Adult Swim has some major hits on its hands these days and has seen renewals aplenty in relation to some of its biggest animated series. Rick And Morty and The Smiling Friends have been confirmed to have several new seasons set to air on Cartoon Network in the future but many fans are wondering if the programming block will have a future in anime. With previous entries like Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, Fena: Pirate Princess, and Shenmue The Animation acting as “one and done” original anime adaptations, Adult Swim has announced that it will be bringing back one of its biggest, and perhaps most controversial, original animes in the future with not one, but two seasons.
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At Annecy, Adult Swim confirmed that Ninja Kamui will return for two new seasons. Debuting last year, the original production was forged by Sola Entertainment, which was made thanks to producer Joseph Chou. Chou is no stranger to the anime world, having worked on legendary franchises including Neon Genesis Evangelion, Knight of The Zodiac, Tower of God, The God of High School, Ghost In The Shell, and Ultraman to name a few. In recent years, Chou has assisted Warner Bros with projects such as Rick And Morty: The Anime, The Lord of The Rings: The War of The Rohirrim, and Lazarus. While a release date hasn’t been confirmed, the recent Annecy panel did confirm that the next season will focus on a new conspiracy will invade Higan’s life.
Why The Controversy For Ninja Kamui?
While Ninja Kamui was a big hit for Adult Swim and its parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, many anime fans found the direction of the first season’s story to take a wild turn that many had issue with. Early episodes focused on the ninja Higan dragged back into a blood-stained world he sought to leave behind, focusing more on hand-to-hand battles that saw serious ninjutsu implemented. As the first season marched on, elements such as mechs and robotics were introduced, causing many fans to scratch their heads.
The Warner Bros website had previously stated that despite fans questioning Ninja Kamui’s direction, the series was a big win for Adult Swim, “Our true crime series like Quiet on Set and The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks have worked well across platforms, and we’ve seen a similar performance with our adult animation titles like Ninja Kamui. These big hits, along with the performance of our freshman series and live premium sports offerings, laid the groundwork for us to attract a significant share of the available nightly cable audience this quarter.”
If you haven’t had the chance to check out Ninja Kamui, it’s currently available to stream on HBO Max. Here’s how Cartoon Network describes the original anime, “Ninja Kamui follows Joe Higan who is a Nukenin – a former ninja who escaped his clan and is hiding from his violent past in rural America with his family. One night, he is ambushed by a team of assassins from his former organization who exact a bloody retribution on Joe and his family for betraying their ancient code. Rising from his seeming “death,” Joe will re-emerge as his former self – Ninja Kamui – to avenge his family and friends. Kamui is a 21st century ninja, a shadowy anachronism who pits his ancient skills against high-tech weaponry with brutal finesse. He must face off against trained assassins, combat cyborgs, and rival ninjas to bring down the very clan that made him.”
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