::STORY/CHARACTERS:: This show upset me and Im usually lenient on most things I watch. I generally enjoy any media about ninjas and samurai and this supposedly had a Romeo x Juliet lovestory. Of course I was sold Unfortunately the execution flat characters and the general angst and unwarranted bloodiness the show is drenched in turned me off. For starters I was surprised by the ninjas zany XMenlike abilities but I let it go. Some historical fantasy can be fun. First I fully understand a show about ninjas could and probably should get bloody/realistic but here the deaths hold no weight. Characters die gruesomely some worse than others but I feel nothing. The show doesnt develop any of the characters save for one flashback at the most so no amount of blood splatter shocked faces or sad music in the background can save a lifeless corpse of a character. The death toll kept rising and I kept shrugging. Admittedly I liked Gennosukes bushy eyebrows and mysteriousness but there wasnt much to him. He didnt want any more war and he seemed kind. Great. Oboro the female love interest is utterly useless. All she does is CRY and the one ability she has gets locked away by her own doing. Bruh. This show doesnt deliver on the romance either. Where is the yearning? The kiss scenes? I need to believe these two are in love but their only moments together are Gennosuke playing the flute and Oboro dancing around. Perhaps the time period and arrangedmarriage makes them so chaste and distant but you could at least hold hands. Or look into each others eyes or something substantial. Is this the woman you love so much you would defy a centurieslong resentment or is she a lampshade with lipstick? Answer quickly. Also I dont care if the creator never admits to it. A character that consists of raw demon trash is the shows favorite character/creators pet. There are definitely heinous characters who would try to sexually assault a character. My problem is the continual parading him around in our faces. This character literally tried to raped his own comrade not just a woman from a rival clan. He had no limitations. I hated seeing this character be a part of the main cast. Usually rapists in anime are filler characters or outright villains and usually its one and done. There were too many rape scenes here. His death is so prolonged it feels like torture. In addition the way female ninjas were handled bothered me. has such a sexist suffering. Shes tied up fully naked has been raped and brutalized. No other ninja is treated like this maybe Okoi to a lesser extent. Im not so naive to think women who are prisoners of war dont get treated as such but it felt majorly gratuitous. Akeginkus titties stay out for no other reason than fan service too. Yes Im aware female ninjas often used seduction tactics/sex but the execution here felt cheesy. ::MISCELLANEOUS:: The pacing seemed unbalanced. Clan A has the upperhand for over 78 episodes. Talking. Clan B eventually finds out but they already have a huge deficit. Clans try to outdo each other. Oboro cries. Filler episode that should have been in the beginning. Flashback. People be dying. Rapist dude doesnt get his comeuppance. People be dying. Rinse. Repeat until the last two episodes. I watched the Japanese dub and I have no qualms about the voice acting. Its very good. One character sounded like literal gargled death. Very talented performance from his voice actor but I definitely muted him. The music was forgettable. I didnt pay attention to it. The animation was fine. No wacky inbetween shots and it looked pretty fluid. Because the show is SO angsty the coloring appeared ashy at night. Very dark gray or blue. Again I liked Gennosukes bushy eyebrows. He looked very dashing. Hyoma had an interesting design. The ladies of the show were pretty. The more mutantlike ninjas werent cool to look at but they served their purpose. ::POSITIVES:: I liked Saemon. He was a ninja who had some empathy. As the show progresses he doesnt stop killing but hes able to see the other clan as human beings. A nice touch to show both clans had desires/dreams/loved ones but they were too fixated on a dumb war. Gennosuke and Hyoma had nice designs. Ep 23: Koushiro had a fun power. I wouldve liked to see it more. Overall I dont recommend. For me I had no enjoyment from this show and I shouldnt have wasted my Saturday bingewatching it.