Ninja Scroll: The Series Review
Ninja Scroll first appeared in Japan in 1993 and along with Akira and Ghost in the Shell, it became one of the three anime films you showed your friends on VHS back in late 90s here in the UK (and America, by the sound of it), just as the animated genre started taking off. I know I did! I recorded it off of the sci-fi channel to be precise and it got a few watches with friends to show them what anime was all about, cheesy early Manga Entertainment dub and all. So ten years later in 2003 the decision was made to create a follow-up TV series, simply dubbed “Ninja Scroll: The Series” in English-speaking markets (in Japan it was known as “Jubei’s Wind Ninja Chronicles: Dragon Stone Story”, I guess implying the idea was to do more…) it is a direct follow-on from the movie, at least in it officially taking place after it and having Jubei Kibagami as the lead protagonist again, otherwise there isn’t a lot of returning continuity (oh and Dakuan does make a few appearances for “dirty old man” comic relief…), though there are similarities in their storylines. The film involved Jubei, a wandering vagabond/ex-ninja mercenary, getting caught up in a struggle with a ninja clan that use supernatural powers while trying to rescue a woman they kidnapped, where here he has to protect a woman from two bands of ninjas with supernatural powers, and she ends up kidnapped, all set during feudal Japan.
The woman in question is Shigure, who at the start of the story sees her whole village wiped out by the Kimon ninjas and with the help of some “friendly” passersby ends up at the ninja HQ of the Hiruko clan, who reveal she’s a “Light Maiden” who has special powers in relation to the fabled Dragon Stone, which was being kept at her village. One of the Hiruko clan ninjas retrieves the stone but is killed before he can return to his people, but luckily he passes it on to a wandering Jubei, who is told to give the stone to Shigure. Due to having the stone, he is attacked by ninja from both sides and the stone ends up split in two, just for that extra bit of questing. Basically the first half of the show is Jubei fighting off a different supernatural foe/foes each episode before the final few is more focused when the Kimon ninja manage to kidnap Shigure, leading to Jubei having to recue her and worrying about whether he can actually save her this time, the events of the film still fresh in his mind. A lot of the enemies are very… weird, and keep that original Ninja Scroll aesthetic of “often practically nude with weird outfits and transformations”, for better or for worse.
At 13 episodes, it manages not to get too dull, though I’ll admit the “monster of the week” format didn’t land with every episode so I was happy to see the switch towards a more focused, if not extremely plain storyline. Obviously what a lot of people remember about the original Ninja Scroll is the stunning animation and I’m afraid to say that, completely understandably, the budget isn’t up to it for the TV series. It’s fine, though the actual artwork has that mid-2000s feel of early computer-assisted animation instead of traditional works, so things seem very bright and have a plastic-like sheen to them, and there isn’t a lot of shading going on, as well as being 4:3 instead of widescreen, if such a thing bothers you. The soundtrack is also good but nothing outstanding.
In term of extras, there is actually quite a bit to talk about! In terms of on-disc extras you get clean opening and endings, a ‘behind the scenes’ look at the dub (including a separate outtakes segment), interviews with original staff, commentaries for Episodes 2 and 13, featuring your choice between “dub crew” and “dub cast”, and storyboards, illustrations and plenty of trailers. For a single disc Blu-ray release I was definitely impressed! With this “Ultimate Collection” release you also get a few art cards as well as a fancier case than I assume the regular release will get when it comes out at the end of the year.
To sum up Ninja Scroll: The TV Series: it’s … good, but nothing outstanding. Its storyline is plain but gets the job done, the animation, soundtrack and voice work are all fine but nothing outstanding, basically it just sort-of runs for 13 episodes and then by the time it ends, you just shrug and go “yeah, that was alright.” The big issue here then is that it’s following on from one of the most beloved anime films of all time (particularly in the West) so you’ll no doubt find it hard not to go into it with high expectations, so “just above average” won’t cut it. It’s like the anthesis of Ghost in the Shell, which was followed up by the massively successful “Stand Alone Complex” series. So basically if you go into it thinking it will be a fun little distraction for 13 episodes, you’ll probably enjoy it, even if it won’t be particularly memorable, but if you see “Ninja Scroll” plastered on the cover and think of the film, you will come away greatly disappointed.
