Shinobi

Shinobi means Ninja.

This is a 2005 production. The female lead, Yukie Nakama, is very beautiful that I got smitten the first time I saw her on the cover. The male lead, Jô Odagiri, is not bad looking too. But I still prefer to see pretty lady hee hee.

Oboro (the female lead) and Kouga Gen-no-suke (the male lead) are star-crossed lovers. Both of them came from 2 different clans, and these 2 ninja clans have been enemies for histories. Both clans are very powerful in their ninja skills and posed a threat to the nefarious lord of the lords, Nankobo Tenkai thus he plot to intensify the rivalry between the two clans. Nankobo created a contest for each clan to hand pick 5 of their best warriors to participate in this battle, a duel to death.

Gen-no-suke did not want to battle, but his clan mates have lived their life just to duel. And they refuse to let Gen-no-suke remove this duel from them. To them, having battled and died in the battle makes life fulfilling.

On Oboro’s side, like what Hotarubi (acted by Erika Sawajiri) says, she fights because she has to defend those she loves. Initially she had asked Oboro why they had to battle and Oboro felt sad to have to bring her along too. As both of them were orphans, they bond easily. I like Hotarubi too. She has the power to entice butterflies and make butterflies attack the enemies. And the effect is beautiful. While searching, I saw that she acted as Kaoru Amane in Taiyo no Uta. I’m curious to watch the TV series now.

As for Oboro, her talent lies in her eyes. She can kill a person just by staring at him with her eyes of destruction. Neat artwork! Actually she is a gentle girl turn harsh because of circumstances. The moment she saw Hotarubi died while saving her, she turn bitter.

10 of the Shinobis battled. Only one came out alive. And the surviving Shinobi is none other than Oboro. Actually it came as no surprise. When a lady turns bitter and harsh, she can really become heartless. When Gen-no-suke and her met in the plains, he told her to kill him. But she couldn’t do it with her eyes. So she lunged forward with her knife. Maybe she expected him to retaliate. Maybe she did not mean to stab him with her knife. But the fact is he allowed her to kill him. So she ended being the last one standing.

At the end, to save her village and his village, she went to begged Nankobo. But he told her that she cannot lead a normal life because she is not a normal person. In response to that, she blinded herself in exchange for her normal life and he acceded.

I wonder do we always hanker for something we cannot have. A special girl hoping for a normal life in which she could fall in love and marry the man of her life. A special girl who only wants peace and does not understand why she must battle.

Most importantly, I wonder if she is bent on killing the guy actually. And does she regret killing him? Or the both of them know that only one can stay alive. And the guy is willing to be killed by her. I can only conclude when a girl is heartless, she can actually be more heartless than a guy.