The series is about a Ninja going into the future and finding a girl that looks like she's the exact same as the princess he was supposed to protect. Believing her to be the same person whilst simultaneously ignoring the fact that he isn't in the edo period anymore. He continues trying to protect her in this time instead while the female lead hides the truth that she isn't the princess that he's protecting since she is now in love with him because she is the female lead of this manga and he's the male lead of this manga so naturally that was gonna happen.

With that being said. The series actually sort of kinda just finishes this plot immediately. He realizes very early on that she isn't the princess, the internal conflict switches to whether or not the MMC is using the FMC as a replacement to the princess he was protecting because he too starts gaining feeling for the FMC. Why you ask? Well, like i said these are both attractive leads in a manga so yeah....

Its kind of weird how the original plot is just forgotten. Though Resolved might be a better word. The series shifts to the MMC's rival who has come to the future as well in hopes to exact revenge or whatever to the male lead. While the male lead is getting accoumsted to the modern life and getting jiggy with the FMC.

Honestly I think this series did a poor job of making the characters have feelings for each other. I understand that both are teenager so having crushes are normal. But it still felt a bit ridiculous (Funny thing to say in a manga where time traveling is a mechanic.).

One of the conflicts of the series is between the FMC and her father who acts like an asshole. He's totally not being an asshole to play the tough asshole father role. That is 100% not what he is doing yup. So with the Male lead she escapes to the past but something goes wrong and she ends up in the wrong time. So the male lead is constantly going to the future and past trying to find where she is. While the female lead tries to understand more about where she is and how she can be more of use to the people around here.

As i mentioned one of the conflicts is The rival of the Male lead trying to kill the male lead. I liked this part. How they resolved it and the dialogue and backstory of those 2 characters were well done. Arguably thats the only thing that really stood out in the manga. I think it was dramatic and evoked the necessary emotion that the author was looking for.

The characters are... They exist. Honestly i can't really remember. I was told that the male lead is the nicest of all shoujo male leads but thats not true. He is pretty nice though. It's always nice to see another male lead that doesn't try to immediately rape the female lead in the beginning of the manga. But yeah incredibly blanket personalities. I guess they did the job. At least i don't really have any negative feelings about the characters except maybe the father who totally played the asshole and nothing else totally. There is no deeper to meaning except that he's an asshole totally.

I think some of the issue regards how the series gets a bit weird towards the end with magic hair. The fact that the time travel works almost perfectly now that the manga is almost over.

When the series does end. There is some unresolved shit like how come no one else found the time traveling portal? Or how they will handle the future. It just kinda gets thrown under the rug.

In the end I feel like Shinobi Life did the bare minimum in regards to entertainment. Like this is the bare minimum any author aiming to acheive. Though yes there were some stand out moments I don't think they are enough for me to recommend this series. Its enough for a time killer but your not missing if you don't read it.

TLDR: So much potential but really just came out ok. 5/10

... Last updated on July 1st, 2021, 3:45am

The title I wrote, summed it all. But in general, I remember the plotline went pretty clear, good starter and ending point. Typical 2000s aesthetic and characters, yes, they were funny but sometimes as other commenters have pointed out, it felt slightly unrealistic. I don't remember I liking those characters that much anyway. So-so, I think.

First, the good. The art is actually really clean and pretty, and I liked how sweet the love interest was. You don't see that too often in shoujo (yes, it's a cliche, but it's not the most used one), and it was a nice break from all the oh-so-cool guys.

Next, the bad. FMC was such a Mary Sue that I had to look away from the manga several times before re-reading scenes. I could not stand her, and, for me, that's a breaking point for shoujo. Strong characters are my favorite, which is why her love interest was so much better than her. She was whiny, annoying, and listed as "strong" so many times that I constantly had to close my eyes. I just didn't like her, especially with how much the mangaka was clearly trying to make her seem "different".

Also, sorry, but the father's an a-hat. Hated him, and hated how the mangaka tried to redeem him with a "backstory". Romantic development was fine, and some scenes were cute, some were not. It's shoujo, so it's bound to have a million unrealistic cliches, and it's also a time-traveling isekai in some parts, so it has bad world-building (I guess, I mean it's sort of a "magical" retelling of the past). Plot development was actually probably the better parts of the manga, but the mangaka dragged it on too long, so the character development was barely there.

TL;DR: Development was way too average and way too long, annoying cliches, but pretty art and actually really awesome love interest. Honestly I hated the FMC so much more than a stereotypical shoujo hero, mostly because she kept on being written off as a "strong" one. It was annoying. Therefore, 3/10.

... Last updated on March 24th, 2019, 12:57am

Seriuosly, this was one of the worst 1st issues I've ever read. Beni is a brat, horrible and you'll want to kill her for how spoiled she is... But then her character suddenly does 180 and and she turns into a typical weak lovestruck shoujo heroine... Ugh. So yeah, horrible start, but then it gets better and the story turns into a midly confusing time travel story... Is it worth reading? Only if you have the patience to get through the first two volumes or so.

Some may have mixed reviews in this manga, but I did enjoy it, I enjoyed the journey, the story was spectacular! It had me in chapter 1, it was already amusing to begin with. The real story starts pacing in chapter 20+, and the way the character's drawn were good. There were times that the female lead is kind of unbearable, but somehow she makes me like her character, maybe because I can connect to her as a reader. The male lead.. Oh Kagetora why are you sooooo adorable??! Everytime he starts blushing I couldn't help but squeal! I did like the the other supporting characters, even the 'antagonists' in the story has reasons why they make those actions. Overall it is enjoyable, if time travelling from past to present(with good twists) is your cup of tea, then I recommend you this!

Complete with such classics as

• "Cheating via pseudo-sexual blackmail/extortion is totally fine because I'm only doing it to protect my love interest
• "Guys trying to NTR me from the established love interest just for shits."
• "Those attempts blossoming into actual love because I forgive their rape attempts since their parents were really mean to them."
• "Stop, he's not actually a bad person, so don't hurt him even though he made various passes at me boyfriend-kun!"

... Last updated on June 8th, 2016, 4:07pm

I picked this one up a couple of years ago and I stopped reading it... today I stumbled upon it since I felt reading some time travel stories and I didnt remember why I stopped reading this one, and now I do, it is because Beni and Kagetora are utter and complete morons. I honestly cant stand idiots while reading, it gives me (fake) ulcers, specially how mentally and emotionally useless Beni is in contrast to Kagetora's own uselessness. Just as before, I dropped it again, but this time I will leave a note in here to remember myself to avoid making the same mistake.



... Last updated on October 10th, 2015, 9:31pm

Not bad. It was nicely ended but the time jumping arc could of been done better. I am not sure but I think writer also intended to make another time paradox. Beni's mother is Beni and Kagetora's daughter from the future as their daughter looks almost identical to Beni's mother. If your worried about smut you have no worries as this manga is pretty clean cut except a few instances where she had to kiss the other guy under duress.

... Last updated on August 3rd, 2015, 1:47am

BUT I GOT TO WITH THIS ONE. UGH. Okay, so I LOVE the artwork and storyline and the way the mangaka portrays each emotion and expressions, BUT FUQING A. BENI IS SO FRIGGIN ANNOYING. Like, please, spare me. She is over emotional, naive, and a complete moron. I really pity everyone who has fallen in love with her. SHE IS SO 1 DIMENSIONAL. WHAT IS THERE TO EVEN LOVE?! She is a Mary Sue!

At first it seemed like a romance story, just with a ninja. Then it became more complex and it was awesome.

Beni comes off as very head strong and stubborn, but that changes. Honestly, I'm not that impressed by her character and personality. Now thinking about it, she changed quite a lot from the beginning but it did 't feel that natural...The stars of this manga was for me Hitaki and Rhihito. I don't feel that this manga brings something new to the table, it's the story that's interesting.

In the beginning, the time travel just seems like a ploy for our MC to get together with a ninja. But what we get is a more complex story, with developing characters and lots of action. While romance is one of this story focuses, I like that it spends time giving us more than cliche, cute scenes. If you amange to stick around, the time travel part of this story is by far the best part. The other parts are "meh", not bad but not that good.