Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
nonaloth
Watched on Crunchyroll
A Waste of Potential
Basilisk is one of those anime that is surprisingly difficult to review, because there is clearly a lot of craftsmanship here, yet the overall experience left me with very little to praise.
This is a 2000s anime, and it was also one of those shows I remember encountering on Animax back in the day. That probably explains why older anime like this keep appearing in my watchlist. There are plenty of forgotten titles from that era that deserve to be rediscovered.
Unfortunately, Basilisk is not one of those hidden gems. The biggest problem is the narrative.
The story constantly introduces interesting questions, mysteries, conflicts, and revelations but rarely gives them the kind of satisfying resolution they seem to promise. Instead, many things…
Read at the sourceRobRidd
The fight scenes were entertaining, the art was beautiful, and the countless moments of suspense kept me glued to the screen. If the idea of Naruto and Romeo & Juliet having a baby piques your interest, you'll likely enjoy this series.
Basilisk was a breath of fresh air for me after coming off of a romcom/drama binge spree. However, this was also to my detriment as it left me hopelessly waiting for the typical happy ending you see in most anime that contain a romantic subplot. This show is dark and heavily centers around deceit, manipulation, and senseless bloodshed - all of which become more prevalent as the show progresses. As a result, I was left devastated and disappointed with the developments in the latter half of the show, especially the ending. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but con…
Read at the sourceThatAnimeSnobRE
Although Basilisk is essentially Romeo and Juliet with Ninjas, it becomes more like yet another example of why death games are bullshit, unless they are called Battle Royale. The inherent problem they have is that they are never about the story or the characters; it’s about seeing people die and, supposed, feeling sad about them. Only thing, you can’t feel sad about them because they die too quickly, too close to each other, and you already know that they will die at some point, so who gives a shit? It ends up becoming more like a game where you are cynically trying to guess who will die next. And even that becomes boring after awhile because as the contestants lower in numbers, it becomes easier to guess right, while at the same time, more apparent to tell who is clearly better than the r…
Read at the sourceguilleum2
The story of this anime is nothing new: it is basically a Romeo and Juliet setting. And that is okay! There are so many variations you can do with a well-known storylline, and warring ninja clans with super powers is a pretty cool one!
The thing that grabbed me the most about this anime was the art. Goodness, have you seen these characters eyes?? And their luscious eyelashes????? It's incredible how beautiful anime can be.
Everyone had some really cool powers too. I really enjoyed how (I forgot their names I'm SORRY) Romeo and Juliet's powers complimented each other, it really worked in their favor for their romantic chemistry and the whole idea of marrying into each others clans in the first place.
If we're gonna poll the Iga vs the Kouga clan uhhhh tbh both of them have equal footing…
Read at the sourceNavigate-Me
It's criminal how underrated this series is. I can't believe how much I fell in love with this show and characters! The characters and story will have a special place in my memories for a very long time and it's a show that I can easily re-watch, even with knowing who dies.
Story: The death battles really are engaging and something that Basilisk deserves props for is that it's not afraid to kill off it's characters. There were many characters that I thought would make it to the end, or at least, not die so early. Having those stakes makes the fight scenes, which are animated beautifully, even more exciting! Before reading the rest of the review: If you want a good action series please watch this!
Art and Animation: Now the first thing I took notice to were the character designs and visu…
Read at the sourceFloralFlames
::STORY/CHARACTERS::
This show upset me, and I’m usually lenient on most things I watch. I generally enjoy any media about ninjas, and this “supposedly” had a Romeo x Juliet love-story. Of course, I was sold! Unfortunately, the execution, flat characters, and the general angst and unwarranted bloodiness the show is drenched in turned me off. For starters, I was surprised by the ninjas' zany, X-Men-like abilities, but I let it go. Some historical fantasy can be fun.
First, I fully understand a show about ninjas could (and probably should) get bloody/realistic, but, here, the deaths hold no weight. Characters die gruesomely (some worse than others), but I feel nothing. The show doesn’t develop any of the characters, save for one flashback at the most, so no amount of blood splatter, shocked…
Read at the sourcenomdunchien
Review 1
Basilisk
I was wondering what new anime to start, when i remembered a show about ninja batteling it out with some nice skills. Last time i gave up on the show because the art was looking to old for me. But recently i have been looking at older animes and wanted to give it a second shot.
The first few minutes of the show got me hooked. You can witness a great fight scene with some special ability, but noting to extreme.Then as the show went on, i started to look at the clock. The story didnt seem to move and the character where a bit plain. Well i am happy that i stick to it as the show got better after the 6-7 first episode.
So should you watch it or not ? Well don't go into it expecting a good story, but if you are looking for good fight and someting different than the usuak…
Read at the sourceblitzburns4
Good Samurai anime is something I think many anime fans, including myself, do take for granted. Contrary to popular belief- Quality samurai anime are hard to come by, and few in number. Certainly, the number I can count is less than ten. For my part I can only come up with six, no, make that seven other "great" samurai anime: Rurouni Kenshin, Katanagatari, Samurai Seven, Samurai Champloo, Mononoke, Shigurui: Death Frenzy and Ninja Scroll. Sword of the Stranger and can be added onto that list too based off preference, but that's really it. Afro Samurai has great swordplay and animation but, well, a very lackluster story. Berserk, Claymore, and Attack on Titan (Akame ga Kill can be thrown in there too, I guess, at least until Episode 19 or so.) are fantastic swordplay fantasy anime that aren…
Read at the sourceLostNomad4471
Story 5/10
The worst part about this anime is just how predictable and straight forward this story is. It almost feels like watching a "let's play" video of a fighting game where each episode should be titled something like Jingoro vs. Gyoubu or Nenki vs. Hotorubi.
This anime definitely has a cool premise, but where it fails is its execution with every episode just being another long fight scene making the story feel like mindless violence. There are a couple of scenes where we see the characters not fighting and just relaxing together, but it just feels like an intermission between the fights that adds nothing to the plot.
Furthermore, another problem with this anime is its lack of world building or exposition. All of the ninja have these crazy powers, but it's never explained where t…
Read at the sourceTyp055
This is a high bodycount anime. This isnt a spoiler, you get that its that kind of anime in the first 2 episodes.
Dont get attached to any characters. The ones I liked the most died way too soon. Some of the more boring ones lived too long.
As for the death scenes, they are powerful and wonderfully executed. Bravo.
Here is what annoyed me though: It is usually a cheap tatic in anime to show a bland charcters sad backstory right before they die to make the viewer more sensitive to his/her death. Its cheap manipulation that is sometimes necessary when the directors want you to feel sad, but the character might not be good enough to evoke that feeling upon his/her death.
The above is exactly what happens in Basilisk. I lost count of how many times a death scene or a fight (that leads to…
Read at the sourceStarfleeting
I'll be open about my dissatisfaction with the ending of this anime. I didn't like the ending after being put through all the mess that happened in the story (like a horrible domino effect). But I can appreciate the drama and tragedy of it.
The tragedy of the whole conflict is what drives the show to even greater tragedy by the end but it's also what hooked me early on. To see what happens to the lovers that defied such a conflict enough to fall in love. The rest of the cast is also pretty interesting with their different personalities and powers. Combine it with the art, designs and animation and you've got a pretty good show.
The pacing could've been quicker for my tastes because some episodes or scenes felt like they dragged on and on (like Goku powering up to super saiyen for the fi…
Read at the sourceFantasyJared
Read on my blog with far better presentation: https://rogueshogunate.com/2019/04/27/fantasyjareds-anime-corner-week-2-basilisk-kouga-ninpou-chou/
*MINOR SPOILERS, will warn in advance!*
If there exists one unanimously shared opinion held by the human race, I would imagine it is, in juvenile terms, that ninja are downright awesome. Whether it be the sheer agility they possess, their determination to succeed, the destructive apparatus frequently associated with them, potentially tragic backstories, or even simply their badass attire (seriously, where the hell do ninja shop for clothing?), I have yet to meet someone who would refer to them as lackadaisical or mundane. Pretend to play the devil’s advocate all you want, but we know what you’re thinking inside.
Onto today’s show of discussion…
Read at the sourceStacycmc
Ok, so I figured this series would be a hole in one for me... a romantic (whether that be tragic or not) historical, ninja-drama....is right up my alley. The overarching story is good, one you've heard before ...forbidden love, warring clans, etc... With a slight twist on the reason why, but familiar grounds.
Based on all those things...again normally this would be a home run but ....it was not. I COULD have been, but wasn't....
**Potential minor spoilers ahead**
So...considering how truly difficult it was for me to watch this show for pretty much the ENTIRE first half....I mean I literally almost stopped watching it numerous times .. I feel my rating of 7 is pretty kind. And below is where I will tell you what the turning point was and why, etc...
So for me the story and all that are…
Read at the sourceprincessleaa
Okay so first of all the best episodes are the first and the last ones. All of the chracters were actually created perfectly i would love to watch them in a different anime where there isnt so many logical errors and so many deaths.
Normally this many logical errors will bother me but after one point it becomes so funny that i started enjoying the anime but not like seinen more like a comedy anime with all these great chracters specially Tenzen:
*kinda spoiler*
Like he wants Oboro to forget her lover and care about their clan so he tries to rape her yellig: IM GONNE GIVE YOU THE SPIRIT OF IGA and then he grabs her boobs yelling: OHH THE BOOBS THAT GENNOUKE SAMA COULDNT TOUCH
Normally i get super angry when someone tries to rape but this was unlogical and funny i didnt even take it srsl…
Read at the sourceZoldra0
I had been meaning to watch this anime for some time, but I didn't expect anything special. To my surprise Basilisk turned out to be an incredibly enjoyable anime. It starts off a bit slow and even confusing, but after a few episodes you start to get the hang of things.
The plot is basically a Battle Royale or survival game between two clans named Kouga and Iga. Each clan has 10 ninjas or elite warriors with supernatural abilities. Many of these ninjas are amazing characters. You have "beautiful heroes" and "ugly monsters" on both sides. No clan is fully good or fully evil, which is something I appreciated a lot. It's up to the viewer which clan to root for. I am #TeamKouga for sure though, mainly because their characters appealed to me more and Iga had one too many rapists...
(There's a…
Read at the sourceDaniatlas
Long Story short. I've really tried to like, even love, this anime...
[FREE OF SPOILERS]
The story started with a strong plot, introducing us a bunch of good characters that you hoped they were going to correctly develop. However, the story continues and you see no real explanation for any of their actions, and all that's left is the lack of consistency in the story line and its characters.
Personally, the only characters that I could say that has been explained, are firmly consistent in their actions, and have been developed during the show are Oboro and Tenzen. Why?, you could ask; because along the story Oboro and Tenzen makes decisions that fits with her personality. Once you are watching the show you start to see flaws in a lot of the characters personalities, contradicting themsel…
Read at the sourceM3Cyberpunk
This is a must watch for Ninja based anime lovers.
An intense,deep,dramatic,dark & beautiful story based on the Ninja clashes between Iga & Kouga clans during the Sengoku era...The strongest point of this Anime is the story,intense & bloody fight scenes,mature romance plot & heavy violence between the two ninja clans makes this anime truly enjoyable.
The 400 old grudge that drives their hatred for one another,love stories that never comes to fruition because of betrayal,deception,dirty politics & so on.
Every significant characters in this story are very interesting...Various bloodthirsty Ninja's that harbors various kind of supernatural secrets techniques,the intense & bloody fight scenes makes this anime truly enjoyable...characters has fairly good backstories
Contains some heavy emotion…
Read at the sourcematcha_maiden
It wasn't the worst thing I'd ever seen, but it definitely left me disappointed. I really love historical fiction and its hard to find one that sticks to its period consistently. This one manages to make their supernatural characters feel like Edo period Ninjas in a pretty unique way. Its got a cast of pretty fleshed out characters which is impressive since there are so many. What I dislike about the story is how goddamn depressing everything is. I realize this is supposed to be a brutal tragedy but feel that it was just overdone. It feels like the writers are literally psychopathic sadists as they find more horrible ways to treat the female protagonist. The poor girl can't catch a break and it veers on the side of fetishized abuse. The male lead goes through his own hardships as well, but…
Read at the sourceSailorchibirose
I don't usually watch this kind of anime but the blurb at the back of the DVD said it was a romance tragedy and it was spot on.
This story will have you watching it while holding your seat. I loved how there was more than one romance and how some of the characters used psychology to overcome their enemy.
Character design for this is amazing, most characters have a backstory or a current story worth investing in, this even includes the minor characters who will annoy you.
You will be so into this is may be hard to stop watching. I warn you now.
Its great fun and totally worth a watch.
Read at the sourceCyan_Lights
I gave this anime a 6/10 because it has some work behind it and all that.
SHIIIKAAASHI (read that with the voice of the narrator in Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji)
How can this anime be so praised? To me it's just the work of an author who's so edgy he might fall off a cliff like -spoliers-.
Seriously, the train of thought of this guy was "Ah.. I don't know how to make people feel sympathy for my characters.. I KNOW, LET'S JUST RAPE AND TORTURE THE WOMEN AND THEN MAYBE THEY WILL FEEL SORRY FOR THEM!"
!SPOILERS!
"Eh, this guy has a sister, let's rape and kill her."
"Oh, and why wouldn't we rape the main heroine as well?"
"I got an idea, in the lasts episodes, let's rape AND torture this girl (10min strait each)! Wow, that really sounds like a good idea. A woman screaming for 10min is so cool, the pe…
Read at the source
