Basilisk: Violent, beautiful… and monotonous

Watching anime is exactly my cup of tea, almost as much as spending money on them. While roadtripping together with dad and lil’ brother previous summer I came across some interesting series that I then somehow “knew” that I just had to buy. Basilisk was one of them, but it took me almost half a year to really watch it, because I had too much of other tasks that had to be done, including finishing lots of other series that I knew I couldn’t leave unfinished. Ehm, but my hype for Basilisk didn’t get justified when I finally pulled myself together and finally watched it. I just finished it recently, and… well. Go ahead and read my thoughts.

Basilisk is an anime by Gonzo based on the manga by Masaki Segawa, which in its turn is based on the Japanese classic novel Kouga Ninpouchou (The Kouga Ninja Scrolls) written by Futaro Yamada sometimes in the end of the 1950’s. This series has been described as a work in the same class as Shakespear’s masterpiece play Romeo and Juliet, yet it does almost nothing that could be considered just in a honest way towards those words of marketing.

The story and twist of Basilisk center around two ninja clans during the feudal era of Japan, Kouga Manjidani and Iga Tsubagakure, which have been enemies for generations. The members of both clans hate each other to their very core, except their leaders -- Kouga Gennosuke and Oboro -- who happen to be in love with each other. Both side are being held back by a peace treaty that forbids them to fight, but soon the ninjas from both clans would find themselves in an all-out war against each other due to the treaty’s expiring. The question is then, will Kouga and Iga ever reach peace or will their hatred get deeper? Gennosuke and Oboro may very well be both clans’ only hope for reconcilliation.

The series spans for 24 episodes, and you may actually think that the length of it should be enough to satisfy the viewer. And it is, but why doesn’t it? First things first, the series is completely plain and lacks important elements when it comes to story. The only two characters you really get to know to some extent are the main characters Gennosuke and Oboro, and their grandparents. The rest of the characters -- broadly speaking, the side characters -- are an uninteresting (except Tenzen, the cold, evil guy whose voice actor happens to be non other than Sho Hayami himself) bunch with only one task; to get killed off sooner or later. Though every character possess supernatural powers, the series still doesn’t appeal too much on this front.

Also, Basilisk don’t even try to get me to show any sympathy at all. It’s like the characters were just some random pieces in a violent game that reaches its climax after lots of monotonous fights with bloodshred that are supposed to be awesome, but which in the end are nothing more than excuses to kill off characters without introducing new aspects of excitement. Have to mention that Oboro and Gennosuke’s relationship feels a bit dull with so few dimensions to it, but I think that it could have developed further to something more beautiful, something that hits your heart more on the spot. Also, the pace of this series may be slow and boring, let alone uninteresting from times to times.

Nice dialogues though, and quite decent efforts from the voice actors too. I don’t know why I absolutely have to mention Sho Hayami, but while thinking of him as Ayanami from 07-Ghost and Aizen from Bleach, I actually have to say that he once again manages to send chills down my spines. His dark, deep voice justifies his role as the villain/antagonist most of the time. That also applies to his role as Tenzen. Nana Mizuki is also part of the cast, playing her role well as the shy girl Oboro. I have to condemn that particular character for giving off such a cute aura, in wartimes too.

If it’s something that one can praise Basilisk for then it has to be the style of it’s animation. According to my eyes, most scenes and artworks are as smooth as Oboro’s and Gennosuke’s relation in the beginning of the series. Colours are nice and the animation studio Gonzo stands as the King of the hill by making most scenes interesting and beautiful artwise. Plotwise they’re not as interesting, and thus not even comparerable to Onmyouza’s masterpiece -- Kouga Ninpouchou, which serves as the music of the series openening sequence.

Score: 6/10 -- Just to be generous, though the score could very well be decreased with one point. Basilisk has a huge potential, but that gets more or less washed away because of its straight forward focus on fighting instead of deeper relationship and plot explanation. Also, while watching this series I felt that it urges to end as fast as possible while it leaves the gaps of potential wide open without filling them. What a miss…

Now I haven’t read The Kouga Ninja Scrolls to be honest, but I can imagine the novel being more versatile than Basilisk. I don’t know, have to give it a try some time in the future actually, because the red line of it seems undoubtedly interesting.

And correct, no picture gallery unless I feel like it. I may update this article later on though.