Ikki Tousen #1: Legendary Fighter
Picture: B Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes:
D
The box for Ikki Tousen – “Bakunyu” Hyper-Battle Ikki Tousen: Legendary Fighter, to be
precise – warns the buyer that it is intended for ages 16 and up, due to
violence, nudity, and sexuality.
Yes. Indeed. Don’t expect much plot to accompany those
features. Ikki Tousen is essentially pornography – mild compared to some
shows, but about as hard-core as soft-core gets. The opening credits give an accurate portrayal of what’s to
come. The screen is already rife with
panty shots, glimpses of breasts, conveniently indecent gusts of wind (for
which short skirts are no match), and coy little winks and glances. Not to mention the lyrics: “I don’t want to
be by myself / (ahh…) / alone / (yeah…)” and “excitement-filled summer night,”
to quote a few. Magical pillars of fire
also blow off women’s clothing, but that’s not as uncommon an occurrence in
anime as one might think, nor does it always indicate a risqué show to
come. However, we move on to a directly
up-the-skirt shot, followed by a mouth-watering ice cream sundae. Gratification, anyone?
There is a plot. Arguably.
The students of the seven top schools in Kanto are reincarnations of
ancient Chinese warriors. These warriors
are destined to fight each other, though the only reason we’re given is that
it’s their fate. The main character,
Hakufu Sonsaku, is a blonde airhead who turns out to be the reincarnation of
the legendary Shou Haou, fated to defeat many.
Lots of hand-to-hand combat creates scenarios in which Hakufu’s clothing
can be torn off, or in which we look up her dress in nearly every shot. I couldn’t resist keeping a tally. In the first episode alone, we were treated
to no less than 39 glimpses of her panty-clad crotch, and 12 feature shots of
her breasts. That’s at least once-a-minute fan service, folks. Future episodes go on to add another female
fighter – a French-maid-style dominatrix, who is very turned on by other people’s pain – some adult women stripping,
and Hakufu making creepy bondage references to her mother. She frequently begs Koukin (oh, yes, there’s
an impossibly innocent, blushing young anime boy involved, too) not to “beat me
with a ruler really hard” or “tie me up and put me in a dark place” like her
mother has apparently done. And you can
bet the show isn’t making a sensitive commentary on abuse.
The animation,
surprisingly, is very good, about as good as television anime ever gets. Ikki
Tousen has unique, easily differentiated character designs, new hairstyles,
and a good grasp of anatomy. Eh
heh. But seriously, nothing bothers me
more than when a character’s facial features seem to float around their face in
a series of frames, or when their arms and legs don’t join onto their body properly. This anime clearly has some figure study
behind it. The sound is decent,
although nothing exciting – 2.0 Dolby Digital in English or Japanese. The English subtitles have a “signs only”
option, which is always nice if you’re watching a dub and want to make sure you
can read anything that flashes across the background. There are only a few special features: the opening sequence
without text, a full-color art gallery, and some ‘hidden outtakes.’ As for the dub… it isn’t anything exciting,
but neither is the Japanese voice acting.
This is one show where good acting is just irrelevant. How many ways are there to pull off a line
like “Everyone calls me ‘Booby boobs.’
What does that mean?”
This show in one word is
“testosterone.” It’s made up of cool
fighting moves, dramatic speeches, death, muscles, glamour shots of the men, a
ditz and a dominatrix, mysterious rivalries, gasping women, ripped clothing,
and dainty underwear. And anything
sexual that they don’t show, is at
least talked about in some detail. I
could tell from the DVD cover that it was going to be a little perverted, but I
wasn’t expecting anything as extreme as what I found myself watching. Overall, Ikki
Tousen isn’t likely to gain widespread appeal, but if you like plotless near-porn,
with a lot of kung fu fighting, then it may be up your alley.
- Anne Moffa
