wAntAn productions

First thing's first. This movie is not based on the Shinobi videogames from Sega so don't expect a video game movie. If anything this movie is one of the greatest live action animes since Cutie Honey well except it's not based on an anime but rather the source of the story is from a famous novel called Kouga Ninpon Cho by Yamada Futaro. The novel is so popular there is also an anime adaptation called Basilisk, which I managed to watch halfway before I got bored of it.

The movie is set in Japan's Tokugawa Era under the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Kouga ninja clan and the Iga ninja clan are mortal enemies who have been held at a truce by the original Hattori Hanzou (which, if I'm not mistaken is a title given to what amounts to a Minister of Ninja who controls the ninjas to do the Tokugawa's bidding).

Our heroes are the clan's respective successors. Kouga Gennosuke is the heir to the Kouga ninja clan while Oboro is the heir to the Iga ninja clan. While their clans have always had an uneasy truce somehow the two youths found each other in love.

Things take a turn for the worse when the current Hattori Hanzou revokes the truce. The movie gives several reasons for the revocation of the truce where one would have been sufficient. Our heroes now find themselves on opposing sides pit in a duel to the death. Will love prevail or will tragedy ensue?

Probably the best thing in the movie are the ninja fights. Each ninja has unique powers and the movie showcases their powers in incredible CGI enhanced fight scenes. Unfortunately some of the ninjas are not given much focus which is a real shame because they are interesting in their own right. The best power belongs to our two leads and when you see them using it you will fear them. Oboro's power is especially frightful.


This movie is very similar to the Stormriders movie from a few years ago. It's a movie filled with a lot of CGI eye-candy and lots of battles which also means it's not a movie for everyone. Some people will detest the CGI but I love it. The art direction is also pretty good and there are several scenes that look like they came directly from some anime.


All in all good fun for slight over one and a half hours. Actually I think the movie adaptation of the novel actually beats the anime adaptation which is quite an amazing feat. If you're a fan of ninjas or animes in general you won't want to miss this movie.