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(This is NOT anything like "Baki the Grappler," "Dragon Ball Z," or "Street Fighter.")
I'm going out on a limb here to say that I've never seen a piece of Anime' (Japanese animation, for the uninitiated) like "Ikki Tousen," because I haven't. I've never seen so much attention being paid to the undergarments of young women in a cartoon before. But on the other hand, "Ikki Tousen" does offer up a semblance of plot by having the young women wearing those sexy undergarments street-fighting each other in excellently choreographed street fights.
Apparently, "Ikki Tousen" (also known as "Battle Vixens" here in the United States and over in the United Kingdom) has characters and a story loosely based on the epic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," perhaps the single most important and influential piece of classical Chinese literature ever written. I have no idea how close or how loosely "Ikki Tousen" follows the classic novel - having never read the books for myself - but I can say that the creator of the original "Ikki Tousen" graphic novels, Yuji Shiozaki, loves to show off the exposed flesh (known as "fan-service" to some folks) of hot young girls fighting to the death.
In Japan's Kanto region, seven rival high schools are battling each other for supremacy. The competitors (or "fighters," or "warriors") are the students of each school, who wear jewelry, usually an identifying earring, that is infused with the spirit of an ancient martial arts warrior. Koukin Shuyu is one such fighter at Nanyo Academy, though from his shy personality and social ineptitude you'd never know that he's one of the school's top-ranked martial artists.
Unfortunately, skill does not run in the family, which is where his ditsy, well-endowed cousin Hakufu Sonsaku comes into the picture. Much of the show's awkward sense of humor comes from Hakufu's interactions with her cousin, such as when she undresses at a hot springs and he has to hide his "excitement" from her, or when Koukin's younger-man-hunting, fun-loving cougar of an aunt, Aunt Goei (Hakufu's mother), often thrusts them both into sexually suggestive situations.
The meat of the story involves Nanyo Academy's attempts to avoid being taken over by rival schools, and the role that Hakufu Sonsaku is supposed to play in their struggle. Since every fighter is infused with the spirit of an ancient martial arts master, they are (apparently) inextricably linked to that martial artist and are thus destined to experience that same person's fate (i.e., if an ancient master died in battle, then the person his/her spirit is attached to is fated to die in the same manner, as well). And there's a slew of promising street-fighters thrown in Hakufu and Koukin's way: muscular giant Gakushu, the one-eyed submission wrestler Shimei Ryomou, "basics"-obsessed Katokon (who has also caught the eye of that cougar Aunt Goei), the green-haired Ryofu, and the deadly school-girl-uniform-wearing Ukitsu.
The animation for this series is quite pristine, with some traces of CGI to enhance certain portions of the overall quality of the picture; it's easy to see why such pristine animation was needed here. "Ikki Tousen" is not particularly heavy on plot and for a production such as this, I don't think plot is especially necessary, since that is not what will draw in new viewers. What will draw them in are hot girls fighting to the death. Every brawl that takes place during this series involves plenty of gratuitous panty shots, big bouncing breasts, and battle-torn clothing that leaves little to the imagination; and of course there's plenty of nudity (see the episode at the hot springs for further "reference"). As you can see, this is clearly Anime' for adults, or horny teenage fan-boys.
This viewer will also note that even though this series is pretty light-hearted throughout, it does take a decidedly darker turn around the middle (mostly involving the ultimate fate of Hakufu Sonsaku), which can turn an otherwise fun, action-packed experience into a bit of a downer. But don't worry, be rest-assured that everything will turn out all right in the end for everybody.
"Ikki Tousen" is an engaging series with not much plot, but if big bouncing breasts, underwear shots and hot, curvaceous females fighting are your thing, then you've found your most titillating fight Anime' ever.
7/10
score 7/10
dee.reid 11 August 2011
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2472469/ |
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6-1-2021 22:14:04