Ninja Scroll TV Volume 1

Expectations are always hard to live up to, and Ninja Scroll TV had it especially hard. Tasked with following up one of the most successful anime ever, the pressure was on to try and adapt the enthralling 1995 action bonanza into a short TV series.

Being a massive fan of the original film myself, and upon hearing the series had been produced by the imaginative chaps over at Madhouse Studios’, my hopes were pretty high for a return to the action/romance combination which made the original Ninja Scroll one of my favourite anime features.

The story so far

We join the story with Jubei at a loose end, wandering aimlessly across the Japanese countryside looking for a decent place to get some rest. As fate would have it, great warriors tend to just bump into trouble, and unsurprisingly, Jubei somehow manages to stumble into what can only be described as a hellish battle and is lucky to escape with his life.

This was no normal ninja skirmish though; the fighters seemed almost like demons, wielding crazy weapons and using some terrifying, almost magical techniques.

Flash forward to Shigure and the residents of her hidden village. Having never stepped foot outside the forest, she longs to explore the world outside of her small township. She assumes she is just a normal girl, destined to live a life of pointless toil and mediocrity, when unbeknownst to her, she is fated to become the ‘Priestess of Light’, a title shrouded in secrecy and precisely the reason why she has been protected within the hidden village for so long– should she ever fall into the wrong hands, the consequences would be dire.

However, one boring day whilst going about her daily chores, Shigure’s dreams of freedom are about to take a bloody step closer to reality. Attacked by a group of deadly ninja from the Kimon clan, her home is devastated and neighbours slaughtered– confused and lost, the Priestess barely escapes with her life, saved only by the late arrival of Jubei, who has followed the tracks of his previous battle to this new location.

Slowly realizing he has been caught in the middle of a demonic tug-of-war between rival Ninja clans, Jubei must now decide how to proceed– either protect the girl or just get the hell out! And so begins a new chapter in the anthology of Ninja Scroll.

What’s my motivation?

It’s made apparent from almost the first scene, this isn’t going to be an anime that focuses on so called boring things like character development and philosophical dialogue, the story jumps at a frantic pace from action scene to action scene without so much as a chance to catch your breath.
The key components of the story are established in the first episode and the next 3 episodes are clearly set out to show off Jubei (and assorted crew) duking it out over possession of the ‘Priestess of Light’.

While the original 1995 feature made no secret of its intent to simply be a violent action film, I was never left questioning why people were fighting and what Jubei was striving for. The TV series differs here, in that each episode seems to contain a token action scene just for the sake of appeasing the fans. All this, without any compelling prologue to precede the action, makes many of the fight scenes seem empty and dull.

There are certainly improvements in episode 3 and 4, with the introduction of several new villains/warriors (character’s that ironically seem more interesting than our supposed heroes). However, this isn’t enough to stave off the overwhelming feeling of mediocrity that resounds throughout the story in this first volume.

It ain’t me noggin’, it’s me peepers?

A mediocre anime can sometimes be saved by good animation and a fine soundtrack, unfortunately for Ninja Scroll TV, it possesses neither.

The animation, for a Madhouse Studio’s production, is disappointing. Containing a mixture of overly bland colours and some uninspiring character expressions, the notable saving grace are the villain/monster designs, which somehow manage to be suitably cool and weird at the same time! A giant mechanical demon that bounces around the Japanese countryside (miles high at a time!) and a bloke that can view someone’s past by removing an eye and inserting it into his own head are particular favourites!

The soundtrack, often a stand out feature in any great anime series, is certainly lacking here. Expecting a kind of feudal, traditional type of music, we are instead treated to some cheesy sounding Ninja ‘porn star’ tunes. You know, the type of stuff that wouldn’t sound out of place in a bad 1970s attempt at the ‘funky ninja’ genre.

In summary

The first volume of the Ninja Scroll TV series is the definition of mediocrity. Although gradually improving towards the end of the disc and introducing a few new characters with a little more motivation than to simply ‘kick ass and kidnap the girl’, the majority of this volume follows the tried and tested ‘monster-of-the-week’ formula that inevitably ends in Jubei kicking some ass and saving the day at the same time.

While no doubt showing potential for some interesting developments in the next few episodes, Ninja Scroll TV Vol #1 lacks the feeling and passion behind the characters that made the original Ninja Scroll movie such a great film to watch.