Login to add items to your list, keep track of your progress, and rate series!
Description
From Del Rey: By the order of Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, ten ninja from the Iga and the Kouga clans must fight to the death in order to determine who will be the next Tokugawa Shogun, with the surviving clan ruling for the next thousand years. But Oboro of the Iga clan and Gennosuke of the Kouga clan have fallen deeply in love. Now these star-crossed lovers have been pitted against each other. Can their romance conquer a centuries-old rivalry? Or is their love destined to end in death?
Type
Manga
Related Series
N/A
Associated Names
バジリスク バジリスク 甲賀忍法帖 バジリスク 甲賀忍法帖 バジリスク～甲賀忍法帖～ Basilisk: Koga Nimpou chou Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou-chou Basilisk: The Koga Ninja Scrolls
Damn this was a great manga i really thought it was creative and the art was great, but i have to say i was on the Kougas side the whole time
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
mainly because one they were the underdog because the igas know ahead and were kinda cheating (especially when they got the help of of some soliders like a bitch) and also there's not a doubt in my mind that if all the kouga ninjas knew ahead of time they would have won way more easier because most of them had better abilities than the Iga (excluding the one with the wind and the wire guy) and most of them needed more that one iga to get killed.Plus despite a mega disadvantage in the beginning they managed to take the advantage until the iga cheated and got help.
however the iga did have a few character i liked which where mainly the ones that were sorta couples but anyway great manga, sad that its over and that the end turned out that way.
I think this is the first time I've actually finished a manga/anime without caring for the fate of any of the characters. In most cases like these, I would have quit somewhere in between but...well, I was bored.
It surprised me though, because throughout the story of Basilisk, I've probably switched my preferred clan over 30 times, each time thinking to myself, "Hurry up and kill [insert opposing clan]!". I felt no personal connection to any of the characters, besides a bit of pity every now and then but I could not find anyone that I wanted to stick with in terms of a ''favorite character". In the end I decided to keep it neutral and just watch the events unfold in front of me, every now and then predicting some future event. Speaking of predictions, I had jokingly predicted the actual ending near the beginning on Basilisk and I have to say, I was pissed off. When I had first made my prediction I had inferred a cheesy ending...an ending that I had laughed at because I had thought, "They wouldn't pull something like that." But the fact is, that ending happened. I felt like I should have been crying at the end but all I felt was the weird satisfaction of being right.
I really dont want to class this as romance, people who think that this will be real romance are going to be dissappointed. Even at the end it felt like a romeo and juliet story without a real reason behind it
When I finished reading I felt kind of conserned. It was really sad to see how people killed each other for the sake of power. And in the middle is two who loves each other. I couldn't help feeling sadness over everyones destiny. I also makes reminds me of off all the wrong things that happens in this world. This is a really good fighting manga. The action is well drawn and I think the art is beautiful. I like the dark content about humans nature which is mostly described in how hate affects us. The mixing of beauty and vilonce is great. It's just like reading Shakespear, but with ninjas.
Since it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere in the comments or description, I thought it was worth mentioning that this is an adaptation of The Kouga Ninja Scrolls, a 1958 novel by the late Futaro Yamada, which is often described as the first modern Japanese fantasy novel.
The story, which is the first in his "Ninja Scroll Series", has been adapted into three different manga, as well as an anime and a live action film. It's also inspired countless other anime and manga. An English translation of the novel has been published by Del Ray Books.
The manga has, in my opinion, a distinctly "80s ninja anime" vibe, perhaps because it's adapting the origin of modern Japanese ninja stories, or perhaps because the last decade has been dominated by the thoroughly modern Naruto. If you've ever watched Ninja Scroll or Yotoden: Wrath of the Ninja, this will likely feel very familiar to you.
The biggest flaw of this one is that all of these characters are just killing each off one by one without developing their personalities at all and for a reason that seems like an arbitrary pretense to have them fighting. Sure the character abilities are very well developed, but I find it difficult to care about characters in a manga where I don't find myself caring all that much who lives or dies and cheer on characters based entirely upon who seems more cool this time. Even when the cooler character is the one defeated in a fight, there's no motivation to care. Although the anatomy can seem unrealistic at times, the art is still far better than the story/plot.
Out of curiosity I began reading basilisk, after reading Y+M (which isn't that much better). The art is in my opinion rather grotesque, even when the characters aren't dying a horrible death. Of course the story is what's important, and in this case there isn't much of one. The characters are thrown right in from the beginning, and they die off before anyone would even be able to establish some kind of connection to them (if you could fall in love with any of their hideous faces). The "romance", if you can call it that, is melodramatic and I didn't sympathize for anyone.
Spoiler (highlight to view)
When Genosuke finds out that the two clans have to fight, he ups and leaves Oboro like it's her fault. What the heck was up with that? So much for "love". And in the end, when they drift off into death on the river and he writes that she's won, that was the cheesiest thing ever. I think I almost laughed.
Shallow: Lacking interest or substance. The characters and their little magical ninja power gimmicks are boring and uninteresting-- even the large-busted naked ladies, yes-- and when one of them dies, I've asked myself: Do I care? The mangaka, whatever his name is, is terrible- terrible at establishing a connection to any of them. So, unless you yourself find some interest in them, you probably won't care if their heads are lopped off. Or you will care that they aren't being lopped. All-in-all, just not very well-though-out.
This is truly a Romeo and Juliet story-- you have been warned. The art is what I found most unique about this; it's very clean, especially the scenery, and I could actually TELL what was happening during fighting scenes, which was nice. It wasn't just a mess of body parts and undistinguishable shapes. Basically this is reccomended to those who like fighting rivalries, ninjas, and a tiny bit of romance tossed in. And for those who can stand a sad ending.
It's very good. But it's got some flaws. Can't really put my finger on it but I guess it's that characters aren't really established. They're all just mean motherfuckers that want to kill each other. With some romance in between, and a few of them having a sense of justice. Throw in a conspiracy or whatever from the government and you've got this manga.
You'll like it if you like action and colorful 'ninja' abilities.
(+225)
(-563)
