Anime is bigger than ever across the world, and especially in America, with recent hits making the medium immensely popular among all ages. However, it wasn't always like this, with anime once being a far more niche source of entertainment. Many remember shows such as Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon as their first anime, but other, more adult sources were brought over in the American anime golden age of the 1990s.
Another huge programming source in the '90s was MTV, but even back then, it had moved away from just showing music videos all day. Liquid Television was its programming block of adult animation, and one anime that it briefly showcased there would become like dynamite among Western fans. Here's how Music Television made Ninja Scroll a must-see movie for some of the earliest American otaku.
What Was MTV's Liquid Television and Cartoon Sushi?
Liquid Television was an animated programming block that aired on MTV from 1991 to 1995, and it was a big step in how animation was regarded in America. The block launched numerous adult-oriented cartoons such as Beavis and Butt-Head and comic book adaptation The Maxx, as well as the science fiction classic Aeon Flux. Along with episodes from these shows, animated shorts were also shown. These avant-garde affairs were the furthest thing from Disney, further convincing Westerners -- especially young people -- that animation didn't have to be just for kids.
Later in the decade, the block would be replaced with the similar Cartoon Sushi. As its name might suggest, each segment of Cartoon Sushi involved animated content produced by international creators. During these segments, there would be bumpers added in, much like the ones later used in Cartoon Network's similar Adult Swim block. One of the shows featured in these bumpers was an anime by the name of Ninja Scroll. Already popular in Japan, this movie would become a surefire classic in the West and among the burgeoning swathe of anime enthusiasts.
Ninja Scroll Is a Classic In the Same Vein as Akira
Originally released in 1993, Ninja Scroll was an absolutely action-packed romp that exemplified what many Westerners saw as intrinsically anime. Not only was its animation far beyond what many Americans had seen in cartoons from their side of the pond, but on top of that, it had tons of mature content such as gore and sexuality, further making it a must-see experience for older viewers. With all of these elements combined, it joined the ranks of movies like Akira as premiere examples of anime's potential.
This was just the type of innovative content that MTV was looking for in its animated programming. Having already pushed the boundaries of TV with music videos, Liquid Television, Cartoon Sushi and Ninja Scroll did the same thing, going beyond the norm for something eye-catching and forward-looking. There was really nowhere else that Ninja Scroll could have premiered in the West, making its relationship with MTV somewhat symbiotic. In gaining a home, even if it was just in snippets, the show raised the profile of the special kind of "different" that MTV was providing outside just music.
Although its story was rather simple, Ninja Scroll was still highly influential, especially thanks to its fluid, energetic action sequences. Its contemporaries included not only the aforementioned Akira but also the cyberpunk anime gem Ghost in the Shell. Both that movie and Ninja Scroll were huge influences on The Matrix, with Ninja Scroll's director Yoshiaki Kawajiri even working on The Animatrix years later.
A Ninja Scroll TV series came about in the early 2000s, continuing the series' legacy. This legacy was not, in fact, based on a manga but was instead a completely original story reminiscent of the samurai films of previous decades. Of course, it would have never made much of a splash outside of Japan without getting liquid, and that was ultimately thanks to MTV raising the movie's profile. The classic movie can currently be streamed through Hulu, allowing modern audiences to see just what's so great about it.