Thanks to an ad for anime from Columbia House I got to experience Yotoden Saga which got adapted into a movie called Wrath of the Ninja. While intense, I never quite loved it, but I did watch it a couple of times. I felt a bit left down by it, but in a way it’s because I couldn’t appreciate it. I loved having that VHS sitting on my shelf. And only had to pay shipping and handling for it, well I guess my parents did. Overall a great little movie about a Kunoichi and Ninjas.
The movie combines the 3 OVAs of Sengoku Kitan Yōtōden; Warring States Story: Tale of the Spirit Blades, Chronicle of the Warlord Period into a movie called Wrath of the Ninja. They removed around 45 minutes making it be faster paced. The music is the same though some of it could be shuffled around. It was used as a hook to get you into their anime mail in service. This isn’t quite the ad I remember though perhaps it was, I of course got my subscription cancelled once the movie arrived. The other releases were quite expensive. I do remember later they were offering the DVD version and wish I had waited for that instead.
The dub is pretty decent for a 90s one, not all the dialogue is delivered great but some of them do. It does have that specific 90s sound anime’s used to have but I see that as a positive. Story goes by very fast and doesn’t let you digest it. They really wanted to focus on you knowing this was not your typical cartoon and is more adult. It’s a hardcore movie with this edit, but I do wish it gave you more time to get to know why some of the death’s matter.
I like how the generic grunts at times are just human bird ninjas; They are so damn cool and the music only adds to it. It sounds epic and it fits the movie really well. You have a story of the three shadows schools of Ninja . The setting might not be for everyone but if you like ninjas and Sengoku period of Japan you get a brief reminder of it. Nobunaga can only be defeated by the 3 weapons united of the 3 schools. Ayame from Sakom, Hyuga from Kasumi, later joined by Ryoma. from Hagakure. Their goal is to fight the 7 Ninja of Oboro. Which in the edit one of them seems like Ayame killed him instead of Sequin. They just go through them all 7 so quickly since it’s a short run time for all that happens.
It’s a shocking movie in terms of what’s happening, you’ve got monsters, you’ve got plot twists and a lot happens. Not iconic characters in anime in general but that’s fine. It’s a dramatic and important movie that deserves more love. Most scenes are set in the dark at night. You’ve got tons of villains transforming in to monsters. Like Mulan our heroine went by Ayanosuke before being discovered she was a girl,
The complete Yotoden saga fleshes things out. There are 45 minutes cut between the three OVAs, which give more background information for the characters as well as more historical context of the Sengoku period and how things came to be. The movie cut makes it seem more action oriented. The uncut version does not have a full dub