Ninja Scroll was a very interesting anime film that showed a very different type of entertainment from Akira. This movie showed a lot of supernatural abilities in people, and dealt with the idea of demons and saviors. These ideas can be taken in two different ways, either as part of a religion, like the Shinto belief, or as indications of different traits/qualities of people. In the film, there are eight devils, or demons, that begin to wreck havoc on the world, and are looking to change it in their favor, and as the film goes on, you begin to notice that each demon has their own specific and unique trait. Tessai, is the first demon in the film, and he is one that represents physical strength.
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He is not very smart, nor is he very obedient, which is very noticeable in the film, but he surely is the strongest. The next demon to be revealed is Benisato, who happens to have a seductive trait, and uses that as a part of her ability to control people. Mushizo, the next demon, turns out to be the messenger of the story. He does not have many specific unique traits to him aside from his ability to control wasps, but he provides the watcher with a very important piece of information, the information that Gemma has the ability to reincarnate himself, which is how he is still alive today. Majuro Utsutsu is a swordsman demon who happens to be blind. He shows the trait of pride. Every character in the story has some unique trait to them, and all show how it isn’t a good thing to have one good trait, but is important to have a combination of them all.
The whole idea of the eight demons and the Shogun of the Dark also show some corruption in the government. A bad or evil source is attempting to overthrow the government, and make it all for them. There are also examples of this corruption in the film whenever you see the chamberlain. His focus is also to gain power, even though he isn’t willing to go to the extremes as the Shogun of the Dark to do so.
All in all, the film Ninja Scroll had many messages, or ideas, in them that can be seen in many different ways by different people, and how you interpret is up to you.
John,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading over your post and hearing about the eight demons. I like how you include in the end that whatever your opinion is, its just an opinion. Interpretations are quite diverse among many individuals although they all have a common viewpoint that seems to be the most popular method of putting the idea into explanation. It was nice to see that you are back on the subject of corruption in the government considering it is relavent to the last movie and your discussion about it. Thanks for giving a synopsis on the demons, its nice to see a description of them and their role from another person.
I noticed you focused especially on Tessai, you must've really liked him opposed to the other demons. I would like to bring up the point you make about Tessai being the strongest. Unfortunately, I disagree in the point of strength but I agree in the sense of physical endurance. He has a rock solid physique and a sharp blade, but he lacks intelligence and control which are incidentally the characteristics which lead to his death. I saw the scale of strength to be starting with Tessai as the lowest, pretty much like a hierarchy between the eight demons. If you think about it and analyze each demons skills, Tessai would have no chance vs the other demon's abilities. He would fall under Benisato's seduction, fall victim to the sting of the wasps from Mushizo, and or get overwhelmed by them...Get under mind control from Shadow guy, blown up from explosive woman, and electrocuted by the homosexual demon with the threads. The only one I could realistically see Tessai standing a chance against is the blind swordsman, Majuro. Anyways, you make a great point about the corruption which is undeniably present and lastly thanks for explaining the demons and expressing your interest in Tessai. -Dee