Teenagers (May contain bloody violence, bad language, nudity)
Vintage:
April 12, 2005
Status:
Completed
Summary:
The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Tsubagakure of the Iga and Manjidani of Kouga, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.
Written by stevodevo on February 15, 2012 at 9:50 AM
Overall Rating
Good
Story: 4
Dialogue: 4
Animation: 4
Entertainment: 4
This series has left me conflicted that's for sure... I wanted to watch something a bit darker and more serious than some of the recent series I've been watching but this one might've carried it a bit too far!
As other reviewers have mentioned, this is definitely a Romeo and Juliet-esque story where the overall story world takes a backseat to the individual characters. It is a very gripping, compelling story with lots of action and emotion. Since this is a review, and hence my own opinion, I could not rate it excellent as much as I would have liked to. Romantic tragedies such as this are good in their own way but I can't watch them more than once...
Technically the series was well drawn although at first I was wondering what was up with some of the character's non-typical eyes. That will be explained in the series as you watch. The animation was good, smooth with plenty of action. I enjoyed the OP and ED pieces, especially those by Nana Mizuki the VA for Oboro. BGM was also very appropriate and 'traditional' which added to the period feeling.
My main complaint, and again this is opinion, was with the entire premise of the romantic tragedy. The story was circular and thus frustrating. Yes, not every series has a happy ending and ultimately it is the characters that make this series worth watching, but at the same time I was left feeling a bit empty as if they had really accomplished nothing. Just a little backbone on the part of the supposed ninja-clan 'leaders' could have prevented the wholesale slaughter of their two clans, but again, this was not the point of this series.
As I said before, definitely left me conflicted.
Basilisk will hold you on the edge of your seat before gently pushing you over the edge... if you're up for some tragic romance with plenty of fantasy ninja action then you've come to the right place!
