Dojo Master Onsokumaru is the original dirty old man, but it's confusing to think of him as a man when he's usually depicted as either a small yellow ball or as a huge, muscled freak. He's supposed to be mentoring the girl ninja Shinobu, but he's mostly thinking about her as a sex object. This is completely lost on Shinobu, who spends her waking hours dreaming about her new friend, Kaede. Sapphic impulses abound in this relationship, couched in seemingly family-friendly activities like sleeping over. It's when the sleeping over turns into bathing together (Shinobu's idea) that things get weird, considering these are like high-school aged girls... The English dub of Ninja Nonsense is awesome, with Onsokumaru coming across much like a hybrid of Stewie and Brian from Family Guy; he's a show-stealer, without a doubt. Alongside Onsokumaru in the dojo are identical ninjas referred to only as Sasuke, who spend equal amounts of time mooning over Shinobu and Kaede, when they're not getting whipped around by their master. These sound like reasonable narrative elements, but they're surrounded by some of the strangest free association you'll ever see outside of a William Burroughs' novel... The incredibly entertaining and insightful production journals included in a booklet with the Ninja Nonsense: Thinpak Collection put it best:
If we were to do this show as an original production, we could never pull it off. First, I don't think the project would get approved, but even if it did, without the comic, it would've been impossible to have a common awareness of the show's surreal feel among the staff members.
Staying loyal to the manga source was a smart move for the show, as we get the fullest flavor of what readers have appreciated since 2000. Episodes like "Onsokumaru Goes to Hell," "The Ninjas Are Cursed," and "A Monster Plant Goes Crazy" take typical manga or anime fare as inspiration, but find humor where others find horror. Some of the reference points are obscure, and some are particular to Japanese culture, but the undercurrent of sophomoric humor is transferable across all cultural barriers. We can only imagine that folks with a deep understanding of Japan will find Ninja Nonsense: Thinpak Collection especially hilarious. Episodes like "Ninjas Elated Over Cherry-Blossom Viewing," "Kaede Gets Sick," and "Onsokumaru Gets Angry" might as well be skits on some late-night comedy show. They aren't remotely about ninjas, but they're high on the nonsense scale. The last one, and many others in the series, plays on the idea of ninja combat by turning every potentially serious encounter into something ridiculous. Picture Onsokumaru as a yellow ball clutched in the mouth of a crocodile, pretending to be wearing a super crocodile battle suit, and you get the idea.
The series' tag line, "Super Explosive Pervy Ninja Insanity," isn't an exaggeration. The 15+ rating is about right, and we can imagine plenty of teens really getting off on Ninja Nonsense. It's roughly in the same vein as shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, South Park or other mature content. Ninja Nonsense never goes beyond the softest of softcore, but there's some language that parents might find objectionable. The suggestive nature of the show is enough to make any parent squirm, but calculated to thrill a teenage boy. Trying to picture a teen girl's reaction to the show is difficult, bu there's probably something for any viewer in Ninja Nonsense. The Thinpak Collection is armed with lots of awesome special content, including the booklet that exposes all kind of background on the show's creation, production, and special features. If there's a teen boy on your list for the holidays, who likes zany anime, you need to seek this one out.
