The Ninja Scroll anime series is a curious beast altogether. A spin-off from the rather successful, wildly acclaimed classic anime film of the same name, the TV show borrows its main lead, Kibagami Jubei (a watered down version here), and very little else.

Supposedly taking place after the events of the feature film, bounty hunter for hire Jubei stumbles upon a quaint, defenseless village, that is soon ransacked and destroyed, only to uncover a maguffin that fuels the season long arc: protect the light maiden and prevent anyone from getting their hands on a stone that will grant the owner limitless power.

There's a clawing sense of déjà vu with each new episode, as you're forced to sit through the same three-part routine of each storyline: new batch of bad guys throw in their two cents as to why they want the stone; a brief skirmish; and, finally, the final showdown.

Fans of the original, myself included, were rightfully miffed about the new direction the series took; trading the gritty, faded original artwork for a more typically-drawn anime series, and substituting badass ninjas for bizarre mutant ninjas (no turtles, I'm afraid) with extraordinary abilities; it's a pity none of the film's sense of cool and urgency transferred over to this series.

There are one or two corkers in terms of standalone stories, though. And once you get your head around the show's new version of Jubei and the show's oddball cast of characters, it's a mindless piece of action, at the very least, with an almost feudal X-Men vibe to it. Of course, this is a total leap into madness in comparison to the original Ninja Scroll movie, but there are snippets to enjoy midway through the season. The animation is solid, with action sequences dishing out some great color and very deranged pieces of imagery. A lot of the female bad guys are questionably over-sexualized though (expected in anime, sure, but not like this... it borders on Hentai at times), which I found kinda creepy.

Ultimately, this is probably something I would only recommend to those with fresh eyes. If you go into the show having seen the film and expecting the same kind of material, you'll be sorely disappointed. The final three episodes are a nice reward after trawling through the majority of the so-called storylines of the season, as they are more arc-driven and focused on one specific thing, but that's hardly reason enough to invest your time or money on this show.

   -- Mark Ritchie