History Manga / Basilisk

* NamesToKnowInAnime: A good chunk of the dub cast consists of some of the best voiceovers {{Funimation}} has to offer. Just like with Anime/Baccano!, "Every Dick and Jane is playing the lead." First let's look at the Kouga's voice talent.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: A good chunk of the dub cast consists of some of the best voiceovers {{Funimation}} has to offer. Just like with {{Anime/Baccano!}}, "Every Dick and Jane is playing the lead." First let's look at the Kouga's voice talent.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: A good chunk of the dub cast consists of some of the best voiceovers {{Funimation}} has to offer. Just like with {{Baccano!}}, "Every Dick and Jane is playing the lead." First let's look at the Kouga's voice talent.

The year is 1614. The Shogun TokugawaIeyasu is old and sick yet not senile, and war is about to erupt between the numerous noble factions that want to see one of his grandsons, either Takechiyo or Kunichiyo, as the heir. To settle this, each group will be represented by two very powerful Ninja sects, the Kouga Manjidani (chosen to support Kunichiyo) and the Iga Tsubagakure (chosen to fight for Takechiyo), who will "[[KillEmAll compete]]" for their cause. However, there is a BIG problem.

Fully titled ''Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'', this manga was authored by Masaki Segawa and published by Kodansha in Japan in 2003 and 2004, based on the semi-historical novel "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls" by Futaro Yamada, published in 1958, which also inspired ''NinjaScroll''. The anime, produced in 2005 by GONZO Studios, closely follows the manga aside from a handful of distinctions. The manga itself also won the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.

** ChristopherSabat as Kasumi Gyoubu (With BrinaPalancia as kid Gyobu)

* GreyAndGreyMorality: The only truly evil character in either clan is Tenzen. The [[ADayInTheLimelight Day In The Limelight]] episode also shows that the people behind the clan war are resorting to drastic measures to keep the two noble houses vying for the throne from killing each other.

* StoryBreakerPower: Gennosuke and Oboro's powers are so broken that both end up getting blinded for a good chunk of the story to keep them from using them.

** [[spoiler: Gennosuke's power '''is''' this trope, he can literally make anyone who goes up against him become so bat-shit terrified of him that they'll kill themselves rather than face him.]]

* GreyAndGreyMorality: The only truly evil character in either clan is Tenzen.

Basilisk is followed by a sequel series, [[TheYagyuNinjaScrolls The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls]], though with only a couple exceptions the entire cast is new.

* XMeetsY: ''RomeoAndJuliet'' meets ''NinjaScroll'' gives a good impression of what the series is about.

* EvilEye: Gennosuke's eye technique turns his enemies' evil intent against themselves. Oboro too has her own eye technique. Even though it isn't as sinister as Gennosuke's, it's still powerful enough to [[AntiMagic render any other technique completely useless.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: At the series' end, ''everyone'' is dead, including Gennosuke and Oboro. And yes, there is also the consideration that this finally brings the clans' feud to an end, making for a potentially BittersweetEnding.]]

The year is 1614. The Shougun TokugawaIeyasu is old and sick yet not senile, and war is about to erupt between the numerous noble factions that want to see one of his grandsons, either Takechiyo or Kunichiyo, as the heir. To settle this, each group will be represented by two very powerful Ninja sects, the Kouga Manjidani (chosen to support Kunichiyo) and the Iga Tsubagakure (chosen to fight for Takechiyo), who will "[[KillEmAll compete]]" for their cause. However, there is a BIG problem.

* {{Break the Cutie}}: My goodness... poor Oboro. And to some degree, poor Kagerou. And Hotarubi, for that matter.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: Kagerou is dead set into killing Oboro so she can have Gennosuke. [[CharacterExaggeration Much more in the anime than the manga, though.]] Tenzen also wants to kill Gennosuke so he can have Oboro as his puppet wife, which would grant him full control of the Iga Tsubagakure.

* NamesToKnowInAnime: A good chunk of the dub cast consists of some of the best voiceovers {{Funimation}} has to offer. Just like with {{Baccano!}}, "Every Dick and Jane is playing the lead." First let's look at the Kouga's voice talent

** EricVale as Jimushi Jubei

*** And on the Iga front...

* NanaMizuki: Provide's Oboro's voice and the ED themes, ''Hime Murasaki'' and ''Wild Eyes''.

* RapeAsDrama: Tenzen attempts to rape Oboro ''twice''. He hopes for Rape Is Love, or at the very least that it will turn her into an obedient little wife so he can be the leader of the Iga village.

* HandicappedBadass: Hyouma, [[spoiler: Koshirou, and Gennosuke when he's temporarily blinded.]]
** Jubei also counts as he was the first in the anime to kill Tenzen ''with a knife concealed in his throat and wielded with his tongue'' and outrun the ten Iga ninja ''without arms or legs''.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: In the anime, Tenzen captures and ''savagely'' tortures Kagerou when she prefers to try murder Oboro in her sleep rather than running away to reunite with Gennosuke; [[WhatAnIdiot if she had not stopped to kill Oboro, she would have been somewhat more likely to avoid him]]. Later, the very same princess whom Tenzen broke so much through the whole series is the key behind ''his'' (final) death.]]
** [[spoiler: Sure, Tenzen. Go ahead and attempt to rape the ONLY PERSON IN THE WORLD CAPABLE OF NULLIFYING YOUR RESURRECTION POWERS. I'm sure this will result in Rape Is Love rather than your ugly demise.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: At the series' end, "everyone" is dead, including Gennosuke and Oboro. And yes, there is also the consideration that this finally brings the clans' feud to an end, making for a potentially BittersweetEnding.]]

* DoomedMoralVictor: [[spoiler: Oboro effectively wins - by killing herself.]]

** Hyoma, though he's more of a ''biseinen'' since he's older than both of them. He fits much more in the anime's backstory, where he's in his late teens/very early 20's.

* {{The Dragon}}: Koushirou for Tenzen.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Hotarubi brutally stabbing Shougen in an UnstoppableRage for not receiving the answer she needed about Yashamaru, Saemon's specially messy murder of Hotarubi herself, how Saemon and Kagerou manipulate the blinded Koushirou and kill him, Akeginu stabbing Hyouma's remains in grief for Koushirou's death, Saemon and Kagerou's murder of Akeginu, etc.]]

* {{Pet the Dog}}: Koushirou's woodcarving skills and his relationship with the flautist boy.

* HandicappedBadass: Hyouma, Koushirou, [[spoiler: and Gennosuke when he's temporarily blinded]]

* BloodyMurder: Akeginu of the Iga Tsubagakure group not only is extremely seductive as well as deadly with her trusty tanto dagger, but she can also control her own blood, secreting it out of her pores to blind or tag her opponents or create a sort-of mist as she mixes it with the air in her surroundings.

* BigBrotherInstinct: When Okoi [[spoiler: was [[DeadLittleSister tortured and killed]] by the Iga]], her older brother Saemon threw himself fully and ''furiously'' into the Iga/Kouga feud. And even before this, the Kougas knew that doing something bad to Okoi was a Bad Idea.

* WouldntHitAGirl: Subversion: Saemon Kisaragi thinks it's not in him to harm a woman if he can help it, [[spoiler: but even then, he kills Hotarubi ''very'' bloodily, since she had a part in the demise of his DeadLittleSister.]] Not to mention, almost half of the Iga and Kouga warriors are females, and they ''all'' [[StuffedIntoTheFridge die very messily]].

Fully titled ''Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'', this manga was authored by Masaki Segawa and published by Kodansha in Japan in 2003 and 2004, based on a semi-historical novel by Futaro Yamada, published in 1958. The anime, produced in 2005 by GONZO Studios, closely follows the manga aside from a handful of distinctions. The manga itself also won the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.

* ItGotWorse: It ''really'' did

Basilisk is followed by a sequel series, [[TheYagyuNinjaScrolls The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls]], though with only a coupe exceptions the entire cast is new.

Basilisk is followed by a sequel series, [[The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls]], though with only a coupe exceptions the entire cast is new.