English Dub Review: Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls “The Shielding Eye is Deceived”

Things are about to get weird.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

This week on “Discount Ninja Anime”, the dust settles as Murakumo has finally been destroyed through the combined efforts of the Kouga and Iga ninja clans. The ninjas are left to their devices, cleaning up and returning to their somewhat normal lives. Hachirou hasn’t returned, though, even after uniting with Hibiki in the battle for Marukumo.

Things are peaceful, but there is a tension in the air. Gorone is uncertain of just what happened to Murakumo, as its remains have completely vanished without a trace. There is still a possibility that the Joujinshuu are out there, so the ninjas do their best to maintain a steady watch over the area in case they return. Meanwhile, Shichigen suffers from hallucinations of his past, which haunt him as he walks the grounds around the compound. These hallucinations are revealed to be the work of three of the Joujinshuu members, using their powers in conjunction to control Schichigen’s mind.

Hachirou is off doing his own thing, of course, tracking down the ghost of Oda Nobunaga in an old village, having heard that the old general’s spirit resides there. That night, he encounters one of Saizou’s floating eyes, which lectures Hachirou on the importance of coming back to the village to lead his comrades.

Back at home, Hibiki suffers a similar fate to Schichigen, as Joujin uses his magic to make Hibiki hallucinate that Hachirou has come to rescue her and confess his love to her. Something of a strange development, considering they’re related, but hey, its not a particularly good anime, so I’m not surprised. Regardless, joujin’s control over Hibiki is achieved.

Hachirou, meanwhile, encounters Kujaku, and takes him on in a fight under the flittering sakura petals. The two banter for a bit, as anime characters do, and Kujaku insists that he’s not afraid of Hachirou’s eye magic. Kujaku’s time magic proves to be powerful enough to test Hachirou’s mettle, but eventually, he gets the best of him and cuts him on the face.

Hibiki, in her controlled state, proceeds to walk out of the ninja village, using her eye magic to pacify any of her comrades who try to stop her along the way. She meets up with the Joujinshuu and is whisked away to a new Murakumo, that has suddenly appeared near the village.

Our Take:

Well, its another episode of Basilisk, a show which continues to baffle and perplex me both in its plot and its continued existence. Things go about as well as you could expect them to in this show, with the dialogue being weird and stilted, and the characters feeling stiff and uninteresting. Though, not for nothing, the show does manage to keep a decent pace of the plot, though Hachirou’s fight in the latter half really bogs things down.