Ninja Resurrection

This was a title that acquired considerable notoriety among fans for allegedly passing itself off as a cash-in based on the success of the Ninja Scroll feature film. It actually has little or no connection with Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s classic gore-fest at all, despite the similarity in DVD box packaging and the fact that both star a character named Jubei. This promotional misstep on ADV’s part would be forgivable if the OAV was worthy of its ‘Classics Collection’ status, but sadly it isn’t – this is one of those times when we are reminded on how many ways in which an anime can fail.

Now, I’m not going to knock the validity of mindless violence – seeing swords fly and blood spill is, as much as many of us are reluctant to admit, downright entertaining when it’s done right. Similarly, the portrayal of Christianity and its use as a plot device isn’t much of an issue when you’re dealing with an action movie that’s principally made up of action scenes strung together for an hour and a half with verbose waffle for dialogue in between. Just bear in mind though that the story is a minor detail so if you don’t care about that, you might as well skip the next paragraph. If you’re squeamish and/or easily offended where gratuitous sex, violence and religious slurs are concerned you might as well stop reading this review altogether.

The story involves a charismatic 17th Century Japanese Christian warlord named Shiro who may or not be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Leading his people in the face of anti-Christian opposition from the Shogunate he has to face Jubei, a master swordsman employed to quell the uprising. Through a horrific betrayal, the benevolent Shiro is instead reborn as the devil and Jubei must fight to prevent destruction of…okay, I’m sure you’re bored already. The plot isn’t particularly original but at least offers some twists and turns, and has a decent concept behind it.

This premise is a big plus to Ninja Resurrection because it sets out to be historically accurate, or at least tries to make use of historical events; it’s an unusual approach that it should be commended for in some ways. The opening credits present some authentic-looking images that paint a genuinely interesting picture of how Christianity was, or could have been, part of popular folklore: the art’s great and it makes an effort to explore an aspect of Japanese history that anime and manga hasn’t really covered at great length. It’s not exactly Akira Kurosawa but as far as action films go, it’s not half bad either – the problems begin when the plot actually tries to get moving.

This is the point where I run out of positive things to say about Ninja Resurrection. While the animation does the job adequately, it isn’t really outstanding for its time (it dates back to 1998, a full five years after the seminal movie it draws so much inspiration from). This is a real problem for a film that relies on cool-looking action to keep the viewer’s interest: there’s plenty of blood and guts but none of it is particularly exhilarating. Some moments verge on the preposterous, which removes any remaining credibility. Seeing Jesus reborn as a Japanese warlord with supernatural powers is odd but in the context of the film it’s fair enough…but a demonic warrior slashing apart his enemies with his own intestines or a ninja with a rocket pack?! Nah.

The OAV is unfinished but the dangling cliff-hanger ending is the least of your worries when the plot makes no sense in the first place; not that you will care any more after the first few minutes anyway. It’s hard to relate to any of the characters or even give a damn about what happens to them: Jubei for instance is little more than a badass guy who goes around killing people. Why does he do it? What are his hopes and fears? These questions might not be important but I had to occupy my mind with something when those drawn-out fighting scenes were going on.

This is exactly the type of fare that gave anime a bad name all those years ago: if it was the genuine article rather than a pale imitation of the straight-to-video fodder that didn’t know any better I’d say it had some nostalgia value. As it is, I can only recommend it if you’re in the company of friends who are sitting in front of the TV with a few drinks and have nothing better to do than have a bit of a laugh. You may not be surprised to learn that the planned TV sequel has yet to leave pre-production hell; I for one don’t mind it staying there.

In Summary

With a novel premise that makes use of some historically interesting ideas, Ninja Resurrection nevertheless sets its sights lower by being a straightforward action-adventure. Sadly the lacklustre art, dull script and uninspiring swordplay prevent it from attaining even this modest objective; quite why ADV have released this at all, let alone in their Classics Collection category, is a mystery. It’s worth the rental perhaps but otherwise this Resurrected Ninja is better off left well alone.