Review for Ninja Girl

Introduction

Director Seiji Chiba likes his ninja. In the last few months, I have partaken of his Rogue Ninja, his Alien vs. Ninja, and now Ninja Girl, and have found that he has quite the ninja production line at work, making short and sweet action movies, set in the feudal era, full of ninja naturally, with a recurring cast and familiar locations. The thing is that it works. The films are short and sweet, with minimal stories, and heavy on the action. With this kind of action flick, you're not too bothered that the films cover familiar territory each time. What's important here is that the filmmakers are on a low-budget learning curve, that each time out there's something new to appreciate. Rogue Ninja was flawed but fun, Alien vs. Ninja eliminated most of those flaws, and added a wholly different b-movie tongue-in-cheek approach by blending ninjas with sci-fi. Now with Ninja Girl, the setting is back in the 'real' world, and it's time to see if anything new has been added to the mix.


The Iga and the Kouga are at each others throats again, this time made worse by the Iga's own restrictive policy towards fraternisation with women. The male female ratio in their clan is so unbalanced that they resort to abducting Kouga women and forcing them to service their most deserving men. Of course those doing the abducting can't be allowed to soil the merchandise, so they have the relevant bits removed. Two of these eunuch ninja are currently leading four captives back to their village. Little do they know that they've abducted one ninja girl with a massive chip on her shoulder. Kisaragi's mother was abducted in this way, and she's now on a mission to find and end this flesh trade once and for all. Her chance comes when a mysterious figure appears, providing Kisaragi with a sword to sever their bonds. But the eunuch ninja are no slouches at recapturing their stray sheep, while the Kouga leader who has given Kisaragi the mission, has other, more unsavoury plans in the works as well.

The Disc

Ninja Girl gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer on this DVD, which is a standards converted NTSC-PAL image. Fortunately the majority of the film takes place in brightness, while the digital photography is sharp enough to avoid most of the usual ghosting issues. The action comes across in more than enough clarity, which is the important thing. The audio on the disc is a sole DD 2.0 Japanese track with optional English subtitles (you can only switch them via your remote though, no menu option). The dialogue is clear and the action comes across well. There is a spaghetti western tinge to the music that seems odd, but works well. The disc gets a static menu, and the only extra is a trailer.

Conclusion

These films really do keep getting better and better. In terms of production quality, action, and story, Ninja Girl is the best yet, that's despite it covering some subject matter that it shares with Rogue Ninja. I found the way that Rogue Ninja shows its male characters treating its female characters to be a little unsavoury. Ninja Girl actually expands on that, making the abduction and abuse of females to be a key point in its story. But the way that the story is told, the way that the violence and abuse is depicted and expounded upon, is a lot easier to swallow, especially because the balance is a lot more even, with most of the female characters feisty and able to fight back, but also because the male characters in this film are pathetic and abused in their own right.


The story in Ninja Girl really is much improved over the previous films. It starts in the middle, with four women already caught and being taken back to the Iga village. We don't know why, we don't know who the abductors are, there's a random shot of a chained, leprous figure, a mysterious man holding the chain, it really makes you work for the story rather than handing it to you on a plate, and that makes sure that you remain glued to the screen for the plot as well as the action.


The action itself keeps getting better and better, a high point of Rogue Ninja, and taken to another level in Alien vs. Ninja, here it's even more intense and ferociously choreographed and performed. Rina Takeda is outstanding as the kunoichi on a mission, but the other actors are no slouches either at performing the hand-to-hand combat. It gets even better when the swords come out.


I usually describe these films as ideal post pub entertainment; the quick hit of visual adrenaline to help work that kebab in the right direction through your digestive tract. Ninja Girl is that most certainly, but it also has a well-written story that your brain can appreciate even when not under the influence of alcohol. In that respect it is the best ninja movie yet from Seiji Chiba. But I have to admit that my preference still is for the parody heavy Alien vs. Ninja. It approaches a level of daftness that Ninja Girl never even attempts. Still, for low budget top quality action, you won't regret spending an hour with the Ninja Girl.