A Springtime with Ninjas by Narumi Hasegaki is a shjo romance comedy martial arts manga series about a fifteenyearold girl named Benio. Benio is from the wealthiest family in Japan and as such has never been allowed to step foot outside of her familys compound. Another reason behind Benios luxurious imprisonment is due to a unique tradition that the family has been practising for nearly 600 years: whoever steals the female heirs first kiss ends up becoming her betrothed But Benio is having none of that outdated crap She just wants to be a normal girl. Eventually she persuades her uncle in allowing her to attend a regular high school. The only condition is that Benio must be accompanied by a ninja bodyguard at all times. The biggest thing to take note of is how clichd A Springtime with Ninjas is as a shjo title. You have the wickedly handsome playboy bodyguard who has irresistible charm and sweet compassion. Hes strong and seems to bounce back from nearly everything that is thrown or injected his way. The girl is nave and she ends up being the damselindistress quite often which leads to intimate encounters between the two characters where feelings turn fluffy and mushy. Most people who encounter Benio immediately find her to be special and become interested in one thing or another as it pertains to her. These things cause the story to be extremely predictable and mildly boring. There was significant lack of creativity to the narrative overall. Even so it wasnt terrible to read. Even though the interactions between Benio and Tamaki the ninja dude are corny its still cute and hilarious more often than not so long as you dont take anything too seriously. Watching Benio get annoyed by Tamaki being a player was substandard yet amusing and I like that its not overdone. Most manga with this trope tend to ride that trope into the ground. This one didnt. Its there to do a part which is to entertain and it does exactly that without it coming off as forced and unnecessarily heavyhanded. That may be what makes it so pleasant: its balanced nicely. Benio and Tamaki also have great chemistry and their personalities complement one another very well. I originally anticipated Benio to be an irritating woman as most female protagonists of shjo tend to drive me fucking batty with frustration however she wasnt as annoying. She gets into a lot of trouble due to how nave she is about the world and her tendency to trust easily. In A Springtime with Ninjas it actually makes sense because she has been locked up in her family home for her entire life. So shes never had any way to build experience with social interactions and learning how to read people. Her naivety was another trait that wasnt dramatically exaggerated just to add intensity to the story and when she recognises that shes in a bit of a tight spot she actually tries to stand up for herself as much as she can. Women who own up to their situation and try to fight their own crap are amazing and need more positive portrayals everywhere. The execution was average but the intent and ambiance surrounding these scenes were decent. Some other minor things that are gratifying are the female friendships Benio forms. They are positive and steer clear of the bullying and jealousy that is typical for the genre. A significant person in Benios life aside from the ninja isnt a villain whos out to get her in the end which was so refreshing. Her social awkwardness is genuine and isnt fetishized or villainised. So lots of satisfying things here. For flaws I found two main ones aside from it being clichd as fuck. In my first impressions I mentioned a shortcoming of how often Benio gets into trouble a lot. Sure enough this ends up being the biggest flaw of the series. It really is such a contrast to everything else because its the only thing that is severely excessive. Given who she is and what her betrothal gains from being involved with a woman like her from a narrative pointofview the obstacles that arise do make sense. Howbeit I became bored with the gimmick about halfway through the serial. The second thing that began to irk me was Benios obsession at having this intensely fantasised high school experience. Once again I admit that given her circumstances and upbringing her idealised concept of what school life should be like is warranted. I spent my entire high school being homeschooled so it blew my mind to discover that American high school wasnt exactly as it was portrayed in books and media shocking I know Im an immigrant what do you expect?. Yet Benios obsession with it did become a bit tiresome by the end. The artwork is quite charming. I found the use of shading to be lovely. It makes many of the details in each panel to pop out and also accentuates the Spring vibe during festivals and scenic scenarios. The panels arent always overtly packed to the point where you cant decipher what is happening. A few of the action scenes can feel slightly disorienting but I also may have felt this way because I wasnt wearing my glasses while reading waiting for my new pair to arrive. All in all I found the illustrations to be pretty and aesthetically engaging. Overall A Springtime with Ninjas is a super basic and clichd manga series that makes up for its conventional storyline and character persona designs by being cute entertaining and short. I would recommend this to casual fans of the shjo and romcom genres or people who are in the mood for a manga to read during spring that they dont have to take too seriously. 6 shuriken outta 10.