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				Review* Basilisk: Kouga Ninpo Chou by Joe Di Benedetto (Spike Spiegel) Animation by Gonzo American Broadcaster: Anime Network Creator: Segawa Masaki, Yamada Futaro
			Action, Historical, Martial Arts Basilisk: Kouga Ninpo Chou is Gonzo’s second anime series of the spring season. The story is set during the Feudal Age in Japan in the year 1614 A.D., to be exact. It is a historical anime series containing people from Japanese history. So, a good understanding of Japanese history will help to understand the story and characters a bit more. This does not mean you cannot enjoy the anime if you don’t know Japanese history. On the contrary, I am by no means a scholar of Japanese history, but after a few episodes I was easily able to understand the events occurring in the anime and caught on pretty quickly. Anyway, the story follows the Kouga and Iga ninja clans. These two clans have been bitter rivals for 400 years, but were currently under a truce decreed by Hattori Hanzo the first (name sounds familiar, right?). The series opens with the current Shogun, 73-year old Ieyasu, unable to choose a successor between his two brothers, Takechiyo and Kunichiyo. As a result of Ieyasu’s indecisiveness, he decides to hold a competition between the Kouga and Iga clans and have the winner decide his successor. The competition is to have both clans choose their best ten ninjas to fight the other clan’s best ten to the death. Whichever clan’s best ten ninjas fall first is the loser of the competition. If the Kouga clan is victorious, then Kunichiyo would become the next Shogun. If the Iga clan is victorious, then Takechiyo would become the next Shogun. This competition breaks Hattori Hanzo’s truce and unleashes the Kouga and Iga ninjas upon each other like rabid dogs. The story does not stop there. In the background behind the fighting and feuding is a Romeo and Juliet story. There is a romance between the two grandchildren of the current heads of both clans, Gennosuke of the Kouga clan and Oboro of the Iga clan. Gennosuke and Oboro had planned to get married and hopefully end the feud between their clans, but the outbreak of fighting has put a crinkle in their plan. Gonzo really gets a chance to show off their skills as every character in this series is very unique in personality, look, and fighting ability. Each character has a different special ability and fighting strategy. This makes for fighting and action scenes that are both original and spectacular. The heavy doses of action are the driving force for this series. I have seen the first handful of episodes, and I absolutely love the action scenes. They are animated extremely well, and are really eye pleasing. If you are looking for a more mature “Naruto” series, this could be the one for you. While Basilisk does surpass “Naruto” in its quality action sequences, it cannot match the wonderful character development found in “Naruto.” This anime series has also been licensed by Funimation in the United States. So be on the lookout for Basilisk: Kouga Ninpo Chou to be released on DVD in the United States in Summer 2006.