Forum - View topicBASILISK Discussion
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IFC_Anime
Posts: 2 |
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I admit I'm essentially a newcomer to Basilisk. The Independent Film Channel is debuting it as part of their new, Friday anime slot -- Gunslinger Girl at 11 PM ET, Basilisk at 11:30 -- and asked me to help get the word out, since they know I'm pretty psychotic over Gunslinger anyway (I've started a topic on that show as well). What Basilisk has going for it is, well, it's Gonzo, after all... can't go wrong with the guys who did Samurai 7, GANTZ, Afro Samurai, etc, etc. Plus, the idea of playing out the crazy-ass battles of Ninja Scroll over twenty-four episodes is enough to get anyone's adrenaline going.
They only were able to get me the first four episodes, but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far. The action is good, the adversaries powers are freaky (one guy's like a giant lump of Silly Putty, another has no arms or legs, but can still wield a weapon with one of his remaining appendages (no, not that one -- get your mind out of the gutter!)). Plus there's an emotional undertow to the whole thing that promises to give it a bit of depth twixt all the bloodshed (the first episode, after a ton of violence and a string of betrayals, ends on a surprisingly sensitive note). I'm going to be discovering this series along with everyone else, so I'm looking forward to hearing what people think. Things kick off tonight -- watch and share your thoughts! |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18444 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Basilisk is one of the best-looking series of 2006/2007 and one of the bloodier, but as it gets into its middle episodes (I'm through volume 4 now) its story is starting to drag. There's a definite feel that they are stretching things to fill the series out to a full 24 episodes. And there's little that's fresh or new about the concept.
Still, as I said, it looks great had has a lot of satisfying super-powered ninja battles. |
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the Rancorous
 Posts: 2248 Location: Hunting the Dragon in Gransys |
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I've seen through episode 16, and I've got to say that this is one of the better action oriented animes I've seen in quite a while. Gonzo definitely showed off what they are capable of without using CG, one of the most beautifully animated shows out there.
Honestly though, at first (with vol 1) I wasn't really digging the progression of it. The battles were awesome in every way, but it seemed like a very one-sided war. At the end of the 1st volume, the Iga have slain 4 of the Kouga with only loosing 1 of their own. I was beginning to fear that it was going to boil down to the entire Iga clan against the lone bad-ass Kouga ninja, Gennosuke. However, the war evened out in later episodes, and by the 4th volume, there is no clear victor in sight. Some of the abilities of these monstrous ninjas at first seem a bit silly (Ninki's moving hair, Udono's balloon-like body, etc.) but the way they are used and executed made them not so. One of the most striking and downright brutal scenes was in the episode "Cage of Blood:" READ AT YOUR OWN RISKspoiler[Ninki used his body hair to turn himself into a porquipine, skewering Okoi who he held restrained before him.] I cringed during that scene. There are 2 other scenes that stick out in my mind, as they were both amazing: episode 9, when Gennosuke finally reveals his technique, I was wide-eyed! Definitely the most frightening ability; and episode 13, a certain confrontation between 2 people, it went from suspense, to brutal, and then ended on a rather emotional point. Oh yes, and Tensin is officially one of my favorite anime villians! He's just so hateable, I want him to die a brutal death, but at the same time, I'm glad he's in the series. He's powerful, calculating, well disciplined, and he even looks evil with his weirdly shaped hair. All in all, I'm glad I've been sticking with this series, and I am greatly awaiting the rest of it. |
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slow_moe_504
 Posts: 37 Location: New Orleans La |
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Well all I have to say is that im a big fan of Basilisk. I just don't like the way the story starts off. It starts off not to good. I mean the fighting is so tight. The story itself could have been better. Im also on disc four and ,at the rate they are going the story could have been finished. I just don't like the way everyone had to die. But its still a good anime.
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I will agree the series doesn't seem to add anything to the genre that I haven't seen before. The cast of characters for Basilisk is a bit overwhelming. I suppose this would be less of an issue if you have seen the Shinobi films, or read the manga. I'm curious why people didn't like the Ninja Scroll tv series which I find to be about as good as Basilisk. I will agree that the artwork in Basilisk is cutting edge, but this really isn't a big enough pull for me to like this show as much as Speed Grapher or Trinity Blood. I do however enjoy the cheesy 30 minute VA round table as well as the neat textured covers that the DVDs come in.
I only wish that Funimation's newer titles were as nicely packaged. The Black Cat and Rumbling Hearts DVDs lack inserts, don't have the Funimation traditional reverseable covers, don't have postcards or little booklets or any of the other goodies that Funimation traditionally includes. |
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Deltakiral
 Posts: 3338 Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK) |
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I find weird that the three Gonzo titles (SG, TB, Basilisk) all got these really great artboxes as well as LE volumes, and yet the new releases have little to nothing. On to Basilisk I have seen the volumes one and two, and I am enjoying this series very much. I wish I had some time to watch the two newest volumes since they are just sitting in my nice Wood box. Delta |
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7994 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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I've seen up through disc 3 personally and the pacing is really slow at first, but the story is excellent, the animation good, the characters well fleshed out for spoiler[basically a kill 'em all series], so I'm liking it so far.
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Subaru19
 Posts: 118 |
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I've been interested in seeing Basilisk since I found out that one of my favorite bands (Onmyoza) does the opening song. I think I'll check it out.
But I should ask. Do they keep the opening and ending songs when they broadcast it on IFC? |
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Eruanna
 Posts: 451 Location: Canada |
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Actually.... I hated Basilisk.
I found little to no real plot and alot of violence and blood and foul talk. I dont really have a problem with any of those things mind you..... its just when good plot and character development takes a backseat to things things.... I dunno. The whole thing was painfull to watch for me. Yeah, not a popular opinion, I know. |
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lockeout
 Posts: 10 |
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I absolutely disagree about character development being secondary; It's the only fighting anime I've watched where I DIDN'T want the characters to fight! Both side are shown to have their noble moments and their brutally evil moments, with the only true villian being Tensin. I feel bad everytime someone on either side dies (except, again, for Tensin, who should die some more) and this sympathy comes from the characters showing their humanity and a different side of their personality when with their clanmates, and how their respective clans deal with their losses.
Case in point: episode 13, as previously mentioned had two characters who had their loved ones murdered face off in a very tense and tragic scene. If you thought it was only about battles, you're mistaken, for the point of the show is how pointless and tragic war is. It's also one of the few shows my wife gets as involved in as me. |
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m00nshine
 Posts: 62 Location: Knoxville |
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I've seen the whole series, the story became very drawn out and slow and everyone's powers seemed to be either over the top or completely useless (except for the guy with no limbs he was awesome). The ending was very cliched and predictable. A good watch if you have nothing better but all in all doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Ninja Scroll.
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Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Has anyone picked up the 1950s novel by Futaro Yamada yet? From what I gather the original Kouga Ninja scroll novels resemble Basilisk more than the Ninja Scroll film/tv or the novel's live action Shinobi counterpart. Isn't there also a other live action films made years ago based off of the same source material? I'm just curious at how similar Basilisk is to the original novel.
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wmill
 Posts: 1 |
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Ninja Scroll (Jubei ninpucho) is a ripoff of Futaroh Yamada's novel series ''Ninpocho''.
Basilisk, Ninja Resurrection (original novel is very good!), and Y-ju-M (new manga series by the same artist as Basilisk) are original Ninpocho series. |
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