basilisk 24 (last episode)
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Tagged: basilisk
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To recap: two warring ninja camps are ordered by the ruler of Japan to participate in a game of succession where the last ninja standing determines whom the next ruler will be. The catch is, of course, that the leaders of the two camps, Gennosuke and Oboro, are in love with each other and were planning on getting married soon thus ending the feud. Each camp divides into ten participants, each with a skill weirder than the next, and they proceed to slaughter each other over 24 episodes.
Overall, the series leaves as any typical Gonzo series usually does: forgettable. While the animation is fairly good and the action crisp, the premise behind Basilisk requires that about a character die every episode, there’s not much character development nor any chance for emotional investment in a character… aside from Gennosuke and Oboro. And after all the hawt ninja chix0rs get taken out early, I only kept watching to see what happens to Gennosuke and Oboro.
Continue for spoilers.
At the end, with the other 18 participants dead, Oboro and Gennosuke face off in the last battle. Unfortunately, Gennosuke cannot bring himself to kill Oboro, and Oboro cannot kill Gennosuke, so Oboro kills herself. Gennosuke then takes revenge on everyone before following Oboro in suicide. Unforunately, this overly melodramatic ending was the ending that I expected. I was hoping for “the two ninja schools decided to team up and overthrow the shogunnate.”
The problem is that melodramatic endings do work if the audience has emtional attachments to the characters. Neither Genno nor Oboro really invoke a lot of sympathy… as they seem to accept their rate rather than try to change it. The biggest problem is the fact that characters kept getting killed off. A lot of time is invested in the other 18 characters, and it all gets wasted as they die. What’s the point? Basilisk is anime. It’s not Survivor. Don’t vote people off the island… would Bleach be as enjoyable if they killed off a shinigami captain every episode?
I can’t shake the feeling that Basilisk would have been 10x more enjoyable if halfway through Gennosuke said, “Screw it” and started a rebellion across Japan (20x more enjoyable if he had to cross swords with Kenshin before the end.)… anything besides a 24 episode march to both his and Oboro’s deaths.
34 Responses to “basilisk 24 (last episode)”
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Where have you found this episode in English?? please answer soon!!
Maldito spoileador, ojala se te caiga la picha a trozos -.-
I totally agree that this ending was crap and the anime could have been alot better. plz tell me where u got english version plz.
Why are you comparing Basilisk to some drawn out almost future 100+ ep anime series like Bleach?
To say the least Basilisk wasn’t drawn out like Bleach. It’s also alot less .. well.. stupid, seriously in a confrontation in Basilisk they don’t beat on each other with insane skills and abilities for a few episodes and then a 1-2 episodes later everyone is perfectly alright, or they become friends… What the hell?
I saw the last episode around 2 am yesterday. As the guy said before the ending is quite predictable, I mean right after haanchi gave oboro the sword, I knew that she would have to kill her self, cause she would not dare go against Genno cause she loves him, and was really hoping to get married. In the end she killed her self, and that was when I was sure that Genno would do the same, as he saw her die.What reason does he have to live anymore since all his friends are dead, and his lover is dead. At the same time I kind of liked the ending, mainly because of how fitting the song was with the credits roling, and the scnerio. Overall it was a pretty good show, I did not care if I did not get attached to any of the characters, Im happy enought that the anime was able to atleast make us get attached to the main character.
Dont compare Basilisk with Bleach, cause the atmosphere for bot shows are extremely differet, Basilisk is extremely dark, and the characters in the show suffer alot, especially Oboro, cause she never did fight or kill anyone(except tenzen I guess), also that she never wanted any of this war happening, she got raped, by a pedophile, in the end she could not get who she wanted that is it. Bleach to say the least, that show has not even killed off one character yet.
Realmente está muy bien la serie, pero en comparación con Slayers (Reena y Gaudy) no le llega ni a los pies. La crudeza de Basilisk es profunda, pues representa la necesidad de la muerte ajena xa obtener un beneficio. Es la continua divergencia de lo moralmente correcto y lo pérfidamente beneficioso.
Aún asÃ, la serie se merece un sacrificio en su honor, xq podrÃa entrar en el Olimpo del manga.
-Lord Caballo-
i think basilisk was a great series. yes they all did die. but dat was obvious from the start. i watched the last eps at 6am and till the last minute hopin that they manage 2 live 2gether…alive. but at the same time knowing inevitably that they were both going 2 die.
i agree dat it shudnt be compared with bleach. bleach is a more light hearted anime.
but yes.. i wud have liked it if iga and kouga team up and beat up tokugawa ieyasu’s ass.
and btw oboro didnt get raped. she..nearli got raped.
>.
Basilisk is far from being forgettable, the story is very interesting and the way everything ended in ep 24 is far from being the point of the show. If that’s the only thing one remember, then that one has missed a lot of things.
There is a consistent char dev. Hopefully, as the aim was to show the meaninglessness of ancient hatred, the absurdity of war, as the opponents where so much close to each other. There are a lot of past stories which tell a lot a thing about each characters. Almost all of them but Tenzen had a likeable face and some of them showed some very interesting behaviours.
One exemple is the way Saemon watched Akeginu dying. There were a lot of sadness in his eyes, as he discovered the kind part of Akeginu when he saw her with Gennosuke flute. He may have not said a single word, but the scene was very strong. I may have watched a lot of animes but I dont remember having seen this kind of thing in most of them.
Basilisk may not be to the liking of all, but I loved it. I found it to be a fantastically dark action-packed anime which wasn’t afraid to kill off a character if the plot demanded it, and also a deeply romantic story of ‘what could have been’ for ninjas who prided themselves on honour for their clan above all else.
Seriously, Basilisk and Ninja Scroll rate as my top 2 animes. Others just seem silly in comparison. Don’t get me wrong – I love Naruto and Bleach, but having a finite amount of episodes just completes the story a lot better; I don’t think Naruto will be able to finish his story until at least episode 1000!
Character development-wise a lot of obvious as well as inferred information can be gathered in the flash-back scenes, character expressions and tones of voice: Koshiro frets between retaining honour for the clan and protecting Oboro, whom he has a hopeless devotion for; Saemon seems quite amiable, but his sadistic side is shown when you realise he’s wearing that plaster to taunt Hotarubi, even though his finger has fully healed; Hotarubi worries for Yashamaru and so goes into fits of murderous rage; Kagero sadly must never feel any passion for any man, especially towards Gennosuke, otherwise she will inadvertantly poison those around her.
I agree that it would have been more enjoyable if there to be a few more fight scenes, and maybe a few survivors. Yashamaru vs Shougen vs Hotarubi vs Saemon. Wow. It’s a pity that the inevitable Hotarubi vs Saemon scene seemed to be cut short! I get the idea that she can do a lot more damage with her frenzied fire-butterflies! Iga teaming up with Kouga against all the samurai of Ieyesu would have been awesome. Then again, that would’ve been a whole different kettle of anime.
This anime tells an ancient Legend about two Ninja clans. This is how the story always ends (off course, they smurked it up a bit, with insane powers and such). Imagine little red ridinghood actually being killed by the big bad wolf… I mean you can’t alter a story once it’s written, you can change little parts, like those powers and such, but not the main plot. Has anyone seen the movie Shinobi? That movie tells the same story, I even liked it a little better then this anime, Gennosuke is even wilder in the movie!
I have to agree with the Bleach statement and waste of character development. I don’t think the Bleach thing was really meant as a comparison though; however, it definitely applied in my opinion. I mean come on! Saemon was actually starting to feel real sympathy for the other side when BAM, he is dead the next moment. Hell, I might of actually started to care about him if he had a moment to convey his new thoughts to the watchers (us), or better yet, to another character in the show.
It’s as though they don’t want anyone to sympathize with any of the characters, each time a character develops to start to be actually respectable, they kill him/her off.
And last, but not least, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD “ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.” If Gennosuke or Oboro actually TRIED to stop the fighting, I would have at least been able to feel sorry for them at the end. All I could do is pity them, not for their unfortunate fate, but for their ignorance and lack of true strength.
Oh my gosh, this is SO TRUE! And to think that I was alone, thinking this series was… well, pretty bad XD. I thought it was SO STUPID that all the characters died… and I didn’t even care about any of them (which might be a good thing, since I’m really bad at coping with a bunch of characters I like dying. But that doesn’t make it any better of a series XD). I seriously thought that all the characters were idiots, especially, like you said, Gennosuke and Oboro, for just throwing their lives away like that. I probably would’ve respected them a WHOLE lot more if they had actually fought back, and not just stood around whining all the time, while everyone was getting killed, and eventually suiciding.
I don’t really understand what’s wrong with comparing Bleach with Basilisk, despite what a bunch of people said. Bleach is an excellent series, with a bunch of character development, main characters that are loveable, and exciting battles that you actually care to see who wins at the end of. One can compare Bleach with Basilisk to show the differences between a good, memorable series, and a rather idiotic, forgettable series. Even though Bleach is much longer, to me, it feels like it could go on a whole lot longer… the mangaka managed to pace it really well, and it’s one of the few series that I don’t feel is dragging on and on :D. Of course, that’s just my opinion.
I think the last episode was perfect, espically the part that Oboro kills her self to show ho much she really loved him and the same for him.That was the best ending!
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!
So in the show Basilisk showed a man and a womenthat fell in love, but couldn’t be together so they had to kill each other and the others with them. That was to bad they really deserved each other, but that weird guy with the parasite in was disgusting but cool. I reall liked that show and the last episode!
I won’t say that I’m right or whatnot, but I like Basilisk just fine, even though characters were dying left and right.
In my opinion, this anime was more realistic. It’s not happy fluff. It’s angst and it’s showing things that are of a more pessimistic perspective. In a more realistic setting, it’s probable that they couldn’t have gone on and that they most characters WOULD be dying. I agree that characterization wasn’t the best, but in regards to the ending, how else could they have gone on?
If you think about it, a lot of people who go off to war come back mentally traumatized. If you’d seen so many of your close friends, even your enemies, die horrifically, I would think that even you wouldn’t have had the strength of mind to have the urge to survive. It’s a lot easier said than done when you’re not in character.
Anyway, I think Gennosuke and Oboro were very well characterized. The other characters weren’t as fleshed out, but Oboro’s action were obvious and predictable in the last episode because we had already come to know her character. She’s an empath and she’s incredibly considerate to those she cares for. She can’t stand violence, so it makes sense that she’d rather hurt herself than another person.
For those who were saying: oh em gee, just go and start a rebellion!!!1!11wun!!
It’s a lot easier for you to say, especially when you’re watching a ton of Bleach. Bleach was made for the mindset that OMGZoRS I CANNOT DEFEAT YOU?! …WAIT I AM GETTING STRONGER HUZZAH!!! *kills enemy*
Bleach isn’t a dark anime. It’s a more inspirational anime where all its characters (or most of the main ones) are always a) saved, b) get stronger and kill their foe, or c) become a background character.
Period.
So, yeah, you can compare Basilisk and Bleach, but they’re both from two different ends of the spectrum in what they are searching for in an audience.
I understand the frustration of watching Gennosuke accepting their fate with out trying to change it. As a “western” person this is really difficult to swallow. Even Romeo and Juliet tried to get away from their families. We need to remember though that their reactions are culturally motivated. Honor was very important to Eastern Cultures. It would be impossible for Gennosuke to be able to live with himself if he betrayed and abandoned his clan. Oboro I think was actually more able to stick to her love than he. In the end I think she was the stronger in never doubting her love for him. He was inspired to this at the end by her. The show is very interesting and layered. When you really think about it the characters are tremendously complex. It gives one alot to think about.
This anime is a true ninja anime. Ninjas are tools and they die witout being remebered. You get the feeling in the first episode, why let honorable samurai die when you can use the shinobi. The anime fits perfectly.
“And after all the hawt ninja chix0rs get taken out early, I only kept watching to see what happens to Gennosuke and Oboro.”
Well, this isn’t hentai, dude. If you’re watching anime for chicks, you deserve to not understand the ending.
This is the ninja version of Romeo and Juliet with more political intrigue and less teen angst and parental abuse. The pointlessness of war is the theme, and frankly the end is typical of the sorts of stories about men and women on opposing sides of a war who must face off. I didn’t expect a Happy Ever After with this story. It wasn’t going for warm fuzzy, it was going for tragic.
There was a lot of character in the piece, however no one really has a spiritual journey nor does anyone learn anything except that their fate was never their own to begin with.
But this sort of story was supposed to be predictable in its tragedy. It’s not rocket surgery. It’s a perfect illustration in how insignificant our lives are.
You have to remember this anime is based on a true story and therefore was create to show some truth/light to what occurred. And yes there is time to get emotionally attached to characters
meh i like it because i understanded it….jokes…i just liked the hot anime chix0rs and the nice nudity
Sorry for not conforming to the rules, about neglecting the use of swear words. and yeah – I was directing that comment to that initial shit script with the picture at the start and another after the first three paragraphs – at the top.
Ya’lls trippin’ this anime was great. and the ending is was harsh for lovers, but damnit its a great anime. I don’t think I would want to get this anime dubbed in english. Most of the language is cut out if you dub it. For example. Naruto and Bleach, all of their language are made for little kids and have explicit words removed. For all who love anime I definately can say this is THE SHIT!
Basilisk is just Romeo and Juliet Battle Royale style.
“A lot of time is invested in the other 18 characters, and it all gets wasted as they die. What’s the point?”
Ugh…Bleach…Naruto…don’t remind me. Their utter insolence just drive me crazy about reviving from the death without Phoenix Down being today enemy, tomorrow, Happy Tree Friends~! I wonder if this is what you call “cooties” I like to see them die in different unique ways. I don’t want the DEAD to revive suddenly and start going on a killing spree. Might as well save everyone the trouble of disposing those coarpse with flames.
Though I do agree that Gennosuke and Oboro didn’t have much air-time for these melodrama lovers. As for the ending, I seriously prefer Oboro to kill Gennosuke who’ve denied her loyalty thus leading him to accept the Kouga’s hatred and should be punished instead of stabbing herself to death for selfish reasons. But, I support Oboro’s decision from the manga and anime. As much as it sounds silly, I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
As to some, running away sounds like a good plan or revolt against the Imperials will only cause more bloodshed and death to their beloved and village. With the peace treaty as thin as rice paper sepearating them, it would only lead to either 1 vs 2, 2 vs 1, 1 vs 1 vs 1. It’s so sad to see them being manipulated.
wah guys guys, remember everyone have their own taste and will find the series more or less enjoyable depending on how the movies related to their own state of mind . However am a fan of ancient warfare and i found a lot of big logic holes in this series( not that animes are suppose to be 100% logical ) that i really ruin it for me.
Guys guys you know and i know these series are more or less enjoyable depending on how they relate to you. Me am a fan of ancient warfare and i found a lot of big logic holes in this series that really really ruin it for me.
And curse any man who dares to put this series in the same sentence as Ninja scroll .
Okies anime does not alway have to have a strong logic core so most of the time i simply ignore or fill in any logic gaps with my own imagination. however in this case because the story is suppose to be a war between two ninja clan which demand a lot of brain work since NINJA are suppose to be covert operative in other words NO 1 is suppose to be running around looking like a ninja or acting ninja in in public, but Lo and Behold we have the slugg char , the hairy dude , the long armed man and the little doggy thing that spit green glue and of course the freaking balloon man , how the hell are they suppose to do any covert work if they will be spotted as soon as they show up on the map.And then none of the ninja except Saeme show any intelligent in their action either forexample why cant Gyoba simply blow up the ship that Oboro&co was on with a slow fuse bomb (that he setup just in case he failed to kill the Iga team which was exactly what happen).
It get worse the outcome of this war is suppose to decide the next ruler of japan , do you expect all party involve to stand idly by while their life is gona be decided by man and women of unkown skill and allegiance? look at the action of the woman Ufuku she actively protect Oboro contrary to the wish of the retired shogun because the survival of the iga clan decide the fate of her master(one of the heir in contention). So i would expect to see the other great powers at work ,i mean there are more then just two ninja clan right ? why cant Ufuku hire a ninja clan to masquarade as Iga and kill off the Kouga clan 1st ? i mean even if the attack fail it will still have weaken the Kouga clan significantly and vice versa .
OMG it goes on and on, what happen to mesenger pigeon ? Why does the kouga with their superior skill( because they have two eye magician) not simply walk into Iga and ask Oboro a couple of hard question and get things sort out there and then . I mean as leader of their respective clan they could simply order their subordinate to hold on to the truce until they get things sorted out GRRRRR man the more i think about it the more furious it make me how F**King dumb are these people? If any1 here seen Slayer Next man that series while funny and engrossing have a very strong plot every1 who have power sought to exert their influence to protect their own interest this make the plot fun and with tons of twist and turn which is more then I can say for this crappy unimaginative piece of Crap
Sory all for the verbal diarrhea but i just found out that this series doesnt even have a happy ending and am really really tick off fuk
hate on this anime all you want, but the fact you all watched all of the episodes in itself means its a good series. think of all the crappy animes where you didnt bother watching after episode 10.
a few ups and downs in the storyline but the rest was awesome. this anime will be around the top of my list. (and i can’t understand i’ve never come across this anime earlier since its good)
Of course Iga and Kouga couldn’t team up and beat the crap out of Ieyasu because they were raised to hate each other because of what the past generations told them about the other clan!
The anime is great, and YES, there is a lot of development on the affinitty viewers get for the characters, i got super mad and wanted all the kouga to die, even if the iga had break the convenant of peace first, i wanted hotarubi to kill the f*ck out of saemon because of what he had done, and if you don’t think the characters are developed, then i use the example of hotarubi and yashamaru, you SHOULD have been sad when hotarubi died without gettin any revenge.
This series is also a lot about phsycological drama, and, even though at first the gennosuke/oboro seemed a bit stupid, it turned out to aquire a lot of reason at the end.
I loved so much characters that died and i went furious, so, at least the series must had made ME get along with some characters. god i loved koshirou!
Also you cannot forget that they wouldn’t team up because of the hate, the 1000 years of prosperity to the winning clan and, the most important reason, the WAR was a f*cking plan of Tenzen, which betrayed the Iga, and also screwed the Kouga, because he wanted the two clans to hate each other forever, so there was no way the clans would team up and knock out the Ieyasu & Inc.
If the anime continued like a lot of people said, it would turn out to be a stupid anime, meaningless, like Naruto (and I LOVE Naruto, but, c’mon…..)or even worse, fullmetalalchemist (it gives me chills) or some kind of gratuit violence thing if the war continued.
Also, if the Genno-Obo thing was even more developed, it would turn out into a shity girly anime like f*ckin sakura cardcaptor!!!!!!!!!!!
If you don’t like good animes, with a great story, drawings and ending, you should watch bitchy girly stuff or hediously drawned anime like naruto, which is way, way better in manga.
This anime is HELL YEAH! and it’s BOTTOM LINE, cause even STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN SHOULD HAVE F*CKIN SAID SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The people who wrote and directed this are the ones who should have 1000 years of prosperity!!!
This was my nerd rage.
Thank all of you who read this and felt like i did about the anime.
Other animes i like are: Cowboy bebop, welcome to the NHK.
i’m watching: samurai champloo.
i’m gonna watch :helsing, maybe darker than black, but i’m afraid they suck, now that i have watched great animes and death note, after finishing reading it)
i read: welcome to the nhk ( the anime is freakin’ better)
basilisk( the same opinion, the manga seems like a rehersal for the anime)
death note(king of all mangas)
uzumaki (horror);and another one of the same brand, about fishes, i can’t remember the name(horror also)
cowboy bebop(better drawings in the anime, spike looks way too yaoi-like in the manga)
naruto shippuden(great drawings, story kinda sucks now, i’ve finished and read a new one every friday, i had watched all the normal naruto in anime, the drawings are only good at special episodes, there are a lot of freakin’ fillers, which, BY THE WAY, BASILISK DOESN’T)
inuyasha and fullmetalalchimist sould burn in hell. the same goes for already referred girly animes and other f*ckin bullshit.
attenciously, Hose-sama.
Are there better anime out there… yes. However, basilisk is a good offering of constant action with a gritty, abysmal outcome for all involved. If you want a feel good show, or a boatload of crappy filler pick a more mainstream option. I personally begin to hate anime that give snippets of action and drag on into eternity, milking a good idea for more then should be allowed. But hey, to each their own right.
I’m Totally agree with you…. The ending was totally
regretful. I enjoy the anime overall up to the last episodes. The
story isn’t monotone like the other anime.. but the ending really
gives me a too much disappointment.. It’s like a waste of time to
watch all of the 23 episodes….
The movie shinobi was based off this right? In any rate, even if they started a rebellion, (in their logic) it would result in the destruction of their villages. With their elites dead, I doubt they’d be able to fight off armies. Also, after having their loved and cherished ones killed in this fued, it wouldn’t make sense for them to team together, nor would the people of their village want it either. Supposedly it was more than hundreds of years of violence that created a grudge, you wouldn’t exactly team up them. Its like expecting israel and pakistan to team together. Also, They were trying to go a bitt off of real history, there really was kouga and iga ninja clans (which were wiped out by the oda), they just threw in magic of sorts in the forms of ninja techniques. Instead of the traditional form of ninja they went off their fictional and popular form of ninjas being super warriors of hidden techniques which came in the form of the elites. I thought the movie shinobi’s ending was better than this animes, but eh, saw it coming. Either way, people wouldn’t have been happy with the ending. Can’t just team up together after they’ve been killing each other for so long.
Cross swords with Kenshin? Kenshin was probably dead by this time since Ieyasu was so old and hideyoshi toyotomi was either recently dead or fighting with the tokugawa or hideyori came in but I guess it’s w.e but pretty sure Kenshin was dead although thinking of it storyline doesn’t make since when Ieyasu ruled Japan he opened Japan to the west so yeh
We need to remember that aside from this story having fantastical elements (demon healing and poison breath) is that the story is Romeo and Juliette, granted that they are being pitted by the shougun’s sons instead of a slight from between the families themselves. Yes, I am sad and a bit angry that the characters did not try to circumvent their fate, but then the story would stop being the tragedy it’s emulating and become something different.
Now that you have been disappointed by the (predictable) ending of Basalisk, you know you can now watch something else that will give you more satisfaction.
This anime is a *fairly* direct adaptation of a book written in 1958.
The makers of this series OBVIOUSLY wanted to tell the story of the book. If you read the original you will see there is no way for this adaptation to be like bleach and be at all true to the original story.
For an anime adaptation of the book, the series is excellent.
*spoiler* in the original story oboro killed gennosuke then she blinded herself in front of all the ninjas shogunate hattori hanzo *guessing she couldnt bare the fact that she killed the man she loved*
Well, personally I don’t know why, but Basilisk really tugged on my heart strings. There were scenes that absolutely broke my heart, especially when Hotarubi died. I grew attached to her and I literally cried like a baby. But then, I also grew attached to Oboro and Gennosuke because I am the kind of person like that. I loved Oboro because of her personality and I loved Gennosuke too. I suppose it is also because of my habit of re-watching episodes a lot that caused me to grow attached to them. There is just something about the characters in Basilisk that cause you to grow a emotional attachment to them *if* that is however you rewatch the episodes over and over–like I constantly do. But with the song playing after Oboro’s death, that beautiful yet tragic melody…and the small romantic reasoning as to Why Oboro was in love with Gennosuke in the first place tugged on my heartstrings completely. So all in all, despite all the deaths in every episode. I personally liked the Anime all together, However, there were some things I didn’t understand in the anime, scenes that made me go “What the heck is going on here?” But, for some reason I didn’t exactly expect the ending–I suppose it could be that I am oblivious… But the ending really surprised me. It was kind of like the Romeo and Juliet of the Ninja world…but with more of a plot development. Romeo and Juliet *wasn’t* “true” love, it was just a relationship that lasted three days that killed a lot of people. Whilst, Basilisk’s protagonists have loved each other for a long time, and they were introduced in childhood. But I enjoyed every last bit of Basilisk. However though, that is just my opinion of the series.