Basilisk 1: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls

How does Basilisk tell a simple story, yet fill with passion and intensity, that you are compelled to turn the pages? Simply. A simple story, vivid pictures with an economy of words, Basilisk addresses the premise of loyalty to family means great sacrifice to the individual. Revenge and betrayal or loyalty and love, which will conquer. Book One sets the stage for darkness to be victorious as the peace is dissolved and the ninja clans must pit their 10 best against each other. Only problem is that one clan does not know that the contest exist, and the other wants to make sure it stays that way. The battle scenes are nicely done. The artistry enhances the life and death situations. It's in-your-face combat with only one objective: kill the enemy. The character interaction seems to be a means to the next fight. Characters die for their clan before the reader has time to feel connection or care. If you want complexity in survival and death where assassins and warriors live by codes of honor, Lone wolf and cub series is one to read. It's the wiseman or veteran general, where Basilisk is a young adult angst for respect and living passions in the moment. Basilisk is a good read, once around. There is a novel about the series that's suppose to be good: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada. Enjoy the series.

The Iga and Koga ninja clans go to war to decide the succession of the Tokugawa Shogunate, and two lovers--Oboro of the Iga and Gennosuke of the Koga--are caught in the middle. The first half of this first issue is set-up, and the second half is "character x" vs. "character y" battles, common to many anime. The competing ninja are often grotesque and always possess bizarre powers, reminiscent of the Devils of Kimon from Ninja Scroll. The art work is well-rendered and fits the tone of the peice well. The story is engaging, but definitely for mature readers. If anime like Ninja Scroll or blood-spurting chambara action like Lone Wolf & Cub or Kill Bill vol. 1 is your thing, this series is worth checking out.

Basilisk is another one of those unforgiving manga. It has plenty of bloody action, nudity, and other mature themes that have yet to arise so early in this manga series. It goes about telling its story as graphically as it can and doesn't try to win over readers but rather scare them off. Manga like this, I think, deserve far more credit than the more mainstream stuff. They want to present as pure a story as they can, in a no-holds-barred kind of way. The story in Basilisk certainly provides all the fuel needed to make this a very dark and mature manga. It follows the story of two rival ninja clans, the Iga and the Kouga (some may recognize this from Ninja Scroll) who are charged by the Shogun to have a ten on ten battle to decide who will be the next shogun in line. Unfortunately, a truce was established between these two warring clans, and some of the members have been able to put aside their differences, including the children of the leaders of the opposing clans. Gennosuke and Oboro are madly and love and plan on wedding very soon, yet have no idea that their happiness is at stake because of the breaking of the truce. But how will they react when they find out that the clans are no longer at peace? That question has yet to be answered, as what follows is a game of shadows and conspiracy and plenty of bloody fighting between these opposing clans. This manga is good simply because of the promise of the future. By what I saw in this volume, volume two and every one after that will no doubt be action packed and have a lot more intrigue. Plus, I can't wait to see how the love story will play out in the middle of a war between a ninja rivalry fiercer than the Yankees and the Red Sox. To add to the great story, though, is even greater art. Though at times the character designs were somewhat goofy, it made it easy to distinguish them, which was very helpful considering the size of the cast in Basilisk. You may not know their names, but you'll definitely know what they look like. Another unique aspect of the art is the real settings used as a background in the panels, though given somewhat of a faded or foggy look to make the characters blend more easily. Early on, this was disconcerting, but looking back I actually appreciated the experimental style of it. It helped to make Basilisk stand apart from other manga. As for recommendations, if you plan on getting the anime, then I'd definitely tell you to get the manga. The manga goes far deeper into the story than the anime will, this much I'm sure about. Also, if you liked the Ninja Scroll anime, then you'll fall right into Basilisk. They both have the same themes of action and blood in Feudal Japan. Beyond that, if you're a fan of dark, mature manga such as Berserk then you'll love Basilisk.