Jigen Sengokushi: Kuro no Shishi - Jinnai-hen

before i start this review i want to thank bobsamurai for his youtube video about this OVA without it i wouldn't get the chance to watch this hidden gem.
the creator of this is GO NAGAI so you should know what to expect from this anime,it is not meant to be philosophical or deep or thought provoking ,it is just a non stop action movie about ninjas , invincible robots and a mysterious alien power that work in the shadows ,yes robots and ninjas the story is one of the craziest i've seen in anime ,robots slaughtering ninjas by dozens in feudal japan,oda nobunaga ... is possessed by an alien force that give him all the meanings he needs to annihilate his opponents,it is a blend of science fiction and historical fiction,it sounds crazy but it works,all of these are background for the main story which is a manhunt that turns wrong and the hunter became the prey ,to simplify it imagine if the terminator was sent to feudal japan instead of 1980's US and suffered from an error in his program that make him view every ninja as sarah conor.

the characters aren't all that special you have the hot headed cocky teenager who thinks he is too cool for school and ends up failing miserably ,we have the ninja girl which was obnoxious towards the main hero at the beginning then she develops some feelings towards him by the end, the most memorable was ganai he is a non-stoppable killing machine ,each time they think he is killed he come again, he remind me of alucard from hellsing,or t800 from the first terminator movie, he is just too ruthless and powerfull to the point his opponts feel completely helpless after all their failing attempts to kill him,oh and the guy also has a backstory that explain his origin and motivation.

the animation is bad it isn't fluid or good at all but somehow they managed to have some good fighting scenes,the gore and violence will make for the lack of animation quality along with the terminator feeling throught the ova.
the character design is an old school style ,bushy and thick eyeborrows ,no androgynous male character,beautiful female design,i like it.
there is nothing great to mention about the soundtrack.

overall it was quite an enjoyable experience,if you like ninjas, feudal japan, crazy science fiction elements and don't mind gore and violence or you are just an old school anime fan then you will enjoy this.
i recommend this for people who enjoy ninja scroll,hellsing ultimate and the terminator.

Terminator meets Ninja Scroll!

1580's Japan with a futuristic twist. I found the action of the movie to be enjoyable, yet the characters and the story line development was mediocre. There was not much explanation to the circumstances surrounding the characters and the technology. There was a "greater evil" that was discussed but never encountered by the main characters. I feel as though the story was rushed for the length of the movie, or the intent was to have a continuation after this movie.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, but really expected more out of it. I watched the English dubbed version and the dialogue to be ... mostly decent.

Overview:

Ladies and Gentleman...It's GO Time! It's only February, but Go Nagai's Devilman Crybaby with Yuasa at the helm looks unbeatable in its quest for Animu of the Year. As far as MAL is concerned, the only anime in its way is the New Galactic Heroes, which is highly condensed and being directed by a guy known only for Koroko no Basket. Basically, Yuasa is just going to easily cruise to victory again like a heavyweight boxer fighting against small children. However, we aren't here to talk about anime Alan Moore.

Nope, today we once again are discussing Uncle Go! Black Lion bares all the hallmarks ... of a Nagai anime. It's crazier than a rabid, shithouse rat. It's fucking retarded. Most importantly, it is GLORIOUSLY hilarious and entertaining for every single second.

Plot and characters:

The plot is that Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga was actually an evil space alien and conquered Japan using laser guns and robots. This minor detail was somehow lost to history. The main antagonist is a samurai whose family was killed by ninjas. Alien scientists transformed him into a cyborg and gave him the order to exterminate all ninjas! Our heroes are a group of Ninja, who are fighting against Nobunaga and must figure out how to kill this unstoppable cyborg. The main male ninja is named Shishimaru and judging from his Wolverine sideburns, he is likely the ancestor of Devil-man/Violence Jack. When Shishimaru's girlfriend is killed by the cyborg samurai, he happens to find her twin sister and plans revenge! They set the samurai on fire, poison him, use explosives, and stab him dozens of times, but NOTHING will put this dude down. Eventually, they use dynamite to cause a rock slide and this somehow overloads his nuclear reactor. Cyborg Samurai goes BOOM, but our heroes are saved by a rival alien civilization that opposes the one Nobunaga is from. The anime ends with our ninja hero smiling up at a giant spaceship.

Sound:

The soundtrack is really nothing special and the English voice acting is...questionable. This was one of ADV's first licenses and they used the same crew as for Ninja Resurrection, and the infamous Tekken Movie. You can instead watch it in Japanese and laugh hard at the fact the cyborg samurai is clearly voiced by the Narrator from Galactic Heroes. Imperial Date: time to kill all Ninja!!!

Art:

The animation is brought to you by Nippon Columbia, whom you might recall for their outstanding work on that seminal classic, MD Geist. While the motion and smoothness might be sub-par, at least there is TONS of gore. Cyborg samurai likes to squeeze heads until the eyes pop out and they explode.

Overall:

This is 45 minutes of sheer, enjoyable schlock. This perfectly encapsulates that trashy, late 80s, vintage MANime that I love so much. This anime also has a special place in the hearts of American anime collectors, because ADV used the villain as their mascot. He appears at the beginning of basically EVERY ADV anime and yells at you to get the ADV Anime Network. Yes, I want to pay 10 dollars a month to a defunct Dub company to watch all 4 seasons of Ikki Tousen! Thanks ADV! God bless Go Nagai and God bless this awesomely terrible anime!