Reviews

It's forgivable for a movie of this calibre to have a mediocre story as long as it serves as a frame for impressive fight scenes. Instead, with Kunoichi, the viewer is presented with a scant (yet still poorly presented and somewhat convoluted)story and mostly unimpressive martial art sequences.

Rina Takada is easy on the eyes and performs respectably in her fight scenes, but she has fairly little screen time in a movie that is only about an hour long (less than an hour if you discount the opening and closing credits). The majority of the film is spent listening to the male leads ham up the screen as they spout off about motives for kidnapping the female leads until you just want them to go away.

If you have a chance to catch this on Netflix to watch while having dinner on a Tuesday night, you might feel it was worth watching. If you excitedly ordered the BluRay hoping for Rina Takada to blow your mind in a high-kicking tale of intrigue and revenge, you may wish you had read this review first.

After reading the only other comment posted here, I felt compelled to add my two cents.

First of all, MOST men do not, in fact, date tons of women without caring about any of their feelings. Men like that exist, but they are a special class of jerk.

That aside, this is an amazing series, but I do agree that it is not for the faint of heart. It starts off light and funny and progressively grows darker and darker towards an amazing ending that finally brings the downward spiral of intensifying emotions to a crashing halt.

The animation is quite beautiful and the characters and their actions are as flawed and complex as you could hope for in a romantic series. I found myself loving and hating them at different times and that, in my mind, is the mark of good writing. If you have some solid emotional resolve, I think you will enjoy this series from beginning to end. Do heed the warning, however, as this is a ride you honestly may be changed by, if you take it to its conclusion.

First of all, let me say that if you've never seen the first season of Shakugan no Shana, then you are in for a real treat with this movie. It is beautifully animated and takes you on a whirlwind ride from start to finish.

If, on the other hand, you have seen season one, then you are in for a bit of a disappointment. The movie is more or less a retelling of the first few episodes of the series that is not much more than a slightly padded director's cut. You do learn some interesting details such as where Yugi's dad is, a look at the flame haze who was in the city before Shana, and even a couple of new powers for the Reiji Maigo.

The story is certainly fleshed out quite a bit more and the final 15 minutes of the film comprise a surprisingly powerful conclusion (worth the price of admission on its own), but I would have liked a more original story rather then a highly polished version of one that I've already enjoyed.

In the end, spectacular visuals, great new music, and well thought out additions to the core story leave you feeling glad to have seen the film. On the other hand, the fact that anything new that was added obviously doesn't change the events that come later in the series means that established fans will likely leave the experience less than satisfied.