The story of Ninja Scroll deals with our protagonist Juubei Kibagami and basically he’s out to kill the 8 devils of Kimon because an insider from the government poisoned him, and if he doesn’t do it the government spy won’t give him the antidote for the poison. The story of Ninja Scroll really has nothing to deal with scrolls and the villains are more like super powered demons rather than traditional ninjas. Basically the main character Juubei was betrayed by is arch rival and sold him out to be murdered by his colleagues over some gold. He plans to buy weapons from Spain to overthrow Japan and rule Japan from the shadows. The story it’s kind of like a video game where Juubei is killing bad guys without them overstaying their welcome and they all have different types of abilities. Also there is a love story between Juubei and the main Heroine Kagero who is just used as rape bait by the bad guys and Juubei has to keep saving her. At least she still does some useful things unlike another famous kunoichi Sakura Haruno. Otaku now at day’s in Japan are dismissive of Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s works because they just want to be filled with moe girls and Isekai trash but don’t want to look into something just raw and brutal.
The characters in Ninja Scroll are really damn cool. I can see how Naruto and Basilisk would be influenced by this show. In Ninja Scroll you have a ninja/demon who can shed her skin and has snake like powers (she also has snakes in her vagina no joke) like orochimaru. You have the blind swordsman; the man who hides in shadows and uses ninjutsu like shadow clones and mind control. Finally you have Genma who is immortal and has complete control over his microscopic cellular structure and can change his form into other humans. Yeah, I said Naruto I mean come on a lot of Naruto characters have the same powers the devils of kimon share. Ninja Scroll is just a much tighter, more concise, and more grisly depiction of Ninja life and less filler lol.
The soundtrack and direction for Ninja Scroll are what truly makes this anime stand out for me though. The ninja Scroll soundtrack was composed by Kaoru Wada and you’ve heard his soundtracks in anime like Inuyasha and Ace Attorney. He has these little motifs thrown in for individual moments such as the clarinet playing a sinister tone before something truly terrible or explosive happens and then it just crescendos to this very loud blaring of horns, strings, and timpani. You also have more subtle moments and when those show on the screen you hear a Japanese flute and a Shamisen come in. Also when something fast paced is happening you hear this soundtrack that has a galloping feel to it with strings and wind instruments, and softer hits from the gong and the timpani going on in the background. The sound direction of this anime is unmatched with the motifs placed in such perfect places as to what is shown on screen. The ending theme “Somewhere, Faraway, Everyone Is Listening to a Ballad” is truly a beautiful way to end the movie. Juubei experienced death, love, and betrayal and it’s all over. He can go onto living a peaceful life and the ending soundtrack symbolizes that with the images of glowing fireflies on the screen.
The animation direction is also some of the greatest I’ve ever seen. For example the first major scene when Tessai kills the entire Ninja Squad is grisly yet awesome. When I first saw that scene with the great soundtrack in the background my mouth fucking hit the floor. One of the higher ups sees his comrades’ dead then he gets a rope attached to his neck and he gets electrocuted to death. Then you see this enormous double edged blade slice these ninja squad guys into little bits and pieces. You literally see raining blood and trees falling down; simply outstanding cinematography. Also the final fight you see Juubei and the main villain duking it out in a ship, which is surrounded by flames and makes it look like the main villain is a demon and Juubei has no choice but to fight for his life or be swallowed by the flames of hell. Another great scene is when Juubei is fighting the shadow clone jutsu dude with a claw and the background is completely red. This movie has some of the best animation direction and stylization I’ve ever seen. There are a lot of other great scenes but there are too many to list.
In conclusion this movie is amazing. It has a love story, some brutal brutal violence, great cinematography, and an amazing soundtrack to boot. I still think to this day this is one of the greatest anime movies ever made surpassing many films even by Hayao Miyazaki and definitely surpassing the overrated Kimi no Wawa. In my opinion this movie is grossly underrated I mean a 7.6 mean score come on now. Go watch this movie buy it, steal it from your friend, pirate it go watch this movie you won’t regret it.
