• Title: Nabari no Ou
• Studio: J.C. Staff
• Genre: Action

Ratings (out of 5):

• Story: ♥♥½

• Animation: ♥♥♥
• Characters: ♥♥♥½
• OP/ED Themes: ♥♥½
• Overall: ♥♥♥ (Better than I was expecting. Yay!)

Thoughts:
We’ve heard the story a thousand times: a normal high school boy turns out to not be a normal high school boy. This time he’s actually the chosen container of an immense ninja power called Hijutsu, and a ton of other ninja clans are after it. Hits teacher, Tobari-sensei, and his classmate Kouichi are trying to protect him from the other clans (and also trying to get him to join their martial arts club so he can learn how to defend himself and stuff).

But it’s not the plot, which is uber-standard, that made me enjoy the show more than I expected. The characters are fun: Miharu wants absolutely nothing to do with what the other two are up to, and has apparently already mastered the ninja art of disappearing in the middle of a conversation. Kouichi is also a bit eager, and Tobari-sensei is downright goofy…especially when Miharu plays what I’m going to call his “uke” card.

Yes, this show is clearly geared somewhat towards the yaoi fangirls: whenever Tobari-sensei gets serious with Miharu about ninja-related things, Miharu manages to twist it so that it looks like Tobari-sensei is flirting with him. That along with somewhat bishounen designs definitely screams fangirlism…but there’s some good action in here for the guys.

All in all, a positive experience. Looking forward to the next episode.