Still fun 30 years later

Key Contents

• The iconic film 'Ninja Scroll' recently celebrated its 30th anniversary with a limited theatrical release, showcasing the film's enduring influence.
• An action spectacle in the Eroguro genre that combines the erotic and the grotesque. It provides an unforgettable and daring viewing experience.
• Ninja Scroll's story may be shallow, but its exciting action sequences, artwork, and charming characters helped it achieve cult status.

Few animation studios are as famous or revered as Madhouse, and among its many notable creative leads, few are as iconic, whether in imagination or influence, as Yoshiaki Kawajiri. Kawajiri’s recent Ninja Scroll It celebrated its (belated) 30th anniversary with a brief theatrical release in North America, and it's a wonderfully crafted film that still gets the blood boiling all these years later.

Iconic Events will be showing the film in theaters for three nights only starting September 11 as part of Anime Expo Cinema Nights, featuring a special pre-screening interview with the director. Released in Japan in 1993, Ninja Scroll Considered one of Kawajiri's best works, this action film gained huge popularity after its release in the West, sparking the 90s anime boom.

You'll find out why this is a cult classic.

Viewers with photosensitivity beware: There are a lot of flashing lights in this film. The trailer posted below also shows a lot of strobe effects.

Ninja Scroll It's a perfect storm of a film that's simultaneously a love letter to the director's influences and an influential work in its own right. Ghost in the Shell As an animation that inspired creators like the Wachowskis to create matrixFor everyone else, especially younger viewers unfamiliar with the film's action spectacle and extreme violence, the film was and still is a tastemaker.

The Story of Ninja Scroll

The film follows Jubei Kibagami, a wanderer who wanders Japan as a mercenary, and a chance encounter leads him to a mission that will determine the fate of the country. Despite his lack of patience for politics, he is forced to help the last surviving member of a ninja clan investigate the cause of a plague that has decimated their village. Along the way, he must fight against Kimon's demons to thwart a plan to overthrow the government.

Structurally, there is something video game-like about the story, which contributes greatly to its appeal. The film is an adventure filled with a series of creatively constructed boss fights, each demon with its own unique aesthetic, skill set, and/or powers. Jubei, on the other hand, seems relatively “ordinary” except for his skilled swordsmanship. It gives him an underdog vibe, but also makes his victory feel all the more inevitable.

Eroguro Action Spectacle

After the opening sequence and the audience's introduction to Jubei, the film establishes the main plot through what is essentially a horror film. A group of ninjas, whose training is dazzlingly obvious, are slaughtered by an unimaginable force: a man with skin as hard as stone. Kagerou, the sole survivor of the sudden ambush, watches in horror as the clan leader is torn limb from limb.

Eroguro is a genre that depicts the intersection of the erotic and the grotesque, and it couldn't be captured more perfectly. Ninja Scroll' is the mood. It would be fair to call it pornographic, but the term applies to the sexual content throughout the film as much as it does to the battle fantasy. The sensual and provocative are inextricably intertwined with the monstrous and mysterious, creating a bold and unforgettable viewing experience. You won't forget the first time you saw this film.

Simple story, but thoughtful execution

Everything is simple, but at the best of times it feels not simple. The execution is too skillful, and the artwork too flashy to be considered that. The story is thin in every way, but the way it is told gives the film a good drive. The action is exciting, but also quite patient. There is a focus on building anticipation before the fireworks start to fly. The fight between Zubei and Tessai is a great example.

A seemingly ordinary swordsman – not much different from the countless men viewers have seen – faces off against a lecherous monster with a body made of stone. It's a well-crafted confrontation that organically builds tension, making the gruesome ending all the more satisfying. Ninja Scroll He always shows his viewers new tricks and rarely avoids the most vivid images.

Spectacle can't solve everything

The pacing is solid, the characters are memorable and unforgettable, and the action is consistently violent in the best possible way. These qualities have elevated the film to cult status, but despite these benefits, anyone who has seen it will find it Ninja Scroll Perhaps we can agree on a few things: First, the movie has an allergy to being interesting whenever there is an explanation.

Sure, the historical context of the film is fascinating, but everything it's made of is pretty uninteresting. That might have hurt the final confrontation, but it's saved by the presentation, and that's no small feat. “Aesthetics” isn't the absence of narrative. ~is Narrative, and Ninja Scroll's climax is great in every way, despite the weak story building. What hurts the narrative even more visibly is the sexism that runs throughout.

Second, the Kagero problem

If the film was centered around the characters, their journeys, and their relationships, the uninteresting plot could easily be forgiven. Sadly, even that is tarnished by how poorly Kagerou is portrayed. Despite a strong introduction, she doesn’t get a chance to do anything spectacular. She doesn’t even get a chance to kill any villains, except for the first one, Tessai. And even then, there’s a pretty big catch: Kagerou’s body poisons anyone who sleeps with her.

Tessai sexually assaulted Kagerou before fighting Jubei, killing her. Even then, her poison was classified as an assist, and Jubei eventually defeated Tessai with his sword, reducing her contribution to pennies. Meanwhile, her entire arc is about the shame of having a poisoned body. One could charitably interpret her arc as Kagerou learning to see herself as more than just an object thanks to Jubei treating her like a person, but that would be giving her too much credit.

She doesn't have enough agency to make the message feel serious. Plus, even if Kagerou hadn't been raped (twice, by the way), her relationship with Jubei isn't all that interesting to begin with. This is only a big problem because of how important she is to the story, and therefore how annoying it is to not give one of the main characters more to do in a movie with so much legendary action.

There are better movies than this

Ninja Scroll

But at the same time, there is nothing that can compare to it, and the combination of inspired art and direction makes all the difference.

When I went back to the theater to see this movie, I was expecting elements that would not get old for a long time in a 31-year-old movie (of course). But what was most disappointing was how much of the negative elements persisted throughout the movie. The title didn't lie. It's still a very fun action movie. It wasn't as good as I remembered, so it was harder to understand what was good. But don't get me wrong, it wasn't impossible.

There are better movies than this Ninja ScrollBut at the same time, there's nothing quite like it, and when combined with such inspired artwork and direction, it makes all the difference. There's no harm in celebrating what's right, as long as we don't pretend that its problems don't exist.

Ninja Scroll Sponsored by Sentai Filmworks, it will be released on limited edition SteelBook Blu-ray on October 22nd.