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Reviews
Jûbê ninpûchô (1993)
Under-Average and Over-Hyped.
Fans of this film often declare Ninja Scroll to be one of the best anime films of all time. Do not listen to them. Ninja Scroll is average at best. The characters are one dimensional and so is the plot. Nothing is ever really given context.
Even what many acclaim to be fantastic fight scenes and animation are at best a B-. And a B- in animation is not enough to save this film from everything it does wrong. If you want fantastically animated fight scenes, watch Sword of the Stranger.
A lot of anime films are weird. The great ones use the weird in a way that drives the plot or adds another dimension to the story/characters. This is not Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll is one of those films that is weird for the sake of being weird and nothing else. It doesn't ever apply any context for its weirdness.
All in all, if you've no other anime films to watch go ahead and watch it. If you set your expectations low enough and look past its faults you can find an enjoyable film.
It has a similar feel to it as the Rurouni Kenshin TV Series.