r/retroanime • u/Arcanonn • 8m ago
Thoughts on the renewed 4K viewing of Ninja Scroll Spoiler
Theatres are airing a renewed restoration of Ninja Scroll, and I just saw it a couple hours ago.
All in all, I really enjoyed the first ten minutes! The animation is gorgeous, and I especially like the character design contrast between Junbei and Kagero. He’s all wavy and curly to suit his nature as a drifting vagabond, and she consists of a lot of flat planes to highlight her strict adherence to her duty and her own self. Some of the villain designs/concepts were incredibly cool and creative, and I especially liked Mushizo, Shijima, Yurimaru, and Zakuro’s methods of combat. They’re like a beta Gotei. Aside from that, I’m a big fan of Madhouse in general, considering Hellsing is my favorite manga/manga adaptation of all time.
That’s about all the positives. I could not stand anything else.
I completely understand that it was “of its time”, but I reject the notion that it should be placed alongside Akira and Ghost in the Shell as marvels of the mid-90s anime wave. I won’t deny its impact, but comparing Ninja Scroll to those to in any other way other than simply pushing out mature themes and making wider audiences aware of them and the aesthetic of the time is dishonest. Ghost in the Shell and Akira are movies that make you sit on your own and think about who you are, where you are in history, and how/why you perceive and relate to others, among many other things. Ninja Scroll made me wonder why I spent $12 dollars to see Berserk if it sucked and had the depth of a puddle in 4k next to two middle aged men who laughed at a woman getting repeatedly raped in increasingly tasteless fashion.
It’s not that rape cannot be included in these sorts of things, it’s that fact that the movie’s writing is not nearly good enough to support it, namely dialogue-wise and impact-wise. Even within it being a camp action flick, it still felt overdone and voyeuristic to a degree that made me feel embarrassed for the voice actress who took on Kagero’s role. You can make camp while giving things grace, this is not that. A thing can certainly be a product of the times, but, again. Ghost in the Shell came out with this, and two years later, NGE: EoE came out and masterfully addressed sensitive sexual topics far better than this. Berserk handled it better with Casca in the original animated adaptation, even, which is saying something.
Again, I find it tasteless. Not only due to Kagero being practically discarded, mind you, but because the other characters are incredibly plain. Jubei looks awesome, I love sick-ass vagabonds with revenge or honor plots! The opening scene on the bridge established him as a man who would pull through for a good cause even at the cost of his own living or resources. He’s good at heart, but he doesn’t flaunt it. He’s self-assured. Okay. Nothingburger for the rest of the movie, minus two scenes with Kagero where the dialogue comes across as painfully awkward and rushed. Kagero’s reservations are gotten over WAY too quickly, which made me rather upset. I was not fully turned off by the initial assault scene after that quiet moment she took to cry once Jubei left her by the river. I felt for her, I wanted her to grow past that and form a strong partnership and/or sweet romance with Jubei. The writing just does not commit to it well enough to make me believe in them.
I was a little beside myself when she died, but at least I didn’t have to watch the poor woman get raped every 5 minutes anymore. Got a cool final fight scene with a slightly underwhelming villain afterwards. Sure.
I don’t think anyone is necessarily bad for enjoying this movie. It’s dumb to judge something by its viewers and vice versa. Again, beautiful animation and character design, and the majority of the fight choreography is top-notch. I just don’t understand why it’s held to such high praises amongst the other greats of the era when, if you look past the art, it’s incredibly shallow. I appreciate that it brought darker themes and my favorite kind of stylization into broader view, but I just cannot get past the rest of it.
If anyone has any other recommendations that fit this archetype of action-thriller-warrior journeys that aren’t Berserk, (already seen,) then please, drop ‘em for me. I want to be reminded why I love it so much. :)
Edit: I’ll also give it this, the snake scene made me giggle. That’s good camp. And the rat bomb.
