#209: Ninja Scroll (1993)

 

Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Screenplay: Yoshiaki Kawajiri

Cast: Kōichi Yamadera as Jubei Kibagami; Daisuke Gouri as Genma Himuro; Emi Shinohara as Kagerou; Takeshi Aono as Dakuan; Akimasa Ohmori as Shijima; Gara Takashima as Benisato; Junichi Sugawara as Shinkurou; Masako Katsuki as Zakuro; Norio Wakamoto as Utsutsu Mujuurou; Reizō Nomoto as Mushizou; Ryūzaburō Ōtomo as Tessai; Shuuichirou Moriyama as Sakaki Hyobu; Toshihiko Seki as Yurimaru

Viewed in Japanese with English Subtitles

 

Ninja Scroll for a certain generation was a huge title. It says a lot that, out of many of the old titles from Manga Entertainment during their VHS years, Ninja Scroll still has a cache, even if now a nostalgic one. Coming to the film at the turn of the DVD era, back when we once madly had three to four episodes per disc released individually, we even got Ninja Scroll in two separate DVD cases for different versions from Manga Entertainment for some reason. That bulky DVD case release does linger in memory, long after it was replaced for a Blu Ray, as an introduction to Yoshiaki Kawajiri's most well known directorial work.

The surprise coming to Ninja Scroll is that, a notoriously violent and dark tale of Edo era Japan and superhuman ninja, was that as far back as 1959 we got this genre of superhuman ninja with unnatural powers, all because of the novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada, which would be adapted into anime, and can be seen as a home for the notion of ninjas having monstrous and outright supernatural abilities. The other surprise is that Yoshiaki Kawajiri's reputation for graphic content is more complicated than I presumed at a younger age. Wicked City (1987) is the notorious film in his career, in terms of sex and violence and sexual violence, but his whole career is diverse, with something of note that one of his highest regarded projects Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust (2000), was drastically different from the source material by Hideyuki Kikuchi, with Wicked City itself an adaption of one of his titles too. Even Ninja Scroll, which is extreme at times, is complicated now to consider as, from an era of "adult" animation being sold to the West from Japan, even in mind to titles like Ninja Resurrection (1997-8) which were sold off the back of Ninja Scroll's success, it is a much more considered title even for what is an action period story at heart.

In fact, viewed in its original Japanese dub, looked at in the current I realise that for all Ninja Scroll's gore and sexual content, it is an elegant and superbly crafted production as a theatrical length film. Story wise, it is surprisingly complex even if the results are simple. Jubei, inspired by the real life figure of Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi, is a wandering warrior who finds himself dragged into a conspiracy with the Eight Devils of Kimon, ninja with inhuman abilities hired by a shadowy clan who, in a plot involving secret gold stashes, wish to overthrow the ruling heads of Japan. Jubei is stuck in helping prevent this as Dakuan, a sinister magical old man working for the government, has poisoned him and holds the antidote hostage. In contrast, however, there is the heart of Kagero, the female ninja who, alongside having been a food taster for so long her body is resistant to all poisons, has enough toxins in her own body that any person who has contact with her will die, be it by kiss or anything else. Already resourceful, her group sent to investigate a village which has been wiped out by a disease is massacre, and she finds herself with Jubei and Dakuan.

It is very simple beyond this. The film is also both a tribute in many ways to classic Japanese genre films, though one about ninja that is far darker, openly fantastical and bloodier in comparison. Interestingly, whilst these ninja have the ability to control snakes or turn their body to stone, they negate so many clichés the likes of American cinema and Godfey Ho created about ninja lore at the same time. There are still exaggerations, shurikens been thrown and all, but there are details like ninjas being involved in espionage or disguising as monks/nuns, based on what actual ninja were doing. The nod to genre films is that, with mind of known works like the Lone Wolf and Cub franchise, this finds a balance between an incredibly serious tone, with a bleak emotional core as Jubei will be stuck as a permanent loner, and the hyper exaggerated characters and abilities.

One trademark of Kawajiri's, even far less well regarded work like Highlander: The Search for Vengeance (2007) showing this, is his interest in idiosyncratic looking characters, where even grunts stand out in character design and traits (abilities, monstrous mutations etc.). The very realistic character designs which appear in most of his career, whilst not in all his work, helps considerably, and is because of the talents of reoccurring collaborator Yutaka Minowa, the character designer for so many of his projects. Another is that, when allowed creative control. Kawajiri is very creative. It is, whilst a very serious period film with a complex narrative of secret factors wishing to overthrow the government, it is still an action film which has a man with a bee's nest growing out of his back and also welding a trident. Why the film avoids coming off as ridiculous is the quality of the animation, exceptional from studio Madhouse, alongside the striking cinematography in animation, especially the use of shadow and colour.

Most, when this was first released, came when this was promoted as a very violent anime. The gore is definitely from another era. Whilst nastiness can still occasionally be witnessed nowadays, it is less common and not as lovingly (and gristly) depicted in this at times, back from an era where a lot of anime especially for the straight-to-video OVA market was clearly made with shock value in mind, to keep a viewer glued. This is something you can accuse with this for the nudity and the hints to sexual violence and rape. Ninja Scroll though, lovingly animated and produced, has a greater impact. It feels it has more in mind, even if on a shock level, it effects too seeing a lovingly rendered depicted of a man's arms being ripped off and having the geyser of blood from them being drank. I will say that, if you would feel uncomfortable even seeing the content, especially the threats of sexual violence to Kagero, I do not recommend this film at all. There is something more here, even as pure pulp, due to tone which is more meaningful, even if this is still a work some may have great issue with.

The other thing is an awareness Kawajiri's career is very diverse. Again, as mentioned previously, one of the more notorious works Wicked City, which has a lot of sexual violence, comes from Hideyuki Kikuchi, the novelist whose work Kawajiri adapted a great deal of. Kawajiri as a director is more interested in a very elegant type of action animation, alongside tangents into other genres, painstakingly animated and only easy to forget because, with some titles, there are some inherently ridiculous aspects within them. This, even with pulp characters, does have moments of contemplation, where Kagero is the most sympathetic character, and even the villains have their own personalities, including a rivalry which proves in Jubei's favour by pure chance.

Production wise, Ninja Scroll is exceptional. You can argue the pace is reminiscent of an old video game in plot structure, from boss battle to boss battle, but the film itself has grown for me as being so distinct that it stands head and foot over other ultraviolent titles of the era. As a film also referring to the period action stories of Japanese history, this evoking the chambara films with a swordfight in the middle of forest with a blind swordsman, one with a considerably level of grace when, honestly, a lot of the ultraviolent anime from this time period have less class, for a lack of a better term, than this. Reputation wise, when the title was released in the West, it stood out. Insanely well, that Manga Entertainment tried to sell Sword of Truth (1990), not one of Osamu Dezaki's finest moments, afterwards or when ADV Films tried to sell Ninja Resurrection (1997-8), an unfinished OVA, as an actual sequel. It is a cultural touchstone for a certain generation before my generation, but seeing it in its original form, once you step away from the gore it is, from its traditional instrumental score to its art style, amazingly elegant even if this is also a film where Jubei head butts a man repeatedly to death until the skull is mush.

There is an additional tragedy that, as his career went on, Yoshiaki Kawajiri never got to make a sequel. A Western co-financed series Ninja Scroll: The Series (2003) was commissioned, by Kawajiri  did make a "sizzle reel" for Ninja Scroll 2, which looked gorgeous and just as elaborate, including Jubei on a giant paper swan and various supernatural ninja, but it led to nowhere. Our only condolence is that, one of the best animators as well in the industry, even if Kawajiri's directorial work dried up by the end of the 2000s, he worked on shows like One Punch Man, and those in the know of who animate what scenes do lionise him as being an incredible veteran who contributes his skills to big titles.