Wrath of the Ninja is an action packed fantasy with horror elements that not only features battles between man, but also against grotesque demons that will be seen feasting on human corpses. To include, one character raises the dead which is made up of headless and torn up bodies to do battle. The anime pulls very little punches with its violence and dark tone. I enjoyed the dark atmosphere in several segments. It's also a plus that the anime does not at all contain comedic moments to lighten up the mood. This one element actually harms many titles, and sometimes can make it difficult for me to take serious what I'm watching.
Wrath of the Ninja has a pretty straight forward story and plot utilizing the good vs. evil theme, along with old legends bringing together a small group fighting for peace or revenge. The anime does kind of lack in character development though. The three main characters Ayanosuke, Sakon, and Ryoma are well developed for the most part, and I also enjoy how some of the character development isn't completely spoon-fed. I don't prefer my stories or characters motives to be spelled out for me at every turn. However, the villains seem to suffer from the same issues the villains in Ninja Scroll suffer from, which is the complete lack of diversity. They're all completely one dimensional stock bad guys. The secondary cast are very poorly done, and several of them die dramatic deaths. I can't imagine any viewer truly growing a liking to any of them, much less caring about their fates. Believe it or not despite the longer length, the OVA makes this exact same mistake.
The animation is pretty good and doesn't have much of a dated feel. The backgrounds are well lit when called for, such as during the burning of towns and villages, and the darkness seemed to fit comfortably when necessary. The action scenes can also be pretty good with a few hand to hand and sword exchanges. There's a real good amount of gore and graphic deaths, such as characters being shot to death with muskets, and heads exploding in very graphic detail. However, there were numerous shortcuts taken with reused cels and stills on static backgrounds.
I thought the artwork was well done with nice traditional character designs, along with the freakish designs for some of the monsters. There's also a small bit of nudity that is actually within reason. Although I can't say it was great or memorable, the soundtrack did its job by enhancing the viewing experience for me.
The voice acting is a mixed bag here. Normally, I prefer to watch dubs but the English version has several annoying voice actors, and this goes for the villains as well. Although the voices did fit well with the characters overall appearance. I felt some of them went a little over board trying to be evil and the performances felt too forced, but the main character was notably awful. The sub doesn't make this mistake though, and the Japanese seiyuu felt a lot more natural with some of the villains having a menacing feel to them. When compared to the three episode OVA, the story really isn't as engrossing because it feels too by the numbers. The OVA takes a lot more time actually telling a story, and it utilizes a narration covering moments of the war, and the viewer can have a better understanding of at least one of the ninja clans dire situation.
Overall, Wrath of the Ninja is a decent movie but I only recommend picking up the two disk version. The movie on its own is not something I would consider to be a must see, in fact I don't consider the OVA to be a must see either, especially for the casual anime fan. I would only recommend this to the most serious otakus.
Highs: Action, good Japanese cast
Lows: Secondary characters, movie is weaker than OVA
