Clockwise beginning left: Iro, Jo, Neeko, and Tetsuo
Chop Chop Ninja is a 2018 Canadian animated series produced by Sardine Productions (a Montreal-based studio whose credits include My Goldfish is Evil and ToonMarty) for Teletoon. It is based on the 2009 iOS platformer game of the same name by the Quebec-based game developers Gamerizon and the successor to the 2014 series Chop Chop Ninja Challenge. But whereas its predecessor simply consisted of silent 90-second shorts, Chop Chop Ninja is a full-blown TV show, which allows for the development of wider storytelling potential and a new artstyle. The series ran for a total of 20 episodes, with each one divided into Two Shorts for a total of 40 stories.
Chop Chop Ninja is about four young ninjas named Iro, Jo, Neeko, and Tetsuo, who all train at Chop Chop Academy in the pseudo-Japanese city of Rizon under Master Enoki in order to earn the title of the legendary Chop Chop Ninja. This plucky little group of ninjas-in-training apply ninja technique, attitude, and heart to everything they do as they defend their academy from a variety of foes who seek to seize it and put an end to the Chop Chop Ninja's legacy once and for all. What is perhaps of even greater importance for these young Chop Chops though is to find the legendary Chop Chop Medallion Quadrants, which will allow them to achieve their true potential as successors of the original Chop Chop Ninja — provided such artifacts don't fall into the hands of the forces of evil first.
Chop Chop Ninja provides examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Kami is this towards Princess Mariko, being a bad-tempered, fire-powered Mama's Boy with an almost creepy obsession for the princess of Rizon.
- Action Girl: Jo, who is also the sole girl of the ninjas. Princess Mariko would also count, with many of the villains underestimating her when they kidnap her.
- Adaptation Expansion: Naturally, since it's a show based on a series of shorts in turn based on an iOS game.
- Amnesia Episode: "Neeko's Amnesia" involves Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- Animated Adaptation: Of the iOS video game Chop Chop Ninja.
- Art Evolution: The original Chop Chop Ninja Challenge shorts more closely resembled the games in artstyle, but the series proper marks a slight shift that gives the characters more cartoony appearances. Notably, Tetsuo and Jo look quite different from the original shorts and games.
- Battle Cry: The team tends to shout "CHOP CHOP NINJA!" when facing enemies.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: In "Magic Sandwich", Tetsuo eats a cursed sandwich that grants him the ability to grant wishes, which start off great but always eventually turns things created from the wishes to turn into monsters.
- Big Bad: While she isn't the only villain on the show, Magic Master is the Chop Chops' biggest enemy and the most important of the bunch, given her connections to the series' overarching story.
- The Big Guy: Tetsuo isn't much bigger than the other ninjas, but he is the strongest.
- Bizarro Universe: The final piece of the Chop Chop Medallion, Heart, turns out to be located in such a universe. However, it's not that much different from the default universe except that everyone's body shapes are square rather than round. Also, the original Chop Chop Ninja has been living there the entire time.
- Blob Monster: Blob, a dimwitted green glob of slime who serves as Komata's henchman and is able to possess other beings to transform them into a bigger, stronger, blobby version of themselves.
- Camping Episode:
- "Camping at Kami's" sees the Chop Chops go on a camping trip to Camp Despair, which is located in the volcanic wastes where Kami lives. Naturally, Kami intends on destroying the Chop Chops when they arrive, but things get more hectic with Tetsuo discovering his Chop Chop Medallion Quadrant in the area.
- The team also go camping in "Island Fever" as part of their wait for the Golden Pine to drop one of its Golden Pine Cones during the first part of the episode.
- Carry a Big Stick: Iro wields a quarterstaff, as does Master Enoki on the few occasions he engages in combat.
- Cat Ninja: Neeko is both a talking cat and a ninja-in-training.
- Clone Army: The General creates one in "Clone General", but due to him accidentally adding a candy jelly rabbit into Splat's formula, they're all blue and possess a jelly-like composition, while the first clone he creates has bunny ears and a gentle, childlike personality.
- Companion Cube: Iro has a brick he treats as his pet. He even named it Goffrey!
- Damsel in Distress: Princess Mariko is frequently put in anger by the villains, usually Kami and The General. However, more often than not, she proves more badass than expected.
- Didn't Think This Through: The Chop Chops (usually Iro) have gotten themselves into more than one precarious situation by entering battle with a poorly thought-out plan.
- Dismantled Macguffin: The four Chop Chop Medallion Quadrants that each of the four Chop Chops seek to unlock their full potential. However, Magic Master is after them as well. They represent cunning, strength, skill, and will, but there's a fifth and final piece: heart.
- Elemental Weapon: When all the Chop Chop Medallion Quadrants are collected, they bestow the Chop Chops' weapons with elemental powers. Tetsuo gets fire for his mace, Jo gets ice for her shurikens, Neeko gets jungle for his bow and arrows, and Iro gets sand for his quarterstaff.
- Enemy Mine:
- When Iro's Chop Chop Medallion Quadrant turns out be to underneath The General's fortress in "Iro's Quadrant", Magic Master visits The General and starts bossing him around in their battle against the Chop Chops. Unwilling to take orders from the sorceress, The General decides to team up with the Chop Chops against Magic Master (with plans to doublecross the Chop Chops...that he never gets the opportunity to).
- In "Kami's Heat", the Chop Chops have to help Kami defeat the Ash Ogres when they get fed up of working for him and seize control of his volcanoes, causing Rizon and the rest of the island to freeze over and Kami to lose his fire powers.
- Epic Flail: Tetsuo uses a ball-and-chain as his weapon of choice.
- Evil Former Friend: Magic Master was a former classmate of Enoki named Masako back when they were students at Chop Chop Academy.
- Evil Sorceress: Magic Master, who is also the villain of the show's Myth Arc.
- Eyes Always Shut: Master Enoki is usually drawn like this.
- Far East: The series' setting, Rizon, which looks like fantasy version of medieval Japan but with a strong amount of Anachronism Stew and Schizo Tech.
- Fingerless Hands: Part of the show's Super-Deformed artstyle.
- Fish People: Fishman, whom Iro originally adopted as a pet until he grew up.
- Forced Transformation:
- An old classmate of Master Enoki named Kai was polymorphed into a crystal orb of magical power by Magic Master. While he still maintains his sapience, the evil magic in his new form has corrupted him into one every bit as evil as Magic Master.
- In "Lady Ninja", Komata creates a device powered by some of Blob's goop in order to turn everyone in Rizon into blobby creatures when a rock concert disrupts his peace and quiet.
- Komata evidently likes these schemes because in Neeko's Amnesia", he creates a magic smoothie that turns whoever drinks it into a fruit.
- General Ripper: The General, a former student of Master Enoki who later became a ruthless warlord intent on destroying the Chop Chops and their academy.
- Giant Flyer: Battle Shriekwings are monstrous birds with toothy beaks, taloned arms, and aggressive dispositions. The General often uses them as living weapons to fight the Chop Chops.
- Giant Spider: The Kumo are giant spiders that live in the jungle around Rizon and eat any creature that wanders into their territory. Even worse for the Chop Chops is that they also serve Magic Master.
- Giant Squid: One plays a major role in Splat's plan to hinder the Chop Chops when The General plans to flood Rizon in "Secret Mission".
- Good Hurts Evil: Magic Master is unable to hold the Chop Chop Medallion Quadrants, for they cause her searing pain. As a result, she is forced to stay in her castle and send minions to prevent the Chop Chops from acquiring them.
- Greater-Scope Villain: In the pilot, Magic Master mentions seeking to resurrect a figure she calls The Dark Master to restore a place she calls the Temple of the Dark Orb, likely referring to the evil entity responsible for transforming her from Masako and the place where it originally happened.
- Hair-Raising Hare: Komata, an anthropomorphic rabbit who hates the Chop Chops and seeks to destroy anything that he claims aren't eco-friendly (which in reality are just things he dislikes).
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Iro does this with an old lady's pet Whiskers in "Iro the Daring". He succeeds, but it turns out "Whiskers" is a giant snake that eats him (and then spits him back out).
- How We Got Here: "Not So Nice Niece" uses this, with Neeko having to explain to viewers why he and Komata's niece Meiwa are being pursued by a mob of giant spiders.
- Hypnotize the Captive: Kami attempts this in "Selfie Stick Sorcery" by using an enchanted selfie stick that causes whoever one photographs their selfie with to become the photographer's best friend forever. However, he screws up and ends up taking his selfie with Jo instead.
- An Ice Person: In "Jo and Yuki BFFs", we're introduced to Jo's friend Yuki, who may or may not be a Yuki-onna.
- Idiot Hero: Iro is clumsy and reckless, but also bold, heroic, and dedicated to becoming the next Chop Chop Ninja.
- Imprinting: In "Mama Tetsuo", Tetsuo ends up becoming a parent to a baby Battle Shriekwing when he hatches an egg he found in The General's fortress.
- Killer Yo-Yo: The original Chop Chop Ninja's weapon of choice was the Yo-Yo of Destiny.
- Late to the Realization: The show makes a Running Gag of Tetsuo reaching obvious conclusions or still trying to figure out The Reveal when the rest of his teammates have already realized what's going on. His fellow Chop Chops usually have to spell it out for him or lampshade how everyone else already figured it out.
- Left Hanging: The series ends with Magic Master stealing the final piece of the Chop Chop Medallion from the Chop Chops and escaping, with the Chop Chops then vowing to take Heart back from the sorceress and rushing off to pursue her, consequently leaving several significant plot points and a few major questions unfinished and unaswered.
- Man-Eating Plant: In "Evil Plants", Komata creates a bunch of Extreme Omnivore versions to literally eat the whole city of Rizon.
- Martial Arts Headband: The Chop Chops all wear these, each with a different symbol on it. Iro's is red with a shuriken; Jo's is pink with a fox's head (shaped like her shurikens); Neeko's is orange with a paw print; and Tetsuo's is blue with a crescent and circle (based on the samurai helmet he has in the games and shorts).
- Mecha-Mooks: The General often relies upon an army of robots to do his dirty work.
- Mind over Matter: The Sceptre of Movement from the episode of the same name grants this power.
- Mini-Golf Episode: In "Doom's-Day-Putt", Iro enters a highly competitive game of mini-golf against a mini-golf champion, but unbeknownst to him, it's actually a trap set by The General and Splat.
- Minion with an F in Evil: Splat and Blob are not very villainous compared to their respective superiors, The General and Komata, and generally friendlier towards the Chop Chops.
- Mistaken for Thief: Iro is accused to attempting to steal the Sceptre of Movement from Princess Mariko in the episode of the same name when his attempts to thwart Kami from doing so are seen by everyone in an out-of-context manner.
- Mix-and-Match Critters: "Neeko Princess" has The General riding upon a Turkeytaur, a huge monster with the head of a bull and the body of a turkey.
- Mole Men: One appears in the episode "Annual Attack", where it captures Iro and The General and tries to eat them.
- Murderous Mannequin: Chop Chop Academy uses living training dummies to test its students' fighting skills.
- Myth Arc: The Chop Chops' race to find the Chop Chop Medallion Quadrants before Magic Master does.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Iro's klutzy and reckless personality means that many of his ideas on how to counter the villains' schemes usually end up failing and making things worse.
- Ninja: Obviously! The characters are a group of young ninjas training to become the inheritor of the title of the greatest ninja in the land.
- Ninja School: Chop Chop Academy, a classic Japanese dojo where our ninja heroes train to earn the title of the next Chop Chop Ninja.
- Old Retainer: Princess Mariko's retainer Miss Sharp, a former classmate of Master Enoki back at Chop Chop Academy.
- Old Master: Master Enoki, the Chop Chops' sensei.
- Our Werebeasts Are Different: As it turns out in "Substitute Sharp", Carny Tom turns into a werewolf every thousand nights and goes on a team-up rampage with a crocodile that turns into a giant dragon-like creature every thousand nights as well.
- Pie in the Face: Neeko loves pulling off these kinds of pranks in "Neeko Prankster", including with a pizza pie on The General.
- Playing with Fire: Kami, a little fire-person with a bad temper and enormous insecurities.
- Power Parasite: In "Iro's Skill Scam", Iro finds a spellbook that when he recites a certain spell from it, he drains the skills and abilities of the other Chop Chops (Tetsuo's strength and durability, Jo's speed and smarts, and Neeko's agility and archery). However, a tree monster uses the same spellbook to steal all of them from Iro, as well as Iro's own skills with his quarterstaff.
- Princesses Rule: The city of Rizon is ruled by Princess Mariko, who is often targeted by the villains but has a lot more attitude than you would think.
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: The General was a former student of Chop Chop Academy, but after he was expelled, he turned to evil and has made an annual affair out of attacking the academy on the day of his expulsion.
- Restaurant-Owning Episode: In "General Chicken", The General quits villainy and decides to open a fried chicken restaurant. However, Iro is suspicious that he's up to something.
- Riding the Bomb: Iro does this in the first episode, earning himself the title of "Iro the Daring".
- Robinsonade: "Island Fever" sees the Chop Chops get stranded on a deserted island after their tent flies away. However, the gang soon learn they may not be alone on the island - that and Jo is the only one of them who knows the first thing about survival.
- Rock Monster: The Ash Ogres that Kami can summon, which also have magma powers. Another example is the Stone Muncher from "Camping at Kami's".
- Rogues Gallery: While the Chop Chops' biggest enemy is Magic Master, they also regularly face the likes of The General, Komata and Blob, and Kami.
- Sick Episode: Iro falls ill in "Lady Ninja" and is forced to miss out on an opportunity to meet one of his favourite ninja-singers. Undeterred, he instead sets out to find its legendary cure, the fruit of the Ninja Pear Tree.
- Start My Own: Neeko opens his own academy in "Neeko's Dojo", but Blob infiltrates it for his own nefarious purposes.
- Sudden Anatomy:The show's artstyle means that the characters are all drawn with simple stubby limbs, but gain thumbs or fingers when they need to use them.
- Super-Deformed: The artstyle has a chibi look to it.
- Swapped Roles: In "Neeko Princess", Neeko and Princess Mariko switch their respective occupations as ninja and princess for the day to bet upon whose job is harder. Neeko quickly turns into The Caligula and runs Rizon into the ground while Mariko finds she doesn't enjoy being a ninja very much.
- Tank Goodness: The General pilots variety of large tank-like vehicles that he uses for his various assaults on Chop Chop Academy.
- That Was the Last Entry: In "Masako", the Chop Chops find the diary of Master Enoki's titular former classmate, and in her last entry, she says that she plans on visiting a creepy abandoned temple where a mysterious power has been calling for her and egging on her curiosity...She didn't die however; she was somehow transformed into Magic Master.
- True Companions: The Chop Chops all the way. No matter what the show throws at them, the group will always prove in the end that the importance of their teammates is greater than anything else.
- Two Shorts: Every episode of the series is shown in this manner.
- When Trees Attack:
- Iro accidentally brings a tree to life in "Iro's Skill Scam" when he recites a spell from a magic book. However, the tree immediately decides that it hates humanity for cutting down trees, so the Chop Chops have to stop it.
- The Ninja Pear Tree likewise tends to react violently towards those who attempt to steal its fruit.
- Yes-Man: Splat is this to The General.
