Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
k-0da
Ninja Scroll is not good.
One of this movie’s only redeeming qualities is its animation; it looks stunning, and I’m very happy I got to watch the film in 4K splendor, live at my local theater. The colors and shading are deeply yummy, as I am always a fan of flat colors. The OST works, and I didn’t think much about it.
Ninja Scroll was made by a bunch of horny animators (and one very stubborn fujoshi) to be cool, sexy, and also cool. The plot is paper thin, its characters charming but without real substance, and Oh My God Poor Kagero (we’ll get to her). It is a pretty standard “Cool Guy has to Kill all the Bad Guys for Honor while a Hot Babe Wants to Fuck Him”. I will say, this movie is very good at Cool Guy Fucks Around and is Cool, and I can’t knock them for that. This is a head-empty…
Read at the sourceSahmoorai
All of the jawlines alone could've had a stand-off of their own.
Jokes aside, I really liked this one – just the right amount of everything.
The story was predictable and 'meh', but in this case it was the journey itself, rather than the destination.
I remember seeing the cool gifs (the snake lady, the intro at the bridge, etc.) and was brought to this anime film. Seeing these scenes in action made me happy. The film's grittiness, accompanied by some humorous remarks, made it an enjoyable watch.
Sure, there was a bit of forced romance, but it looked pretty convincing; personally, I didn't pay it too much mind.
Overall, an enjoyable watch if you want some bloody sword action from past Japan.
Read at the sourceChanrey
Really great anime/samraui film that combines tropes from both mediums perfectly.
The visuals are really great, still look great on a 1080p Blu-ray today, and one of the best I've seen from an anime from the '90s, those visuals are also complimented with some really amazing animation directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri. The final battle scene in the burning boat was incredible both in a visual standpoint and its movement. Of course you cannot talk about this film without mentioning it's extreme amount of violence, which can be a turn off for many people who were considering to watch this film, but if you enjoy extreme violence, especially in anime, this film was defiantly made for people like us. The anime movie, probably has the best looking animated violence I have ever seen, there are so man…
Read at the sourceKyoshiLoneheart
Ninja Scroll still remains one of the greatest works in the entire genre, and shows what the genre can do when it isn't endlessly dicked around by the same clichés and character archetypes. For some reason, the Japanese absolutely adore their tired clichés in anime. This film is not absolutely immune from some of that cliché writing, but everything else is so good that I can forgive it. The main character is introduced as a badass, which seems typical, but he is assisted by others to take down all of the main baddies, save for the final one as his character has grown by that point. While most of the villains are defeated quite quickly, it means there is no real filler of any kind, so these battles are not drawn out.
It is a film that uses the genre to tell a mature story, doesn't treat t…
Read at the sourceMichaelMorbius
Not the best anime in terms of story or characters but definitely one of the best anime ever in terms of action scenes, which were some of the most entertaining and engaging I've ever seen. Some of the cleanest vibes I've ever felt watching a movie. Pure fun.
Plot: 6/10 - The plot is pretty simple, nothing too complicated. It's about a ronin named Jubei who, wandering around a poor Japan torn apart by civil wars, finds himself having to face the eight demons of Kimon, led by Genma, a man Jubei thought he had killed. Helping him on his mission will be the ninja Kagero and the government spy Dakuan. The plot, as mentioned, is simple. Jubei goes from one opponent to another as if he were in the levels of a video game, until he gets to the final boss, Genma. The love story with Kagero is not…
Read at the sourceL3teesh
Good though frustrating because... FLAT.
I love feudal Japan centered storylines and settings.
The violenceand gore was solid, not overly excessive to the point that it's just hilarious.
Story was pretty basic and straightforward, not amazing since it kinda falls flat it some parts but the action makes up for it a little, it's a movie, here's guessing maybe a filler to the series?
The protagonist was semi decent, somewhat strong and somewhat crafty. The story for the movie rushed him a bit. He did have a few bad-arse moments that did make me crack a smile. So I do like that he has his moments.
Kagero had something interesting about her but it's not fully expanded on, understandable since there's only so much one can fit in a movie but, despite the trait being useful maybe twice it's ehh…
Read at the sourceDaubeny117
If I had to describe Ninja Scroll with only one sentence, I'd call it softcore porn with comically high production value.
The plot is beyond silly and the characters terribly written, especially the ninja girl who is supposedly really strong and competent but who's only function is to be sexually assaulted by all the vilains, making for an overall bad story with a very questionable treatment of women. In that sense, it's very similar to the director's previous movie, Wicked City.
Unlike Wicked City however, Ninja Scroll is actually very enjoyable. The main character is quite charismatic and most of the vilains have really fun and unique powers and fighting styles, which are exellently showcased by a famously extremely stylish artstyle and a masterful animation. The story is only a pretex…
Read at the sourceSzandor
I bought this title on VHS in the 90's and remember liking it, but I haven't owned a VHS player in 20 years now and haven't re-watched the movie in all that time. My rating on MAL was based on the hazy memories of a child and so I decided to watch it again. So how does the movie hold up against the fresh eyes of a somewhat more matured self? Well...
- Story & Theme
I can't say I remembered much of the main story and it's easy to see why. The story is good, but it's revealed to us in fragments and chunks and to a degree it's actually more of something that happens in the background as the movie focuses on the main characters and their events. The theme is a solid mix of historical fiction and supernatural action and they're woven into each other seamlessly. There's some nudity and a few at…
Read at the sourcerenegadeviking
This week I was fortunate to watch three fantastic animes(which I love from watching the likes of Studio Ghibli) in a row, Akira, Ghost in the Shell and this, Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll captivated me from start to finish, with the ultra-violent scenes and gore it is perhaps not for all, but from an animation and storytelling perspective it is really one of the most engrossing animated films I have ever seen. The animation is stupendous, every action has so much detail but the backgrounds and colours have many moments of dark or ethereal beauty to them. The music is haunting and sweeping, the characters are interesting with a lot of depth and conflict in them, but other than the fast, clean and incredibly compelling action the star was the storytelling, often dark and poignant but never les…
Read at the sourceProudElitist
Do you know that animation, as a medium, has reached a point where its maturity and ability to discuss important, relevant issues and to inspire people in their daily life is equal if not greater than live-action movies and series? Kanashimi No Belladonna, the Satoshi Kon trilogy of Perfect Blue, Paprika and Millennium Actress (trilogy made by the same company who did this, of all things), Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bepop, Ideon etc. etc. etc. all helped to push the medium out of the sole children's reach (I mean it with no offense for children, who are everything other than stupid) and they're far more relevant and mature than so-called live action "masterpieces". By watching this turd and the infinite amount of accolades it has received during the years, you wouldn't believe it. Why? because th…
Read at the sourceBensonas
'Burn in your golden hell!' Haha. This line pretty much ecapsulates this film. The dialogue is poor. In dub or sub. Its a 90s anime, so the acting of the dub isnt great, both equally deliver a script that isnt very good however. But here we are, the golden age, where anime was at it darkest, dirtiest and goriest. Here, we have a film that is indeed a dark and sort of gory example of what we love about this era, the badass and the cheese. Despite the hype however, and the absolutely wild 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, sometime i genuinely believe they are heavily intoxicated when they give their ratings, its not the finest example of what the 90s gave us.
Ill start with animation for, which is undoubtedly the best part. Classic 90s animation. Solid, faded, pastel wonder which provides that class…
Read at the sourcebarsoapguy219
Ninja Scroll Review
"That was sick. I mean really gross."
"That was sick. I mean really cool."
Ninja Scroll viewers will either love it or hate it. It is the anime that will scare your parents. None of that happy, cutesy, Lucky Star dancing shit here. No sir. This is about the supernatural battles, the gore, the tits, the monsters violating our heroine (ewwww), and the revenge. Even though I'm sure many of us watched this when we were young, Ninja Scroll is not for kids.
Story
It's a basic story but well told. The movie opens with magical shenanigans being used to fool people into thinking that there is a plague in an area. The plan works and people clear out. However, a ninja clan (correctly) thinks something is up and investigates. And into the action we go.
The story plays its ca…
Read at the sourcedumgeek
This was the first anime movie I ever watched. I was about 12 years old and it was on teletoon, or maybe YTV?, late at night. My older brother had seen it before and made me cover my eyes during certain parts of the movie. All I had to compare it to for anime were a few episodes of dragonball.
I am sure if you have already seen loads of anime this probably feels low grade but, as a young kid the action, fantasy, samurai appeal got me hooked into anime for years. I could see attack on titan being like this for young kids. You need the first hook to draw you in.
Read at the sourceelsorab
Definitely one of the most beautiful anime I have ever seen. Its style is different and edgier than that of Studio Ghibli but I would still draw a comparison between the two in sense of beauty. Even the insane amounts of gore is presented artistically.
The gore was surprisingly not off putting for me however, insane intensity and number of r4pe scenes were. There were 3 r4pey scenes which I think added nothing to the story but for someones' sick fantasies.
The heroin's character was also not well presented. She is supposed to be this independent women ninja who has joined the forces despite her fate as a woman, however, she is running after a man the entire time and seems to have no backbone, managing to get in the way most of the time. She is mostly there to add something to other mal…
Read at the sourceBeard_Of_Serpico
One of the best anime movies ever made. Beautiful hand drawn animation, great action scenes which would look great if they were live action, memorable and weird characters, an anti-hero main character who is a stone cold badass and cool music too. If you have any interest in anime then you need to pick this movie up, it's absolutely brilliant and for me it ranks up there with Akira and the original Ghost in the shell as one of the best anime movies of all time. It's definitely aimed at adults though so i wouldn't go buying this for your 10 year old who likes Naruto because there's copious gore, nudity and swearing. Actually do buy it for your 10 year old, they will likely think it's awesome too.
Absolute classic!
Read at the sourcesund0wner
Especially alluring by way of the Devils’ lore, interpersonal subthreads and of course the havoc they wreak as they inevitably meet their maker(s), i.e. Jubei and his squirrely senior companion. It’s because of their very presence that Edo Period trappings involving a clan war and a metric shit ton of gold air on the side of a half-baked, arbitrary through line, because let’s face it: the action set pieces are steeped in the type of imaginative freneticism and ultraviolence that helped root this in “Anime for Adults” history.
Gender politics however are absolutely abhorrent: all females are either sexed up oppai archetypes or – in the case of Kagero – an abject failure in terms of the arc presented and in the eyes of those who objectify and assault her. In short, this shit has not aged we…
Read at the sourceCecylb
If I could rate it between 6 and 7, it rather would be 6.5/10
I won't be saying anything about its animation, this is undoubtedly the strongest part. What I do want to discuss is the story. Or rather how there is none.
!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
The film is started with the samurai on the bridge, surrounded by some bandits. As they make their presence, it is clear the protagonist owe them something, but we never learn what it was. As we proceed, we don't learn anything about the protagonist, his past, his skills, only the fact that he was somehow related to the main villain. And that this villain is back with his supernatural squad. In the best traditions of the old anime, our protagonist doesn't break a sweat defeating them. Jesus, some of them defeat themselves. The only good fight in a whole…
Read at the sourcePinkOni
Have you ever met somebody who was beautiful but lacked substance whatsoever as a person? In essence that's exactly how I view Ninja Scroll. There is only one positive of this show, and it just barely makes this failure of a movie watchable.
---Story---
In reality the story within this movie functions to move you from point A to point B in the fastest way possible. This type of storytelling allows for no world-building, no character development, no explanation of the ninja power system, among a list of other things. The barebones structure of the actual story is a fairly good concept and I could see an actual series being built off of this. If it were expounded upon and correctly presented I could see this being in my top ten as a series easily. Sadly we get a crap tier movie with a sto…
Read at the sourceABoyNamedScoot
For many people of a certain age, Ninja Scroll was probably one of the earliest mature anime films they had watched. Released in 1993, Ninja Scroll stood out at a time when most anime was either family-friendly Studio Ghibli works or of the fantasy variety by being an ultra violent and stylistic take on the classic samurai action genre.
Jubei is a wandering swordsman who is drawn into a fight against the Eight Devils of Kimon, a group of warriors displaying supernatural powers and led by the seemingly immortal Gemma whim Jubei once decapitated. In his reluctant journey he teams up with Kagero, the sole female survivor of a previous encounter with the Devils, and Dakuan, a government agent who aims to stop Gemma in his plan to overthrow the government.
The story itself is barebones and ex…
Read at the sourceThe_Triumphant
A great balance of action, fantasy, and grief are present in Ninja Scroll's story telling
Highlights:
- Shockingly mature story, with well-developed characters that have good chemistry and motives
- Fascinating cast of foes that are dangerous and intriguing with their different powers and alliances
- Very well done action scenes that are well animated
- The heavy, dark tone follows the main character throughout and helps avoid cliché by creating situations with less-predictable outcomes
Criticisms:
- Some adult content that is uncomfortable to watch at times [sexual parts and excessive violence]; however, it is used effectively and tastefully to further develop the story/characters
- A lot of the dialogue is fast-paced and loaded with information, so it feels easy to become overwhelmed w…
Read at the source
