In these culturally sensitive times, having an American director and showrunner for a quintessential Japanese series is sure to raise the issue of cultural appropriation. But House of Ninjas, directed by Dave Boyle and released by Netflix in February, stands out not just as a blockbuster hit, but as a seemingly happy blend of East and West.
An original story about the last surviving ninja family in modern times, the show ranked as the operator’s top non-English show in 16 countries and territories, and also reached the top 10 in 92 countries.
In an interview with diverseBoyle (“The Man From Reno,” “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”) said the sudden career shifts to the left brought him to the series and helped him keep the show authentically Japanese.
At what stage did you join the project?
It all started with Kento Kaku, the star of the show, and his two companions Murao Yoshiaki and Imai Takafumi who started working on the ninja revival show. They wanted to redo the whole thing. It’s been a minute since the ninja show actually came out. They came up with the idea of a ninja family, proposed a 15-20 page project and took it to Netflix.
Netflix was interested in the idea, and asked me to develop this basic concept and come up with something that had never been seen before in the ninja genre. So I came in and wrote “The Bible” and the first episode initially. Later, I became the director and showrunner. But it all started with the three brainstorming ideas over Zoom, and they came up with the idea of a modern-day ninja family.
Have the three worked together before?
They have worked together before on the TBS drama. Murao was the director and Kento and Imai were there. All three of them are fast friends and were kind enough to let me take the wheel. It is not easy to entrust your project to someone else. Netflix told me the trio were fully on board (after Boyle created the series bible), and I loved the way things were going. So, the team of three became a team of four.
Why are we reconsidering the popular ninja genre?
Well, it’s true that there was all kinds of ninja-flavored entertainment. So much so that the genre itself has become a kind of self-parody. When I think of the ninja genre, I think of things like Shinobi Nomura’s series from the 1960s, where it was taken really seriously. It was really about the mind that makes a ninja.
The thing that made it relevant to the modern era, for me, wasn’t necessarily the skills or tricks that ninjas could perform. But the truth is that they live according to a set of very old values.
Ninjas have all these rules that they have to follow whether it’s dietary restrictions, like not eating meat and not drinking alcohol, or restrictions about who they can fall in love with, who they can marry. They always have a master who gives them all their orders. It was great to have a family that still adhered to these hundreds of years old rules. They are modern-day creatures and are struggling to adapt now. Also, they are just part of a dying tradition. I come from a Mormon background, so I imagined them as a Mormon family who weren’t allowed to drink the stuff. The family has different feelings towards this identity that they are all connected to.
How do you respond to potential issues of cultural appropriation?
You always have to ask yourself, am I the right person to tell this story? It was someone at Netflix who I worked with on my previous film, “Man from Reno,” who had the idea that I might be able to come up with a good story engine for the show.
It was not a situation where the reins were simply handed to me. More like, “Can you make a decision on this and we’ll kind of take it from there?” And then, little by little, I was also asked if I could write an episode? Then “Can you direct an episode?” Then multiple episodes. The only thing that made me feel okay about that conversation (cultural appropriation) was that I just wanted to be part of the team. I was the only Westerner in the group. We presented the entire presentation in Japanese. All work was conducted in Japanese. So, I felt like it was a collaboration rather than a customization. These are very serious questions and inspire a lot of self-examination, but I felt good about what we achieved and what we accomplished.
Where does your interest in Japanese culture come from?
Funny kind of shift left in my life. I did Mormon missionary work in Sydney, Australia, when I was very young. There, I was assigned to learn to speak Japanese. I really enjoyed studying the language and learning more about the culture. My first two films were directly based on that experience. I kept meeting artists I wanted to work with. There wasn’t much design to it.
How did you find the transition from film production to series production?
I guest directed an independent television show. But this was my first series. It was definitely new. I’d never shot for six months before, for starters. In Japan, there is much less crossover between the world of TV drama and the world of film. We were mostly people on set, but the writers had TV experience and the producers had TV experience. The series was something I had wanted to do for a long time. I’ve written a lot of pilots and never crossed the finish line. But when it came down to it, it was just sink or swim and learn as you go.
What were you aiming for in terms of look, feel and target audience?
I was aiming for a very real family story. And having characters that people can really fall in love with. They just happen to be intertwined personalities. In this ninja world. The other thing is that there are a lot of amazing things about ninja culture that I’ve never seen before. I wanted to use this culture and present it to the world.
What do you do next?
“House of Ninjas” has been a three-year marathon and I’m still catching my breath. I’m back in Tokyo to work on some other projects. I’ve written some features that I’m working on again. There’s nothing concrete enough to announce yet.