Jubei -
Jubei was once part of a ninja clan which had the bad fortune to discover a gold mine. The consequences of this, were that the clan was essentially destroyed with Jubei supposedly being the sole survivor. Jubei now makes his living as a wander, and as a warrior for hire. He is a master swordsman, and an honest man.

Kagero -
Kagero is part of a ninja clan employed by a small clan of samurai. Her primary job is poison tester ( ie - she eats food to see if it's poisoned). She is very beautiful. You could say she's a killer lay too... since she kills whatever man sleeps with her (by poisoning him with her body).

Dakuwan -
Dakuwan is a ninja / government spy sent to investigate unusual happenings. The rest of his team was killed by the 8 devils of Kimon. He his an old, and fairly clever fellow, although he is not quite as smart as he thinks. Even though he looks to be feeble, he is quite agile.

Tessai -
Tessai is a very large and powerful warrior. His weapon of choice is a blade which is something like a double javelin, which is thrown spinning; cutting down anything in it's path. His main attribute (other than his size) is the fact that his skin becomes hard as stone, and he cannot be cut.

Benisato -
Benisato is cold calculating, and has powers which are associated with snakes. She can shed her skin and animate it as if it were she herself. She also controls hordes of snakes. She is also the lover of Gama - something which makes Yurimaru jelous.

Mushizo -
Mushizo looks as if he were a hunchback, but in fact is very quick. The reason he looks like a hunchback is that his body is also a hive for wasps. He can communicate with the insects, as well as order them to do his bidding. The wasps are very formidable in swarms.

Shijima -
Shijima is very good at stealth. He literally travels in the shadows, which is usually from where he attacks. His main weapon is a steel claw which is launched from his arm. He also has the power to animate corpses, as well as possess people.

Ututsu Mujuru -
Mujuru is probably my favorite character. He is very calm, collected, honorable, and a matchless swordsman. Oddly enough he is also blind. He uses his hearing to detect objects, and threats, and uses his blindness to his advantage.

Yurimaru -
Yurimaru is very arrogant. He is second only to Gamma himself - as well as Gama's lover. He can move very stealthily to stalk his opponent. His weapon is a line of thread. He then generates electricity and electrocutes his victim. He is probably the least liked among the 8 devils of Kimon.

Zakuro -
Zakuro is a woman who is quite literally loaded. She uses explosives as her weapon. Often times she stuffs corpses or animals with gunpowder, and animates them like living bombs. She possibly feels scorned since her affections were denied by Yurimaru, although just how heart felt her feelings were is questionable.

Gemma -
Gemma is in charge of the whole operation. He is very powerful, and is not capable of dying since he can reincarnate himself, or regenerate at will. His aspirations go a bit beyond his orders from the shogun of the dark. He is also acquainted with Jubei from long ago.

Ninja Scroll is a great piece of Japanese animation. Cool characters, an interesting story, and lots of sex and violence; it's got all the elements of a good film. Perhaps it's a bit overdone, but hey, it's anime after all, so who cares? I've heard people carry on and on about Ninja Scroll for quite a while, but I've put off seeing it for a long time. Eventually I did get around to seeing it, and I have to admit that it is a very cool show. It's certainly worth checking into.

Ninja Scroll is distributed by U.S. Manga corps. As far as I know, only the dub is usually available. I'm sure that the subtitled version exists somewhere, but like Neon Genesis Evangelion - it's a real pain in the ass to find. Surprisingly, the dub was actually well done. I suppose this shouldn't be TOO big of a surprise since U.S. Manga corps is usually pretty good about dubbing (unlike many other distributors of anime). The voice acting was well played, and the synchronization was almost always right on - even though I'm not sure I'd imagine a guy like Jubei sounding quite like that....