"Ninja Scroll" is a important piece of film in anime history. Not because of the plot, or the visuals. Not even because of the characters, which are quite varied and worth talking about. This movie is remembered for the gratuitous use of sex and violence, and despite being made in 1993, it remains one of the most intense films in that regard that I have ever seen. The plot feels like a homage to old samurai films, and is thus simple to understand let effective enough to watch. Jubei is a wandering swordsman for hire who, after certain events, gets trapped into helping a government secret agent stop a group of foes called the Eight Devils of Kimon. He, the old man, and a ninja girl end up traveling together to stop this clan one by one. They each have their own reasons, and thus some character development ensues. The characters are interesting enough to get attached to (Jubei is a fun wandering man-for-hire at the beginning, and the ninja girl has some interesting conflictions), and even more interesting are the eight devils they encounter: all of these villains have unique ninja powers that make them quite formidable. One has rock-hard skin, one has snake tattoos, another has a hive of hornets in his back. Of course it's all unbelievable, but it certainly is creative, and any feelings you have about the plot or script is put aside. To its credit, the plot makes for a good samurai movie, it's just not what you'll remember when you finish. When I say this film is violent, I'm not kidding. I've seen some pretty darn violent anime before, as a lot of anime is in fact built around being violence porn. But it's hard to be more violent than what this film achieves: characters get cut up in every way imaginable, and some of the fight scenes are down-right brutal. Of course, there is a limit to how violent film gets, as it feels you've seen it all after a while (if you've seen enough violent cartoons as I have). What really shocked me was the amount of sex: I counted three separate sex/rape scenes in this film, and that doesn't include other scenes featuring nudity and other suggestive material. Much of these scenes happen to be with the main ninja girl Kagero, which might not paint a good picture about how woman are portrayed here. Not many other films outside of porn have this level of sexual material, and if you don't have the stomach for it, you may be caught off-guard. In fact, this film is a great test to anyone unsure if violent cartoons is right for them: if they want to watch it again, then you have your answer. Also, if you've lived with nothing but Disney cartoons for your whole life, this isn't a good anime to start with. The most remarkable thing about this film is that you do indeed want to watch this again. It's hard to describe, but the tragic and violent story is told in a way that feels satisfying enough for you to thirst for more. There isn't much skill in the writing, but you don't care. Quite simply, I give credit to director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, he seems to understand action better than anyone, and really ought to make more stuff.
The visuals and character designs look imaginative, but animation looks pretty poor compared to any recent anime work (it doesn't help that the film was made in 4:3 aspect ratio). You may quickly see common anime shortcuts used in the production. But it still looks decent, and a handful of sharp action scenes make the animation a bit better than one would expect at first glance. The background music sets the tone and raises the tension during action scenes: it very much feels like it follows a common architype, but it does so with confidence, like listing to a John Williams score in Jurassic Park. The English dub is somewhat emotionless, being as old as it is, but it still fits well enough to be enjoyed. The Japanese audio might be preferred, however, for being more authentic to the atmosphere of the film. "Ninja Scroll" is a strange film. On one hand, I could say this is a generic B-level swordsman film filled with disgusting violence and sex that only the most terrible people would even consider watching. On the other hand, I want more, and something about this film works well enough to make it the most entertaining action film I can recall. This is probably why it is referred to as a gateway anime for so many people, despite there not being too much merit to the work here. Whether or not this is right for you, I can't say. But I agree that this deserves to be put up with the works of "Akira" and "Ghost in the Shell," and it will remain an anime classic for a long time. Just don't expect any reason to get Bluray over DVD for the visuals... heck, try to find a VHS for nostalgia.