Ninja Ryukenden Anime Movie

Known to us Americans as Ninja Gaiden, the Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Dragon Sword Legend) movie is based off the first and second games of the hit series of games for the Famicon/NES of the same title. In the rather short fourty-five minute movie, we are reintroduced to Ryu, Irene, and Robert (who somehow survived in NG2) who are once again caught in a mystery involving the Demon. There are two new characters, Sara and Jeff, who we also learn of, but the movie doesn't delve into them much. It's mostly Ninja fighting, which is quite cool and bloody. I don't want to give away the plot, but I feel I have to say something about the characters, whom I thought were somewhat portrayed incorrectly in the film. Both irene and Robert appeared too unprofessional and Ryu definetely seemed emotionally aloof. At the end of the flick there's an obvious set up for a sequel, but sadly it was not to be.

Verdict: In a way, the movie is kind of like a Dragon Ball Z Movie, you know it's cool because there's a lot of fighting and not a lot of surprises. However Robert does make one great speech "we love fighting, we love alcohol, and we love women. The three things men love." And in comparasion to the other NEs-based films, this puts Double Dragon and Super Mario Bros. to shame.

BTW, I asked two native Japanese friends of mine what "gaiden" means in Japanese. They both said that it can mean either "foreign telegram" or"side-story", depending on the characters used to write it.