Dave Boyle on How Netflix Hit ‘House of Ninjas’ Ducked Genre Stereotypes and Deflected Cultural Appropriation
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In these culturally sensitive times, having an American director and showrunner on a quintessentially Japanese series is sure to raise the issue of cultural appropriation.
But the Dave Boyle-directed “House of Ninjas,” which Netflix launched in February, stands out not only as a hit, but as a seemingly happy blend of East and West.
An original story about the last living ninja family in modern times, the show ranked as the streamer’s top non-English show in 16 countries and regions, as well as reached the top ten list in 92 countries.In an interview with Variety, Boyle (“The Man From Reno,” “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”) said that surprising career left-turns 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 comrades, Murao Yoshiaki and Imai Takafumi who started working on a ninja revival show.
They wanted to bring back the whole thing. It’s been a minute since, a ninja show really broke through. They came up with this idea of a ninja family, and a 15-20 page project proposal that they took to Netflix.
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