The Little Ninja.

August 25, 2001 9:37 AM

The Little Ninja. A beautiful Flash series, one of the best I have stumbled across in my travels around the web. The music, artwork and production are all top notch, and Ninjai's voice is just spellbinding. Anyone know of any other high-quality flash comics like this one?
posted by skinjob (20 comments total)

love that site. reminds me somewhat of ninja scroll, but that kid is pretty slick and his voice eerie.
posted by adampsyche at 9:54 AM on August 25, 2001

the voice is annoying, but the rest is pretty nifty
posted by noisemartyr at 10:15 AM on August 25, 2001

What's most astonishing is the effort they've put into the lip synching. You can see the characters tongues move as they pronounce "L" sounds, etc. It's extremely well done.

The storyline, however, seems to be driven primarily by gratuitous violence. It's strange, the authors warn the audience about the strong language in episode two, but have no qualms about the gore present in the other episodes (granted, it's cartoon gore, and not all that offensive, but still).

That aside, this is indeed some of the best narrative Flash work that has yet been produced. Well worth the download.
posted by aladfar at 10:24 AM on August 25, 2001

What's most astonishing is the effort they've put into the lip synching. You can see the characters tongues move as they pronounce "L" sounds, etc. It's extremely well done.

The storyline, however, seems to be driven primarily by gratuitous violence. It's strange, the authors warn the audience about the strong language in episode two, but have no qualms about the gore present in the other episodes (granted, it's cartoon gore, and not all that offensive, but still).

That aside, this is indeed some of the best narrative Flash work that has yet been produced. Well worth the download.
posted by aladfar at 10:34 AM on August 25, 2001

They are apprently big fans of decapitation.

But then again, who isn't?
posted by noisemartyr at 10:45 AM on August 25, 2001

The character art is kind of shitty, actually.
posted by Big Fat Tycoon at 10:57 AM on August 25, 2001

Agreed that everything about it is cool except the kid's voice, which is a little annoying.
posted by Hildago at 10:59 AM on August 25, 2001

this is probably one of the most hilarious and well done flash animations out there, created by a chinese fellow "xiao xiao". he also has other animations with similar themes, which are also equally fantastic. might not really be in the comics genre, but still worth a look!
posted by dai at 11:09 AM on August 25, 2001

and if you'd like some interactivity with this stick kungfu master, try xiao xiao's latest: xiao xiao goes western.
posted by dai at 11:22 AM on August 25, 2001

Broken Saints.
posted by Jairus at 1:49 PM on August 25, 2001

most kids have annoying voices...

actually I think the sound is fairly well done. the mad inventor in #2 was not only a little over the top but the voice acting seemed to draw too much from stereotypes.

while the storytelling is stilted, the decapitations gratuitous and the character animations clash with the gorgeous backgrounds, it is the best use of flash for a short that I have seen.
posted by mutagen at 2:09 PM on August 25, 2001

Considering how much work it must have taken to do this, the quality is pretty damn good if you ask me. I give it two thumbs up.
posted by Hackworth at 3:44 PM on August 25, 2001

That guy in chapter two has a total Jar-Jar Binks thing going. That's my only complaint.
posted by jpoulos at 8:42 PM on August 25, 2001

That guy in chapter two has a total Jar-Jar Binks thing going. That's my only complaint.

I did not understand a thing he said, except the expletives. Must be the universal language.
posted by hockeyman at 9:15 PM on August 25, 2001

i call you a fawkin genius! i remember seeing this mentioned on zannah's... thank god for cable modems..
posted by lotsofno at 10:55 PM on August 25, 2001

Are Ninjas watched over by a God? Or their ancestors? Or is it not that simple?

Anyway, I find it pretty, and impressive, but also strangely immature. Perhaps it's so inhomogeneous because it's a group effort (lots of "we" and "us" in the FAQ).
posted by andrew cooke at 12:53 AM on August 26, 2001

I didn't like it that much. I agree with noisemartyr, the character art just isn't that good.

They did do a good job with lip synch and stuff like that, but the art just wasn't that good.
posted by delmoi at 3:11 AM on August 26, 2001

Are those genuine Australian ninjas doing the voices, d'yer reckon?
posted by creeky at 3:41 AM on August 26, 2001

Yes, Ozzie ninjas to the rescue!
posted by Neale at 10:34 PM on August 26, 2001

the truth is what you believe
posted by hannahkitty at 10:20 AM on August 27, 2001