Jubei-chan: The Ninja Girl

Original Title: 十兵衛ちゃん - ラブリー眼帯の秘密
Romanized: Juubei-chan - Raburii Gantai no Himitsu
Literal:

Plot Synopsis

Three hundred years ago, Yagyu Jubei, greatest swordsman in Japan, all but destroyed a rival ninja clan. Since then they have survived in secret, plotting to avenge their grudge by conquering all of Japan. But Jubei foresaw this, and before he died, he created the Lovely Eyepatch--a magical item capable of bestowing Jubei's mastery of swordsmanship on the one chosen as his successor. Jubei's loyal servant Koinosuke was entrusted with finding this successor, the one who will be able to save Japan from an era of darkness.

Three centuries later, the somewhat weary Koinosuke finally finds that successor--Nanohana Jiyu (nicknamed Jubei by her single father), an average, everyday (anime) high school student starting at a new school. Except Jiyu wants nothing to do with a magical eyepatch, a 300-year-old curse, and a string of teacher-assassins--she's got her hands full trying to make it to the hot dessert shop in town and keeping her dad from working himself to death.

Then there are the Ruffians, a trio of incompetent tough guys with an empty-headed leader determined to show his love for Jiyu (and predictably terrible luck in doing so), and his romantic rival Shiro, a Kendo champion running from his family's dark past and evil twin brother...

Quick Review

Rating: 4 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-12-06

A very cartoony, very Japanese, and very weird series that still manages to have something like a story, some drama, and several extremely likable characters. It somehow uses the bits of drama to move itself from a relentless parody to an interesting story, yet never lets the serious moments bog it down. Most of all it's downright hilarious if your sense of humor lines up right, blending relentless slapstick, throwaway comments, and quirky scenes, all with razor-sharp comic timing. Throw in a few spiffy action scenes and a spectacularly varied Japanese cast, and you won't even notice you're missing a quarter of the jokes.

The onslaught of stupidity will be too much for some, and it weirds itself into love-it-or-hate-it territory, but it's different enough that if it clicks for you, Jubei-chan is pure, mad genius.

US DVD Review

The DVDs are simple but very nice productions. Each includes a Bandai-trademark extremely crisp video transfer, full opening and end credits on every episode (complete with alternating bilingual subtitles), a good subtitle track, and crisp, two-channel Japanese and four-channel English soundtracks. The silly-looking animated menus provide a few minor goodies--recipes and fashion advice from Jubei, Bantaro's dating tips, an art gallery, textless ending (there is no opening), and some TV commercials.

Content Guide

A few bits of mature humor and surprising flashes of violence account for Bandai's 13-up rating, which if anything is too strict.

Violence: 2 - A lot of semi-serious fighting, but almost nobody dies.

Nudity: 1 - Essentially nothing, but a lot of chest staring.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Nothing past schoolyard romance, but a few mildly mature comments.

Language: 1 - The Ruffians are, well, a bit ruff...

Notes and Trivia

Yagyuu Jubei was a real character from Japanese history. He was rumored to be a sort of Samurai-Ninja in the service of the Emperor. Although there is no historical evidence of his having an eyepatch, it is part of his lore (the one he wears in popular art and stories is usually made from a sword guard). The legend of how he lost the eye is similar to the one given in this series, but Jubei passing his skills on through an eyepatch is unique to this anime. If you're interested, this page has some information on the historical figure (Wikipedia also has a brief biography).

Availability

Available in the US from Bandai on four individual hybrid DVDs or a box set combining them. Was originally available on four subtitled or dubbed VHS volumes.

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