Although not an animated anime, I would consider it a live action anime. Other then the Mecha anime, which I love, I also enjoy samurai and ninja anime. Distributed by Funimation Entertainment it is a live action film like no other. They really tried to make it like an animated film. The camera angles, dialogue, and editing is very reminiscent of traditional anime films.
It is a sort of Romeo and Juliet meets Ninja Scroll. The emperor tasks the Kouga and Iga ninja clans to battle for the right to succeed him as emperor. Each clan send out five warriors for a fight to the death. The leaders of the fight parties are Gennosuke and Oboro who are secretly in love with each other. They don’t want to fight but are bound by the honor of their respective clans. The action is well choreographed and the special effects are well done.
If you like anime you will also like this movies. Some of the dialogue slows the story down but is necessary to the plot. Other then that, a very well done film. I’m sure with a better budget this film would have been even better. Here’s hoping that future installments will continue to get better in this live-action genre.