Honestly, there are in total like 22 powers we see, save some of the surprise for when you watch this show yourself. And the special powers are pretty cool to see in action: there's one ninja who's body is pure poison, one who's like a human-spider, one who (like Zartan before him) can impersonate anybody he encounters, one who can drain the blood of anybody she touches, one who's hair can be used like extra arms and weapons, one who's power is to cancel out other ninjas' powers, etc. Brutality of the highest degree then kicks into overdrive as we watch the ninjas use their special powers (a la Ninja Scroll) to trick and bump off their opponents before they are done in first. Before long, those who remain take the fight on the road to the capital to either find out why they can't live in peace anymore, or to hunt down and kill those who are only going to find out why they can't live in peace.
#Whats the anime basilisk about series
The first half of the series takes place in both (the Iga and Kouga) ninja villages as the clans find out about the breaking of their peaceful treaty, and then subsequently begin stealthily slicing and dicing their way to (hopefully) ultimate victory. Good news for the potential Shogun and us, the viewers, but alas bad news for the ninjas as an all-out MASSACRE then commences. So instead of fighting for the throne with their own armies (and thusly tearing the country apart) it is decided to let their subservient assassins of the night do battle for them. So it turns out that the two grandsons of Tokugawa Ieyasu-shogun are vying for control of the shogunate themselves, and each has the support of either the Iga or the Kouga clan. But of course this would make a boring as fuck storyline if things were allowed to continue along this path. But peace between the two clans is at hand, for Gennosuke (of the Kouga clan) and Oboro (of the Iga) are set to marry, and thusly heal the hate - or at the very least hopefully stop all of the unnecessary killing. It is 1614AD, and the two separate ninja clans of the Iga and Kouga have been detesting and killing each other for generations. So, Basilisk goes a little something like this. That's the basic plot of this show (ninjas killing ninjas), but alas I am getting dishonorably ahead of myself as I am wont to do.
#Whats the anime basilisk about movie
Whereas in the live-action movie you barely get acquainted with any of the ninjas involved in the plot, here, you really get to know all the little ninja-lambs as they head for the slaughter. Whoever thought that an animated show about uber-powered ninjas killing each other could be so emotional? Cool and dramatic, yes, but I never thought I'd get so engrossed in the characters themselves. They double the number of ninjas, they triple the action, and they quintuple the drama. Not that Shinobi - Heart Under Blade was less than awesome, but this 24 episode series ( Basilisk) is even more cut-ass rugged. Basilisk is the name of the manga/anime that Shinobi was based on, and now I know that Shinobi was really just a shorthand version of the tale in its entirety. So THIS is what Shinobi - Heart Under Blade was trying to do.