Mounting death drags desperate measures from the hearts of the few who have survived to this, the final hour. A face is finally put to the conspirator of a four-century feud. Political ambition works to shape the end game, and Oboro issues a public challenge, seeking to draw Gennosuke out. As they stand reunited, Oboro begs for death, unable in her love to stand against him. But dying breath sets the final confrontation in motion, and fate comes fill circle...

Basilisk tells a story of star-crossed love set against the backdrop of a bloody conflict between two rival ninja clans. Based on the popular manga by Masaki Segawa, itself an adaptation of best-selling author Futaro Yamada's 1958 historical novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls, and produced by Studio Gonzo (Speed Grapher; Samurai 7; Gantz; Burst Angel), Basilisk is a character-driven period piece packed with super-ninja combat action and plenty of graphic bloodshed.

Episodes on Volume 6 include:

With All Her Heart: Kisaragi Saemon has taken on the appearance of Yakushiji Tenzen, but when he is confronted by the real Tenzen a fight to the death soon breaks out. Meanwhile Kagero, on a mission to kill Oboro, is corned by Tenzen.

The Haunted: With Kagero held captive, a message is sent out to the Kouga that she will be tortured and killed, in a bid to lure Gennosuke out into the open. Tenzen take great pleasure in torturing Kagero by firing needles into her stomach. Gennosuke arrives in time to witness Kagero clinging on to life, and Tenzen about to rape Oboro. Tenzen and Gennosuke start a fight to the death.

Emancipation: With Tenzen defeated, Gennosuke frees Kagero. Kagero becomes angry when she realises that Gennosuke is not going to kill the last remaining Iga member. away. As guards approach, Oboro hides the badly wounded Gennosuke, but he is discovered and the two remaining ninjas are captured and told that they must fight one another.

Requiem: The last battle between the Kouga and Iga sees lovers Gennosuke and Oboro forced to stand against one another to see who will inherit the title of Shogun.

Extras include Behind the Scenes of Basilisk (a 32 min, 29 sec and 38 min, 27 sec pair of original Japanese featurettes which collector's of these discs will be familiar with. They contain light interviews with some of the Japanese cast and crew and everything is presented like a Saturday Morning kid's TV show); Textless Songs; and Trailers.

It's also worth watching after the end credits of the final episode as there's a few more minutes worth of story.

For those that have been watching from the start, this final volume is a fitting, and rather depressing end, to what has been a pretty entertaining series.

7

Nick Smithson