The last couple weeks of Webisode Clack have had a lot of relationshippy (new word!) comedy. Funny Canadian lesbians… Urkel getting married… The obvious next step is, of course, ninjas! KarmaKula: Mystic Warrior comes to us from the Ninjai Gang. That name might ring a bell. If you have been partaking of the internet for a reasonable length of time, there is a good chance that at some point you stumbled upon their earlier work, Ninjai – The Little Ninja. It’s a flash based cartoon that has been around for years, and having watched it all again this week, it’s still as captivating as ever.
The Ninjai Gang have shifted gears with KarmaKula, offering a live-action web series. It certainly shares a certain style and feel with The Little Ninja, but what really sets KarmaKula apart is the production value. Seriously. It’s amazing. Locations, cinematography, costumes, makeup, CG… it’s all top notch. The real highlight though, is the action sequences. In a word, they are un-fucking-believable. Have a look for yourself in the embedded episode after the jump.
Much of the credit for the amazing action sequences goes to the Bellord siblings. Satya, Subhadra, and Siddha Bellord are lifelong students of martial arts, and those skills are captured amazingly in KarmaKula. My penchant for Japanese cinema means that I have seen a whole host of martial arts movies, and I can honestly say, many of them don’t measure up to this. Watch the battle with the ninjas in this first episode and see if you agree. I’ve embedded it here for convenience, but I do highly recommend that you head over to IGN’s KarmaKula page and watch the high quality stream. It’s fantastic.
Well? Are you blown away that a web based series looks like that? After watching the first episode I was left shaking my head. Are you kidding me? If this is the future of web based series, it’s a very bright future indeed. IGN has picked up the show for ten episodes, and four of them are available now. As to The Little Ninja, work progresses on that front. The Ninjai Gang say that their new animation compares to big budget animated films. After seeing what they’ve been able to do with KarmaKula, on a relatively modest budget, I tend to believe them. And I look forward to seeing more of both.
Clacked by Brett Love 
on Jul 02, 2009 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
Gosh, Brett. I wish I cared about the quality and all. All I know is that is the hottest effin Mystic Warrior EVER!
*POST AUTHOR*
I’ll take your word for it! And add that if you keep going with the other episodes you’ll see the female equivalent. Also very hot, and completely badass. It’s another excellent action sequence.
Freakily (another new word), they look like twins! Two hot, badass unisexual slightly Michael Jackson-as-he-could-have been kind of mystic warriors. The pile of dead people was disturbing. That’s all I have for now. ;-)
Freaking Awesome.