OBSCURE O.V.A.S, *Ninja Resurrection

To clear one thing up right away, this is not a sequel to Ninja Scroll! The English release had a similar font used for the titles, and both the main characters were named Jubei, but Ninja Scroll's Jubei was a mostly original character where the one from Ninja Resurrection is based on the actual swordsman Yagyu Jubei. The original idea came from a fantasy novel titled Makai Tensho by Futaro Yamada about a rebellious warrior raising an army of historical dead figures to overthrow the shogun empire. The book had already been adapted into a manga twice, as well as a live-action movie branded Samurai Reincarnation starring Sonny Chiba. Phoenix Entertainment produced this OVA series that was originally planned for four episodes but only lasted two. A sequel anime TV series was reported to finish up where the OVA left off, this however also failed to gain any traction. ADV Films got the rights to its American release and seriously ticked off a bunch of western otaku after they learned it was connected at all to the previous hit anime ninja movie. Ninja Resurrection nonetheless does stand out on its own satisfying the ravenous appetites of adrenaline junkies.

Set in Japan during the mid-1600's, the Christian faction was facing prosecution by the Tokugawa government. The Shimabara Rebellion was formed by these rebels lead by their profit Amakusa Shiro who deals in what the shogun call "Christian magic". During a last stand at the Christian uprising at Sekigahara, the Tokugawa launch a major assault on their castle. Yagui Jubei is a one-eyed samurai who was exiled from his family's estate but volunteered to lead a special strike team to infiltrate the castle and assassinate Shiro. Shiro's mentor Mori Soiken had been plotting to betray him by faking the death of two innocent children which causes Shiro to renounce Christianity and take up allegiance with Hell. Shiro summons up a giant dragon made of rocks that Jubei and his crew have to ultimately destroy in order to stop the now insane profit. The Tokugawa forces eventually defeat the Christians with Jubei leaving Shiro for dead, although Soiken uses this opportunity to have what's left of the dying man to mate with his daughter. In the next episode, Soiken performs a ritual which uses his daughter's demon seed to open a doorway to Hell where Shiro is reborn along with a trio of other undead killers. Soiken's forces begin an assault on the city of Edo with their supernatural powers, thus ending the anime on a colossal cliffhanger.

Ninja Resurrection leaves you with sheer blue balls wondering what direction they were planning on taking this epic slaughterhouse of an anime. This alternate history is confusing enough with robot suits and rocket launchers in feudal Japan, but treating Christianity as if it was a form of dark sorcery is a serious leap in logic. No one watching this would get caught up in the story as it suffers from tonal shift where the first episode is a blood-soaked battle with the second being a character study on Jubei's past and what the forces of Hell are plotting. Don't go into this expecting a satisfying finale of any kind. Upon looking back, you would think that the anime should have ended with the first episode since there is a type of conclusion to it. Better off being a one-shot than an action saga that got cut short.