miles31 - 2013-07-07 13:27:39

A 1990s OVA full of ninjas, over the top violence and set in feudal Japan? I’m sure plenty of people think they’ve seen the same set up plenty of times but trust me, Black Lion is very much its own beast. Within the first minute you know you’re in for something very different as the future collides with the traditional setting with enough blood splattered across the screen for even the most diehard fan of this sort of OVA to be suitably impressed, from there on out Black Lion grabs hold of your eyes and takes you on a 45 minute thrill ride without ever letting go.Without wanting to spoil the plot to any great degree it is in short a vengeance tale as one young Ninja sets out to avenge the deaths of his clan at the hands of a supposedly immortal Ninja slaying swordsman all of which is set against a delightfully twisted depiction of feudal Japan where one side has access to futuristic weaponry which has no place in the time period. It is absolutely as ludicrous as it sounds and while there is some exposition of what is going on during the story there is no real in depth rational or character development offered. While that might sound like a bad thing it actually isn’t, Black Lion wears its heart very much on its sleeve and due to the relatively short running time the frankly surreal set up never out stays its welcome and that is one of the great strengths of Black Lion, it knows exactly what it wants to do and carries it off exceptionally.The artwork works very well with a decent level of detail added throughout the environments and it comes together to provide a lovely aesthetic whether it is the futuristic or the period environments on screen. It is to Black Lions credit that despite it being a fairly low budget affair the visuals are still very enjoyable today and compare quite favourably with for example Ninja Scroll. The sound design again is good, not outstanding by any means but when something gets hacked off the feedback gets the point across. As for your viewing options the English dub is terrible as to be expected with almost any OVA of this vintage however it is fairly simple to find a subbed version of Black Lion and this is definitely the recommended way to watch unless you simply hate subbed anime.In summary therefore Black Lion is an utterly bonkers piece of work but if you just want to sit back, switch your brain off and watch something that will take you and a crazy, exhilarating and visceral journey then I can’t recommend it highly enough. It must be said that if you do not like violent anime then this is certainly not one for you!