Ninja Scroll [DVD]

Ninja Scroll is one of my favorite animes and animated features period. It's typically grouped among the "big three" of anime, together with Ghost in the Shell and Akira, but in my opinion is far above the others. Not to overblow it mind you, this is merely an action/adventure flick, but amongst the best of its class, up there with things like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, etc. Many anime enthusiasts are unaware of Ninja Scroll or underrate its greatness. I think the reason for this is that the majority of anime fans expect sci/fi such as Robotech or Ghost in the Shell from anime, while others want "cuteness" of the Miyazaki sort. Ninja Scroll is more for the Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy buff set. As a sole caveat, I would warn the viewer that this contains sadistic violence and egregious sexual violence against women. After looking at the Yagu Ninja Scroll manga, I am inclined to think that this property is drawn from Futaro Yamada's original work, of which more below. The director's great strength is his ability to portray gripping, mad cap action sequences which continually surprise the viewer. Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust has a similar effect, and when I first saw it, I thought, he is trying to rip off Ninja Scroll, but then I realized it was the same director! Lol, I guess he can rip off himself. The animation is superb, not for the seamlessness and smoothness that one finds in Miyazaki, but rather for the visual conception and beauty of the characters. People used to rave about the beauty of Kageroo back in the day. The plot is a fascinating intertwining of love story, adventure for secreted gold, and political intrigue that draws from Kurosawa, Shogun, and other classics of Japanese cinema. This movie is the director's homage to the "ninja scroll" books of Futaro Yamada, a mid century Japanese scifi/mystery writer who wrote stories about Ninja who had perfected supernatural powers a la the Xmen. One of these Kouga Ninja Scrolls has been translated into English, and I recommend it as much as good as Ninja Scroll itself. In this anime, eight such ninja, the Devils of Kimone are pitted against Jubei Kibagami, who was a legendary wandering samurai of Japanese myth, and his chance sidekicks, Dakuan, a scheming government agent, and Kageroo, a female ninja with not a few tricks up her own sleeve! The dialogue, story, action, animation are all A+. Even the music, which involves brisk kettle drums during the action sequences, is a cut above for anime. This too has been borrowed again and again, most notably in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. There is so much there. Each scene brims with subtext and allusion to classic Japanese cinema. I picture a beautiful scene when Jubei and Kageroo first meet in a grove teeming with fireflies. Regard this as an allusion to Grave of the Fireflies, another great anime. See the foreshadowing? So melancholy and bittersweet! There are few movies as great as Ninja Scroll, by which, I mean, falling into the fantasy/action/adventure genre that literally have it all. In anime, the Vampire Hunter D movies are good. The animation Heavy Metal and the 1986 Transformers animated movie perhaps. I already mentioned the book Kouga Ninja Scrolls. Perhaps Conan the Barbarian movie. The Chinese Wuxia film Hero. Please leave me any suggestions if anyone out there knows of any to add to my pantheon.

Easily one of the best anime movies ever created. Tech specs: First things first, this exceptional film is over 20 years old. It still holds up. Having said, err typed that, be prepared for a couple of things; the aspect ratio. Since this film was made when CRT televisions were used in most homes you'll discover the aspect ratio is set to 4:3. For widescreen flat screen televisions you're going to have black bars on the sides not the top and bottom. Next the film looks like it was transferred from a VHS tape so the menu and selections are going to look like some high school kid or a porno movie production associate made them. These are not complaints on my part, just giving all perfectionists a heads up. There are no frills like extras or the like, as I mentioned the film is over 20 years old. Although there is audio commentary by the director, and other major players in the film which is absolutely awesome. The commentary provides some insight into the old days of cel based anime. Stuff like that is what I love about commentaries. Now the film: Like I said this is easily, EASILY one of the BEST anime films ever made. Made in 1993 this film changed the way I looked at entertainment, movies, animation, and storytelling. I normally prefer subbed anime but when I bought the VHS tape in '95 I was not disappointed with the English voice acting, I may even venture to say that it may be just as good as the Japanese voice acting. I wore out the tape, I watched it so many times. Jubei (the protagonist) sounds like a California surfer dude but that is OK because his character is so deep and developed that different scenes exemplify his complexity as a character and the voice provides a very laid back attitude combined with wisdom that comes from experience. You are not going to find flashy CG here at all. From my understanding it is all traditional cel animation which is incredible considering how amazing some of the visuals are in the movie. I don't want to delve into the story or the plot too much b/c I think if you're a fan of anime you owe it to yourself to watch this movie; at $10 for the DVD and $15 for the Blu ray take a chance if you're on the fence about this film. Keep in mind though there is extreme violence, I mean EXTREME and some sexual situations/scenes that are NOT for the easily offended. There are so many layers to the plot as well the characters, the good guys and the bad guys. There is strife between so many sides as well between the good guys, the bad guys, and WITHIN both groups. The demons all have their unique talents as well the old man (government agent), Kagero (the sexy female ninja), and Jubei. There are times when I felt genuine sympathy for the character Kagero. Her beauty and her talent work against her throughout the entire film and it's almost like she feels no relief at all, not even at the end. I have one gripe but it is very minor and that is that it is not possible to remove the English subtitles from the Japanese voice acting version of the film. You get 3 audio options regarding the film, English w/o subtitles, Japanese w/ English subtitles (again the subtitles are not negotiable), and Japanese commentary w/ English subtitles. To conclude I am very very happy this film is out again and extremely affordable, the embossed slip-case cover is really cool and the disc case's cover portrays the awesome image of the 8 devils, Jubei, and Kagero. 94 minutes of ninja awesomeness,spectacular (CEL!!!) animation, and political intrigue.

So watching this as a 30 something year old now was quite an experience. The animation was ahead of its time, some animes today don't even compare to this movie. Weird but great! Story, fight scenes and soundtrack score is awesome! Bought it while on sale. Don't regret it one bit. Watched it before Xmas 2025.

Ninja Scroll is one of the great anime classics of all time. Super happy I have a Blu-ray copy now as my old VHS copy was lost over time. Brings back so many memories back when anime was all hand drawn and raw AF. Highly recommend for those who love the classics that made it so famous long ago.

Favorite anime next to Akira , ain't fer the kids Jap-anime is randy

Note that I am reviewing from the perspective of 2026, not the year it came out. It may well have deserved all accolades about how much better it was done than other anime. And it is still done very very well. The problem is, I found it confusing. In my experience, seeing it in Japanese with subtitles might have helped, particularly with keeping the names of the characters straight. And I have /no/ idea what the title refers to. Still, having been looking for it for a long time, I was glad to be able to finally see it. And it was enjoyable. Just not easy to follow.

THE OG of ninja action Anime, MUST watch!

Ninja Scroll is very entertaining. It has everything you want from an animated action feature. There are numerous characters providing unique battle challenges for the protagonist. Jubei and his allies face the Eight Devils of Kimon. It may not be appropriate for children because of the violence and adult themes. The animation looks good which makes this classic easy to enjoy.

Unas de las mejores peliculas anime de todos los tiempos. Ojo, solo cuenta con idioma Japonés e Inglés y subtítulos en inglés

Compratelo, è stupendo, nulla è realizzato in maniera superficiale, anzi, eccelle in ogni singolo elemento. Capolavoro. Trama, doppiaggio, personaggi, tutto da oscar.

Ótimo.Como os animes devem ser.

Did not work on my region free player. Even tho several other import films with region A works fine.

This is one of the best adult animes ever created and in my top three personally … this and Akira constantly alternate haha - but - what u came here for - it really does look amazing on blu ray. Why anime is so damn hard to find proper - and affordable - releases for is just ridiculous. But if you’ve seen it before - it blows any previous version away. And if you haven’t - and uber violent super ninjas sound like fun - you’ll have a good time