Ranked #3430

Jigen Sengokushi: Kuro no Shishi - Jinnai Hen

I like to imagine that every anime ever was started by reefer-fueled brainstorming sessions among the creative staff. In this session, Go Nagai has just finished coughing after a monstrous bong hit, and he's waving his hands around to punctuate his speech:

Uncle Go: "Okay, okay, dude, get this:... Um, like, so back during the Warring States period, like, frickin' Nobunaga contacts aliens to get special technology like mechs an-an shit, and he augments his warriors with cyborg parts and nukes and lasers and stuff. So like, these ninjas go after his most hardcore cyborgs so like... They fight and shit".

Dude: "And?"

Go: "So like, the main ninja dude looks like Koji Kabuto from Mazinger, down to the sideburns."

Producer: "Christ, dude. I'm puttin' money down for that."


...

So, back to reality. Remember ninjas? The silent assassins that poison people in their sleep, and wear costumes to sneak into enemy fortresses? You know, those cherished fake ninja stock characters? Black Lion has some of the best fake ninjas this side of a Scroll, and they come in spades. No "kah-ghey busshy no jootsues" or goofy furry transformations for these guys. They cut people in half, throw explosives, punch people's heads off, run really fast, and burn marijuana to confuse their enemies... in homage to the brainstorming sessions that created them.

There is no real plot. Sure, Koji- um, the main character wants REVENGE for the death of his clan by the machines, but why do you care? Limbs are severed, the ground is soaked in blood, and heads fly off; it's really cool stuff. You don't need to know anything else, really. The film's strength relies in how ridiculous the whole ordeal is. Hell, it could have been called "Ninja Koji Kabuto Versus the Cyborg Samurai from Space", like all of those so-bad-it's-awesome Go Nagai crossover movies, and it wouldn't detract from the spectacle at all.

Now, the movie's real claim to fame is the copious amount of organ meat spilled and thrown around. The first FIVE minutes has enough violence to desensitize a small colony of hippie children and Baptist ministers. I feel like watching it again to count all of the decapitations and bisections that happen. It's a symphony of blood and guts and eyeballs and whirling intestines and fecal matter. In other words, it's really awesome.

Now, apparently there's an ENGLISH DUB to this movie, which means that I'm definitely going to rewatch this. One of the few pleasures I still have is listening to old, cheesy 90s dubs, and this sounds like it'll be no exception.

Black Lion is pretty, pretty ridiculous, has tons of gore and ninjas that don't spend half of the movie weeping about their TRAGIC PAST. I'd say it's worth a download. read more

Style of animation is like Puppet Princess or even Ninja Scroll. Pretty good story with decent violence and graphic gore. Nothing too outstanding, but I feel Puppet Princess was better. Rewatchability is high because of it's short runtime.