Artist Profile: Dave Boyle on ‘House of Ninjas,’ Toho Studios, and Mixing Action with Family Dynamics

Are ninjas really a thing of the past? What if they were still undertaking secret missions in the modern day? The New Netflix series “House of Ninjas” seeks to answer this question.

Dave Boyle — co-executive producer, showrunner, writer, and director of the series — sat down with The Harvard Crimson to discuss the making of the show. Boyle’s career started with directing independent films and he had been working on several different scripts before he was approached with the idea.

“Kento Kaku, who plays Haru in ‘House of Ninjas,’ he took this idea for a ninja show to Netflix,” Boyle said.

After Kaku — co-executive producer and lead actor of the show — proposed the series, Boyle began working on the show bible, a document outlining the characters, plots, settings, and themes of the show.

“It was sort of an amazing whirlwind of events that felt like I was constantly in a sprint over the past three years,” Boyle said.

Set in present-day Japan, “House of Ninjas” follows the Tawaras, a ninja clan who abandoned their discipline after the death of the eldest son in a mission gone wrong years ago. While trying to live like a normal family, they are pulled back into a world of mystery as a new crisis unfolds. When making the show, Boyle wanted to remain historically accurate regarding the culture of ninjas in Japan’s past.

“There was, for sure, a goal to emphasize some things about ninjas and Ninja history that maybe hadn't been emphasized in the movies and TV shows that we’ve seen so far in pop culture,” Boyle said.

The series contrasts modern-day living with past traditions of ninjas. One of the most apparent differences is the rules, restrictions, and the strict code of behavior the families lived under.

“I thought it was interesting to have a modern family, but they're kind of forced to live by the standards of the 16th century,” Boyle said.

In order to be as accurate as possible, Boyle and the other show creators consulted experts to understand how ninja clans of the past might behave in present-day society.

Still, considering the presence of the ninja figure in mainstream media, Boyle wanted to retain some of its qualities in the show.

“I felt like the two sides could live with each other, because we're still making a piece of pop entertainment, but I wanted it to have a foundation of basis in real history,” Boyle said. “At the same time, it just feels like the history of pop culture ninjas is so wonderful as well that I didn't want to lose that fun quality to it.”

Beyond appearances, “House of Ninjas” delves deeper into power and politics, as ninjas have historically always served a ruling clan. The Tawara family’s work relationships affect their personal ones.

“It only seemed natural that the show would delve into politics and the political landscape and how, if ninjas existed today, they would probably be serving at the whims of politicians, for better or for worse,” Boyle said.“That creates real moral and ethical dilemmas for them.”

The series also examines the presence of ninjas in Japan specifically, and how the clans have always been entangled in the country’s history.

“The other thing that was sort of a foundation of the worldview of the show is just the idea that every unsolved mystery in Japan can somehow be explained by the existence of ninjas,” Boyle said.

Working with the legendary Japanese film production company Toho Studios on the show was a “dream come true” for Boyle.

“One of the most fun parts of it was shooting at Toho Studios, which is the home of Godzilla and where [Akira] Kurosawa shot most of his masterpieces,” Boyle said.

The ninja family’s house, one of the main locations of the series, was built entirely from scratch as a real house, through using three stages at the studio.

“It was a really, really beautiful set, and it felt like you could live in it,” Boyle said.

The series also features a large ensemble cast of the many Tawara family members, all veteran actors, from Tenta Baka — who plays Riku — the youngest son, to Nobuko Miyamoto — who plays grandma.

“I think that the biggest, or one of the biggest, honors of the show was to get Nobuko Miyamoto to play grandma because she's a living legend in Japan and beloved worldwide, because of her films like ‘Tampopo,’” Boyle said.

For Boyle, establishing the right dynamic between the cast was of major importance.

“We had some rehearsal period before we started shooting with just the family members so that everybody could get to know each other and create like a real family vibe on set,” Boyle said.

The soundtrack and score of the show were also intricately designed to align with the tensions presented in the show.

“I think one of the themes of the show is just the fact that this ninja family is sort of out of place and out of time. They're sort of still living like it's the 16th century,” Boyle said. “So we felt like we wanted to avoid the kind of musical tropes of the ninja or samurai or swordplay genre. And we wanted a very modern and eclectic soundtrack that enhanced their feeling of being out of place.”

Even though it is an action series, “House of Ninjas” is also a show about family and close relationships, which Boyle aimed to reflect in the show’s music.

“The other thing was that we wanted to make sure that the soundtrack maintained a playful spirit, because we did feel like there was a unique tone that the story had where, yes, it's very suspenseful and thrilling, but at its core, it's a family story, it's a nostalgic story,” Boyle said.

The score, created by Jonathan Snipes, took inspiration from the ’70s and the Italian Giallo genre, combining the plot with the underlying emotions of the story.

“We felt like we could go for a very dramatic, robust, very muscular and very emotional score,” Boyle said.

On the other hand, action choreographer Keiya Tabuchi took great care to prepare sequences that each had their unique flair and expressed, as Boyle said, “character through action.”

“We tried to treat each episode as its own mini movie that had its own sort of tone, its own self-contained variety of action set pieces,” Boyle said.

The show has had a great run on Netflix thus far, debuting with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It garnered 8.7 million views and reached number one in Netflix’s Weekly Global Top 10 (Non-English) in its first two weeks. While a second season is still pending, Boyle is excited and willing to explore the show’s universe.

“If they want to make more then I’m absolutely ready to do it. I already wrote a season two storyline, story bible and everything, so it's all ready to go when they want to pull the trigger,” Boyle said.

Combining unique historical references and complex family relationships, “House of Ninjas” is an inventive series that pushes the boundaries of the action genre. Thrilling yet emotional, its first season will leave audiences excited for more.

—Staff writer Erlisa Demneri can be reached at erlisa.demneri@thecrimson.com.