Shuranosuke Zanmaken: Shikamamon no Otoko

Sword for Truth

修羅之介斬魔劍 死鎌紋の男

ActionSupernaturalSuspense
4.81 episodesFinished Airing

Studio: Magic Bus

Synopsis

Shurannosuke Sakaki is a masterless samurai with a razor-sharp katana and a cold-hearted personality. Whenever you see the mark of two crossed scythes on his back, death is sure to follow. Because of his exceptional swordsmanship, Shurannosuke is hired by the Nakura Clan to rescue Princess Mayu from the Seki Ninja. In this mission, he must use his full potential to survive the Seki Ninja's notorious henchmen. (Source: ANN)

Characters & Voice Actors

Shuranosuke, Sakaki

Shuranosuke, Sakaki

Main

VA: Inoue, Kazuhiko

Gunbei, Tashiro

Gunbei, Tashiro

Supporting

VA: Sugawara, Masashi

Imura, Daizen

Imura, Daizen

Supporting

VA: Kishino, Kazuhiko

Marouji

Marouji

Supporting

VA: Genda, Tesshou

Mio

Mio

Supporting

VA: Mizutani, Yuuko

Narrator

Narrator

Supporting

VA: Kobayashi, Kiyoshi

Okuni

Okuni

Supporting

VA: Fujita, Toshiko

Oren

Oren

Supporting

VA: Sasaki, Run

Princess Mayu

Princess Mayu

Supporting

VA: Sakuma, Rei

Utsuki, Kazuma

Utsuki, Kazuma

Supporting

VA: Blyton, Alan

Reviews

literaturenerdliteraturenerd1

Overview: Sword for Truth was widely considered by otaku during the 1990s to be one of the worst anime of all time! The infamy has died down and now it is simply unknown. It was released in the US under the title: Ninja Scroll 2. This is despite the fact that it was made before Ninja Scroll and has absolutely nothing to do with Ninja Scroll. A far more appropriate title would be: WHAT!? It is very appropriate that this was made during the 1990s, because you are going to say WHAT!? when viewing this pile of shit more often than Stone Cold SteveAustin! Story: 1/10 This is quite easily the least coherent story in the history of anime. Not because it is trying to be artsy and is using layers on layers of symbolism. No, it is due to nonsensical scene cuts, plot points that are brought up once and completely abandoned, and the COMPLETE INEPTITUDE of the writer. A princess is captured and a powerful samurai is hired to get her back. The story starts out quite simple. However, the movie will cut away during a fight to introduce some random character that will never be seen or heard from again. One of the main bad guys is fighting the main character when random lesbian ninjas show up for no reason with zero explanation and fight the baddie while our hero wanders off. It never shows how the fight even finished between the baddie and the lezzies and fucking of course it never mentions any of them again! After capturing the princess, the bad guys try to use a hot hooker chick to make the princess fall in love with her and steal her family sword, which they were already demanding as ransom. This was the entire point of capturing the princess. So the bad guys went with 1 plan and then started a second plan that would only work if they hadn't already gone with the first plan??! WHAT!? This is just an excuse for a hot girl on girl sex scene, that is generally considered to be the "highlight" of this fucking movie! The hero saves the princess, but while rowing a boat is randomly attacked by a sea monster with no explanation. However, the hero slashes the monster with his sword and it explodes....WHAT!? After returning the princess to her father, the father decides that the Samurai touched the princess and should be killed, but then changes his mind at the last second and offers a reward, which the samurai refuses because, "you can't kick dog and then give him a treat". The samurai then crosses paths with a character that it randomly cut to several times and is supposedly an assassin, but they don't fight. They just say that they both reek of blood and the movie ends. This movie reeks of BULLSHIT! characters: 1/10 Not a single character in this film has any level of character development. I can barely describe the characters using trope names because they don't even have that much development. The bad guys have unestablished motives for why they want the sword. They are just bad guys. The hero isn't cool, isn't badass, has no interesting traits. The princess is apparently bicurious, but that is the entire extent of her character. She just has sex with every man and woman she comes across. huh huh... hey Beavis, I said comes! 90s moment, couldn't help it! Art: 1/10 Unlike Ninja Scroll, Sword for Truth actually has quite terrible art. This makes it fairly insulting to call it a sequel to Ninja Scroll, which was stupid as hell but at least it was well animated, coherent, and most of all fucking fun! Entertainment: 1/10 It actually hurts to watch this piece of shit. I only recommend watching this one with pain killers at the ready! Overall: 1/10 Dear sweet GOD this movie was bad! The only reason anyone ever rented this during the 1990s was because the false title Ninja Scroll 2. It takes a special kind of bad to be both physically painful and absolutely rage inducing. This is one of those anime!

Not Recommended
animegoreyanimegorey5

Cheap ass version of Ninja Scroll. That's all I could think of as I watched this and thought about the trailer I seen for this. How dare they compare this to NInja Scroll. Dub was boring and poorly cast, story is familiar at best, action and violence is cheap and generic. Don't let the trailer fool you. However, If your a fan of cheesy dubs and the horribly over-acted OVAs, this one's for you. Weak blood sprays and cheap character design really make for a low-budget looking title. Yet, as a fan of these types, I have this dvd in my collection. It's right therewith Riding Bean, Vampire Wars and M.D Geist and can easily be rewatched due to it's short runtime. If you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed.

Mixed Feelings