Romeo and Juliet meets Naruto in this novel that served as
basis for the popular anime series Basilisk (2005) and the live-action film Shinobi (2007)
Having watched both the anime and the action film, I was
intrigued to find out that both were based on a novel. (saw it from a seller
online and it was an instabuy)
The Kouga Ninja Scrolls(1959) by Futaro Yamada revolves around two
warring ninja villages, bitter enemies, who eagerly end an uneasy and brief
truce so the Shogun can decide who will be his successor. However, in this brief
peace, Oboro of Iga and Gennousoke of Kouga fall for each other. While both dream of finally uniting their
families with their love, the reality in store for them was already written by the
hatred of their own ninja families and by the callousness of the Shogun who
controls them.
While the motif of
star-crossed lovers is no longer original as it dates back earlier than Romeo
and Juliet (1567) to the story Pyramus and Thisbe (8 AD) combining it with the
backdrop of a ninja war is pure genius-geek genius. The love story does adds
complication to what is basically a death dance where you just wait and see who
dies next. It is a quite a fun read especially as you could get lost in the
descriptions of the different ninja skills and more importantly how each ninja
will die. Some could say that this served as a template for the Naruto series.
Overall it’s not better nor is it worse than the film and the
anime but I would really recommend it to anyone who watched either of the two. Some descriptions of ninja skills and how the ninjas die are different (in the
novel) to warrant reading Kouga Ninja Scrolls. Seeing them through words is an entirely different experience.
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