Synopsis
Episode 5: “Diamond Child”
Meet Tatsunosuke, a young thief with a special gift and nothing to lose. Matched against Tsubute, which thief will come out with the Dragon Stone in his pocket? Faced with the opportunity to join the Kimon, will Tatsunosuke take the chance, and pay for it with his life?
Episode 6: “Shelter From the Rain”
Apart from the others, Jubei finds himself poisoned in battle with Nenmu, a ninja who can use the bodies of people. Caught in a rainstorm, with the help of a woman and her young son, Jubei slowly recuperates from the poison. But with Nenmu’s ability to manipulate anybody, who can tell a friend from the enemy? Will Jubei’s newfound allies turn against him?
Episode 7: “Blossom”
Azami is back, and after the half of Dragon Stone she could not get the first time, determined not to lose it to the Kimon clan. Meanwhile, Jubei learns the truth about the Dragon Stone and the treasure of the Lost Dynasty, and he’s slowly figuring out just how precarious of a position they are all in.
Episode 8: “The Fate of Rengoku”
Rengoku has her mission ? to get the other half of the Dragon Stone from Jubei. This is also her chance to avenge the death of her beloved brother, but at what cost? With revenge on her mind, what will Rengoku sacrifice for the ability to kill Jubei?
Review
First off, haters and doubters please shut up about how the Ninja Scroll TV series does not appeal to you. I mean, comon, you have only seen volume one, the first four episodes! Unless you downloaded it and have viewed the whole thing; you should be a real fan and wait it out to see what the show is about. You cannot judge something just by how it starts. There were instances where I disliked an anime for how it began; later on, loving it as the story develops and I am sure I am not the only person that has had those instances. I hear many people say that the Ninja Scroll TV series is not good, because it is not like the movie… now are you stupid or are you brain dead? Do you know the difficulty to top something that is already on the top of the charts? It is a hard fact that sequels usually cannot and will not top the original. Check out The Matrix: Reloaded for an example, did Revolutions top Reloaded? Hells no, all you see is the same exact stunts pulled on and off the screen. Now if this Ninja Scroll was exactly like the movie, then I bet you guys would be complaining how it is just a cheap copy of an old ideal. Complaining, complaining, that is all you guys do, not realizing that a series did not have to be created at all. But because of the tremendous amount of fans demanding a sequel, Urban Vision helped brought it to us. Appreciate that. Do not hate this series, or any series in that matter because of another person’s views, and you do not have to like this series either, just because I am telling you that I like it. Just simply appreciate it, that is all, appreciate what you can, and shut up.
From the introduction of this review, you should be able to tell that I am delighted how this series is turning out. The action scenes were astonishing, the soundtrack gets you right into the mood of things and although the story did not advance much in volume two it was still pretty entertaining and kept my mind awake to all the action (killing) that the haters said there were not enough of in this series. Now unless you have viewed the entire series, there is no possibility that you could come up with a conclusion that the series is “soft” or whack if you want to put it in a casual term. So where do people get these crazy views that the entire thing sucks, when the whole series is not even out on the streets yet?… oh wait, let me add, legally. I would not even be discussing the legal and illegal issue, so I will just leave it at that.
Now back to the series. What I liked the most, of course is the action. The way people get killed, the powers or abilities characters have and the exaggerating blood shed that is shown after someone gets beheaded, stabbed, sliced, or split in two, you get the idea. I wonder why are there people questioning where the blood was in Ninja Scroll the series. Either they are utterly blind or just completely did not pay any attention to the anime. Because of this, you get people who follow these blind fools and reject a show that is good, without even taking a peek at the show. Sigh… what has the anime community developed into?
Okay really, back to the series :). This volume focused more on fighting rather than progressing the story line. The Dragon Stone gets bounced around from Shigure to Tsubute to a character who I believe would probably play a significant role later on in the show to Jubei and it keeps going on and on and on. So that is pretty much the whole story development. Do not get turned off though, the attractive part is the way it goes upon running that loop and that is why I am looking forward to volume three, more violence, and hopefully a twist in the story or a climax would be pleasurable.
The Breakdown
I hate haters and doubters. Punks who want everything their way or no way, and while they are at it, bringing others who have no knowledge of that anime with them to the hate side. Well, good luck finding an appropriate anime for your little organ beneath that thick skull of yours.
Visit the contest page if you are interested in a fan art contest for a chance to win a DVD copy of Ninja Scroll Vol. 2: Dangerous Path.