Nin x Nin: Ninja Hattori-kun, the Movie (2004)

Like "The Great Yokai War" (2005), "Nin X Nin" is the story of a lonely, sensitive kid who is befriended by an oddball with super powers. In this case, Hattori, the Iga Ninja pal, played to campy perfection by Shingo Katori, is on a mission to obtain his graduate degree in the ninja arts. To do so, he must travel to contemporary Tokyo, (from his primitive mountain retreat,) adopt a new master and, all the while, maintain the exacting code of his ancestors.

In an especially funny scene, a (historic enemy) Koga ninja describes to Hattori the ways that members of his clan have adapted to modern society, putting their ninja skills to work in benign, useful and entertaining ways. Among his fellow Koga retirees are juggler, a skyscraper window washer and a housewife preparing dinner salad. Fans of ninja movies should get a laugh from these "adaptations."

Friendship, loyalty and discovering one's special gifts are the overall themes in this delightful movie. If you watch it without a hypercritical eye, you can enjoy being a kid again.