection for each other is real enough, but the author seems to just be dropping them into what has become a paint-by-numbers shoujo romance. It's still not a bad series, though. The characters are likable enough, although not particularly relatable, and there's still the potential for better storylines in coming volumes. It's a shame, though, that Shinobi Life is playing it safe rather than trying to take advantage of that as-of-yet untapped potential.
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