Basilisk, The Complete Series on Blu-ray, or maybe the Kouga VS Iga or is it Iga VS Kouga? Hatfield and McCoys Japanese style.  But what would a good old family feud be without a Lil' Abner and Daisy May?  This age old story of two lovers from rival clans is set in the middle Edo period. The retired Shogun makes a bold move to try and handle some political intrigue in his own house. He removes a no hostility pact between the Kouga and Iga only days before the two young heads of clan are to be wed. He placed the top ten ninja from each clan on two scrolls and proclaims that the first clan to kill the other clans ten will produce the next Shogun. This splits the two lovers and sends chaos through the ranks of the two clans.

Highlights

I was not looking forward to reliving this age old tale that always ends badly. Lil' Abner, or I mean Gennosuke, the young stoic leader of the Kouga and Daisy May, no really it is Oboro the young peace loving lady in waiting of the Iga, have issues to deal with. It is almost their fateful wedding day and they find out that they are now at war. Gennosuke leaves and takes his remaining Ninja on a road trip to see the retired Shogun to find out why this has been done. He lets the Iga know of his plan and they gather the remaining Ninja and set out to, well you know, kill them. 

The plot is not the highlight here, it is the incredibly strange Jutsu and Dojutsu that these powerful Ninja have. There is Jingoro of the Iga, who, when exposed to salt becomes a semi-liquid and is able to slither around. He kills one of his opponents by jumping down his throat and drowning him. There is also Okoi from the Kouga, she has the ability to suck blood just by the touch of flesh. She is also sexy and it is hard for men to keep their hands off of her. Any time breast can kill, it is scary.

The first 20 episodes are driven by the strange powers that these Ninja possess and how they die. The last four episodes bring the plot back to the forefront. There is still the typical final clash and a much expected finale that is less than climatic.

Overall

With the age old plot line as the driver of the story and being placed in 1614, I was less than overwhelmed by the story. I was impressed the great production quality that has become a trademark of Gonzo. The visuals reminded me much of Afro Samurai, and I found the basic use of graphic bloodshed to be a little less overwhelming, but still ever present. 

I will say that the thing that kept my attention was the strange yet wonderful talents these Ninja had. From the hairy beast that could fight with his locks to the spider man who could spit sticky goo through his tongue. Awesome little powers that made these freaks of nature all powerful. The real draw is how they manage to dispatch each other.

For the fans of this tale there should be no stopping you from getting a Blu-ray player and then getting this to while away a few hours. It was beautiful and exciting to see in such definition. I would not recommend this for anyone under 17, but for those 17 to 24 year old males, this would give them pleasure beyond compare with the sexy Ninja and Freaks fighting each other.

ComicsOnline gives Basilisk, The Complete Series on Blu-ray, 3.5 out of 5 rubbery old Ninjas.