Volume 4 of Ronin Warriors is fast paced and keeps to the action. Kicking ass and taking names can only get you so far in a story, though. You need to take a break, let the characters develop and let the plot run its course. This volume did have some character development, mostly dealing with the emotional side of the warriors; however, they generally stuck to advancing the plot. I hope the series can keep this pace of action and still deliver entertaining episodes.

Volume 4 leads off with Shu battling Rajura, the Warlord of Illusion. After a long and arduous battle, Shu manages to defeat Rajura and regroup with all of the Ronin Warriors. They are then confronted by Shiten. Now imbued with the power of darkness, Shiten battles the Ronin Warriors. For this fight, Shu is unable to arm himself, because the confrontation with Rajura filled his head with a lot of doubt about his true purpose, and that of his armour. Shu is unable to overcome a dark, foreboding sense that his armour will only lead him down a path of death and destruction, right into Arago’s hands. The final battle is drawing ever closer, and with Shu unable to fight, things are not looking good for the Warriors.

I sense the dark side in you.

Something I’ve noticed about the plot of Ronin Warriors is that it’s very straightforward. "There's the bad guy, let’s go get him! Aww man, another mini-boss...OK, now we can go get him!" I’m not saying something like that is a bad thing. In fact, I enjoy it, since the plot is continually progressing. It’s safe to say it’s a very easy plot to get a hold of, and a good one.

I found the art to be quite good, considering the style and era in which it came from. The backgrounds are well-drawn and detailed, although most of them are very dark and gloomy due to the setting. The combat is entertaining to watch. It’s quite refreshing to see new footage in every fight, instead of the same old fists flying every which way (in a Dragon Ball Z fashion). Some aspects of the series are a little old and in some ways hokey. For example, when one of the main characters is going to punch an enemy, you have the flying colour in the background (usually associated with the character's colour). The character designs are clearly older, due to the time period in which the show was created, but they are excellently drawn, with creative ideas for weapons.

The opening and ending themes in the subbed version are excellent. Even when watching the show back to back, I don’t get bored of hearing the opening song again and again. On the other hand, one of the downfalls in the show is the background music. I’m not sure if it’s just this specific volume of the show or the entire series, but you can barely hear the music. The problem isn’t related to the volume your TV is at; the music is just considerably quieter then the voices and sound effects. From what you can hear, it sounds like rock 'n roll, and pretty good rock 'n roll to be fair. Naturally, creating a strong musical accompaniment and ambience is very important to TV shows, movies, even video games. Overall the music is plentiful, well-composed and well-performed, despite its depressingly low volume. Hopefully the sound will be improved in the subsequent volumes of the show, or my enjoyment of it will be greatly affected.

This anime is definitely suitable for all ages, since there is no harsh language. There is some violence, but no blood or guts (one of the advantages of fighting evil spirits). The pacing of story events is also nice. As opposed to wasting an episode and a half talking about the fight, they get right to it. The pacing of story events is also nice. Overall, I highly recommend this anime for anyone who enjoys a good old-fashioned brawl with some special powers thrown in just for kicks.

Video Quality: A-
Audio Quality: B-
Presentation: B+
Content: A-
Overall: B+