OBCURE O.V.A.S, *Puppet Princess

Don’t let the title fool you! This isn’t some sugary “magical girl” anime. This ninja anime from Case Closed writer Junichi Miyashita has some bloodgushing fun to it.

After a failed ninja recon mission on the lair of the evil warlord, General Karimata, the sole survivor of the group, Yasaburo, runs into the strange girl Rangiku who carries an extra-large box on her back. Rangiku is the long lost daughter of the lord who used to rule Karimata’s land. Her father was also an expert at making puppets, and even made ones that could move on their own like robots. Karimata took control of this art and made his own invincible army of puppet ninjas to take over the kingdom. Now, Rangiku seeks to use the remaining puppets her father left her to stop Karimata and his horde. With the illusionary tactics of Yasaburo, the two of them team-up to destroy the evil puppets.

This feature is a little short, but hot-dang it rocks! Sort of like a mini-Ninja Scroll. The action is fresh and quick and the animation is riveting. For a one-shot OVA, this is great!!!!!!!