Ninja Resurrection, known in Japan as is a two-part original video animation directed by Yasunori Urata.
The OVA series is based on Futaro Yamada's novel Makai Tensho. Although of a similar style, Ninja Resurrection is not a sequel to the anime film Ninja Scroll, despite being marketed as one outside of Japan. It also heavily borrows and adapts scenes and elements from Ken Ishikawa's manga adaptation from 1986 and Shouko Toba's manga adaptation from 1997.
Plot
Ninja Resurrection takes place in the Tokugawa era, at a time when Christians in Japan were being persecuted. The leader of the Shimabara Rebellion, Amakusa Shirō, hoped to resist the government forces attacking Christians like him, but is assassinated.
Soon after, Amakusa's restless spirit returns to avenge his fallen comrades and is up to Yagyū Jūbei Mitsuyoshi to put a stop to the demonic onslaught.
The Revenge of Jubei
The Revenge of Jubei begins with a narration about the Battle of Sekigahara, the final battle between the Western Army, who were loyal to Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the Eastern Army, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu; the events that led up to the Shimabara rebellion, including the capture and execution of Konishi Yukinaga, a Christian daimyō whose beliefs forbade him from committing seppuku, and the banning of Christianity in Japan; and a dark satanic prophecy about Amakusa Shirō, which foretold that if he was prevented from becoming Christ, he would return as Satan. Along with the narration, there are Japanese paintings of these events.
The first OVA called "The Cant of Hell" shows a small band of soldiers raiding a village outside of Harano Castle, and smashing a statue of Madonna. All the villagers hide except for a little boy, who they shoot. After the soldiers leave to report the Christian rebels to the shogun, a small girl named Ocho runs to the boy's body and begs him to wake up. The boy, who is Shiro, miraculously revives and shows the approaching villagers that the bullet hit a crucifix he had. Sunlight shines through the clouds onto Shiro and he raises the crucifix and a long beam of light shoots from it up into the sky. The villagers bow down and worship Shiro, declaring him the son of God and the returned messiah and saviour, and the Madonna statue reforms by itself. Meanwhile, an evil-looking man in the bushes watches the events as they unfold and smiles.