Kengo Hanazawa's seinen manga Under Ninja is getting a live-action movie adaptation.
The news was announced in the latest issue of Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine (via Crunchyroll). Details such as casting and release dates will be revealed at a later date.
The translated announcement reads:
[Weekly No. 18] Super important ninja news! A live-action movie has been decided! "Under Ninja" (Kengo Hanazawa) Details are unknown as it is the "top ninja secret"! Wait for the next report!!
Written and illustrated by Kengo Hanazawa, Under Ninja is serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine since 2018. As of February 2024, twelve volumes have been released. An English-language release of the manga is available in North America courtesy of Denpa.
Set in the modern world, ninjas still walk among us. Despite the ninja organization in Japan getting dismantled after the Pacific War, they still exist in secret and carry out work in both the public and private sectors and in all kinds of organizations. While some of these ninjas work behind the scenes in national-level conflicts. Kuro Kumogakure, an older ninja, receives a serious "ninja assignment to infiltrate a high school with the latest equipment."
A television anime series adaptation by Tezuka Productions aired from October to December 2023. The series is directed by Satoshi Kuwabara, with scripts supervised by Keiichirō Ōchi, character designs by Nobuteru Yūki, and music composed by Shōta Kowashi.
The anime series synopsis from Crunchyroll reads:
Within the shadows of Japan, a covert battle wages on. Around 200,000 ninjas still exist carrying out deadly missions as a secret organization, National Intelligence of NINJA, or NIN. But a challenger arises: UNDER NINJA. Known as UN, these ninjas oppose NIN at every turn. One such UN is Kuro, a high school loner sent to the front lines. What will be his fate and which faction will prevail?
Interested in watching the anime TV series? It can be streamed right now on Crunchyroll. You can also check out the creditless opening, posted by the Pony Canyon Anime Channel, featuring the song "Hyper" by the Japanese band Kroi.
Reviews for the Under Ninja have been mixed, with many praising the humor and plot twists, but criticizing the back-and-forth storytelling between flashback and present day. It will be interesting to see how the live-action adaptation handles the "weirdness" of the overall manga.