Basilisk

Writer: Masaki Segawa
Director: Fumitomo Sizaki
Production House: Gonzo
Review Type: Anime
Status: Completed
Genre: Shounen, Martial Arts

Synopsis

The era for this anime is set during the reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1500s, also known as the beginning of the Azuchi-Momoyama period, where two rival Ninja clans, the Iga Tsubagakure and Kouga Manjidani, are engaged in a bitter blood feud that has spanned for centuries. The fighting finally ends when Hattori Hanzo the 1st (personal aide and Ninja entrusted to protect Ieyasu at all costs), succeeds in forging a cease fire between the two clans by employing both into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu (who became Shogun and the one man able to unify all of Japan during the feudal era). Regardless, hostilities and bad blood remain between Kouga and Iga, ensuring a strenuous co-existence at best.

Now 1614; Ieyasu has retired from power (although still controls a considerable amount of influence in the government) and relinquished control to his son Hidetada. This however has resulted in a succession dispute, concerning which of Ieyasu's grandsons are decided to succeed the throne when their father finally decides to step down. The various government retainers are beginning to take sides and the Tokugawa Shogunate is on the verge of tearing itself apart.

In order to solve the problem before it spirals out of control, Ieyasu orders the ceasefire pact between Kouga and Iga to be lifted , commanding each clan to send 10 of their best ninja to enter a ruthless and bloody competition of kill or be killed.


Chibi's Basili-Review

In short, this anime is kind of like Survivor in feudal Japan. Only in this one the contestants die if they get knocked out of the competition. What i like so much about this anime is the many facets to the story, when the main plot in itself is straightforward. The two heirs to the Ninja clans (Gennosouke Kouga for the Kouga and Oboro for the Iga), are actually in love with each other, and plan to marry in the hopes of ending the centuries long feud between their clans. This in turn causes the members of both clans to object, albeit silently, as their scars run deep from the years of conflict. The Kouga specialize in stealth and assassination with techniques that, for the most part, rely on subterfuge. Even abilities designed for battle, such as Gennosuke's Dojutsu, tend to be defensive in nature. The Iga prefer more direct methods and their techniques tend to be mostly offensive to better give them an edge in close combat situations.



Each of the ten Ninjas are unique in their own right, with special techniques that are exclusive to themselves, for instance Nenki Mino's ability to manipulate his hair to grab and strangle opponents for the Iga and Shogen Kazamachi's (Kouga) techniques involving mimicking the attributes of a spider, so much so that he himself looks like an arachnid.



As one of the first animes i've watched since a long break a few years back, this was one of the series that reintroduced me to what makes this genre so awesome. The crisp fluid animation, the dramatic soundtrack, the storyline that kept you hooked even after finishing the series all meshed together so brilliantly it's hard to point out this series' shortcomings, except maybe a few more episodes. Highly recommended for hack and slash anime fans as this one has a lot of violent scenes and everybody dies pretty terribly, which is a huge plus in my book, and another huge plus for me is the writers had entertwined this fictional tale to real life historical events, me being a huge Japanese history buff myself.

Basilisk was an adaptation of a manga of the same name running from February 2003 – July 2004. The manga was also an adaptation from the author's original novel titled Basilisk : Book of the Kouga Ninja Arts by Masaki Segawa. The anime adaptation was released in 2005 with a run of 24 episodes.


Chibi's Review



Storyline: 4/5
Character Development: 3/5
Art: 4/5
Originality: 3/5