Ninja Scroll Vol. 3: Deliverance
Synopsis
The war between the clans reaches its climax as Shigure is kidnapped by the Kimon clan, leaving both the Hiruko and Jubei desperately chasing after them. As the powers of the Light Maiden grow stronger, friends and enemies become harder to tell apart and Shigure, pursued by legions of creatures, finds she can no longer deny her responsibilities as the Light Maiden. She is the key to finishing the war, and the drifter ninja Jubei has committed himself to seeing her to the end!
Episode 9 “A Dragon Within”
Until now, no one has fully understood the secrets of the Light Maiden. But they are revealed at last when the Hiruko warrior Zofu saves Shigure from a clan of assassins and forces her to face a place and purpose she did not choose.
Episode 10 “The Heart of the Hiruko”
Who is Rokai? When Shigure is threatened by Yamidoro and his clan, a protector appears in the form of a strange little man with amazing abilities. However, even he cannot prevent the Kimon from kidnapping Shigure. Someone must save the Light Maiden!
Episode 11 “Yagyu Renya”
The action moves to sea as Jubei’s party searches for Shigure, who is stranded on the water with the Kimon clan. Onboard Jubei’s ship is a mysterious samurai. Is he friend or foe? The group must find out as passengers on the ship start turning up dead.
Episode 12 “Dynasty Restoration” How far can you trust your senses? Jubei’s commitment to save Shigure pays off when he, Dakuan, and Tsubute execute a successful rescue mission. But something is wrong, and Shigure is acting strangely. The outcome of war may depend on Jubei finding out why!
Episode 13 “Farewell Jubei” The memories of the Light Maiden are awakening inside Shigure’s head. But her recovery comes too late—Jubei has fallen in battle, and this leaves only Shigure to unlock the powers of the Light Maiden that will decide the fate of them all. She must face a finale without Jubei and witness one final fight that will decide who comes out alive.
Review
Whatever is good must have an end. Sadly, Ninja Scroll the series is done in this third and final volume. This volume certainly did not disappoint. It is action packed, and the story also gets very interesting. There are various moments that might touch a fan emotionally, and overall the final experience of Ninja Scroll is just great. Just when you think it is over and you have predicted everything, it is not. Things become crazy towards the end, it is just unpredictable. The only thing you could have probably predicted was that Jubei was going to defeat everyone, but that is a given so it does not mean anything.
The flow of this last volume is very smooth. There are no story breaks; it is just a pure build up of the summit high climax. I certainly appreciated that. It made it fun to watch. When an anime does that, you no longer feel an obligation to pull yourself through; the show itself does those honors, so that you do not feel enforced to stay in front of the screen.
Call me crazy, but for an odd reason, Ninja Scroll the series to me, does not seem to have random senseless killings that other ninja genres out there have. By that I mean, the killings that exist only to boost the cool factor. Yeah, a few henchmen might die, but those killings leads to their boss during the episode, unlike some, where they just die and the show goes on to the next scene, never seeing the boss until further down the road.
This show was extremely enjoyable. I really do feel bad for the doubters of the show. They do not know what they are missing. I believe Jubei will be hanging up his sword after this for good… but who knows, there might be a come back somewhere along the way, way along the way hehe.
The Breakdown
Will Jubei make another come back? Hmm…