Ninja Scroll (Jūbē Ninpūchō, Film Review)

1993 Tokyo Theatres Company
Written and Directed by: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
Starring: Kōichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono, Daisuke Gōri, Toshihiko Seki, and Shūichirō Moriyama
MPAA Rating: R; 94 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Rating: 7/10

A ninja scout party is ambushed by an enormous man made of stone. The stone man chops them into bits with his massive boomerang sword, and rips off their limbs with his bare hands, until the forest is raining blood. The lone survivor, Kagero, is taken to an empty building and sexually assaulted, before a wandering samurai, Jubei, happens upon the scene and engages the stone man in a knockdown dragout fight that has to be seen to be believed. It looks like the stone man, one of the Eight Devils of Kimon, picked the wrong woman to assault. Kagero is a poison tester, and her very blood is toxic. At the apex of the fight, the poisoned Devil loses his stone powers, allowing Jubei an opportunity to render a killing blow. With the first Devil dead, Kagero and Jubei find themselves on the trail of the other seven, and soon they engage in epic battles with these superpowered, supernatural evils. It turns out the Devils' leader, Gemma, has an evil plan...and only Kagero and Jubei stand in his way.
Ninja Scroll is absurd, insane, disgusting, brutal, and sometimes awesome. Madhouse's animation is absolutely amazing, featuring hand-drawn action that may never be topped. It's a shame that writer/director, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, feels the need to exercise some of his darker, more lurid impulses here. Ninja Scroll features two sexual assaults whose graphic nature is absolutely unnecessary to the plot and otherwise masterfully dark and dangerous vibe of the film. While the plot is a little too convoluted for its own good, the characters of Jubei and Kagero are very well-written, with both undergoing satisfying arcs. The best way to enjoy this film is to get the time stamps for the sexual assault scenes, and fast forward through them. Of course, if extreme animated violence is a turn off, there's no reason to watch this film at all. However, if it's not, and you can (literally) get around the sexual assault scenes, Ninja Scroll's great atmosphere, augmented by a wonderfully mysterious Kaoru Wada score, its lovely character work, and its awesome action scenes are not to be missed.