Alongside “Ghost in the Shell” and “Akira”, “Ninja Scroll” is considered one of the most influential anime movies of all time, particularly for highlighting that the category is not only addressed to children, as was the popular opinion before, especially outside of Japan.
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A team of ninjas arrives at a village to investigate an epidemic that killed all of its inhabitants. However, they find themselves ambushed by a monster and end up dead except for a female kunoichi, Kagero, that the monster takes captive. Jubei, a masterless samurai, saves her but ends up in the middle of a larger case, which results in him having to fight the Eight Demons of Kimon, a team of ninjas with supernatural powers who are intent on overthrowing the Tokugawa shogunate. During his quest, he is aided by Dakuan, an elderly but crafty government spy, and Kagero, whose body is soon revealed to be infused with poisonous toxins, to the point that even her kisses are deadly.
Yoshiaki Kawajiri creates a number of intricate and rather deadly webs, all of which seem to have Jubei in their center, but essentially involve every character present. That the eight monsters are after him is the most central one, but the same applies to the way Dakuan exploits and is exploited by him on occasion, the feelings the loveless/poisonous Kagero eventually develops for him and the final battle with Lord Gemma. This approach allows him to explore the majority of the characters, even the villains, to a point at least, thus adding much depth to a title that is only deceptively an action one.
Particularly the character of Kagero emerges as a rather interesting one, giving a whole other hypostasis to the term femme fatale, as one that does not want to be one, but is not able to escape her fate. That she is a rather weak fighter, and can only hurt those that attempt to rape her is another very interesting comment, that adds to both her capacities, as both femme fatale and victim of her circumstances. The scene where she arrives at the local lord who has hired her ninja group, only for him to continue having sex with a woman while he is talking with her, speaks volumes about her situation, as her invisible but to the viewer face, reveals both shame and a kind of jealousy for what is happening.
At the same time, the comment about the politics of the era, and how the shoguns exploited those around them, and a number of underground groups also tried to rise to power, emerge as rather interesting, adding a sociopolitical element to the narrative.
However, the aspect that gave the film the cult status it retains until today, apart from the interesting but occasionally rather perverse characters and the prevalent sex and nudity, is the action scenes, with “Ninja Scroll” exhibiting a plethora of elaborate and rather violent ones, with the initial one in the bridge, but even more, the one where the first monster faces the group of ninjas, setting the tone in the most eloquent fashion. That the various enemies Jubei has to face differ much in terms of both aesthetics and technique, adds even more to this aspect, also exemplifying Yutaka Minowa's character design. Granted, the majority of the characters are excessively lean, but considering the age of the title, this is not even something worth mentioning. Furthermore, the animation by Animate Film and Madhouse, is rather impressive overall, with the fluidity in the movements of the characters extending to both action and calm scenes. Lastly, the score by Kaoru Wada compliments all the aforementioned aspects in the best fashion, adding significantly to the overall aesthetics.
“Ninja Scroll” is a true anime/cult classic, which separates itself from the mass of similar titles due to its elaborate script, interesting though perverse characters, astonishing battles, and very graphic depiction of violence, in a title that is definitely addressed to adults
