Ninjas are a staple is pop culture. This Medieval Japanese warrior has appeared in tons of movies, TV shows, novels and comics. One thing ninja were never called was shy. That’s the case in the comic “Shy Ninja†written by Ricardo Sanchez after his daughter Adara came up with the idea and helped develop some of the story details along with artist Arianna Florean.
Rena Villanueva suffers from social anxiety disorder. Her mother and therapist say the best thing for her is to join a club. A flyer advertising a ninja club makes Rena apply and she starts training immediately. Rena finds out from her master is that she is the prophesied “Ghost†who will lead the ninja clans to glory once again.
It’s a nice story since it is mainly about a girl with social anxiety disorder trying to treat it by being something cool like a ninja. It’s different and most kids would love to be trained by actual ninjas. Rena is a decent character and surprisingly Sanchez is mature and understands how social anxiety disorder is like and what kind of treatments are used. Rena isn’t beating people up or running away screaming her head off whenever someone comes near her. The only thing that would be a deal breaker for some readers is that there’s a prophecy. Yes, prophecies are cliché are overdone but sometimes, in the hands of a competent writer, they will figure out a way to do something out there with the whole prophecy angle.
Florean’s artwork works well with the kind of story Sanchez was going for. You need to remember, this is a story thought up by a little girl so the art looking like a little kids’ comic makes sense. That doesn’t mean it’s basic or lacks any character. The character models are pleasing to look at, the backgrounds are great and the colors are nice. It may be to everyone’s liking but it’s not terrible.
“Shy Ninja†is a nice little with some twists despite some a cliché plot hook. The artwork works well and for a story thought up by a child the writer did put enough effort to make the story not terrible.
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