“To my beloved: please die†(but read this review first)
I stumbled onto Basilisk through our local anime club. It was a little slow for me at first, and hard to follow – the club room is noisy, and this is one show where you definitely need to pay close attention to see all the nuances of what is going on – but after a few episodes, I was hooked. So hooked, that I started searching the web for all the nifty Basilisk fan stuff I could find (there wasn’t much, although Funimation’s site for the show is quite cool, especially the little “Watch Them Die†section). After that, I went on to the manga. I bought volume 1, and tore through it, reading in every spare moment I could get.
This is a really great series. Seasoned ninja fans won’t find much that is genuinely new – the show is an adaptation of Futaro Yamada’s novel “The Kouga Ninja Scrollsâ€, which also inspired the classic live action “Shinobiâ€. But hey, Shakespeare didn’t exactly invent most of his stories, either. There’s always room for another retelling of a really classic story, provided it’s done really well, and Basilisk is done REALLY well. Ninja stories often suffer a campy treatment (think masked guys running around in black pajamas sporting headbands that read “NINJA†in English – just in case we had any doubt) but Masaki Segawa’s adaptation elevates the genre to the same level as the high samurai dramas that get so much attention. If Kurosawa had done a story about ninjas, this is probably what it would have looked like.
If you’re familiar with Shinobi, or some of the other works inspired by Yamada’s novel, you’ll already know the plot. If you don’t, that’s okay too. This is a great place to start. The main story revolves around two feuding ninja clans, one from the province of Iga, the other from the province of Kouga. The two clans have hated each other for 400 years, but are forbidden to fight by an ancient treaty. The opening of the story has Tokugawa Ieyasu witnessing a demonstration by two members of the rival clans of their ninja skills. Historical figures and references abound in the story. Like Ieyasu, Hattori Hanzo and Yagyu Munenori, who also witness the fight, were both real people, and the provinces of Iga and Kouga are real places. While not entirely historically accurate, there are enough references to make a student of Japanese history smile and nod knowingly.
After witnessing the contest, the Shogun Ieyasu announces he will use a competition between the two clans to decide who will be the next leader of the Tokugawa clan. Each side will use their ten best warriors. Iga will represent one of his sons, and Kouga the other. Whomever’s side wins will become the next shogun, and the victorious clan will be established for 1000 years. The treaty forbidding the two clans to fight is repealed, and a messenger is dispatched to each ninja village bearing a scroll that lists the names of the chosen fighters. Continue reading Ani-Mania: ‘Basilisk’ Review