Escape from Ninja High School was foreWARD's progenitor and refers to both the art fight collaboration on PolyKarbon and the intended webcomic that followed it.
The Fight Club[]
In 2003, a handful of artists on the Polykarbon forums started a collaborative art fight comic called "Escape From Ninja High School" about teenage ninja-in-training. Heavily inspired by the rising popularity of Naruto, the comic collab was organized by Peter Meindertsma under the username MamoruK and would feature direct references to the world of Naruto, including a similar power system and the appearance of Hatake Kakashi for a handful of pages. Altogether, there were roughly ten other character submissions alongside his starting character, Mitsuki, though the current identities of these artists are mostly unknown.
Artists[]
- MamoruK (Peter Meindertsma) - Mitsuki, Ayane
- Kagebu (Cody Savoie) - Arashi, Ritsu, Kenbu
- ??? - Kashin
- Jonat - Mathias (Masaru)
- Kaiyu - Tatsuki
- TL??? - Mayumi
- Reddragon7 (J. James) - Zeiyro (Zeiryo)
- ??? - Kaze
- boykun/delugar - Kei
- PJ - Moranaku-sensei (Okuda)
- ??? - Shenlong (Senjou)
- ??? - Natsume
The Fight Club comic is kicked off with the first day of school and the introduction of a handful of transfer students. Mitsuki, Mayumi, Mathias, Zeiyro, and Tatsuki serve as the class' original core students while Kashin, Kaze, Kei, and Arashi are one-by-one introduced primarily by their respective artists with subsequent pages as transplants from other schools.
The comic takes a turn after the introductions when Mitsuki's childhood friend suddenly drops through the ceiling, beaten within an inch of her life. From there, much of the class splits up into their respective friend groups for a period of introspection when yet another attack is made on the students — this time, targeting Kei. Unfortunately, the story is left to end abruptly with the characters wondering what comes next.
However, a handful of side stories and gag comics were written and illustrated by some of the artists, primarily as a means to fill out their characters.
Ninja Highschool Shorts[]
Two 4koma style gag comics were made by Peter Meindertsma, featuring Mayumi and Tatsuki and Mitsuki and Zeiyro respectively.
Mayumi Side Story: A Crush?[]
A simple side story about Mayumi and a burgeoning crush on Kei, who is disguising herself as a male student. The artist of this comic is unidentifiable but suspected to be the person responsible for Mayumi's only female friend, Natsume, as the style is most reminiscent of the pages in the Fight Club where Natsume is introduced.
Kei & Kaze Side Story: History[]
Drawn by Kei's artist delugar, this is the story of how Kaze and Kei originally met. It is by far one of the heavier stories that the Fight Club contained, touching on the topics of abuse, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and gender.
Kei Side Story: What a Twist[]
Also drawn by delugar, this is a much lighter reveal of Kei's identity as Tatsuki and Zeiyro accidentally stumble on Kei while she is partially undressed in typical anime trope fashion.
Arashi Side Story: Belief in Betrayal[]
Written and drawn by Cody Savoie, this side story is the tragic backstory of how Arashi became the last surviving member of his family and introduces an important character from his past, Kenbu.
The Webcomic Scripts[]
After the Fight Club ended up falling off, Peter and Cody came together with the idea of turning the concept into an actual webcomic, and after being granted permission from the other artists to use their characters, the two began working on building the world and characters and developing the plot with an outline of their planned story arcs. The intention was for the two to each contribute to the art and writing, but after the initial planning was established, Peter went on to enlist in the military and the two lost touch.
Nevertheless, Cody found himself invested in continuing to write the scripts for the comic and proceeded to write over a hundred chapters, completing four of the five planned arcs.
Demo page for the ENHS webcomic, illustrated by Cody
Story Arcs[]
The following summaries come directly from the Escape from Ninja High School production bible notes.
Red Arrow Arc[]
During the initiation of story, the prospect of an entrance examination into a ninja organization is set to occur in several days. The host of this examination is the Koukai Agency, a mysterious new ninja organization employed by the Emperor's eldest son and military advisor. While the students await the examination to come around, they are forced to tolerate each other and work as pairs. That is because in the exam they will have to perform as pairs.
Upon the first test of the Red Arrow exam, it becomes apparent to the students not to take it lightly, for their first venture is to race through a haunted forest filled with vengeful ghosts. As the tests of the Red Arrow exam become more dangerous, the lives of the students are put at risk and as a result, one pair of students is killed. The Koukai Agency is looked upon by the students with fear. Once Arashi and Mitsuki make it to the end of the examination, they are presented with a contract to join the Koukai Agency, but they both must sign. Arashi refuses to do so. The deadline for this contract to be signed and returned is right after graduation, mere months away.
Oniori Arc[]
Still recovering from the tragic Red Arrow examination, the students readjust to life back in the classroom. Tension runs high as Zeiryo had discovered in the exam that Kei was a woman masquerading as a man. Arashi and Mitsuki still hate each other, and Mathias is uneasy with the loss of his rival in the exam.
Not soon after, Mitsuki is greeted with a shock as his best friend from childhood, Ayane, is nearly killed by a mysterious assailant. Oniori, a demon caged in the body of a human, has ventured to the school to track down his target: Okuda Moranaku. Ayane was the first bystander in Oniori's rampage, but now the whole school is in for a shock as Oniori unleashes his minions on the campus. These demons target the students, taking the most destructive form of their worst fears. Just as Oniori makes his true appearance and all hope seems to be lost, Okuda returns from his investigation of the Red Arrow exam and faces off against Oniori.
Past Transgressions Arc[]
Four terrifying pasts left unresolved, four students clash with nightmares of their childhood come back to haunt them in the present. Doing battle with these villains, the full past of each of these students is revealed as they settle the frustrations of their pasts.
Arashi vs. Kenbu[]
Kenbu is the first one on the scene, proclaiming that he has freed himself like a bird flying from its cage, and has come to clip Arashi's wings. However, Arashi receives more hurt than help, for to save his newfound friends' lives from Kenbu's unleashing of Orochi, a terrible dragon he had sealed within his own body, Arashi himself takes the dragon within his body.
A test page for a scene from Zeiryo's fight with Shishio.
Zeiryo vs. Shishio[]
Zeiryo's brother, Shishio, comes to retrieve the other twin sword in Zeiryo's posession, but Zeiryo won't give up his blade or his grudge against his brother.
Kei vs. Suzume[]
A member of Kei's ninja clan, Suzume, has come to slay the impudent female ninja as per order by her father, the clan leader.
Tiger Clan vs. Dragon Clan[]
Finally, Mathias is in for a shock when his father returns from exile, come to say his last words to his son. Learning the cleft between Dragon and Tiger clans has caused much hurt to his son, he has decided to offer his head to the Dragon clan if it would mean the two clans could become allies yet again. Mathias, learning of his father's attempt at sacrifice, decides to save his father. His friends offer their help storming the Dragon clan's fortress to end the execution. However, they fail. Sacrificing his life, the death of Mathias' father allows his son to reconcile afront Shenlong's grave, which he was denied to visit because of the aggression between the two clans.
Yagami Arc[]
An illustration of the story's core thrust with Mitsuki and Arashi being used as pawns for Kusari's revenge
Graduation has come around, and the Koukai Agency return to check on their contract. During the Oniori arc, Arashi signed the contract as good will between himself and Mitsuki, and upon handing it in, they are immediately given a secret mission known only to them and Kusari. Sasaki grows ever more suspicious of his closest friend and his intentions and uncovers Kusari's sinister goal at the cost of his life.
Infiltrating the castle of the Emperor himself, Mitsuki and Arashi move in for the kill. Arashi's target is the Emperor, while Mitsuki is to assassinate his youngest son. This plot was orchestrated by the Emperor's eldest son, Toujou, in order to claim the throne as his own, which he was denied by his father. However, Kusari's reward in this conspiracy is personal revenge, and Toujou is but one of his intended victims. Hitsugi, Kusari's most loyal servant, is sent to kill the eldest son and gladly loses his life against his bodyguards in the process. Arashi is successful with his mission, yet Mitsuki falters, saving the life of the Emperor's youngest son, Kikumaru Ryosuke.
Kusari successfully obliterates the entire royal family, except, of course, the youngest son who was rescued by Mitsuki and is being protected by the Ninja High School. Taking residence inside the Imperial Castle, Kusari instigates an old civil war in order to use the rebellion as backing for the Koukai Agency.
Concept art for Arashi after becoming Orochi's new host and the conflict of their relationship
Mitsuki is dropped from their ranks, yet Arashi is promoted. Acting as Kusari's personal new bodyguard, he is now a member of Kusari's "Yagami," a collection of eight powerful fighters who bark orders at the Koukai Agency ninja with one of them being the leader of a rebel faction freed from imprisonment. Wanting to distance himself from his friends, Arashi accepts this position for fear that he may otherwise hurt Mitsuki and everyone else, being that he has an angry dragon living within him. When the Ninja High School do battle with the Yagami, Arashi and Mitsuki face off in a final showdown that's a long time coming.
A test page for one of the fights between Mitsuki and the Mikaboshi.
Mikaboshi Arc[]
After Arashi's duel with Mitsuki and the civil war ends, Mitsuki's demonic bloodline fully awakens and Mitsuki is once again posessed by the Mikaboshi haunting his family. During this arc, the gates of hell are unleashed by the Mikaboshi and his group. Kenbu, Suzume, and Shishio, who were all killed by their opponents, escape from hell and return to help out their former enemies. Muramasa comes out of the woods to confront this reawakened threat, aiding our heroes.
Nearing the end of the arc, as the the gates of hell are closed and the undead need to return, Kenbu takes back Orochi so that Arashi can have the freedom he deserves.
Epilogue[]
Mitsuki had vanished five years ago, in order to control the demon haunting him so that no harm may come to his friends, just as Arashi had once learned to deal with his own demon. Now, many years later as the main characters have come into adulthood, Mitsuki is welcomed home to the place where he truly belongs, and every other character has also found their place. Mayumi has become a teacher in the ninja high school, taking over for Okuda, who has retired. Her female students remark about how they aspire to be like Nagisa Kei, the most powerful female ninja out there, as Kei is regarded as such around the ninja world. Zeiryo is the leader of a ninja squad that protects Buddhist temples, calling themselves the Otoroshi Guardians, and Tatsuki and Kaze are in a steady relationship.
Concept art for Arashi's future daughter, Sora
Finally, Arashi has become the head of the newly reformed Murakumo clan, a new family of ninja unaffiliated by blood, in direct service of Ryosuke. Arashi (of all people!) also has a five year old daughter, Murakumo Sora. Now it's time for Mitsuki to find that his place is amongst his friends, and that being happy with them is how he can live with the demon inside him forever dormant. He accepts a position long reserved for him, right beside Arashi as leading his own clan under the service of Ryosuke.