Ninja Scroll | Anime Review | Pinnedupink.com

Ninja Scroll Review

AN ACTION-FILLED ANIME MOVIE

Ninja Scroll, or Juubee Ninpuuchou in Japanese, is a highly regarded anime movie from 1993. This adult movie is filled to the brim with a lot of gore, nudity, and drama. While many people in the anime community call this movie a timeless masterwork, I believe that there are some flaws in this movie that can significantly affect your overall experience.

Today, we’ll be taking a closer look at all the different aspects of this movie, and I’ll give you guys my honest review.

The plot of Ninja Scroll follows the story of a mighty Ninja named Jubei Kibagami. This vagabond travels around feudal Japan as a swordsman-for-hire. Because of his past, Jubei does not care about all the world’s political factions and schemes; he just wants to lead a simple life.

One day, Jubei finds a young woman named Kagero and saves her from getting raped by a strange ninja that could turn his entire body into stone. After this encounter, Jubei did not want to interfere further. However, the peculiar and powerful stone ninja seeks him out and tries to kill him. Jubei ends up winning the fight, but he becomes a major enemy of the stone ninja’s allies in doing so. These ninjas are the Devils of Kimon, and no one knows their true intentions.

While the plot itself sounds quite interesting, I did not like the plot progression of Ninja Scroll. I just really dislike the fact that the plot of this movie did not have much depth. The plotline alone covers most of the story, and all Jubei does in the film is fight the Devils of Kimon and their leader. Without a doubt, the idea behind this movie is unique and brimming with potential. However, it was not represented in the best way possible.

This aspect of Ninja scroll is truly worthy of praise! Despite being dated, the visuals of this anime are insanely beautiful as they follow a specific theme. This anime is one of the earlier works of Studio Madhouse, which is also responsible for some modern masterpieces like Death Note and One Punch Man. We can see the beauty of this animation studio’s works even in this old anime.

Ninja scroll showcases the shinobi world in a gruesome and disturbing way. All the fight scenes in this anime have been brilliantly choreographed, and the only complaint I have regarding these fight sequences is that some of them were not long enough. All the different anime characters have their distinct fighting styles that tell us a lot about their personalities. As chills run down your spine throughout all the intense combat scenes, you won’t be able to take your eyes away from the screen!

The characters in Ninja Scroll are all quite likable. However, just like the story progression, the anime did not tell us much regarding all the characters’ personalities. Because of the lack of character insight and development, all the characters in this anime seem pretty bland and forgettable. In my opinion, the anime should have added more depth to all the main characters’ personalities and made them more realistic and relatable.

As for the character designs, I think that the show has done a remarkable job in this aspect. All the characters have very distinct looks that go well with their personalities.

Let us take a closer look at the three main characters in the story.

Jubei Kibagami

Jubei is the protagonist of the series, and his character is a homage to a famous Japanese folk tales hero named Yagyu Jubei. Like I said before, he is just a vagabond ninja who does not want to blend in with society and its issues. Jubei’s story is somewhat tragic as he got betrayed by his people in the past. As the story progresses, he starts to become a bit more caring.

Kagero

In my opinion, Kagero is one of the most poorly written characters in the history of anime. She is just portrayed as a weak and frail woman from the start, and her character does not grow out of it. While the main character does get a bit of character development, Kagero’s personality remains the same throughout the entire series.

Dakuan

Despite being just a small supporting character in the story, Dakuan is way more interesting than Kagero. This older man is a spy for the Tokugawa Shogunate. This clever older man is currently on a mission to kill all of the Devils of Kimon and their allies. He somehow convinces Jubei to fight the demons and kill them.

Is Ninja Scroll Overrated?

Yes, Ninja Scroll is a pretty overrated anime movie that had a lot of potentials. In my personal opinion, this movie could not deliver because its story lacks any kind of proper depth. All the characters seem a bit too one-dimensional and unrealistic, and nothing much happens throughout the movie’s entire run.

Another thing that I disliked regarding this movie is its use of gore. Don’t get me wrong; I am not really against gore scenes. I believe that gore scenes can add a lot of depth and intensity to the story. However, the gore scenes in Ninja Scroll have not been implemented correctly, and they can feel a bit forced.

Ninja Scroll is a good movie that you can watch if you are looking for something entertaining that is filled with action and gore. While it is a good watch for a particular type of anime fan, this movie won’t stick to your brain as you will probably forget about it in a few weeks.

While Ninja Scroll’s visuals are pretty good for their time, if you have not watched a lot of anime from the 90s, you will find the animation a bit odd and unenjoyable. If you are planning on watching Ninja Scroll, I recommend the Japanese version over the English dubbed version.