English Dub Review: Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls “The Cherry Blossoms Bloom”

The end has come. Ouka Ninja Scrolls is no more.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

After the unexpected universe switching of the last episode, Hachirou and Hibiki are now in a parallel universe where Joujin went unopposed and their friends never died. This might inspire some existential terror in most people, but Hachirou and Hibiki are rather cool about the whole thing, and set out to kill the Joujinshuu, who are conveniently all gathered together right in front of them.

Using the knowledge of their individual powers that Hachirou and Hibiki picked up during their prior fighting with them, the two quickly dispatch the Joujinshuu, saving only Joujin for their final battle. The two use the power of the Ouka to defeat him, and take a breather. Hachirou, ashamed of his past actions, decides to cut out his own eyes, but Hibiki stops him at the last moment and then cuts out her own eyes, so the Ouka can never be used again.

This is just in time for Joujin to turn out not to actually be dead, since he absorbed some ancient legendary ninja from a tree that lets him not die, I guess. Hachirou sacrifices himself to save Hibiki from getting cut down by Joujin, and uses his eye magic to turn the absorbed ninja’s killing intent back on Joujin (Since his magic doesn’t work on Joujin) killing the mad monk once and for all.

Hibiki lives on in peace, but years later, she’s visited by Joujin once again, who is still not dead for some reason? Joujin tells her he’s going to impregnate her so he can follow through on his plans, but its all good, because Hachirou’s ghost suddenly appears and cuts Joujin down. Which is a thing that can happen, I suppose. Hibiki then lives on in peace, and all is well in this new parallel world.

Our Take:

And so ends one of the strangest anime I’ve ever seen. It’s been quite a trip, twenty four weeks of twists and turns I didn’t think were possible in a full-fledged studio production. Its fitting, then, that this episode would be the the finishing touch, the cherry on top of the insanity sundae that has somehow managed to last this long. Is it good? Certainly not, but like an overturned train or a grizzly murder scene, it inspires a morbid curiosity into its otherworldly weirdness.

The plot this time around just jumps all over the place. It lacks any kind of tonal consistency or theming, and, like every other episode of Ouka Ninja Scrolls, just feels like an eclectic hodgepodge of plot twists with no rhyme or reason. The story does not even attempt to adhere to any kind of logic or reason. Why does Joujin suddenly have the spirit of some ancient ninja trapped in a tree within his body? Who knows? What is the Ouka? Why do Hibiki and Hachirou’s emotions trigger it? What does it even do? I really couldn’t tell you, and I’ve been watching this freak show of an anime unfold for twenty four weeks.

This episode is supposed to be the big payoff to the development of Hacirou and Hibiki’s relationship with each other. However, their chemistry has not only never worked, but has been a force of active destruction for the show around it. Their incestuous, melodramatic bonds only serve to make me (And, I assume, the audience) cringe every time they try to express some kind of affection for each other. It doesn’t work, its never worked, and because of that these ultra dark scenes of potential rape and murder come off as clumsy and just downright insane.

A finale is supposed to be the culmination of the show as a whole, the final episode that ties everything together. Basilisk Ouka Ninja Scrolls does not do this, nor do I feel its creators could even aspire to any kind of conclusion to this bungled mess. One can only imagine the misery that making this show was, that no one asked for and is in the running for worst anime of the past century. I imagine its conclusion was not met with celebration, but the heavy sigh of relief that the ordeal is now over, that the poor animators stuck with this dead horse can now move on with their lives. The burden is done. The show is over, and now it can be consigned to history and soon forgotten. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.