Ninja Scroll Review

19th Nov 2012

Being an animator doesn’t necessarily mean I have an exhaustive knowledge of all animation, and Manga is still on the periphery for me. However, asking around and checking IMDB, I realised that Ninja Scroll is a pretty highly rated by fans.

Without knowing the story, I delved in (thanks to a credible and engaging English audio) and was confronted by an acerbic, violent and complex storyline. Jubei is a sword-for-hire who rescues Kagero, one of the infamous Koga ninjas. Together they confront the Demons of Kimon, without fully trusting eachother until it’s too late. They encounter some pretty horrifying enemies on the way and the storyline is so complex, with twists and a lot of character development that it’s a pretty exhausting 90 minutes.

Initially I was a bit stunned at how graphic the sexual content was, but of course I made the mistake of looking at it through western eyes. None of the content would be out of place in a live-action film and it’s rated 18 for good reason. If I told you that to release it in the UK originally, they had to cut out a graphic rape scene, I think you’d get the tone. Despite that, it’s easy to see why it’s so popular, it’s an intelligent and challenging storyline that is anything but boring.

The blu-ray extras are non-existant, I don’t know about you, but I expect my blu-ray to come crammed with extras. This has a trailer and a tv spot, which looks like a much shorter trailer, so that’s pretty disappointing. All in all, worth watching for the movie, but without the extras, I’m not sure what the blu-ray is offering as opposed to the DVD version.