It has been a long time since I've seen Wrath of the Ninja. In fact, the last time I watched the anime movie was on a VHS tape well before a DVD was released. The details of the show had been lost on me but I remembered enjoying it somewhat because at the time I was enthralled by Ninja Scroll. Since then I had actually lost my tape and forgotten about the show but when I saw a new 2 disc DVD release for it I thought it couldn't hurt to check it out.

Unlike the old release that I had seen, this new one actually features two versions of the anime. One version is the horrendously spliced together movie that took bits from the three episode OVA and spliced them together to form a borderline incoherent and poorly paced theatrical experience. The other edition is the actual OVA itself completely left intact though to be fair it still isn't much better than the movie experience.

Time is a funny thing. It has probably been about ten years since I had seen Wrath of the Ninja. The positive feelings that I had for the anime began to wash away after I started watching it again. Maybe my tastes have changed or maybe it was never that good to begin with, but somewhere along the line I felt disconnected and all together bored with this OVA.

Taking place in feudal Japan this tale features a half-demon Nobunaga Oda as the big evil in the land that can only be defeated by the swords of three shadow ninja clans. In many ways this plot is downright stale because similar attempts have been made and made better over the years. There are many areas of confusion in Wrath of the Ninja's presentation but its biggest weakness is the lack of development and personality. Either way you slice it by this point in the world of anime this kind of story is archaic beyond compare.

As the shadow of Nobunaga encroaches upon the land events are set in motion that drives the three ninja clans together. Their greatest warriors (or sole survivors; depends how you look at it) come together and form a team with the purpose in mind of stopping the evil and saving the world. Some revenge tossed in between would be nice too since for the most part they are out to save their hides from constant attacks.

From beginning to end the story in Wrath of the Ninja (the movie and the OVA) doesn't really go anywhere worth while. The extra bits that are included in the three episodes on the second disc help flesh out the world and characters slightly but it's not enough to save this feature. Some anime ages well with timeless stories based upon originality and quality but make no mistake about it; this isn't one of those.

The only otaku that would be interested in this feature are those who are simply looking for something to watch or have an appreciation bordering obsession with older anime. In the near twenty years since this was released so many shows based on ninja fighting demons have come out that the genre is saturated. Because of this Wrath of the Ninja loses its edge and kind of becomes hard to watch after a while.

Wrath of the Ninja was produced back in the late 80's and feature a transfer that is relatively comparable to its age. There is a fair amount of grain and dirt in the image but the biggest concern comes from the sheer amount of compression. It's 1.33:1 presentation better than VHS by comparison but it's still not as clean as one would have hoped. The colors remain vibrant and the animation is smooth enough to hold your attention but the gratuitous ninja panty shots and blood-spilling means this show has a limited audience to begin with.

As you'd expect, given the age of this material, Wrath of the Ninja is presented with English and Japanese 2.0 selections. Because the OVA edition has never been released in America before, that version is only presented in Japanese with English subtitles. The sound is basically on par with quality that you'd expect it to have. With a limited soundstage the audio is fairly barebones and doesn't do much in the way of giving your sound system a run for its money. The dubbing is decent for the Japanese track but the English version of the film is downright terrible at times.

As far as bonus content is concerned the presentation is paltry at best. There is an art gallery and trailer to look at as well as some historical and cultural notes. The notes are the only interesting thing with a few pages on the subjects of Oda Nobunaga, Mori Ranmaru, tengu and sacred swords.

After I was done watching this DVD I was amazed by how much my perception has changed in the past ten years or so. Having more exposure to the world of anime has really raised the bar for my expectations about what I watch compared to when I was younger. Wrath of the Ninja wasn't bad for its time period but by today's standards it's very archaic by design. Everything from the concept right down to the characters is generic to beat the band and leaves a bad taste in your mouth if you were hoping for more.

The only people who would be interested in seeing this are those who cut their teeth on demon slaughtering ninja stories. There are so many better shows in the genre though so I can't imagine someone going to see this one instead of the others. Check it out only if you have nothing else to watch.

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