Basilisk is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masaki Segawa. It was published in Japan in 2003 and 2004 in Kodansha's Young Magazine Uppers magazine, based on the novelThe Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada published in 1958. The anime, produced in 2005 by Gonzo, closely follows the manga aside from a handful of distinctions. The manga won the 2004 Kodansha Manga Award for general manga. Segawa continued producing serialized adaptations of Futaro Yamada's novels with The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls in 2005, Yama Fu-Tang in 2010, and Jū: Ninpō Makai Tensei in 2012. Additionally, a two-part novel sequel titled The Ouka Ninja Scrolls: Basilisk New Chapter, penned by Masaki Yamada, was published in 2015 with illustrations by Segawa; a manga adaptation, Basilisk: The Ouka Ninja Scrolls, illustrated by Tatsuya Shihira with character designs by Masaki Segawa, was serialized between 2017 and 2019, and an anime adaptation by Seven Arcs Pictures premiered aired in 2018. The story takes place in the year 1614. Two ninja clans, Iga of Tsubagakure and the Kouga of Manjidani, battle each other to determine which grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu will become the next shogun. The deadly competition between 10 elite ninja from each clan unleashes a centuries-old hatred that threatens to destroy all hope for peace between them.
Plot
At the dawn of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period two rival ninja clans, the Iga Tsubagakure and Kouga Manjidani, are engaged in a bitter blood feud that has spanned for centuries. The fighting finally ends when Hattori Hanzō the 1st succeeds in forging a cease fire between the two clans by conscripting both into the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Regardless, hostilities and bad blood remain between Kouga and Iga, ensuring a tenuous co-existence at best. Fast forward to the year 1614; Ieyasu has retired from power and passed the torch to his son Hidetada. Unfortunately, a succession dispute has risen concerning which of Ieyasu's grandsons are destined to take up the reins of power when their father finally decides to step down. The various government retainers are beginning to take sides and the Tokugawa Shogunate is on the verge of tearing itself apart. In order to solve the problem before it spirals out of control, Ieyasu orders the no hostilities pact between Kouga and Iga canceled and promptly commands each clan to send 10 of their best ninja to enter a ruthless and bloody competition of kill or be killed. Each clan will represent one of the two factions supporting Ieyasu's grandsons; the names of their selected fighters recorded on two identical scrolls to be marked out in blood upon their death. The clan that slays the chosen ten of the other will be given favor for a thousand years while the grandson they represent will be pronounced the undisputed heir to the Shogunate. Prior to the conflicts renewal, Kouga and Iga's two young heirs were betrothed to each other in the hopes that their union would finally dispel their clan's long-seated animosity toward each other. Forced headlong onto separate sides of a conflict they want no part of, Gennosuke and Oboro must now choose whether to kill the person they love or lead their entire clan to annihilation.
