[Categories: OAVs, Movies and Full Series]
Ninja Scroll
Remember those straight-to-video gorefests that gave anime a bad name all those years ago? One name that is lumped with those titles is that of Ninja Scroll; while it is pretty far removed from the trashy ‘tits and tentacles’ hentai fare, it still has a reputation for being unashamedly violent. This reputation is not wholly undeserved but you know what? Sometimes, unashamed violence is a good thing.
For all its shortcomings, Ninja Scroll is a cracking action movie. Granted, the storyline is somewhat unimportant but surprisingly enough it does have one: Jubei Kibagami (based on a real-life Japanese folk hero, no less) is a wandering ninja-for-hire, caught up in a gang dispute after being administered a slow-acting poison and saving a ninja girl from the claws of a demon. Initially fighting to find the poison’s antidote, Jubei finds himself up against a man he thought he had killed years ago…
Jubei, badess hero and possessor of the Huerrgh! factor
That’s the premise anyway. It is of course merely an excuse to deliver a succession of blistering action scenes featuring swords, ninja stars and black magic; as with his later efforts on Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust and Highlander: Search for Vengeance, director Yoshiaki Kawajiri pits a taciturn hero against an impressive array of bad guys, each with their own characteristic features and ways of fighting. For a film that is over a decade old already, Ninja Scroll’s animation still looks smooth and detailed; character development is nonexistent and the plot speeds ahead in predictable directions but this is all to prevent the action getting bogged down with unecessary details.
Hooray for mindless violence!
That is to say, we learn just enough about the characters to understand who’s who and what’s going on but nothing more; Jubei is a great badass hero being cool, quiet yet honourable enough for you to root for him and he always stands a fighting chance of winning his battles in spectacular style. The point is, that’s all many viewers need to appreciate the film: it does what it says on the tin and that’s it.
Of course, some will be put off by the gore, the occasional gratuitous sexual content and lack of any other substance and I can’t say I blame them. Mindless violence has its place, but not on everyone’s DVD shelf. Ninja Scroll is exactly the sort of thing that was lumped with ultra-violent video games as a ‘bad influence’ on 90s youth: the subject of scaremongering surrounding stories of ’sick filth’ from Japan that corrupted children’s minds. Be mindful, then, that while it is by no means twisted pornography Ninja Scroll is definitely not for kids!
The female of the species is more deadly than the male…
Summary
Ninja Scroll is a blood-spattered, action packed romp down memory lane from a time when, for many, anime equalled ninja swords and gallons of blood splashing everywhere. Its simple aims may be a bit dated now but its no-nonsense approach to a straightforward action flick means that it is mindless but well-executed entertainment. Huerrgh!
Packed with sword-weilding ninja goodness
Posted on August 16th, 2007 @ 1:33 pm
Yeah, Ninja Scroll is just mindless excellence! It’ll forever be one of the most entertaining anime movies, I think!
Posted on August 17th, 2007 @ 5:03 am
I was getting into anime around the time this was released, and I never got a chance to see it. It’s been in my hand to purchase countless times, but I could never, for some reason, justify taking the final step to add it to my collection (in which, I’m afraid, it would probably not fit).
With more and more titles being added to my “to watch” list, this keeps getting knocked further and further back. At this rate, I’m afraid I’ll never see it. I’m not sure if all of the hype it got lead me to expect too much from it, in turn making me not watch it because I thought I would be disappointed.
It’s a pity, I know, but that’s just how it is.
Posted on August 17th, 2007 @ 9:27 pm
this is bar none still the best anime movie i have ever seen. ever since i saw it when i was 13, and now 23, it has not aged. it is still awesome and entertaining as hell. and the ending… whew love the ending.
Posted on August 17th, 2007 @ 10:19 pm
@Frank: I know what you mean about certain titles staying in Backlog Hell or permanent ‘to buy’ lists. You may have noticed that I STILL haven’t started on Chevalier D’eon or carried on with the excellent Future Boy Conan - I’ve promised myself I will for absolutely months!
@Kauldron26: Ninja Scroll is one of those perennial favourites I think. I just like the honesty about it: it’s a great action movie that sets itself a modest goal to entertain, but does it so well! It’s so far removed from what I’d call ‘my thing’, yet entertaining nonetheless. A guilty pleasure if ever there was one!