English Dub Review: Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls “100 Eyes See Their Destiny”

At last, Kouga Hachirou has arrived. It’s about gosh dang time.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Hachirou finally heads to Murakumo to face the Joujinshuu once and for all. Once inside, he comes face to face with Joujin who explains his endgame plan in typical villainous fashion. For the revival of Nobunaga to succeed, he requires both Hibiki and Hachirou, and presents Hachirou with a choice: a couple with Hibiki to create the necessary magic to rebirth Nobunaga, or slay Hibiki to achieve the same result. Hachirou is shocked at the proposal but finds he may not have much of a choice.

Meanwhile, Saizou, trying to scout out Murakumo with his ability, falls victim to the Joujinshuu’s mind control. Following this, we go into flashback mode and see Saizou’s troubled beginnings and twisted relationship with his father. Like the other flashbacks of the Kouga and Iga, things don’t end happily.

Our Take:

As far as an episode of Basilisk: Ouka Ninja Scrolls go, I found this one to be a bit more watchable than many of the others. The full assemblage of the Kouga and Iga ninjas is long overdue, and certainly ramps up the “cool” factor of the first ten minutes of the episode a good bit.

While Hachirou initially is the focus of the episode, Saizou and his past quickly become the meat of the episode. I like Saizou, as I’ve always enjoyed those “Cool, smart and cynical” character types, even if he is a bit derivative. (“Naruto’s” Shikamaru, I’m looking at you) I’m happy to say that his backstory isn’t half bad, and gives a little more context to his love of games and his cynical personality, which is always welcome. I did find his father’s abusive actions confusing, however. I suppose a dad who takes advantage of his son for gambling winnings isn’t exactly father of the year, but I would expect a little more nuance to make this story more interesting. Without wanting to spoil too much, the way things played out with Saizou left me a bit baffled, and wondering why the rest of the ninjas are seemingly just standing around instead of helping the poor guy. I suppose Basilisk has to have its big dramatic moment, even if they aren’t very well earned.

Things quickly fall apart for this episode after Saizou’s flashback is finished up as the show settles back into its bizarre, shlocky habits that I’ve grown so familiar with. Get ready for lots of lip-flapping and very little action. One begins to wonder how a supposed “action” anime can go this long without having any significant or memorable fight scenes, but I’ve come to accept that as just being beyond the scope of quality that this show can provide.

Also worthy of mention is the resurfacing of the weird incestuous undertones I was hoping we could move along from. Not for nothing, but I can understand that the story of the source material necessitates this bizarre sibling romance take place, but it just seems so weird in animated form. I imagine, though, that if this series did a better job of establishing a tone and not being a complete clown show, that it might work from a dark, historical angel. Of course, I review this show on what it is and not what it could or should be, but its a nice thought to think that somewhere out there in the multiverse is a Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls that doesn’t make me question my faith in humanity. Did someone say, “Darkest Timeline?”