okami31

I actually watched the live-action movie "Shinobi: Heart Under Blade" before the anime, which is based on the same story.  I did not like the movie and I don't know why I thought the anime would fare better.

WHAT'S GOOD?

The animation and character designs are all great.  The fights are interesting, usually involving tactical decisions that trounce the opponent's strategy.  Some finish quite quickly, but all come down to one result: one character will die. 

WHAT'S BAD?

Most likely, one character will perish per episode and each rival clan begins with eight main ninjas or so.  So on and on the anime goes, killing one or two from this clan, and then one, two or three from the other clan, until you realize this anime is all about that.  Everybody will eventually die, so all that's left is to see who kills whom and how.  So there's really no point in taking a liking to any character, because eventually they will die too, and probably not in a nice way, since they all hate each other.

RECOMMEND?

If you don't care about the complete annihilation of all characters involved in this story, and just want to see some cool fights and memorably horrific moments (some really creepy s*it in here), then I guess "Basilisk" is okay with you.  For me it didn't work and I didn't even finish it after I asked myself what was the point of it all.

If you liked "Ninja Scroll", you'll probably like this.

If you want more family-friendly ninja action with characters having unique traits, stick to "Naruto".