Anime Basilisk

[Raiyuu]

[font=Trebuchet MS][quote name='theOtaku']...like Romeo and Juliet with ninjas.[/quote] Stupid though it may sound, Basilisk actually is Romeo and Juliet with ninjas. It revolves around the planned marriage of Gennosuke, a ninja of the Koga clan, and Oboro, a ninja of the Iga clan. Koga and Iga hate each other - think Montagues and Capulets.

At the same time, the elderly Shogun has two potential heirs, and decides to lift the peace treaty Hattori Hanzo has enforced between the two ninja clans. Each clan is assigned one of the heirs; whichever clan wipes the other out, the corresponding heir takes the throne.

Basilisk has slotted neatly into my list of all-time favourite anime. It's one of the most original things I've seen in a long time. The entire series basically follows the two clans as they gradually wipe each other out, one by one; each ninja has a different ninja skill / superpower, but there are very few cliched powers in there. I won't spoil any of them, but a few of them took me completely by surprise, something not a lot of series seem to do anymore. As an added bonus, the characters don't spend half an episode explaining the intricate inner workings of their power (something that eventually started to grate in GetBackers); instead, they get on with using it, and let you the viewer work out what's going on.

So finally, a "superpower-genre" anime that treats you like a grown-up. Anyone else seen it? What did anyone think?
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[KatanaViolet]

I have seen quite a bit of publicity regarding this anime, although I haven't yet seen it. There have definately been comparisons to Romeo and Juliet, and I've heard comparisons even to Naruto... that it's a bloodier version of Naruto, perhaps a more adult version.
Unfortunately being that I haven't seen it, I guess I can't really contribute too much to this thread... I guess what I'm wondering is it worth d/l'ing or buying? Also, any word if it will be hitting any TV stations?

[r2vq]

[quote name='KatanaViolet']is it worth d/l'ing or buying? Also, any word if it will be hitting any TV stations?[/quote]
Considering the content, I doubt it'll be on Television fairly soon, unless it was on some sort of late night schedule on a channel that doesn't primarily target children (ie. YTV and Cartoon Network). Sexual stimulating, violent, and unforgiving, this show is definately lightyears away from Naruto.

My friend has this entire series on his computer, and I've been staying over just so we can marathon it until we pass out sometime after two in the morning. [B]That's how much he likes it.[/B] From what I've seen so far, it really is a good series. And I'm really looking forward to the movie based on the same novel. [url=http://animenewsnetwork.com/article.php?id=7364]Link[/url]

-Arvi

[Dagger]

There appear to be [url=http://www.funimationfilms.com/][u]theatrical plans[/u][/url] for Basilisk. Funi still hasn't coughed up the details yet, though, so who knows how many people it'll actually affect. But it would be beyond awesome to watch even part of this show on the big screen.

I also want to see Shinobi. The Japanese release has English subs, but I think I'm going to wait on it, as it seems like something that will get licensed sooner or later (and it's kind of pricey anyway).

On a related note, the first volume of the manga will come out in May, under Del Rey's new mature line.

~Dagger~

[Magus]

Other than what I've just read from Raiyuu's description, I haven't heard much about this program. And it sounds very interesting as well. I would think there would be a lot more conversation about it. I'm sitting here downloading the theme songs as we speak. (trying to kill time and whatnot) And if I were to compare it to any other ninja anime..... Well, I'll compare it to the samurai animes I've seen, this seems to have more of a samurai feeling than most samurai animes that I've seen thus far. But that's just by judging from the music.

In any case, I would like to hear more feedback about this program seeing that it's coming to IFC pretty soon. (Like, how's the fighting and whatnot. Other than Romeo & Juliet, are there any other comparison's?) Just no word when.

[quote name='Raiyuu']At the same time, the elderly Shogun has two potential heirs, and decides to lift the peace treaty Hattori Hanzo has enforced between the two ninja clans.[/quote]
Hattori Hanzo...... That name seems so familiar. I just can't place my finger on it.

[quote name='r2vq']Sexual stimulating, violent, and unforgiving[/quote]
Oh? Unforgiving? What do you mean? Something in it is going to piss me off? :nervous:

[Raiyuu]

[font=trebuchet ms]Hattori Hanzo is a famous historical figure in Japan, but you probably know the name from [i]Kill Bill[/i]. He's the swordmaker that forges the Bride's blade.

The fights in [i]Basilisk[/i] are bloody and brutal, and often disturbing, gruesome or plain gross. But they aren't cliched, and that's what made the series stand out for me. There's no "feel the wrath of my ultimate technique!", everyone just gets on with it. And when someone else comes along with their technique, there's no "well actually I was holding my trump card for just such an occasion"; I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say the series is unafraid of killing najor characters - in fact it's pretty much the whole concept of the series.[/font]

[Kenshin DX]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Basilsik is a series Ive recently gotten into allthough im not that far in (epsiode 8). The series is great. Its amazing to see so many main characters die. Characters that would seem to last the whole series can get easily wiped out in an early episode. Thats where the genius of the anime is. You dont know whos going down and whos making it out alive. I like the unique set of powers allthough some are strange like[spoiler] a ballon like man and a man with the abilty to merge with any surface[/spoiler] Half the fun is seeing what powers the characters have. The love story isnt what drags you in its pretty typical R+J stuff like Raiyuu said but the action and suspense are the heart of the show. Action is great all the scenes Ive seen have been very impressive. I anxiously await volume 3.[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

The DVDs are finally coming out in Britain, yay. I'm impressed with the English dub. There aren't really any surprises, but it's good, solid acting throughout. Jousuke verges on irritating a few times before [spoiler]snuffing it[/spoiler], but the central pair are good enough (though English voice actors can never seem to tread that line between delicate and just plain high-pitched when doing young girls like Oboro). And they kept the honorifics in, which, though they don't explain what they mean for the uneducated, gives a nice feudal sort of feel. Respect between lords, and all that.

They've left on the Japanese cast behind-the-scenes discussions as well, which are worth watching just for the moment's silence they do for recently deceased characters.

[Udon]

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="2"][COLOR="YellowGreen"]The series used to play on the sifi ch, until the series ended.

I realy liked Basilisk, it had very creative characters each with their own special ability. If u think about it, its sort of like a adult (but not too adult) version of naruto mixed with Romeo and Juiliet. I realy enjoyed watching the series, but i wasent too sure about the manga version. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Laborpilot86]

The best bits of this one were any scene with Tenzen. He was just plain evil on so many levels. Defienitly one of Gonzo's better efforts.

[Veritas]

[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][COLOR=gray]Hmmm it's been awhile since I've been on here to post, anywho Basilisk has been the latest anime I've been watching, and I also had a chance to see Shinobi on the AZN channel.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][COLOR=gray]First of all, as of yet I've been thoroughly impressed with Basilisk in the sense they just fight like Raiyuu said. The skills each one of them have seem very unique, and the animation they use in executing these shots is very well done. (I love the animation for Gennouske's secret ability). As well as everyone thus far seems to have very unique abilities.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][COLOR=gray]The movie is interesting and there are some slight changes, there are five battling ninja from Koga and five from Iga. The abilities are slightly different for some of the characters. Compaired to the anime the character interactions seem lacking, but I giess thats what happens when you go from 20+ episodes to 2 hours. As well as the mentalities of some of the character is slightly different, Gennousuke doesn't want to fight, Oboro actually does, and Tenzen isn't such a creep. The cinematograpy is really interesting and dazzling but really emphasized and unrealistic, I think it fit the look they needed to have though. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][COLOR=gray]Also I have heard that the original story is based off a Koga or Iga ninja scroll, I think it says it on the preview for the movie, but I could be mistaken.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=1][COLOR=gray]But so far I'm only up to Volume 3 in the anime, so I'll most likely have more to post later. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]
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[Magus]

[COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="1"]I officially regret giving up on following this series, especially seeing how it's coming to an end on IFC. But to make up for it, I've been following the manga. How close (if anyone knows) is the anime to the manga?

I just finished reading chapter 29, I think, and like I said, I regret not continuing to follow the series. I originally gave up on the series because of the slow-ness at the beginning (first 4-5 episodes), and it was just hard to continue with it. (Also, because it is Romeo and Juliet)

I really don't want to go into, too much details, but I have to talk about these characters. Outside of a couple, I don't have any issues with them, and not that it's a big deal (I actually like it), it's that almost every single character looks real demented. It's like they're pissed off at the world. (As I said, I like it. It's better than having every ninja smiling, looking stupid all the time.)

Also, at the beginning when I first started watching this, I felt that the abilities could've been a little bit more fleshed out. I was sort of put off by it because things were ending so quickly, too.

Another thing that I actually like about these characters is that they use their heads. Of course, majority of what's going to happen is predictable, but it's good to see them use their heads in the first place. You have no idea how tired I become at some of the characters in Naruto for being so stupid.

It's hard for me to choose a favorite character because I like almost all of them [spoiler]even though none of them stay alive too long.[/spoiler] But Gennosuke is my top favorite of the bunch, I suppose. [spoiler]His ability makes sharingan look like child's play[/spoiler].

Basilisk is my favorite manga, that's for sure. As far as the anime goes, I'll have to wait for a repeat or something.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[dearzhardy]

i just thougt of something,why did [spoiler]ALL the basilisk charters die?[/spoiler]
i watch every espisode and i still don't know why.
they even [spoiler] killed my favorite charter hotarubi![/spoiler]
i loved that show, i wish they would run reruns so that i could watch it.
i have the manga but there's things that happen in the anime that
don't happen in the manga.
still it was a sad sirses.>i can't spell<
[COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="1"][INDENT]Just a couple of things to keep in mind [B]dearz[/B]. First we have a thread [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=38208"][U]directory[/U][/URL] so we ask that you check that [I]before[/I] you make a new thread on a series. Second, we have [URL="http://www.otakuboards.com/showthread.php?t=55649"][U]guidelines[/U][/URL] for this section that explain how to use spoiler tags so you don't ruin it for someone who has yet to see the show. I suggest you take the time to review the rules and sticky's for each section. ~Indi[/INDENT][/SIZE][/COLOR]