It’s only been in the past couple of years that I’ve gotten interested in the world of Anime (Japanese animation for the uninitiated). Admittedly a lot of what I’d seen in the past didn’t really impress me. Of course, I had watched “Speed Racer” when I was a kid, and enjoyed it only because it was a colorful cartoon, fast and easy to understand. As an adult I had only been exposed to “Pokemon”, “Digimon” and all the other little ‘mons” floating around out there. Seems I just couldn’t ever get myself interested enough in Anime to watch any of the supposed ‘good stuff.’ Early in 2002, I caught part of an episode of a series called “Cowboy Bebop.” And when I say ‘part’, I mean I only saw the last five minutes of an episode. Oddly enough, in that five minutes I saw some of the best and most remarkable animation I had seen in years. I immediately started looking into getting some of the shows on DVD to see what I had been missing. I found a full set of the series, watched the entire thing in two days and was hooked.

Then, shortly after that I saw and reviewed “Vampire Hunter D” and its sequel “Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust,” both of which impressed the hell out of me. At that point I finally figured out there was more to this Anime thing than caught the eye.

I still wouldn’t consider myself an expert on the subject in any way, shape or form, but I can make boil down the distinction to what appeals to me and what doesn’t. I’m learning it has less to do with style, and more with plot, just like any movie. I’ve since watched several Anime titles, including the recent DVD releases of Hayao Miyazaki (“Castle in the Sky”, “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “Spirited Away”), most of which I enjoyed immensely. I was even impressed by the ultra-gory Anime sequence used in Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill, Volume 1.” All in all, great stuff.

This week, I’ve been given the opportunity to check out “Ninja Scroll: The Series” which was an offshoot of the 1995 film of the same name. It is being released on DVD by Urban Vision Entertainment in three volumes, each with four to five episodes of the 13 part series. The first two volumes are already available, while the final set is due out this week. The series follows its ninja mercenary hero, Jubei Kibagami, as he tried to keep the mysterious Dragon Stone out of the hands of the evil demon clans Hiruku and Kimon. In each episode, Jubei must face his enemies in battle in order to protect the stone.

The story itself is quite involved, and I was glad to see that some of the more important story elements were initially kept from viewers, only to be revealed over the course of the series. Mysteries within mysteries. Now I never saw the original film, but I was told that it was quite bloody and violent, not to mention sexual in nature, more so than the subsequent series. Watching the DVDs, I was struck by just how violent it was, and could only imagine how much it had to be toned down from the original feature film. As for the sexual situations, they were a bit bizarre. I’ll say no more here other than to tell you that this series, however toned down, is not for younger kids.

There was a certain repetitiveness to the series as each episode had Jubei fighting assassins from the warring clans, but what kept it fresh was the design of these opponents. None of them were what I’d call an average adversary. Most were bizarre mutants or hybids, each with particular and peculiar strengths and powers. It kept Jubei on his toes to expose their weaknesses and find new ways to defeat them. For example, just how DO you dispatch a human bicycle that can command cyclones? Just watch my friend, just watch.

All of the DVDs come with their fair share of extras features, which include art galleries and storyboard comparisons. Each one also gives viewers the opportunity to see character designer Yoshimatsu as he draws the cover art for the respective DVD. Then there are featurettes that are exclusive to each release, such as in Volume 1 which has an interviews with composers Kitaro and Peter ‘Peas’ McEvilley. I was most interested in hearing from Kitaro, as I had been fan of his work for years and didn’t realize at first he had been involved with this production. The interviews themselves are kind if thrown together, but I enjoyed them just the same.

Volume 2 includes interviews with Director Sato and Character Designer Yoshimatsu, while Volume 3 has the best featurette of the series, which is a behind the scenes look at the making of the series. Here we see a lot of footage of the actors who work on the English translation. I was shocked to see that Dwight Schultz was behind the voice of the character Dakuan. If you’re asking yourself, “Who,” just think of Murdock from “The A-Team” and Barclay from “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

As it stands, with my limited knowledge of Anime and what is available, I really liked “Ninja Scroll: The Series.” The story was great, the characters extremely colorful and there was just enough blood and gore to whet my appetite for such things. I think I may have to track down the movie now!!

Episodes:

Volume 1 -
Tragedy in the Hidden Village
Departure
Forbidden Love
Broken Stone

Volume 2 -
Diamond Child
Shelter from the Rain
Blossom
The Fate of Rengoku

Volume 3 -
A Dragon Within
The Heart of Hiruko
Yagyu Renya
Dynasty Restoration
Farewell Jubei

Extras:
Volume 1 - Art Gallery, Trailers, Storyboard to Feature Comparison, Creating the Cover Art with Yoshimatsu, Interviews with Soundtrack Composers Kitaro and Peter ‘Peas” McEvilley
Volume 2 - Art Gallery, Storyboard to Feature Comparison, Creating the cover Art with Yoshimatsu, Interviews with Director Sato and Character Designer Yoshimatsu
Volume 3 - Art Gallery, Storyboard to Feature Comparison, Creating the cover Art with Yoshimatsu, Behind the Scenes Featurette
Specifications: Full Screen. English 5.1 and 2.0, Japanese 2.0 w/ subtitles
Studio: Urban Vision Entertainment
Release Date: 6/29/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
Website

We'll give Ninja Scroll: The Series a B+.