| Basilisk #4: Tokaido Road |
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| Wednesday, 13 February 2008 | |
 Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. Not so in Basilisk, where Oboro sees Gennosuke’s absence as a countdown to her own death at his hands – assuming one of her own clan don’t kill her first. Isn’t there enough bloodshed in this series without getting into infighting..?13 - A Swarm of Butterflies Despite having lost the use of his eyes, Gennosuke is determined to travel to Sunpu Castle and see what he can do to bring an end to the hostilities between the clans - although he's well aware that there'll be more bloodshed along the way. While he makes preparations for his departure, Saemon assumes the appearance Nenki and catches up with Hotarubi, hoping to mislead her into believing that Gennosuke has been killed and that there's no longer any need for the Iga to pursue him - but when Hotarubi sees through his disguise, he's forced to take more drastic measures. Meanwhile, Oboro and her clansmen begin their own journey to Sunpu. Their plan is to travel by sea, hoping to beat the Kouga to arrive first, but while her clansmen are still planning the final defeat of the Kouga, Oboro's main concern is in finding a way to patch things up with Gennosuke...   14 - Fallen Flower Annoyed at Oboro's apparent lack of interest in pursuing the feud against the Kouga, Tenzen arranges for him to spend some time alone with her, so he can work on "persuading" her to see things his way. Let's just say that his methods of persuasion aren't intended to be pleasant. Fortunately for Oboro, Koshiro hears her screams and, despite having been warned to to interfere, comes to her rescue - only to find that Tenzen has already been killed. Not by Oboro, either - and the killer is still on the loose...   15 - Reckoning / Prison on the High Seas Gyobu's amazed that Tenzen is somehow alive - didn't he just kill the Iga leader with his bare hands? And yet here he is. If he can be killed once, though, he can be killed again, and Gyobu is determined to finish the job properly this time. But while his ability to hide within other objects gives Gyobu a natural advantage, Tenzen isn't above using the lives of innocent bystanders to even the odds...   16 - First Impressions / Ephemeral Portrait of Days Gone By Flashback to happier times, when the clans were at peace and the ninja of both sides had little to do but train and mess around. It's also the time of the first meeting between the young Gennosuke and Oboro - not exactly the smoothest of introductions, as both still harboured stereotypical fears of the other clan, but eventually a relationship was alowed to grow between the two that promised the put a permanent seal on the enforced peace between the clans. But we all know how well that worked out...   The body-count continues to rise, and if you’re watching Basilisk for the action scenes, then episodes 13 & 15 are the ones you’re looking for, with 15 in particular being little more than a face-off between two of the more difficult-to-kill members of the clans. I almost skimmed over that episode, as there’s probably more talking & posing than fighting while the characters concerned aren’t exactly my favourites (in a series full of warriors with special abilities, it’s the ones who seem impossible to kill that annoy me the most. Just die, already). Fortunately, the rest of the disc – and especially the more character-based scenes that make up episodes 14 & 16 – more than make up for that. Gennosuke and the Kouga almost take a back seat this time out, as the main focus is most definitely on the Iga – on Oboro, her continuing feelings for Gennosuke, and how this affects her relationship with some of her clansfolk. There are a lot of emotionally-heavy scenes around this, with rape and other unpleasantries also on the agenda, so all told this disc probably isn’t for the squeamish – but there’s a purpose served by all of this, showing that love can overcome tradition, both between and within the clans. Tenzen’s actions only paint him as being even more of a nasty piece of work than we already knew he was. With him proving as difficult to kill as Full Metal Panic’s Gauron (that is, impossible), he’s going to be annoying me for a while longer, it seems. The final episode here takes a break from the main story and goes back to earlier and happier times, when Oboro and Gennosuke were both children, to show us the beginnings of their friendship. The story works really well on two levels – first, getting to see the history of the current generation and a little about what the two clans thought of their coming-together at the time, and also by giving us a chance to see again the characters who have been killed so far. Away from the fighting, Basilisk has had some great characters who have suffered by not being around long enough to really grow – that flaw is corrected here and, even though you know it’s flashback, it’s good to see them in action again. Underneath all this, though, is the current that’s really pulling both clans towards their doom. At the end of the disc, both the Kouga and the Iga are down to 4 members each – that’s 12 warriors who have already bitten the dust, with the resulting bad blood that’s created only aggravating the traditional rivalry. There’s really very little sign that this is going to be able to end happily for the lovestruck ones. I’m still no fan of the fighting side of Basilisk, but the more I see of it the more it grows on me on the back of the characters themselves, with the scenes that build & develop them really being the ones that make the series for me. There’s been a lot of hype around this series and to be honest I don’t think it really lives up to it, but given a chance there is something here for most people to enjoy. Well worth a look. Watch the trailer for this release  |
