FIF#154-Ninja Scroll: The Series

Jubei Kibagami is a wandering Sword for Hire, his skill that of legends.  A chance encounter with a lone Ninja engaged with fierce enemies finds Jubei drawn into another job he never wanted in the first place.  This time, Jubei must protect a sheltered Priestess named Shigure from several factions of warring Demon Clans, all seeking to claim Shigure’s Dragon Jewel.  Along the way, Jubei reunites with old comrades from the past who have also found themselves drawn into the conflict.  The peace and quiet Jubei has long sought eludes him again as a new battle begins.

 
The original 1993 Ninja Scroll is an action Anime classic, nay, I say it’s a Legend.  It’s every ounce of the over the top violent Anime people came to expect from the decade in near perfect form with stellar action, grotesque imagery and a decent story to boot.  As a stand alone feature, Ninja Scroll is still pretty damn awesome.  Still, Jubei always seemed the guy who’s seen a lot and gotten into situations similar to his fight with the Seven Devils of Kimon, if not worse.  We never got a film sequel and a TV Anime isn’t exactly a bad idea…but if the rest of Ninja Scroll: The Series is anything like the first episode, then it was best left as a near pristine piece of Anime Cinema.
 
First off, I don’t believe for a second, even if its in the credits plain as day, that Studio Madhouse did the animation for this show.  This is the same studio that did the original Ninja Scroll movie and it still looks like it belongs in a museum.  But here?  Ninja Scroll: The Series looks like it was handed off to Studio Gonzo and came out as one of their lesser looking titles (side note: I know Gonzo is capable of quality work like Basilisk or Bayonette: Bloody Fate…but none of that quality is here).  The first episode just looks so…for lack of a better term ugly.  Then there’s the English Dub, which is one of the worst I’ve heard in a very long time.  Even the 1993 movie had a decent dub, back when dubs weren’t as better crafted for run of the mill Anime meant to be shown to adults after dark.  Everyone sounds exaggerated, bored or just poorly directed.  New central character Shigure is the biggest culprit of this as she sounds annoying when trying to act tough and terribly laughable when she’s freaking out over the slaughter of her village.  It’s just plain bad…though I did have to check for a second to see if the guy playing Jubei was the same as the one from the OG Movie…it’s not but man they did work to try and find a similar sounding guy.
 
So it looks bad and sounds awful but what about the Ninja Scroll claim to fame: The action?  Well…this is a TV Series in 2003 so nothing can ever match the raw intensity and ferocity of the original film, which still has some of the most violent action I’ve ever seen in an Anime.  But even with that handicap against it, the fight scenes in the first episode lack good choreography and overall polish or sense of belonging.  It just feels so tame and worst yet, boring.  Even when Jubei himself steps in, the show goes out of its way to show how bad ass he is by barely having him fight at all.  Again, I look back at how Jubei had to cleverly fight his way out of a dangerous situation, nothing ever ended in a single draw attack.  He’s bad ass but not invincible but the TV Series wants you to believe otherwise.  Ok sure, there’s a fair amount of blood and a motorized Giant (yes in a Ninja Scroll Anime), tries to emulate the Rock Demon Tessai from The Movie.  But it never, ever hits the same perfection notes the movie did so well.
 
In short, I guess if I need an Anime to rant about for a couple of weeks, I could theoretically add this to my review queue.  But would I watch the rest of Ninja Scroll: The Series on my own?  Probably not.  The action sucks, Jubei is barely in the first episode and I’m not a fan of the dub or the characters the show introduces.  I’ll always have my Ninja Scroll Movie as the definitive experience.  Like I said though, the slip ups made in the first episode make me glad we never got a movie sequel.  If a Jubei was to get his own set of TV Adventures, they deserve more respect and care than this heap of unqualified garbage.