History Anime / NinjaScroll

* Yurimaru, the [[PsychoElectro electrokinetic]] {{Bishonen}}. He can also send long-distance messages through nearly-invisible wires.

* Himuro Genma, who [[CompleteImmortality cannot die]].

* MakeSureHesDead: Yurisato detonates an entire river trying to kill Jubei and his friends -- then makes sure to comb it for dead bodies.

* TearJerker: [[spoiler:Kagero's]] death.

'''''Ninja Scroll''''' is an award-winning 1993 {{anime}} film [[JidaiGeki during the Tokugawa period]]; as one of Manga Entertainment's first major releases during the mid-1990s anime boom, ''Ninja Scroll'' is fondly remembered by those who entered the anime fandom during this period.

A dying peasant girl staggers into the village next to hers and claims a plague has wiped out her village before collapsing. The area is promptly evacuated and quarantined, but the leader of the local lord's ninja force receives reports of a group of strangers seen passing through the village before the plague outbreak of the plague and asks for permission to investigate.

As the lord's ninja squad make their way towards Shimoda village, they're slaughtered by a giant of a man who can turn his skin into stone. The only survivor of the massacre is Kagero, the sole female ninja in the squad -- and she survives only because the stone man (Tessai) wants to rape her. The empty temple he takes her to isn't quite empty, however, as wandering {{ronin}} Jubei -- the film's protagonist -- has stopped there. Jubei manages to wound Tessai in a brief fight and helps Kagero escape, but the duo parts ways afterward.

Kagero returns to report to the chamberlain, who orders her to return and gather more information about the attackers. In the meantime, Jubei is attacked by Tessai and another member of the Eight Devils of Kimon, a group of super-powerful ninja. Jubei is saved from one of these attacks by Dakuan, a crazy old man who works as a government agent tracking the Eight Devils. Dakuan asks Jubei to help him, but Jubei refuses until Dakuan traps Jubei in a PoisonAndCureGambit before revealing a startling piece of information: the Eight Devils' is Himuro Genma, a man Jubei has some history with -- and whom Jubei [[DeaderThanDead insists he killed]].

Jubei's only chance of survival lies in defeating the Eight Devils of Kimon and retrieving the antidote he needs, and working together with Dakuan and Kagero (after they encounter each other again) appears to give him a greater chance of staying alive -- but even for a MasterSwordsman, taking on the rest of the Eight Devils and their schemes is a formidable challenge, as the Eight Devils are a QuirkyMinibossSquad of supernatural ninja:

* Shijima, a shadow walker with a crazy spring-loaded claw contraption. He also has a sort of mind control/puppet master ability that he uses to temporarily turn Kagero against Jubei.
* Utsutsu Mujuro, the [[DisabilitySuperpower blind swordsman]].

* BigDamnVillains: Yurimaru has strung up Jubei with his wires and is torturing him by via electrocution -- then [[WomanScorned Zakuro]] uses one of her "living bombs" to kill Yurimari (Jubei manages to escape, although he is severely hurt).

* CorpseLand: One town is littered with diseased corpses.

** What Shijima does to Kagero to take control of her appears to involve molesting her; see RapeAsDramam below.

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* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Due to her job as a poison taster, Kagero is immune to all types of poison, although it's implied she's a poison taster ''because'' of her immunity (instead of being immune because she's a poison taster).

* BigDamnHeroes: Jubei is this to Kagero when he confronts Tessai, and Kagero returns the favour when Jubei fights Utsuro Mujuro.

* BloodLust: Tessai drinks the blood from the lead Koga ninja's dismembered arm [[ForTheEvulz to freak out Kagero.]]

* CantHaveSexEver: Kagero's body absorbs poisons instead of processing them; it makes her ideal for her job, but the numerous toxins have made her bodily fluids poisonous to the point where even kissing someone else would be fatal. [[spoiler:Tessai finds out the hard way.]]

* CoitusUninterruptus: Kagero reports the massacre to her chamberlain, who is…preoccupied, much to Kagero's disgust ([[FridgeBrilliance and possibly jealousy,]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on how you interpret the face she makes]]).
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: This is a JustifiedTrope; Jubei blows through a group of {{mooks}} in the opening scene, but is forced to fight for his life against the Eight Devils of Kimon throughout the rest of the film.

* DeusSexMachina: Shijima can take control of women via a ritual involving his fingers performing acts best left unexplained. Benisato keeps a snake in her vagina. Kagero poisons people who sleep with her. [[spoiler:This is subverted when Jubei chooses not to sleep with Kagero despite knowing she's the cure to Dakuan's poison.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: Benisato and Kagero, though rather disturbing. Zakuro's outfit qualifies. There's also Jubei's appearance at the [[HotSpringsEpisode hot spring]].
* FoeYay: Yurimaru ''really'' seemed to be getting his jollies from [[spoiler:stringing up Jubei and electrocuting him.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Kagero's heartbreaking farewell to Jubei]].

* JuggleFu: In Jubei's introduction ''and'' EstablishingCharacterMoment, he simply ''had'' to take care of three disgruntled assailants before he could finish his declicious rice-ball. So, he tosses said rice-ball ''straright'' into the air as two of his would-be muderers leapt into him, blocks the first with his ''sheathed sword'' and [[UseYourHead knocks him silly with a headbutt]], takes his spear and smashes the second incoming idiot unconcious with it, then cuts the pistol of the third in half ''and'' sheathes his sword in one fast motion ''so'' fast the ''audience'' couldnt' see it, and '''then''' opens his hand and let's the rice ball fall back into it, nonchalantly finishing his lunch afterwards. It's as {{Badass}} as it sounds.

* UseYourHead: During the climax, Jubei manages to knock Genma to the ground -- despite having a broken arm -- and repeatedly headbutts Genma hard enough to ''cave his face in''. Genma gets back up seconds later, [[{{Badass}} but still…]]

* JuggleFu: In Jubei's introduction ''and'' CharacterEstablishingMoment, he simply ''had'' to take care of three disgruntled assailants before he could finish his declicious rice-ball. So, he tosses said rice-ball ''straright'' into the air as two of his would-be muderers leapt into him, blocks the first with his ''sheathed sword'' and [[UseYourHead knocks him silly with a headbutt]], takes his spear and smashes the second incoming idiot unconcious with it, then cuts the pistol of the third in half ''and'' sheathes his sword in one fast motion ''so'' fast the ''audience'' couldnt' see it, and '''then''' opens his hand and let's the rice ball fall back into it. It's as {{Badass}} as it sounds.

* BloodLust: Tessai drinks the blood from the lead Koga ninja's head [[ForTheEvulz to freak out Kagero.]]

* ConservationOfNinjitsu: This is a JustifiedTrope; Jubei blows through an army of {{mooks}} in the opening scene, but is forced to fight for his life against the Eight Devils of Kimon throughout the rest of the film.

* TwinkleToesSamurai: Utsutsu Mujuro

* YouHaveFailedMe / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Yurimaru kills Benisato when she outlives her usefulness by failing twice to kill Junei in one evening; [[MurderTheHypotenuse the fact she was sleeping with Genma, his lover, was an added bonus.]]]]

* YouHaveFailedMe / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulnes: [[spoiler:Yurimaru kills Benisato when she outlives her usefulness by failing twice to kill Junei in one evening; [[MurderTheHypotenuse the fact she was sleeping with Genma, his lover, was an added bonus.]]]]

* YouHaveFailedMe / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Yurimaru kills Benisato when he outlives his usefulness to Genma; [[MurderTheHypotenuse getting to kill the woman sleeping with Genma was an added bonus.]]]]

* YouHaveFailedMe / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Yurimaru kills Benisato when he outlives his usefulness to Genma; [[MurderTheHypotenuse getting to kill the man sleeping with Genma was an added bonus.]]]]

* Himuro Genma, who [[{{Immortality}} cannot die]]. Type III.

An award-winning 1993 {{anime}} set [[JidaiGeki during the Tokugawa period]], ''Ninja Scroll'' is the story of Kibegami Jubei, a {{Ronin}} who gets caught up in a plot by a former enemy to overthrow the government.

After a bit of setup that introduces us to Jubei, the story starts with a dying peasant girl staggering into the village next to hers, where she claims that a plague has wiped out her village before she collapses. The area is promptly evacuated and then quarantined. However, the leader of the local lord's ninja force has received reports that a group of strangers were seen passing by the village just before the sudden outbreak of the plague and asks for permission to investigate.

The squad make their way towards Shimoda village, but encounter and are slaughtered by a giant who can turn his skin into stone. Only Kagero (the sole female ninja in the squad) survives, and that is only so the stone man (Tessai) can rape her. However the empty temple he takes her to isn't quite empty, as Jubei has also stopped there. Jubei manages to wound Tessai and he and Kagero escape, parting ways afterward.

Kagero returns to report to the chamberlain, who orders her to return and gather more information about the attackers. Meanwhile Tessai is out for revenge on Jubei and tracks him down. Despite taking a beating in the process, Jubei manages to defeat Tessai. At that point a crazy old man named Dakuan shows up and reveals himself as a government agent tracking the Eight Devils of Kimon, a group of evil, super-powerful ninja that Tessai was a member of. He asks Jubei to help him, but Jubei refuses until he is attacked by another member of the group, Dakuan hits him with the old PoisonAndCureGambit, and reveals that the leader of the Eight Devils is Himuro Genma, a man Jubei has some history with, and whom Jubei [[DeaderThanDead insists he killed]].

Now Jubei's best chance of surviving both the Kimon ninja and getting the antidote he needs lie in working together with Dakuan, (and Kagero, after they run into each other again) but even for a MasterSwordsman, taking on the rest of the Eight Devils and their schemes will be a formidable challenge...

The Eight Devils of Kimon are a QuirkyMinibossSquad of supernatural ninja:

There is also a subplot that features a strange love rectangle between Yurimaru, Zakuro, Genma, and Benisato. Zakuro is hot for Yurimaru, but he is gay and sleeping with Genma. Genma is also sleeping with Benisato much to the chagrin of Yurimaru. To these characters LoveHurts, literally.

Has a semi-related 13-episode [[NinjaScrollTheSeries anime series]]. A cinematic sequel announced in 2005 has been dangling in DevelopmentHell ever since.

!!''NinjaScroll'' provides examples of:

* AccidentalHero: Utsuru Mujuro has Jubei dead to rights in their fight. Then Kagero tries to save Jubei by backstabbing Mujuro, which fails, and leaves her blade stuck in a bamboo tree. Later Mujuro moves in for the killing blow on Jubei, but the blade which he can no longer track by his hearing is still stuck in the tree, and blocks the stroke of his sword. Jubei doesn't waste the opportunity. Mujuro dies completely at a loss as to how it seems like Jubei blocked his sword and stabbed him simultaneously.
* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Due to her job as a poison taster, Kagero has become immune to all types of poison.
** Though it's implied that she's a poison taster ''because'' of her immunity, not that she is immune because she's a poison taster.
* AndIMustScream: Genma's final fate.
* BadassGrandpa: Dakuan.
* BadassNormal: Unlike the Devils, Jubei doesn't have any special powers, and has to rely on his basic skills and his wits to come out ahead.
** For a given value of "basic", anyway. Jubei has the ability to perform an iaijutsu draw which can strike an enemy or object that is beyond the actual range of his blade. This visual effects used to convey this are fairly understated in the movie, much less so in the series.
* BigDamnHeroes: Jubei is this to Kagero when he confronts Tessai. Kagero later returns the favour when Jubei is fighting Utsuro Mujuro.
* BigDamnVillains: Yurimaru has strung up Jubei with his wires and is torturing our hero by slowly electrocuting him to death. Then [[WomanScorned Zakuro]] uses one of her people-bombs to blow him to kingdom come. Jubei manages to escape, hurt but alive.

* BloodLust: Tessai proceeds to drink the blood from the lead Koga ninja's head, [[ForTheEvulz just to freak out Kagero.]]
* BodyHorror: Good ''lord.''
* BrokenBird: Kagero has been pretty much used and abused by everyone until she meets Jubei.
* CantHaveSexEver: Kagero's body absorbs poisons instead of processing them; it makes her ideal for her job, but she's taken in so many toxins that her bodily fluids have become poisonous. According to her, even kissing someone else would be fatal to them. [[spoiler:Tessai finds this out the hard way.]]
* CarryingTheAntidote: Subverted. Jubei ''thinks'' Dakuan will be doing this, so he attempts to [[CuttingTheKnot Cut The Knot]] by hitting Dakuan with the poison too. It doesn't work as Dakuan has already thrown away the poisoned shuriken and replaced it with an ordinary one.
* CoitusUninterruptus: Kagero reports the massacre to her chamberlain. He's preoccupied. She's disgusted... [[FridgeBrilliance and possibly jealous,]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on how you interpret the face she makes]].
* ConservationOfNinjitsu: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]]. Jubei blows through an army of {{mooks}}, but must fight for his life against the Eight Devils of Kimon, who all possess various supernatural abilities.
* CorpseLand: There's one town that's littered with diseased corpses.
* DeathSeeker: Kagero shows signs of this throughout the movie. In the dub at least, Jubei rebukes her several times about her willingness to throw her life away even in situations where it's not needed.
* DepravedBisexual: Genma.
* DepravedHomosexual: Yurimaru, on the other hand, shows no interest whatsoever in women.
* DeusSexMachina: Shijima can take control of women via a ritual that involves his fingers in ways best left unexplained. Benisato keeps a snake in her vagina. Kagero poisons people who sleep with her. [[spoiler:Subverted when Jubei learns he can cure his poison by sleeping with Kagero, but chooses not to.]]
* DidNotDoTheResearch: The melting point of gold is nearly eleven times the boiling point of water. A fire that hot would have completely destroyed the ship long before the molten gold could have enveloped Genma. Also, trying to battle in that fire would have been like dueling inside a blast furnace.
* DisabilitySuperpower: Don't mess with the blind swordsman. Just don't.
* EffeminateMisogynisticGuy: Yurimaru.

* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Shijima.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: Himuro Genma, asshole though he may be, gets a very unpleasant death, made worse by the fact that he is basically unkillable. [[spoiler:So he has to live as a golden statue at the bottom of the sea, forever.]]

* FridgeBrilliance: During the scene where Kaguro's boss was screwing someone, Kaguro looked rather disgusted with it. Fairly standard, right? Then you find out that due to her role as a PoisonousPerson, she CantHaveSexEver. And thus, the disgust turns into jealousy.
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Kagero's heartbreaking farewell to Jubei]] .
* GoshHornet: When Mushizo's hornets attack Kagero.

* HighPressureBlood: It literally ''rains'' blood during the Koga massacre.
* HonorBeforeReason: Jubei refuses to sleep with Kagero [[spoiler:even though it would have cured his poison]]. They eventually do kiss, [[spoiler:just before she dies]].
* HotSpringsEpisode: After fighting Tessai.

* IntimateHealing: [[spoiler:Dakuan tells Kagero that she has to sleep with Jubei to cure his poison. Their kiss, from a comment by Kagero shortly after she and Jubei meet, implies that this was enough to cure him.]]
* {{Irony}}: The death of [[spoiler: The Blind Swordsman. After telling Jubei that his sight was his weakness. He is ultimately killed because he couldn't see the knife stuck in the bamboo tree which deflected his attack, giving Jubei the chance to deliver the killing blow.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: The chamberlain, Dakuan.
* LastKiss: In the cold universe of the film, where lust, violence, and greed have cheapened sex as an expression of love, [[spoiler:Kagero's simple kiss for Jubei]] was an expression of love stronger than any other.
* MadBomber: Zakuro.
* MadeOfIron: Tessai, [[spoiler: [[EyeScream not that it saves him]]]].
* MakeSureHesDead: Yurisato explodes an entire river trying to kill Jubei and his friends, but he makes sure to comb it for dead bodies too.
* MasterOfYourDomain - The BigBad has an extreme example of this.
* MeaningfulName - Tessai ''literally'' means "MadeOfIron.''
* MiniatureSeniorCitizens: Dakuan.
* NeutralFemale: Shigure spends a fair amount of time standing around and watching while the villains massacre the people whose savior she's supposed to be. She then proceeds to angst about it: "They're all dead and it's all my fault!"
* {{Ninja}}: ''Every named character'' is a ninja.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Genma vs. Jubei.
* PillarsOfMoralCharacter: Kagero.
* PoisonousPerson: Kagero.
* PsychoElectro: Yurimaru.

** Tessai's attempted rape of Kagero. When she tries to resist, he warns her that he wouldn't mind raping her corpse instead.
** Shijima molests Kagero; the film doesn't make clear whether it's part of establishing his mind control over her, or just for his own jollies.
* RazorWind: Jubei's only supernatural power, other than his ability to survive getting the crap beaten out of him by Tessai and Genma.

** Sort of. Some of the character designers also worked on ''SamuraiShodown'' and its sequels, and several characters' designs are based on characters from ''Ninja Scroll'': Caffeine Nicotine (Dakuan); Tachibana Ukyo (Mujuro); Shiki (Benisato); Amakusa (Yurimaru); Basara (Shijima); Sieger (Genma). In a more direct fashion: Kibagami Jubei's name comes from Kibagami Genjuro and YagyuJubei.
** Mujuro has the same gimmick as {{Zatoichi}}.

* SmugSnake: [[IncrediblyLamePun Benisato.]]
* AStormIsComing: Said by Jubei as he runs off in the beginning.

* SuckOutThePoison: Jubei attempts to do this to Kagero's thigh, after she was bitten by a snake, and earns a swift kick for the effort. Understandable on Kagero's part since her skin had become a deadly poison itself and she was actually trying to protect Jubei.
* SummonToHand: Jubei does this with his sword via string.
* TakingYouWithMe: Tessai may have attempted this with Jubei but failed. He also left a handy impression of Jubei's face in stone so that his comrades could [[AvengingTheVillain avenge him]].
* {{Tsundere}}: Kagero, a rare ''tragic'' example of this trope, who could not learn to express her feelings until it was too late.
* TwinkleToesSamurai: The blind swordsman.
* UseYourHead: During the climax, Jubei, with one of his arms broken, manages to knock Genma to the ground and repeatedly headbutts him hard enough to ''cave his face in''. Of course, Genma gets back up seconds later, [[{{Badass}} but still...]]
* WalkingTheEarth: Jubei starts [[spoiler:and ends]] the movie doing this.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: A good-guy example -- the Kogo ninja clan is regarded as expendable, and their lord regards their slaughter only with irritation that they didn't do their job properly.
* WomanScorned: Zakuro.
* WorthyOpponent: Mujuro.
* {{Yandere}}: [[RuleOfThree Zakuro.]]
* YaoiGuys: Alluded to; Yurimaru and Genma.
* YouHaveFailedMe / YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Yurimaru frying Benisato. [[MurderTheHypotenuse The fact that she was sleeping with his man was just an added bonus.]]]]
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* ExoticWeaponSupremacy: Shijima

* MadeOfIron

* PoisonousPerson
* PsychoElectro

* MadBomber

* {{Yandere}}: Zakuro.

* CarryingTheAntidote: Subverted. Jubei ''thinks'' Dakuan will be doing this, so he attempts to [[CuttingTheKnot Cut The Knot]] by hitting Dakuan with the poison too. It doesn't work as Dakuan has already thrown away the poisoned shurikan and replaced it with an ordinary one.