is a 1993 Japanese

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

jidaigeki is a genre of film, television, video game, and theatre in Japan. Literally meaning "period dramas", they are most often set during the Edo period of Japanese history, from 1603 to 1868. Some, however, are set much earlier—'' Portrait of H ...

''- ''chanbara'' film written and directed by

Yoshiaki Kawajiri is a writer and director of Japanese animation. He is the creator of titles such as '' Wicked City'', '' Ninja Scroll'', and '' Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust''. Biography Kawajiri was born on November 18, 1950 and grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa P ...

, starring the voices of

Kōichi Yamadera is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment. Before that, he was affiliated with ...

Emi Shinohara is a Japanese voice actress and singer employed by 81 Produce who is most known for voicing Sailor Jupiter in the original Japanese anime of ''Sailor Moon'' and Kushina Uzumaki in '' Naruto: Shippuden''. She was born in Fukushima Prefecture and ...

Takeshi Aono was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō. He was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. He graduated from Hokkaidō Asahikawa Higashi High School. Career Aono was most known for the roles of Shi ...

Daisuke Gōri was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Kōtō, Tokyo. Throughout his life, he was attached to TV Talent Center Tokyo, Yoshizawa Theatre School and then Mausu Promotion; he was attached to Aoni Production at the time of his death. ...

Toshihiko Seki is a Japanese actor, voice actor, singer and narrator. In June 2004, Seki was honored by the readers of Animage Magazine in the 26th Annual Reader's Poll, where he was ranked the 9th favorite voice actor, largely in recognition of his performan ...

and

Shūichirō Moriyama , known by the stage name , was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was the official Japanese dub-over artist of actors Telly Savalas (with whom he met several times), Jean Gabin, Spencer Tracy, and Lino Ventura. Overview On 23 July 1999, he ...

. The film was a co-production between

JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

and Movic, with Madhouse serving as the animation studio. ''Ninja Scroll'' was theatrically released in Japan on June 5, 1993, and received an English- dubbed release produced by

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

and released in Western countries through

Manga Entertainment Manga Entertainment was a producer, licensee, and distributor of anime in the United States and the United Kingdom. Originally founded in the UK in 1987, the UK branch became Funimation UK and Ireland in 2021, also currently known as Crunchyr ...

in 1995. The film takes place in

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inven ...

and follows Kibagami Jubei, a

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...

swordsman who battles the Eight Devils of Kimon, a team of ninjas with supernatural powers who are intent on overthrowing the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. During his quest, he is aided by Dakuan, an elderly but crafty government spy, and Kagero, a Kōga

kunoichi is a Japanese cant term for . In popular culture, it is often used for female shinobi or practitioner of ninjutsu (''ninpo''). The term was largely popularized by novelist Yamada Futaro in his novel ''Ninpō Hakkenden'' (忍法八犬伝) in 1964 ...

whose body is infused with poisonous toxins. Praised for its animation and action scenes, ''Ninja Scroll'' is regarded by many as one of the most influential anime films ever made. Alongside '' Akira'' and ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the seinen manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized in 1989 under the subtitle of ''The Ghost in the Shell'' ...

'', it was responsible for increasing the popularity of adult-oriented anime outside of Japan. The film has been cited by

The Wachowskis Lana Wachowski (born June 21, 1965, formerly known as Larry Wachowski) and Lilly Wachowski (born December 29, 1967, formerly known as Andy Wachowski) are American film and television directors, writers and producers. The sisters are both trans ...

as an influence on the ''

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...

'' franchise, and resulted in Kawajiri later contributing to two segments of the anthology film '' The Animatrix''. A televised

stand-alone sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

, '' Ninja Scroll: The Series'', was aired in Japan in 2003.

Plot

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, the mines gold in secret, and sends a shipment to the

Toyotomi The was a Japanese clan that ruled over the Japanese before the Edo period. Unity and conflict The most influential figure within the Toyotomi was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the three "unifiers of Japan". Oda Nobunaga was another primary ...

as payment for his protection. The Shogun of the Dark intends to use the gold to buy advanced Spanish weaponry and overthrow the current government, the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

. The ship runs aground onto in a storm, and the , a ninja team with supernatural powers in the employ of the Yamashiro, kill the people of the nearby to keep the gold shipment a secret. While investigating the deaths, a Mochizuki Kōga ninja team is massacred by the Devils. The sole survivor, the

, is captured by a Devil, , who attempts to rape her. She is rescued by , a

ex-Yamashiro ninja, who fights and eventually kills Tessai. , a Tokugawa spy,

blackmail Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...

s Jubei into helping him kill the remaining Devils. To ensure his compliance, Dakuan stabs Jubei with a poisoned

shuriken A ''shuriken'' ( ja, 手裏剣; literally: "hidden hand blade") is a Japanese concealed weapon that was used as a hidden dagger or metsubushi to distract or misdirect. They are also known as throwing stars, or ninja stars, although they wer ...

, and promises to give him an antidote once the mission is complete. Jubei learns from Dakuan that the leader of the Devils is , the former Yamashiro ninja leader, who had ordered his team's members to kill each other to cover up the location of the goldmine five years earlier. Jubei, who had been forced to kill his comrades to survive, decapitated Gemma in revenge; Gemma survived due to his

immortality Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some modern species may possess biological immortality. Some scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immortality of the human body, with some suggesting that human immorta ...

. Jubei is attacked by another Devil, , but he is saved by Kagero; before she can be questioned, Benisato is killed from afar by , Gemma's right-hand man, for failing her mission. Kagero agrees to work alongside Jubei and Dakuan, who informs Jubei that her body is infused with such deadly toxins that anyone who kisses or sleeps with her dies, which was why Jubei could kill Tessai. The trio arrive in Shimoda, where they discover that the villagers died due to their water supply being poisoned, making it appear that they were killed by a plague. Jubei and Kagero fend off attacks from three of the Devils – , , and ; Jubei succeeds in killing Mushizo and Utsutsu. After finding the beached ship, Kagero deduces that the gold has been taken to Kashima Harbor, where it will be transported to the Shogun of the Dark in another ship. Jubei, Kagero, and Dakuan arrive at Kashima, which has been evacuated due to the townspeople's fear of the plague. While Jubei battles another Devil, , Kagero sends a message to , the Mochizuki chamberlain, to bring his army to the harbour. She also learns from Dakuan that Jubei's poisoning will only be cured if he copulates with her – the poisons in her body will counteract his. Kagero is captured by Shijima, and Jubei kills him, rescuing her once more. Kagero asks Jubei to sleep with her to cure himself. He decides against it, and upon the arrival of the Shogun of the Dark's envoy in a ship, he leaves to prevent the gold reaching its destination. Kagero arrives to meet Sakaki, but he stabs her, revealing himself to be Gemma in disguise. Enraged, Jubei fights through waves of ninjas, but is nearly killed by Yurimaru. A gunpowder-rigged rat, left as a trap by Zakuro for Yurimaru for rejecting her advances, kills him, allowing Jubei to escape. He finds Kagero; mortally wounded, she admits her love for him and they kiss, curing Jubei's poisoning. Before dying, Kagero gives Jubei her headband. Jubei and Dakuan board the departing ship. On board, Gemma reveals his true intentions – to use the gold to raise a ninja army to terrorize Japan rather than serve as an ally to the Toyotomi – to a masked samurai who serves as the Shogun of the Dark's envoy, and proceeds to kill him. During an altercation with Zakuro, Jubei and Dakuan set the ship ablaze. As Jubei and Gemma engage in a brutal fight, the gold becomes molten and engulfs Gemma, who sinks to the bottom of the sea. Afterwards, Dakuan thanks Jubei, and expresses admiration for his and Kagero's humanity. Jubei resumes his vagabond lifestyle, with Kagero's headband tied around his sword's hilt.

Cast

Development

''Ninja Scrolls story and style was influenced by the works of novelist

Futaro Yamada was the pen name of , a Japanese author. He was born in Yabu, Hyogo. In 1947, he wrote a mystery short story and was awarded a prize by the magazine . He was discovered by Edogawa Rampo and became a novelist. He wrote many ninja (忍法帖 ''N ...

and Western

spy fiction Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligen ...

, with Jubei's character being loosely based on the historical figure

Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi was one of the most famous and romanticized of the samurai in Japan's feudal era. Life Very little is known about the actual life of Yagyū Mitsuyoshi as the official records of his life are very sparse. Yagyū Jūbē Mitsuyoshi (born "Shichir� ...

. Kawajiri considered it difficult to adapt Yamada's works into animation, and opted for a simple depiction. He stated that he found simplifying the storyline to be the most challenging aspect. The choice to contain lots of expository dialogue was considered necessary, due to younger audiences not being familiar with the culture of historical dramas. The film was originally meant to consist of two films, being 45 minutes each. The storyboard was written this way, which is why there are climax scenes in the first and second half of the film.Martin, Theron
"Ninja Scroll Blu-Ray Review"
''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ...

'', Nov 30, 2012. Retrieved 2016-12-27.

Release

The film was licensed by

in Australia and North America until 2012 while its UK subsidiary kept the license and released the movie in a Blu-ray steelbook format in October 2012. The film has since been re-licensed in North America to

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

who re-released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in December 2012. It was one of the first Japanese anime movies released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. In 1995, the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...

cut the UK version by approximately 52 seconds, removing the sexual assault scene and images of throwing stars. These cuts were waived for the 2004 10th Anniversary release. ''Ninja Scroll'' was released in Australia by Manga UK in 1995 uncut with the MA15+ classification. In 1997 after it was screened on SBS, former Attorney-General

Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire. Ruddock is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and currently the state president of the party's New South W ...

controversially appealed the film's original classification and successfully had the classification upgraded to R18+ with no cuts. In January 1998 it broadcast twice on midnights on the new

Teletoon Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and "cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts an ...

station in Canada along with episodes of the Macross Plus OVA series.

GKIDS GKIDS is an American film distributor based in New York with, according to the ''Los Angeles Times'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works o ...

later announced that it would distribute the film within North America, with a theatrical release scheduled for April 2018. In 2000 when Manga and

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

released ''Ninja Scroll'' on DVD, Madman mistakenly used the UK cut of the film instead of using the uncut Australian version. This was rectified in 2004 when Manga Entertainment released the ''10th Anniversary Special Edition of Ninja Scroll'' into western countries, and both Australia and the UK received ''Ninja Scroll'' uncut and remastered from a PAL VHS source. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

the film was given an 18A rating, while it was released Unrated in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The film was released on Blu-ray in Japan on May 23, 2012.

Soundtrack

The film's score was composed by

Kaoru Wada is a Japanese composer and arranger. He has composed the scores for many anime series, including ''Inuyasha'', ''D.Gray-man'', '' Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas'', ''Samurai 7'' and, more recently, ''Tesla Note''. He also became known to the We ...

. In the United States, the soundtrack was originally released on CD in 2003 by

ADV Music A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gree ...

under licence from

with the title ''Jubei Ninpucho Ninja Scroll (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''. Following ADV's closure,

Milan Records Milan Records is a record label located in Los Angeles, California specializing in film scores and soundtrack albums. In addition, Milan boasts an extensive electronic catalog which features down-tempo, chillout, and eclectic electronic releases ...

re-released the album in 2015 on CD and digital music formats. In 2016, Milan also released the album on LP with a slightly different track listing and cover art by ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produ ...

'' artist Yuji Kaida; this release was limited to 500 copies.

Reception

''Ninja Scroll'' won the Citizen's Award at the 1993

Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Fil ...

. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film has a rating of 94%, based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. During the 1990s, ''Ninja Scroll'' was among the most popular anime movies outside Japan, along with such movies as '' Akira'' and ''

''. The North American video release of ''Ninja Scroll'' had sold more than 70,000 copies by May 1996, becoming Manga Entertainment's best-selling title at the time. In February 2004, ''

Cinefantastique ''Cinefantastique'' is an American horror, fantasy, and science fiction film magazine. History The magazine originally started as a mimeographed fanzine in 1967, then relaunched as a glossy, offset printed quarterly in 1970 by publisher/editor ...

'' listed the anime as one of the "10 Essential Animations". Theron Martin from ''

'' stated that the "action scenes sizzle with energy and powerful maneuvers unencumbered by tiresome dramatics" and further stated that the plot "mostly exists just to set up conflicts between the protagonists and the Devils of Kimon and allow various characters to show off their colorful ninja techniques". He concluded that "''Ninja Scroll''s story is too thin for it to ever legitimately be considered one of the all-time great anime movies" but considers it to be a classic. He stated that the dubbed English version, which he stated has "slightly more attitude and some distinctive vocal styling mixed in with an occasional awkward emphasis", is "very faithful" script-wise to the original Japanese version and that it still "holds its own" in 2012. In 2012, Robbie Collin of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' ranked it three of five stars, explaining that "Its baroque sadism and sexism hasn’t aged well, but it still packs a visceral kick."

Legacy

Anime series

A Japanese animated television series named ''Ninja Scroll: The Series'' aired in Japan in 2003 and ran for 13 episodes. The series is a

to the film; however, many references suggest that it is indeed a continuation. In the series, Jubei gets caught in the middle of a battle between the Kimon clan and the Hiruko clan. He meets up with the Light Maiden Shigure, a young lady whose village was destroyed by the Kimon clan and whom Jubei was charged with delivering a Dragon Stone to. The duo are joined by Tsubute (a young thief) and Dakuan (Tokugawa shogunate spy), and together they try to find out why both the Kimon and the Hiruko clan are after her and why the Dragon Stone she carries is so important to them. The show was directed by Tatsuo Sato (''

Martian Successor Nadesico , sometimes referred to as simply , is a Japanese anime television series produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko Advertising and Xebec and directed by Tatsuo Satō, with manga artist Kia Asamiya providing original character designs, Keiji Gotoh servi ...

''), with character design done by Takahiro Yoshimatsu (''

Trigun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yasuhiro Nightow. ''Trigun'' was first serialized in Tokuma Shoten's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Captain'' from April 1995 to January 1997, when the magazine ceased ...

'').

Sequel

In August 2008, Madhouse announced that an official sequel was in the works with Kawajiri returning to write and direct. In July 2012, the studio released a teaser trailer for a "three-episode short animation" titled ''Ninja Scroll Burst'', intended to attract investors to the project. In February 2014, Madhouse CEO Hiroyuki Okada confirmed that Kawajiri had a finished script, tentatively titled , and that production would move ahead as soon as financing had been secured. He also divulged that the studio was experiencing difficulty finding investors due to the fact that the original film was "not a big hit in Japan". As of 2019, the project remains in limbo. In North America, the ''

Ninja Resurrection ''Ninja Resurrection'', known in Japan as is a two-part original video animation directed by Yasunori Urata. The OVA series is based on Futaro Yamada's novel '' Makai Tensho''. Although of a similar style, ''Ninja Resurrection'' is not a seq ...

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA ...

was marketed as a sequel to ''Ninja Scroll'', but was actually based on an unrelated story and created by a different animation studio. The only similarity is a lead character with the given name "Jubei".

Comics

In September 2006,

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wild ...

launched a 12-issue ''Ninja Scroll'' comic-book series written by

J. Torres Joseph Torres, better known as J. Torres, is a Philippines, Filipino-born Canadian comic book writer. He is perhaps best known for his run on DC Comics' ''Teen Titans Go! (2004 comic series), Teen Titans Go!''. He has also done some writing for a ...

, which follows the further adventures of Jubei.

Live-action adaptation

In October 2008, it was reported that Warner Bros. had acquired the rights to develop a live-action adaptation of ''Ninja Scroll'', with Leonardo DiCaprio's

Appian Way Productions Appian Way Productions is a Los Angeles based film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Davisson serves as President of Production. Since its launch, Appian Way has released a dive ...

, Madhouse, and Japanese producer Jungo Maruta also involved in the project. Screenwriter

Alex Tse Alex Tse (born 1976) is an American screenwriter who wrote the 2004 gangster film ''Sucker Free City'', co-wrote the 2009 superhero film ''Watchmen'', and wrote the 2018 film '' Superfly''. He is also a writer and executive producer for the 2019 ...

, who co-wrote the 2009 film ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...

'', was hired to write the screenplay. In April 2009, it was reported that DiCaprio would act as producer, and was considering casting the Japanese boy band

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six- ...

in the lead roles. In October 2015, ''

Dracula Untold ''Dracula Untold'' is a 2014 American dark fantasy action-horror film directed by Gary Shore in his feature film debut and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. A reboot of the ''Dracula'' film series, the plot creates an origin story f ...

'' director Gary Shore revealed he had once been attached to direct the film, releasing a

proof of concept Proof of concept (POC or PoC), also known as proof of principle, is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has prac ...

trailer he had produced with

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

by 87Eleven and animation by The Third Floor. As of 2018, the production remains in

development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are Media industry, media and Software industry, software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between d ...

References

External links

* * * {{Madhouse films 1993 fantasy films 1990s spy films 1993 LGBT-related films 1993 anime films 1993 films Bisexuality-related films Fantasy adventure films Films about immortality Films about terrorism in Asia Films adapted into comics Films adapted into television shows Films directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri Films scored by Kaoru Wada Films set in feudal Japan Historical fantasy anime and manga Horror anime and manga Japanese LGBT-related films Japanese animated fantasy films Japanese animated horror films 1990s Japanese-language films LGBT in anime and manga LGBT-related animated films Madhouse (company) Manga Entertainment Martial arts fantasy films Martial arts horror films Ninja films Ninja in anime and manga Rape and revenge films Samurai in anime and manga Sentai Filmworks Japanese adult animated films