Thanks. I was looking for something longer than the two episodes of Karas to occupy a bit of my time with way back when, and picked Hundred Stories off Anime Kraze. Didn't actually find out about it being licensed until after I watched it.
Here's the DBnet review and image of the three, including the book-writing guy
anidb.info/perl-bin/anime...e&aid=1001
sidenote 1: As far as I remember, we don't actually _know_ whether Ogin's half-corpse look is the real one or the illusion. She only used it once, and even then it was only because of a set-up, from what I recall. She's also likely the most recent 'inductee' of the trio, since in the Willow Woman episode one of the characters seemed to know her personally. Although that could have been part of the set-up for that particular job as well.
sidenote 2: Nagamimi is most commonly referred to as a 'bird-caller', though he uses that ability relatively rarely in the show (and in the last episode we see that his abilities when it comes to animals extend beyond the avian species'). Most commonly, he disguises himself as other people. Or should that be, shapeshifts? When he does this, there's only the shadowy outline of the shift shown. This likely means the animators didn't want to bother with doing it in a flashy and unneccessary manner, but I'd say we should take it literally and have him be able to do all sorts of funky things with shadows. And since there's a time when 'book-guy' finds a reference to Nagamimi the bird-caller in a history text, which claims he lived some two hundred years or so ago (and says nothing about when he was actually, y'know, _born_), hell, why not make him one of the progenitors of the Nara from a long, long time in the past.
Another sidenote: Mataichi not only uses the eye-box-talisman thingy around his neck to make his illusions, he also involves a small bell. At least, from what we see. The possible history of this and how it could intertwine with Otogakure ...
If we ever need these guys as something other than deus ex machina and for something other than handy exposition tools, we've got enough hooks to work them into the setting comfortably enough.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm
Here's the DBnet review and image of the three, including the book-writing guy
anidb.info/perl-bin/anime...e&aid=1001
sidenote 1: As far as I remember, we don't actually _know_ whether Ogin's half-corpse look is the real one or the illusion. She only used it once, and even then it was only because of a set-up, from what I recall. She's also likely the most recent 'inductee' of the trio, since in the Willow Woman episode one of the characters seemed to know her personally. Although that could have been part of the set-up for that particular job as well.
sidenote 2: Nagamimi is most commonly referred to as a 'bird-caller', though he uses that ability relatively rarely in the show (and in the last episode we see that his abilities when it comes to animals extend beyond the avian species'). Most commonly, he disguises himself as other people. Or should that be, shapeshifts? When he does this, there's only the shadowy outline of the shift shown. This likely means the animators didn't want to bother with doing it in a flashy and unneccessary manner, but I'd say we should take it literally and have him be able to do all sorts of funky things with shadows. And since there's a time when 'book-guy' finds a reference to Nagamimi the bird-caller in a history text, which claims he lived some two hundred years or so ago (and says nothing about when he was actually, y'know, _born_), hell, why not make him one of the progenitors of the Nara from a long, long time in the past.
Another sidenote: Mataichi not only uses the eye-box-talisman thingy around his neck to make his illusions, he also involves a small bell. At least, from what we see. The possible history of this and how it could intertwine with Otogakure ...
If we ever need these guys as something other than deus ex machina and for something other than handy exposition tools, we've got enough hooks to work them into the setting comfortably enough.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm