Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof

Episode 7

With this week's episode, we have a clear A-plot and a clear B-plot. The A-plot follows Konoha and is a story about personal growth. While it can be easy to forget given all the ninjas and killing, Konoha is actually a high school student, even if it's mostly just a cover in her case. She and her fellow students are being directly confronted with the question: “What do you want to do for the rest of your life?”

We know that Konoha has a goal, and we even know what that goal is, despite not knowing the reasons why. But even if she manages to kill her way to being the top assassin in Japan, she still has to eventually face the question of what comes after. This puts her in the same position as everyone else her age (who isn't a ditsy ninja sponging off another woman to survive).

It's through this shared insecurity about that future that Konha starts to connect with her fellow students. Aoi is working hard to become a doctor to pull her family out of poverty. Meanwhile, Aoko is having to deal with trying to survive as an orphan in high school—because, you know, Konoha offhandedly killed her father back in episode one. All three are struggling to overcome what feel like insurmountable obstacles, but knowing that others are going through something similar—that there are people who understand—brings a large amount of comfort.

Of course, just because she's letting her walls down a bit doesn't mean she hesitates to kill Aoi when the contract comes into her inbox. However, for the first time, she feels guilt for killing someone—guilt that overpowers her usual stoicism when she sees how she has hurt Aoko by removing one of the final pillars of her network. And so we get our final scene with Konoha and Satoko handing out fliers to try and find a girl that is already long dead and scattered to the winds.

Meanwhile, on the comedy front, we have our Satoko-centered B-plot, and it's a return to the good ol' social commentary. In the internet age, everything is built to exploit the loopholes in the human psyche. One obvious example is gacha games. You put money into the slot machine, and then you win (eventually). You have better characters or items than other people. They look up to you—in either envy or jealousy—and this, along with the sunk-cost fallacy, makes you feel pressured to keep doing what you've been doing. Just keep pumping money into something with no real-world value.

Social media platforms are largely the same. Do something, get “likes,” and you feel good. It makes you want to continue doing the same thing. But if that doesn't work out, you go even more extreme to elicit the responses you're hoping for. And all too often, that's reduced down to the old adage that “sex sells.”

What both gacha games and social media share in common is making the human mind confuse positive reinforcement with actual fun. Satoko learns this in this episode as she experiences both. It's only when she does something purely for the fun of doing it that she finds happiness. Of course, she still ends up posting her new hobby on social media, so we'll just have to see if she is able to keep her focus on the fun and not the likes.

Both plots are about finding what you want to do with your life—what makes it fulfilling. For some, it's a job. For others, it's friends. For still others, it's a hobby. None of these are wrong answers. Even not having found a reason for living is fine as long as you're still looking. But giving up or becoming so distracted that you stop looking? Well, that's the recipe for wasting your short time on this planet, especially when ninjas and assassins are killing anyone and everyone at the drop of a hat.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• No, seriously. Who has the motive and money to put out a hit on a 17-year-old girl?

• No ninja of the week attacking randomly? This show is slipping.

• I cannot play gacha games. I don't spend money on them, but the sunk cost hits me hard, and I keep logging in and grinding every day regardless of whether I am having fun or not. They basically become an unpaid job I can't make myself quit! Cold turkey is the only option.

• I really enjoyed the moments between Satoko and Konoha this week. Konoha's relationship with Roboko opened her up to the positives that come with having a real friendship, and getting close with Satoko through helping her find a hobby is clearly scratching that itch.

Ninja and an Assassin Under One Roof is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Thursdays.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.