Ninja Scroll: Die Serie

Despite a run of extremely good newer anime series (such as Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Samurai Champloo), the vast run of anime still seems to be stuck in plot less limbo. Ninja Scroll: the Series is no exception.

Despite being based on a fantastic anime feature film filled with intrigue, fascinating characters, and amazing artwork, Ninja Scroll falls astoundingly flat as a continuing series. Considering the writing and directing are done by entirely different people, this is no surprise; it is, however, vastly disappointing. Jubei devolves from a witty, sarcastic character to a poorly-written shadow of his former self, complete with bad dialogue. Where the Eight Devils of Kimon were fresh, original villains with an interesting theme, the villains in the ongoing series are just an endless list of "I have this power, and I die by the end of the episode" throwaway thugs. The plot (or lack thereof) is not at all engaging, the heroic characters aren't worth watching, and you find yourself wishing the episode was already over five minutes in.

Do yourself a favor and watch the original film, and don't bother with the pale imitation that is this series.

This series is set in a feudal Japan where demonic beings are common; in this land Jubei Kibagami, a mercenary ninja is given the task of delivering something called The Dragon Stone to a woman known as The Light Maiden. Meanwhile a village is attacked and the sole survivor is Shigure, who many believe is The Light Maiden. The two of them meet up fairly soon and travel together along with elderly monk Dakuan and a young thief named Tsubute. As they travel together they meet numerous Ninja clans who are desperate to get their hands on the Dragon Stone and the Light Maiden so they can get their hands on the treasure they are rumoured to be able to access.

Having not seen the Ninja Scroll movie I can't say how this compares but as a stand-alone series I found it surprisingly enjoyable. There is a decent plot arc along with monster of the week side plots. This means that there is a fair amount of action in every episode; this is well animated and rather violent… expect to see plenty of blood. Away from the action there are some laughs; mostly provided by sidekicks Dakuan and Tsubute, there are also a few poignant moments as some of the bad guys aren't entirely unsympathetic. There are of course some clichés and we never for a moment believe Jubei could lose a fight; still these scenes are handled well so it doesn't really matter. The characters were pretty good for the most part although the main antagonist was a bit over the top.

These Comments are based on watching the series in Japanese with English subtitles.

I actually love this series. I found it very entertaining. I've heard some missed reviews. Never go into any movie, anime, etc expecting something better or greater than the original. I hate that and i don't do it until watching it first. And that's what you shouldn't. And that's probably the results of the negative reviews 13 episodes of great adventures and excellent battles. I recommended this to any Anime fan around. WATCH IT!! You wont' regret it.

Better yet Buy it. Also check out the soundtrack. i enjoyed the music as must as the movie. I give it a 9/10. It will have you wanting more after it has went off.

This Tv show is okay, but nowhere near as good as the movie. After watching the 1st 4 episodes, I was not very entertained. The characters are nowhere near as cool and innovative as the movie, but try too hard to be, and the story is pretty mediocre. Jubei has this new power where all he has to do is draw his sword and people are sliced in half. And theres all these pointless duels by characters who have lame powers (tree girl, girl with long hair that can control her hair, translucent glowing guy who controls moths, cat girl etc.) They even have robots and all this other crap that shouldn't be in Ninja Scroll. Every villain in the movie was really cool. Sadly everyone on the show is lame.

I've seen hundreds of hours of anime and this is one of the dullest series around.

The animation is good, the designs are intriguing, the plot...

What plot?

The plot is basically people fighting over an object, again and again and again. Its six episodes of material stretched to 13 as we get fights and more fights and people running through the woods and more fights and not a heck of a lot more than that.

Its a step down from Dragon Ball and Pokemon.

Watch the movie instead. Watch the movie and you'll see what great animated story telling is all about.

This is on my very short list of things to avoid at all costs.