Ninja Slayer From Animation

Ninja Slayer From Animation—Ultra-High-Speed Sword Action at the Intersection of Cyberpunk and the "Ninja Sword"

Ninja Slayer From Animation (2015, produced by trigger, 26 episodes) is an anime adaptation of the English-language novel "Ninja Slayer" (2010–, serialized on Twitter then published in book form) by Bradley Bond and Philip Ninja Monk. Set in the near-future city of "Neo-Saitama"—a fictional city fusing cyberpunk technology with Japanese ninja culture—the work centers on ultra-high-speed sword combat in which beings called "Ninja," possessing superhuman powers, battle using the "ninto (ninja sword)" as their primary weapon.

### The "Ninto (Ninja Sword)"—Ninja Blades and the Functional Aesthetics of the Japanese Sword

The "ninto" that appear in this work are generally depicted as "jokuto (straight blades without curvature)" as swords used by ninjas. This is based on the traditional image of the "ninja-to"—"short, straight blade, square tsuba"—and is established as a weapon that contrasts visually with "the curved-beauty Japanese sword (uchigatana, tachi)."

Historically, there are various theories regarding the actual form of swords employed by ninjas. Some scholars contend that the "straight-blade ninja sword" is an image standardized primarily through rakugo storytelling and fiction from the Edo period onward. There is also a compelling theory that actual ninjas, kouka practitioners, and iga practitioners typically used standard katana and wakizashi employed by ordinary samurai. However, the ninto of this work can be understood as rationally chosen as a combat weapon for a cyberpunk city, from the perspective of "the functional rationality of the straight blade—the efficiency of draw and thrust techniques in an urban environment with fewer obstructions."

### Trigger's Sword Action Direction—The Aesthetics of "Speed" and "Cutting"

trigger (the studio behind Kill la Kill and Promare) displays its "ultra-high-speed, ultra-intense sword action direction" in this work. The sword combat of Ninja Slayer has a distinctive style combining "a flip-book-like low-frame-rate effect (intentional limited animation)," "depiction of the instantaneous draw and slash," and "exaggerated expression of blood spray and cut surfaces." This direction style can be understood as a fusion of the aesthetics of Japanese "gekiga—the instantaneous condensation of movement" and "the sense of speed in cyberpunk."

The functional aesthetics of the Japanese sword—"itto ryodan (cleaving with a single stroke)"—combined with the cyberpunk sense of speed and information density, forms the aesthetics of the unique "ninja sword action" of this work.

### The Quasi-Religionization of "Ninja"—The Ritual and Spiritual Dimension of the Sword

In this work, Ninjas are established as beings created when a spiritual entity called a "Ninja Soul" possesses a human. This "dualism of the ninja soul and body" has a structure that corresponds to the concept of "the soul of the sword (tōrei)—the spiritual entity dwelling in the sword" in Japanese sword culture.

In Japan, the belief that "a soul dwells in the sword (tōrei)" and "a sword forged by an outstanding swordsmith harbors the smith's spirit" has been widely held, and swords have been treated as "not merely weapons but spiritual vessels." The work's setting in which ninjas exercise the power of "Ninja Souls (spiritual entities)" through "swords (ninto)" can be read as a cyberpunk adaptation of this Japanese sword culture concept of "the sword as spiritual vessel."

### The English-Speaking World's View of "Ninja" and Cross-Reference with Japanese Sword Culture

The original work was written in English by English-speaking authors (Bradley Bond and Philip Ninja Monk), intentionally parodying and sublimating "the Japanese ninja and samurai culture as imagined by the English-speaking world." This "imaginary expression of Japanese sword and ninja culture as seen from outside" provides interesting material from the perspective of "comparison" with actual Japanese sword culture.

The frequent appearance in this work of Japanese sword and martial arts terms—"KATANA," "NINTO," "IAIJUTSU"—as English written in katakana demonstrates that Japanese sword culture functions as "a cultural sign with mythological and symbolic meaning" even in the English-speaking world.

### A Collector's Perspective

Ninja Slayer From Animation is a work that offers sword collectors the perspective of "the international reception of Japanese sword culture and its imaginary transformation," from four viewpoints: "the historical background and cultural image of the ninto (straight-blade ninja sword)," "the aesthetics of speed and cutting in sword action," "the cyberpunk adaptation of the spiritual and mental dimension of the sword," and "the imaginary expression of Japanese sword and ninja culture as seen from the English-speaking world."