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Ninja Resurrection (Essential Anime Collection)

Ninja Resurrection (Essential Anime Collection)

List Price: $19.98
Your Price: $17.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Classic Stereotypical Anime
Review: Ninja Resurrection: The Revenge of Jubei tells the first part of the story of the Christian uprising in Japan, against the Tokugawa shogunate, who saw Christianity as a threat. Among the Christians there is born a saviour; sort of like Christ himself, according to prophecy. However, within that prophecy lies another prophecy; if the Saviour doesn't fulfil his destiny, he'll be reborn as Satan.

True, the story does sound intruiging, and it is based loosely on historical fact, but, especially for someone like me who can't stand senseless violence and ridiculous sexual acts, it fails to make a serious impact. The story is plodding while it sets the scene, with a brief history lesson and the introduction of Amakusa Shiro (the prophesised Saviour), and at the end, with the battle scenes and Shiro's fall from grace, it degenerates into an orgy of killing. In a way, however, it may have been the creator's intent; perhaps a comment on the ugliness of war?

Still, this is anime that non anime fans probably imagine when they ridicule the medium. A passable storyline that drowned in too much blood.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good...If you're tired and dont have a brain
Review: i saw this, like many other people, shown as the sequal to ninja scroll (an amazing movie and well worth buying). what i got was not as expected so i thought it was tripe after seeing it. well i then looked at it in it's own merits. one problem, there wern't many. slow plot, poor fight scenes and needless sex (does than annoy anyone else?). well, i gave it two stars because it HAS got a storyline and some good scenes. not one to rush out and buy though.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Demented but alluring, only.... its incomplete!
Review: I think most would agree that this anime is rather demented - but also unique, and ultimately... alluring. Its dementia is thoroughly entertaining.
It also boasts one of the most impressive scores in any animation!
A must see if you like things that are unusual.
There is only one big problem - it is INCOMPLETE!
This is a two part OVA, but it seems fairly obvious that it was intended to be at least a four part series (when viewed together forming one epic length film). It certainly needs at least two more parts to finish what has been brought up in the first two. As far as I know it has never been finsihed, and it does not appear that it will be... (if anyone knows of a completion, do write about it)
A shame really, as this would have been a real one of a kind bit of work.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Revenge of Jubei my ***
Review: I remember when this title was first released by ADV. It contained the subtitle, 'The Revenge of Jubei'. ADV essentially hyped this up as a sequal to Ninja Scroll, sending fanboys out in droves to pick this up without noticing that the only thing this has in common with Ninja Scroll is the fact that they both contain a character named Jubei. Ninja Scroll has Jubei Kibagami while Ninja Resurrection has Jubei Yagyu, a literary character used throughout Japanese folklore. If we are to assume everything with the character Jubei Yagyu in it is a continuation of Ninja Scroll, then I guess it safe to assume that even the video game, Onimusha 2 is a sequal to Ninja Scroll (OMG I better run out and get it). It was so irratating listening to fanboys talk trash about this OAV collection when it came out. "This is nowhere near as cool as Ninja Scroll." or, "Ninja Resurrection doesn't faithfully represent the character we saw in Ninja Scroll." Even Anime publications reviewing the film were falling for ADV's ruse by constantly refering to this as a sequal. I don't blame the fans or anyone else other than those responsible. ADV Films. I don't know for sure, but a hunch tells me that the original title of this OAV series isn't even Ninja Resurrection. It sounds way too domestic and it played right into ADV's plan to release this as a continuation to Ninja Scroll.

Looking at the OAVs themselves, it really isn't that bad. Yeah, the story is mostly pretty lame and doesn't really go anywhere, but I have a hard time giving a bad review to an anime that has non-stop ninja destruction. Look at this as sort of a guilty pleasure.

As a interesting historical side note: This battle in this story was based on an actual event in Japan's history. Severly outnumbered and losing soldiers constantly, the Tokugawa Shogunate sent in TEN ninja as a last resort in hopes of aiding the samurai against the Christian rebels (ninja were usually used as a last resort in battle only in the most desparate situations). This team of ten ninja actually flew into the middle of the battle by use of hang gliders. The result was a massacre. Those ten men turned the tide into the Shogunate's favor and essentially won the battle.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Gore is cool!
Review: I've only seen this first volume of Ninja Resurrection. But I must say, it was great. The best part being when this guy get's his stomach cut open but keeps on fighting with his intestines. And later on when he's running through a crowd chopping people down and killing them with his guts.

The problem most people have with this movie is they think it's a sequel to Ninja Scroll (honestly i did, too, when i first saw it) but it has absolutely NOTHING to do with Ninja Scroll. One: Yagyu Jubei was a samurai who lived during the 17th century. He then disappeared for a period of ten years and most historians think he became a ninja for hire. This is when I think this movie takes place. Two: Kibagami Jubei is a completely fictional character made up by... whoever wrote Ninja Scroll.

So, anywho... if you're the kind of person who likes a lot of blood and gore with a little bit of interesting plot. BAM! Buy (or maybe rent first, just in case) this movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Long-Witted And Incomplete
Review: Comparatively speaking of both volumes as a single entity, Ninja Resurrection is a quite enjoyable film with good potential. Though it has no correlation whatsoever with the actual movie Ninja Scroll, it is still able to hold its own to a certain degree. The violence and action in these two volumes is sparse and often spasmodic, making it pretty anticlimactic. The story itself unfolds pretty slowly, and even may leave most viewers bored. I suppose my main gripe with this movie is not so much its lack of action, but its lack of a climactic ending. Though this movie is meant to end the way it does to imply that the forces of evil actually win, I do believe a final battle between Satan's spawn and Jubei would have made this film much more enjoyable and entertaining. Even had this been omitted, it could have possibly been atoned by intensifying the action in the other parts of the movie to lead up to the downfall of Christianity in the end of the movie. Aside from the actual movie itself, I do not recommend that anyone purchase this or the second volume simply because it is a rip off to have to pay nearly $60 for two DVDs that consist of movies running 50 minutes each. Overall, these volumes are alright for what they are, however had they been combined into one theatrical release with an actual conclusion to lead up to the ending that was presented, it would have been a great anime.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: Ok, this had the best animation I've ever seen, but what the hell is going on??? I never knew there were rocket launchers and rocketships in Feudal Japan!! Man, is the historical accuracy bad. This was a complete waste of 40 minutes of my life.


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