 |
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ninja Scroll Volume 1 
Details
Director: Jack Fletcher; Tatsuo Sato
Catalogue Number: MVD2032
Certificate: 15
Date Released: May 10th 2004
Screen: Fullscreen 4:3
Languages: English - Dolby Digital (5.1); Japanese
- Dolby Digital (2.0)
Subtitles: English
Duration: 90 minutes
Special Features
- Storyboard to finished film comparison
- 'Creating The Cover Art' featurette
- Interviews with the soundtrack composers
- Art gallery
- Original trailer
- Interactive menu
- Chapter selection
Synopsis
In feudal Japan, the Edo period brought a time of delicate peace bought with blood. This is a chronicle of the life of Jubei Kibagami as he wanders the countryside as a ninja for hire. At this time, ninja clans are everywhere. One clan, known as the Hiruko Clan, doomed to live and die in darkness, protects a sacred treasure called the Dragon Stone. The Kimon Clan, however, bent on reviving the power of the Toyotomi, wants the Dragon Stone and the treasure it hides. Jubei Kibagami is the best the man for the job of protecting both the Dragon Stone and the only one whom can use it - The Light Maiden.
Cover
click image to view large version
To view the whole cover... click here
Review
And so the infamous anime ninja from the huge hit that was ninja scroll returns to our screens but this time it’s a series, But just like the for mentioned movie its rather good.
The first thing that impressed me with this series is that the production quality is still fairly high, with good quality animation and a cracking soundtrack. Those who have seen Ninja Scroll the movie (if your reading this than it’s a safe bet you have) will instantly recognise Jubei as the over relaxed ninja for hire that you all know and love, and its good to see him again in all his glory. The creators of the series really have done a good job on keeping the ninja scroll theme going, and its not just the main character that you’ll recognise, there’s a few more familiar faces in their as well.
So a ninja show is nothing without good ol beat’em up action right? Well thankfully ninja scroll the series scores pretty high here as well, with a whole host of varied enemies and excellent animated fight scenes; you never tire of seeing the man in action.
The story ticks over at a very nice pace, you attach to the characters very quickly and thanks to the brilliant use of music you’re carried through each episode smoothly, and left wanting more.
Admittedly this series isn’t quite as dark and adult as the movie, but I don’t see this as a bad thing, if anything it makes it more appealing to a much wider audience. The slightly brighter characters makes it a much more relaxing show, I don’t think the intensity of the movie would have been suited for a longer series such as this.
On a side note this is an excellent representation of the quality releases that our coming out of the MVM camp lately, the DVD product itself is of a very high standard with nice box and disc art, and DVD features a plenty.
Effectively what we have hare is a series which almost continues the scope of the movie, and if you’re a fan of Ninja Scroll you wouldn’t want to miss out. There’s plenty of fun to have with Jubei about!
Overall this is a really solid series and after watching it I understand why it has such a huge fan-base. The plot is fantastic, the characters are bold and entertaining and the whole show stays very focused.
(AZ:UK)