Ninja Scroll – The Series Volume
One: Dragon Stone
Picture: B-
Sound: B Extras: D Episodes: B+
It was
1996, when I saw the original Ninja Scroll movie. That was the first
feature anime film that I had ever seen. Ninja Scroll is something that I
hold close to my heart. When I heard about another release of a
Ninja Scroll title, I cringed. How could they come close to making
a TV series as good as the movie? The Ninja Scroll movie is
considered to be one of the best anime movies of all time. So, I finally
got a hold of the Ninja Scroll TV series Volume 1: Dragon Stone
DVD. I sat down for an hour and a half of good old ninja
fun.
The
Hiruko clan is a small peaceful clan of farmers that lives in the
mountains. They train their ninja to be able to protect from any
invaders of this small farming community. One person that is
training is. a very beautiful young woman, named Shigure. Shigure is a
very lonely person that wants to see the rest of the world and does not want to
be in this village for the rest of her life. Believe me she is going to
have adventure that will go beyond her dreams.
One day, close
to sunset the Hiruko clan is attacked by the evil Kimon clan. They are
after something in the village, and that something is the Light Maiden.
The Light Maiden, combined with the dragon stone, is very powerful.
The Hiruko clan fights valiantly against the Kimon clan, but there is no
stopping the power of the Kimon clan. The Hiruko village is burnt to
the ground and no survivors are left except for one young lady, Shigure.
A protector of the dragon stone and the Light Maiden, help the fight
until Shigure can safely get away. When she is running away the
commotion of the battle wakes up a man sleeping in the woods. This
man is Jubei Kibagami, Ninja for hire. He stumbles upon the protector of
the Light Maiden and dragon stone. He is severely wounded and close to
dying. With his last breaths, this man entrusts Jubei with the job of
delivering the dragon stone to the Light Maiden.
Shigure
runs into a petty thief and scam artist that tries to sell her to a group of
old perverts, but Government spy and monk Dukuan is right their to save
her. Dukuan knows that Shigure is the Light Maiden, and he knows that she
must be protected. That is why he calls upon his trusted ninja for hire,
Jubei Kibagami. Jubei is once again hired by Dukuan, like he was in the
movie. During their travels they run into many enemies from the Kimon
clan, and within their traveling group, that Jubei must battle. I
must say that the enemies in the TV series are as good as the movie, if
not better. Jubei has sworn to protect the Shigure and the dragon
stone. Jubei has his hand full with this mission, but if anyone can step
up to the challenge it would be him.
The animation of the film is
spectacular. Mad House, the same animation studio that did
the first one, one-upped themselves with this DVD. The
color, animation, and artwork all were top notch. The sound offered in
English Dolby 5.1 and 2.0 and in Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles is
very good. I watched the DVD in both and the sound is nice and crisp for
both versions. Technically speaking this DVD is flawless. It
looks great and sounds great. As far as extras goes there isn't too
much to offer. There is an art gallery, trailers, weblinks, storyboard
(the only interesting feature), creating the cover art with Yoshimatsu, and
Interviews with soundtrack composers. I think that they could have
offered a little more extras.
It is hard to out do a classic. The TV series is
very good. But there are a couple of things that are
disappointing. The series is supposed to take place in feudal
Japan. How are they supposed to have technology that is better than the technology
today? All these machines and contraptions that the Kimon Clan has.
I think that is a little far fetched. Also, the English dialogue version
can get very tacky at times. The good things about it are the
return of Jubei and his badass swordplay, lots of blood, and great characters.
Is the series as good as the movie? I don't think so. But, is the
series a commendable effort? Yes it is. I can't wait to see
the next episodes.
- Ryan Higgins
