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R2 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Thursday, 06 December 2007 16:00 |
 With the Iga keen to press their advantage, Kouga’s forced to reveal his own abilities to his enemy, while Oboro - who’s still far from happy at the renewed hostitiles – takes steps to ensure that her own power at least doesn’t hinder her clan. Will Gennosuke find a way to restore peace, or is this destined to be a fight to the death..?
9 - Utmost Sorrow, Prolonged Rain
Oboro's not at all happy at the way her own clan have deceived her, and tries to get to Gennosuke - at just the time he's decided to return to Mandijani. Most of the Iga aren't keen to let him go without a fight, but Tenzen's smart enough to realise that, with Gennosuke's fighting ability never having been tested in public, it may be wiser for now to let him go. When some of his men refuse to listen and press the attack, they learn a very pointed - if brief - lesson about the foolishness of their decision. But one of the Iga may have the ability to resist Gennosuke's power...
 
10 - Divine Ancestral Mandate
Back at the Shogun's castle, Ieyasu takes stock of how the battle between the Iga and Kouga is going. If that sounds a bit like an excuse for a recap, you're right - it is. But there's a little useful background about the palace intrigue that started all this, so it's not a complete waste of time...
 
11 - Helpless Pebbles
Back at Mandijani, the surviving Kouga take stock of what's happened. Naturally enough, Gennosuke's clansmen believe that Oboro has betrayed them, but Gennosuke himself is trying to take a more reconciliatory approach, while still realising that they're going to have to fight. Oboro, meanwhile, is also coming to terms with what's happened, and doing her best to prepare for war - although given her general ineptitude (the only ability she has is through her yes), it's hard for her not to feel that she's just on the sidelines. Later, Gennosuke decides to pay a visit to the Shogun, and issues a warning to Tenzen not to interfere - but as ever, Tenzen sees an opportunity to pick off a few more Kouga targets, and orders him team to give chase...
 
12 - Magic Lantern of Memories
Six Iga remain, versus five Kouga, and Hotarubi is next on the hitlist, as Saemon pursues her away from the scene of the latest attack. With Saemon having masqueraded as her dead lover, Hotarubi's got particular reason to hate him, but initially at least the battle doesn't go her way. She's nothing if not devious, though, and soon finds a way to get herself to safety. Back at the Iga compound, meanwhile, Tenzen and the others wait for word from Hotarubi, while Oboro continues to mourn the end of the peace - and the apparent end of her relationship with Gennosuke...
 
Anyone who’s been waiting for Gennosuke to stop being such a gentleman and join in the fighting will enjoy this disc, as the current leader of the Kouga finally gets to show off his ability in a suitably violent and bloody way. Personally, I’d like to see some of the characters go into battle with just traditional weapons – I’m not a huge fan of mystical powers – but I have to admit that Gennosuke’s battles, and a few others in this set of episodes, were actually quite enjoyable to watch. He’s still not quite accepted the inevitability of the war – part of the reason behind the trip to see the Shogun is to see if there’s any way peace can be restored – but if the Iga insist on attacking his clan, he’s going to fight back as best he can. That attitude is also reflected in Oboro – not that she really has much influence over the Iga, as Tenzen seems to be the one with the real power, but after one incident in which her intervention almost costs one of her men his life, in her own way she does what she can to make sure that she doesn’t hinder them any further. It’s hard not to feel sorry for Oboro, with the way her dreams have fallen down around her and the way she’s been sidelined by Tenzen.
This volume includes the dreaded recap episode (episode 10), which is presented as a meeting between the Shogun and his advisers, filling him in on the progress of the feud so far. There’s some original material in here as well, looking at the palace intrigue and the two sons and their backers who are vying to take over from Ieyasu – these scenes mean that it does pay to watch the episode, but as ever I found it hard to get overly excited about watching a series of scenes that I’d mostly seen before. It’s only one episode out of four, though, so it’s not too much of a waste of disk space.
The biggest problem with this volume, though, is that it’s simply more of the same – the same characters fighting the same battles in much the same ways that the previous two volumes have already given us. There’s very little movement in story terms – I’d been hoping that at some stage we’d start getting more about the characters and less of the fighting, but it looks that’s not going to be the case – at least not yet.
Basilisk continues doing what it’s been doing all along – feuding tribes, lost loves, and not a lot else. If you’ve enjoyed the previous two volumes, there’s nothing here that will disappoint you – what Basilisk does, it does very well – but if you’re waiting for the series to develop in a different direction or focus on something other than the fighting, then you’ll be disappointed.
Watch the trailer for this release
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