Rogues' Gallery - Ninja Scroll

The 8 devils ride into the storm.

So, in my review of Ninja Scroll I spent a good deal of time writing about how great the villains were and I didn't include a single image of any of them. 

Ok, so there was a shot with the blind swordsman Mujuro in it. But that just isn't enough. It's just that Kaguro and Jubei are so darn cool that they hogged up all the images. 

So for those of you who wanted to see some of these baddies in action, I give you, the eight devils of Kimon.



First up is the hulking beast, Tessai. He can turn his skin into rock and wields an enormous double bladed weapon that he can hurl like boomerang. It makes a disturbing whistle as it cuts through just about everything it touches.

No blade can pierce Tessai's flesh.

Next is Yurimaru, the second in command. His ability is to electrocute anything he touches. In a cunning twist he often winds a thin wire around his prey and then fries them from a distance. Yurimaru is a very jealous soul and it ends up hurting the 8 devils in the end.

Yurimaru just fried someone, but was it friend or foe?

Benisato controls snakes. She is hypnotic often stunning her victim with her alluring tattoos. When things get too hot for her, she can escape from danger by shedding her skin. And don't get too close to her, snakes seem to be hiding in and around her body, in places you least expect.

If you are seeing this side of Benisato, then it's the
last thing you're going to see.

If you hate bugs then stay far away from Mushizo. He can control a whole hive of wasps. These are a special species of insect that live inside the huge hump on his back. This ugly little man is also fairly skilled with the spear.

Mushizo has a whole bunch of new friends for you to
meet.

One of the most deadly of the eight devils is Mujuro, the blind swordsman. He's able to hear your every move and can block and strike with his katana with lightning speed. Skill alone can't defeat him, it will take trickery.

Mujuro doesn't need to see you, to kill you.

Shijima strikes from the shadows, able to melt into them with ease. His favorite weapon is a long chain with dagger edged blades at the end. He also has the ability to control anyone he gets his hands on. They literally become his puppets and your friends turn into your foes.

Shijima is literally melting into the shadows, and can
reappear in any other shadow.

Zakuro is the resident bomb freak. This gal is no Minnie May from Gunsmith Cats. Her scarred body reveals her joy in cutting open captured enemies, stuffing them with gun powder and blowing them up in front of their comrades. Probably the craziest of the eight devils.

Zakuro deploys her ignition powder, and then laughs
like a lunatic when she smells burning flesh.

Finally there is the leader, Lord Gemma. The scar across his neck is from the time Jubei beheaded him. Killed him dead right there... or at least that's what Jubei thought. Turns out, it is really hard to kill Gemma. Again, the standard rules of combat aren't going to work, it's going to take smarts and trickery to best this beast.

Gemma is unarmed. But it doesn't phase him a bit.

So there you have it, 8 of the most colorful and dangerous villains of 1990s anime. And now that I've given them their own picture on my blog, hopefully they won't try to blow me up, sting me with wasps or just dump a load of snakes on my head. 

But for good measure I'll throw in a couple more pics of our heros. 

Jubei and Kagero have a nice little "discussion".

Old Man Dakuan doubts the veracity of this blog.