Ninja Scroll (DVD)

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There is some artifacting in the video, although most of it appears to be things that Manga has no control over, such as dust on the cels. For purposes of rating the video quality, I´m going to pretend that the "widescreen" print doesn´t exist, and you should do the same if you buy this DVD.

Audio:
Manga went all out in the audio department. You can watch the show in DTS-ES 6.1 Japanese, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Japanese, DTS-ES 6.1 English, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo French, and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Spanish. There is an option for English subtitles. I watched it in Japanese with English subtitles. I chose to watch the show in DTS-ES 6.1 Japanese with English subtitles. The sound quality was great, no static or noise error that I could hear. Most of the channel separation is noticeable in environmental effects.

Extras:
There´s not much in the way of extras, considering this is a "Special Edition" disc. The extras are on both sides of the DVD. The first extra is "Director Interview", which was a nice touch. Instead of subtitling a Japanese interview, it appears that Manga actually went and interviewed the director themselves. Most of the questions are pretty stock, such as how the director, Yoshiaki Kawajiri, felt about the movies good reception in overseas markets. Others are a little dated, as they ask Yoshiaki how he feels about CG in anime (this was a big deal five years ago, but the issue has pretty well settled down by now).

There´s also an "English Actors Interview", which has an interview with Brad Lavelle, the voice of Jubei, and Wendee Lee, the voice of Kagero. Although I suppose it wasn´t that different than other interviews I´ve seen with voice actors, it was still enjoyable. I´m interested in the business behind producing domestic anime, so these interviews are a good source of anecdotal tales of the day to day work.

Finally, there´s a section given over to short comments for each character in the movie, as well as some historical background on the real Jubei. An interesting, if brief, read.

--Miscellaneous--
The DVD comes in a cardboard slip case with a three section fold out case inside. The case itself is covered in art work and has the chapter list printed on it. There´s a "Ninja Scroll" post card, as well as a medium sized folded up double sided poster. Unfortunately, both sides of the poster are rather fuzzy, so it´s not much of a perk.

Film Value:
"Ninja Scroll" is like many other ninja/samurai movies. There´s plenty of sword play, super-ninja skills, miscellanies action, and some nudity. Your father´s animation it ain´t. Beyond the novelty of seeing such scenes in animation, there is not much to recommend this film over other chop-socky films. It´s somewhat better than average for the genre, so if that´s the kind of film you want to see, give "Ninja Scroll" a look. Just don´t watch the widescreen version.