Rating: 
Summary: ninja scroll: the series
Review: If you are reading this review i strongly advise you do not purchase the Ninja Scroll series! As an anime fan i have obviously seen the Ninja Scroll movie which i strongly sudgest you purchase, but this series has nothing to do with the movie, the action is repetitive and usually results in a foe beign cut in half by Jubei. If you want to ignore my sudgestion, it's your cash not mine, but you will grow tired of robotic ninjas and other un-inspired stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite what you hoped for...
Review: If you expecting the adept writing, design and pacing of the original movie, look no farther! - It isn't here. None of it. But if you just want some cut'm up samurai super hero action adventure...this MIGHT be your bag.Taking the main characters and basic idea of the movie 'Ninja Scroll', MADHOUSE animation creates a series with very middle of the road effort in hopes of finding a gullible audience. 'Ninja Scroll' the movie succeeds in several ways this series doesnt. 1) The writing set up situations sequence by sequence culminating in a great multifaceted climax/dilemma. There was almost NO flab writing in the movie; each scene had something to say on atleast two levels. 2) The movie established a 'normal' world and then branched into an encroaching, weird, darkness that threatened to take over the 'world'. 3) Characters were caught in moral dilemma and weaving through a tretcherous, thread of a path to save themselves and their world from chaos and destruction. The series has none of that, and is piling up characters with weak reasons and personalities. Freakish villains abound, and die quickly, for no real reason. Is everyone in this world a samurai, super freak or ninja?? Where is feudal Japan??? This probably plays well to the younger crowd who want to see nice drawings and fight scenes. Anyone else, beware. The title doesn't transfer quality from movie to series.
Rating: 
Summary: Really, I was surprised, it is as good as the movie
Review: If you saw the Movie, you must see those episodes. They are really good.
I was thinking, hey they can't be as good as the movie, but, they are, really, I was surprised.
Got to have it.
the DVD presentation is not all that, but it is OK.
Rating: 
Summary: the worst anime I've seen in quite awhile...
Review: Say hello to Ninja Scroll : Retarded Saturday Morning Cartoon. This cartoon will cost you money to see. You will be horrified at just how pathetic this work is. There is little evidence OF work here, though. This is terrible!! I was appalled at the levels of dumbness and violence I witnessed in this that had NOT A SHRED OF STYLE. The movie was good because the killing, gore, and cinematics had an almost zen-like beauty to it. The animation for the movie was also smooth, sharp, and amazing to watch. The animation in this new "series" (you mean there's more...?) makes me want to throw an empty cola can at my computer monitor. They really skimped on the frame rates with this one... and the coloring is terrible too - being too contrasting - one scene is way too dark whereas another is very, very bright with washed out colors that almost look roto-scoped. Then there's the characters themselves. Oh lord. This is really not something you want your 5 year old daughter to watch anytime soon. Same goes for your 5 year old son. The only problem is that even though the characters are meant for a "mature" audience the work is the height of immaturity and dorky, asinine childness. Therefore, it is pathetic and will not be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of their age. One other problem I had was how this "anime" set in Japan had a very non-anime look to it at times. It looked like some kind of anime-wannabe thing thrown together by Western animators who were forced to listen to Insane Clown Posse on hallucinogens while working (which might explain why this anime is so vulgar, stupid, and low in quality). Skip this one!!! This really is one of the worst cartoo... whoops, "animes" I've ever seen EVER.
Rating: 
Summary: A Shadow Of The Movie, But A Force All Its Own
Review: Since the 1996 release of the original "Ninja Scroll" feature, fans have suffered from misleading sub-par efforts such as "Ninja Resurrection" and "Jubei-chan, Ninja Girl." With the 13-episode "Dragon Gem" TV series, "Scroll" fanatics finally have something to latch on to, a series that fearlessly tries to live up to the standard set by one of the most important movies in anime history. Easygoing, morally sincere, ninja-for-hire Jubei Kibagami is once again the focus of the series, alternately called "The Dragon Stone Treasure" or "The Jade Dragon." Jubei is based in fact on a character of the same name from feudal Japan, the Paul Bunyan or Wong Fei Hong legend for that country. "Dragon Gem" opens with a masked ninja named Rouga fleeing after stealing the precious Dragon Gem of the Hiroku, a ninja clan "destined to live in darkness," and protect the gem. The first fight scenes are a pretty good indicator of what is to come: an overwhelming amount of multi-skilled ninjas, some dispatched with ease, others getting a several-episode lifespan. Rouga is cornered by Hiroku's Migai, a spider-man-type guy, as well as two ninjas from the Kimon clan, who want the gem as well (you'll remember the Kimon as the clan that produced the Eight Devils Jubei fought in the movie). One is a swordsman with a flying bike/lance contraption, the other a woman who can produce ... gremlins. Jubei interferes, simply because they've disturbed his nap, and unleashes a new skill (in addition to his swordsmanship, Wolverine-like recovery ability, and the sturdy string attached to the sword): a sword slash that projects through the air (similar to Raijuta's Izuni in "Rurouni Kenshin"). Rouga offers to team up, but Jubei refuses, arbitrarily because he "doesn't trust people in masks," and because he wants to finish his nap and his dream. The second part of the setup involves Shigure, a teenager kept from the outside world her whole life, and unknowingly being guarded by an entire village of ninjas. Her world is shattered when the Kimon attack; she also finds out that she is somehow the "Witch of Light" (or Maiden of Light in other translations). Rouga buys her some time to escape at the cost of his life; as he dies, begs Jubei to deliver the gem to Shigure. Jubei agrees, an important fact seeing as the only thing more important than justice and money to Jubei is his word. So goes the series, with the Kimon and Hiroku clans sending their minions after Jubei and Shigure, who are joined by Dakuan, the Tokugawa government spy from the movie, and Tsubute, an athletic teen thief, and a slightly annoying character. Apparently, the union of the Witch of Light and the Dragon Gem can either lead to the Hiroku treasure, or unleash a hidden horror for the Kimon. The array of characters ranges from uber-cool, to unoriginally [weak]. Two characters borrow heavily from the wasp-hive devil from the movie: one controls a swarm of moths, the other a swarm of bats. There are the cooler characters such as Rengoku, a re-animator who can re-attach body parts to others or herself, and is a sort of twisted Inspector Gadget; or Anden Yamidron, the Kimon's No. 2, who can crystalize and destroy things by touch. Don't expect 13 episodes with the same quality as the movie. Would you expect a "Ghost In The Shell" TV series to seriously maintain that level of animation for even more than five episodes? Obviously not. That said, the pilot four episodes are of a significantly better level of art than the rest of the series. The TV Jubei is drawn with the movie Jubei in mind--same raggedy brown clothes and split Raiden hat--but has slightly thicker eyebrows, less slanty eyes, and a thicker lower lip: not huge differences, but enough to be noticeable. The art, direction and movement in this volume are by no means comparable to the movie, but far above average for a TV series. The fight sequence between Jubei and Jashi, a ninja with a hollow eye socket that, among other things, can use a dead person's eyeball as a sort of DVD to play back their final moments, is beautifully crafted, with the quick cuts from close-up, to far away, to just the sounds of swords clashing, to images of their shadows battling at the speed of light. The shocking level of gore from the movie is also toned down in this series, as is the [physcial] content, although it doesn't shy from implicit [abuse] scenes. The characters are semi-modern, much like those in "Wild, Wild West" (yes, the Will Smith movie), probably owing to the character designs of Takahiro Yoshimatsu, of "Trigun" fame. You may have to re-watch Vol. 1 after getting through the second volume just to better understand what's going on, with so many characters being introduced, and with bad guys fighting not only the good guys, but each other (think three-way battle). Thankfully, the series maintains the idea that these demons still exhibit human failings: a female villain embittered by [abuse]; the aptly-named Rengoku, whose desire for revenge many times blinds her to the original mission of [physcial] desire or pride or loneliness. It should've been a five-star series; the major, but not horrendous, drop-off in quality from the first four episodes to the rest of the series is a little bit of a turn-off, as is the over-emphasis on fights, which affects the plot development, and the story behind the gem. It's a good series that benefits from having a great movie to work off of, but may suffer from the extremely high expectations fans may put on it.
Rating:
Summary: Not the Movie but still GREAT!
Review: So far I've only seen the subtitled version but I have seen the whole series.OK. Its a little differnt than the movie. The style is more cartoony, (it IS a series) not much nudity or hardcore violence. BUT, every episode is still loaded with action (fair bit of blood), plenty of sword fights, cool and unusual characters (and alot of them), with a simple plot (all you want to see is Jubei hackin up demons anyway). I think the series is unreal but dont compare it too much to the movie. As a series its very successfull! The last episode is great. I wont spoil it.
Rating:
Summary: What the @#!*..%
Review: You guys giving this series a bad review. WHAT this cartoon series is great and still follow it's flavor from the movie.
I GUESS YOU GUYS ARE STILL STUCK WITH DRAGON BALL,Z,GT SERIES. There are other good animes out there like tokyo underground, Saint seiya aka knights of the zodic,Shaman king, yu-gi-oh,and I know there is other good ones out there.
Rating:
Summary: don't listen to them
Review: You must remember this series is just that a series, Not a movie which means smaller budget. The animation in this movie is "different" and not in a bad way, but if you were to compare it with most series it diserves 4 stars. But it does take some getting used to, it's nothing like the old ninja scroll animation. Which is not a bad thing, it's fresh something new that will take getting used to. The dubbing: Do not expect the old favorites that you are used to Jubei does have a different voice, but i think you will get over it after episode 2.
Jubei is still the main focus of the series thus far, but he is the star of a 2 sided story-line. I'm not a hardcore anime fan, i watch only animes that are worthy of my attention. Ninja Scroll: the series has done that so far, so i will not rate this, while comparing it to the other animes i've seen in my life time. If you compare everything in the series to the movie, you will make yourself hate this series while still being entertained by it. PRO's: - It has a new style to it and is a welcomed change.
- Jubei is still the loveable character as in the past.
- Combat in this series so far is very well done
- A lot more charcters (see con's section)
- Jubei is back & he is still bad.
- Dakuwan (the oldman) is back too, and he has some tricks up his sleeve CON's: - Technology (this is ancient japan and technology doesn't fit in to well, probably my biggest gripe.)
- more charcters (this series so far brings about 2 or 3 new charcters in every episode, you'll not have to remeber too many of them though) - different voice actors (for previous charcters)
- Jubei as always seems more like a smaurai than a ninja
OVERALL: This is a good series so far and i have been able to
look past the cons, the new technology does bother me, but i can look past it. This series is easily worth getting as long as you are not to stuck up on the movie (and are able to look past the fact they are not related in anyway other than two charcters thus far.) This is a very enjoyable show, and from what i've seen it is better than most series out there, and you do not have to be a "hardcore fan to notice it".
So i advise you if you are a fan of the movie, PICK UP A COPY OF THE SERIES. if you can look past the subtle differences you will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: don't listen to them
Review: You must remember this series is just that a series, Not a movie which means smaller budget. The animation in this movie is "different" and not in a bad way, but if you were to compare it with most series it diserves 4 stars. But it does take some getting used to, it's nothing like the old ninja scroll animation. Which is not a bad thing, it's fresh something new that will take getting used to. The dubbing: Do not expect the old favorites that you are used to Jubei does have a different voice, but i think you will get over it after episode 2.
Jubei is still the main focus of the series thus far, but he is the star of a 2 sided story-line. I'm not a hardcore anime fan, i watch only animes that are worthy of my attention. Ninja Scroll: the series has done that so far, so i will not rate this, while comparing it to the other animes i've seen in my life time. If you compare everything in the series to the movie, you will make yourself hate this series while still being entertained by it. PRO's: - It has a new style to it and is a welcomed change.
- Jubei is still the loveable character as in the past.
- Combat in this series so far is very well done
- A lot more charcters (see con's section)
- Jubei is back & he is still bad.
- Dakuwan (the oldman) is back too, and he has some tricks up his sleeve CON's: - Technology (this is ancient japan and technology doesn't fit in to well, probably my biggest gripe.)
- more charcters (this series so far brings about 2 or 3 new charcters in every episode, you'll not have to remeber too many of them though) - different voice actors (for previous charcters)
- Jubei as always seems more like a smaurai than a ninja
OVERALL: This is a good series so far and i have been able to
look past the cons, the new technology does bother me, but i can look past it. This series is easily worth getting as long as you are not to stuck up on the movie (and are able to look past the fact they are not related in anyway other than two charcters thus far.) This is a very enjoyable show, and from what i've seen it is better than most series out there, and you do not have to be a "hardcore fan to notice it".
So i advise you if you are a fan of the movie, PICK UP A COPY OF THE SERIES. if you can look past the subtle differences you will enjoy it.
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