Ninja Scroll TV Volume 2

After the frankly mediocre first volume of Ninja Scroll TV, I wasn’t harbouring too much hope for this. I couldn’t get behind any of the ‘heroes’ and found the story a little on the dull side. Thankfully, Ninja Scroll TV #2 shows some improvement in these areas; and I’m glad to say, Jubei is back to his arrogant best.

In this volume, the race for the other half of the dragon stone continues, with Jubei finding himself having to fend off vicious ninjas and horrifying demons on an almost daily basis.

Each episode sets the trend of solving a side-story whilst also actively continuing Jubei’s journey (with the dragon-stone) across the Japanese countryside. Little is actually achieved with the overall plot, with us instead being treated to some crazy monsters and violent fight scenes.

Did I mention the crazy monsters? I mean, there are some seriously weird demons in this volume; take for example one particular villain, who can amputate a stranger’s arm and graft it onto her own body.
At one point, she is even wielding a nice looking pair of bear arms, recently sewn onto her back. It’s certainly something worth seeing, and I must admit it made me chuckle.

Outside of the imaginative monster designs, these episodes actually hold up quite well within the framework of their own little stories; my particular favourite ‘mini-story’ involves a bitter widow, bent on revenge against the man who murdered her husband (bet you can’t guess who did it).
I did find this story-telling style a little disorientating at first – given many of the ‘lead’ characters all but vanish for episodes on end, but it at least gives Jubei his moments to shine.

There are no attempts here to overly complicate these stories. Jubei is good, the villains are bad and then they clash- it rarely gets more complicated than that. So I guess it comes down to if you actually enjoy watching Jubei kick ass or not. This time, I did. The monsters are cool too (but I already mentioned that, right?)

On the down side, the soundtrack continues to let Ninja Scroll TV down in a big way. It just seems so out of place and doesn’t suit the characters at all.
It even cheapens the effect of the story; for shame.

In Summary

Ninja Scroll TV #2 is a fun ride that should never be taken too seriously.
If you’re looking for light entertainment and some cool monsters, this is one of your best bets.
No doubt, this is a definite improvement over volume #1, and I actually found myself liking Jubei again! Yay! Welcome back, old friend.