Archive for the Ikkitousen Category


Yuri Manga: Battle Club, Volume 1 (English)

March 25th, 2008

Women’s crotches are endlessly fascinating. Or so I assume from the variety and sheer number of crotch shots in Battle Club, Volume 1.

Interestingly, while women’s crotches are absolutely riveting, men’s are apparently unworthy of scrutiny and are therefore pixelated or avoided at all costs.

Even more interestingly, while it is perfectly acceptable to look at women’s crotches, it is unacceptable to become aroused by doing so. If you are aroused, you are labeled as a pervert.

The conundrum appears obvious to me – why torture yourself with something that you can’t enjoy? Sounds like some kind of self-flagellating, mortifying of the flesh thing. In a way, it sort of does explain alot about why prostitution is illegal and why you guys seem to like your fun on the down low. I’ll leave it to others to delve into how sad that is.

Instead, I’ll cover the plot of Battle Club: This manga is about two members of a high school wrestling club, one male and one female, both of whom believe they are the protagonist of the story. The female protagonist, Tamako, is a clumsy, zealous and kind-hearted girl who is impossibly strong and getting stronger, by taking regular beatings from her even more impossibly stronger sempai. The male, Mokichi, is a mealy-mouthed asshole who gets beaten up a lot because he’s an asshole. And, we are assured repeatedly, (although we never see it, see above) he has a teeny dick.

Each chapter follows one or the other in their completely absurd, panty and crotch-shot filled shenanigans which include…not really all that much. Fighting, mostly. Including fighting with a “confused” shark. Lots of service, obviously.

Yuri comes in two flavors in Volume 1. The first is the Vice-Captain of the wrestling team, Higuchi, who is (totally incorrectly) labeled a lipstick lesbian when she first appears, and who openly gropes Tamako at every opportunity while they wrestle. (Like a lipstick lesbian would *ever* wrestle. Pfft. Another manga company that is fail when it comes to properly translating something lesbian-related. ALC is still the only company who can identify a lipstick lesbian and tell the difference between one and a Yuri character.)

The second flavor of Yuri is Shiba, a member of the Karate club whose impossibly strong attacks have no effect on Tamako. She finds herself sexually fantasizing about Tamako (which immediately makes her a pervert, by the rules set out in fanboy-land,) and even making lunch for her. Shiba’s thrown off the Karate team for failing and when they ruin the love-love lunch she made, she’s completely unable to cope with Tamako’s kindness towards her. She runs away, “unable to face her first crush.”

This series is by Shozaki Yuji, the creator of Ikkitousen/Battle Vixens – the story here is thinner than Tamako’s panties. This is absolute 100% crap. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the 15 minutes it took me to read it, because it is such *utter* crap that I found it amusing. I think it makes a fitting beginning to “crappy crap” week here at Okazu.

Ratings:

Art – 7 creative, in its own pervtastic way
Story – 1
Characters – 3
Yuri – 6
Service – Infinity

Overall – 5

Don’t have high expectations. Don’t have *any* expectations. Then lower that a little and you’ll probably find Battle Club not so bad. ^_^





Ikkitousen Dragon Destiny Anime

March 10th, 2007

I know that you’ll all be pleased to know that Ryomou Shimei, Kanu Unchou and Kaku Bunwa are all still wearing underwear. It’s an unavoidable conclusion that one has to come to in mere seconds of watching Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny.

You may recall from my reviews of Ikkitousen that I am fully aware that this is utter crap of the lowest sort. Nonetheless I enjoy it, not because I am ignoring the utter crappiness, but because I am enjoying some individual parts of the utter crappiness. ^_^ The panty shots are not among these parts. I like the fights and I like women who have mad fightin’ skillz. And I like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms bits, so I put up with the boring stuff to eke out some pleasure from the rest. ;-)

(As an aside, I was at Anime Castle today, where there was a 3′ tall figurine of Kanu Unchou for sale. I could only boggle. What on *earth* would one do with such a thing?

…

Now that I think about it, don’t tell me. Forget I mentioned it.)

Anyway, Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny begins with my beloved Ryomou attempting to steal a dragon seal, and almost, but not quite, being thwarted by Kakuen Myousai.

You *may* recall from the previous series (but probably not) that the new leader of the Toushi, the Fighters, is Sousou Moutoku. He’s going to be calling for a new throwdown soon, and the various schools are tense as the Fighters all brush up their skills and jockey for power.

Many of the characters are returning from the first series. Ryomou and Hakufu from Nanyou Gakuin, the aforementioned Sousou and Kaku Bunwa, now from Kyoshou Gakuin.

And from Seito Gakuen we get a lot more face time …you *know* what I mean… with Kanu Unchou who, in the first series came by only to fight Ryomou. Kanu is joined by pushy Chouhi Ekitoku and Ryuubi Gentoku. Ryuubi is clearly a lover, not a Fighter, and even tough Kanu softens a bit when she’s around her.

I can safely predict there will be much fighting, and panty shots and exploding clothes but whether there is any Yuri, only time will tell. So far Kanu blushing at Ryuubi’s clueless niceness is our only hit so far as episode 2. But we haven’t seen Ryomou and Goei together yet, and they are the couple I love best. ^_^

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that I can re-visit this series at a later date with assurance that while it is still utter and complete crap, it is at least utter and complete crap with *Yuri*. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 4
Characters – 6
Yuri – 1
Service – 12

Overall – 5

I like Ryomou, because I like joint submissions. I like Kanu because I like women with polearms…and she uses a guando, which just about makes me drool with desire. I can’t help myself. I like Ikkitousen ^_^





Yuri Anime: Ikkitousen, DVD Volume 4

April 5th, 2005

Ikkitousen is, despite trying *very* hard to be a piece of crap, a damn good story.

This short OVA wraps up in Volume 4, with some darn good pithy action and character development. Unfortunately, like a little sister who keep jumping into the scene when you’re trying to take a picture of your friends, the fanservice is really distracting – I mean, to the point of actually detracting from the storyline. Which is a bloody shame, because in these three episodes, what was on and off a decent story goes straight into a fairly intense plot. Except the visuals don’t support the story at *all.*

In a lot of ways, it might almost be better to watch this whole volume with the English soundtrack on, while doing something else entirely. This way you would be able to hear the story unfold, without having to crane around the panty and nipple shots, just to get to the action.

While the rest of the character interaction is good, the transformation of Ryofu into uber-lesbian is completed in this volume and really, she gets extra snaps for dying so damn well. Which brings me to the manga version of Ikkitousen, repulsively entitled, Battle Vixens. In Volume 6 of Battle Vixens, Ryofu meets a completely different death, but one no less hunky and yuri-filled.

In the anime, Chinkyuu, Ryofu’s vassal and lover, dies trying to bring the Great Seal to her mistress. Ryofu berates her, because she never wanted to rule, but Chinkyuu admits that it would have made her happy to see Ryofu at peace. At which point, Chinkyuu closes her eyes for the last time and what little zest for life Ryofu has, goes with her. Ryofu has a tearful and moving departure from Chinkyuu, with the hope that they’d be together soon. And off she goes to kill Toutaku, like the obnoxious little expletive deleted he is. Before her death, Ryofu gets one last jibe at Ryomou. “It’s a shame, because you really are my type.” lol You gotta hand it to Ryofu – she’s got one thing one her mind. We are left with no doubt that, as she sloughs her mortal coil, she joins Chinkyuu in whatever passes as heaven for this story.

In the manga, Ryofu’s final fight is against Unchou, and she is taking a brutal beating. Her one moment of victory is that she managed to make Unchou pee her pants. Obsessing about this, Ryofu goes down at the hands of the superior Fighter. Chinkyuu (who had not been in the story until this moment,) runs up and shields Ryofu’s body from the killing blow. In response to Unchou’s taunts, Chinkyuu explains that she serves Ryofu to the death, and scooping her beloved lord into her arms, self-destructs so that they die together.

Regardless of the rest of the utter shittiness of the manga and much of the crapiness of the anime, these two rock. They have great deaths in both versions.

Our little Ryomou, in the meantime, has thrown herself into the role of vassal to Hakufu with vigor, but we get more than a few glimpses of her real interest – Hakufu’s mother, Goei. I love the way she blushes everytime Goei thanks her or smiles at her.

Again I say, despite working hard to end dumbly, the anime actually has a decent and fun ending. Good enough that it made me want to read The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which I did. And for the record, Lu Bu (Ryofu) and Lu Meng (Ryomou) kick butt in the novel, too. :-)But it’s not always easy to recognize the characters’ Chinese names, so I was never able to figure out just who Chinkyuu was – and the research I’ve turned up has that name associated with several different possible characters from the novel.

In any case, as I finished this volume I couldn’t help but think what a truly GREAT anime this would have been if they backed off on the fanservice a notch or three.

If you like panty and nipple fanservice, then you might find the story distracting – its rather complex and may be beyond your ability to concentrate past your fetish.

In conclusion? Good anime despite itself, lots of women who kick ass, at least one serious heavy-duty Yuri couple and the implication of one other crush-y May-December thing going on.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

Ryofu and Chinkyuu were even cooler this time around than the first time I watched. And Ryomou is just brilliant. If she were real, I’d want to adopt her. ^_^





Yuri Anime: Ikkitousen DVD Volume 3

March 24th, 2005

Gods help me, I *really* enjoyed Ikkitousen Vol. 3. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I’m seriously thinking about going home and rewatching it again. Today.

In a nutshell, this volume of the anime version of Wani Comics’ offensively fanservicey, trashy, faux-historical/martial arts epic, details the transformations of Housen Ryofu from psychotic lackey into honorable uber-warrior and Shimei Ryomou from psychotic loner into super-vassal. And despite myself, I really enjoyed the hell out of it.

Ryofu wakes up with the realization that she is dying, and decides to go out with a bang. She’s determined to take Toutaku out before she goes – a fine goal, in my opinion. She heads off to a mountain hot spring to train with *the* master and gain an undefeatable technique and the strength to go with it. Before she leaves, she explains to Chinkyuu why she has to do this, and Chinkyuu responds by explaining why she will stay with Ryofu until the very end. In a single volume, Ryofu goes from being a superficial baddie, to a surprisingly deep heroine.

In the meantime, Goei has brought Hakufu and Koukin (who remains the most annoying character in the series) to the same hot spring, in order to train. Well – they are there to train, she’s there to “take the water” as they say in Jane Austen. Hakufu almost immediately runs into Ryomou who has been drawn there for reasons that remain obscure and convenient.

At the hot spring Ryomou has an epiphany. Well, one epiphany and the beginning of a second. Firstly, she meets and is wowed by Goei, whose casual sensuality simply blows her away enough to remove the stick from her ass for a second.

Then, when she and Hakufu meet Ryofu on a mountain path, Ryomou realizes that her true fate is, was and always will be to serve Hakufu and protect her. In a single defiant gesture, she stands before Ryofu to protect Hakufu with her life. Ryofu laughs, says she doesn’t have the time and runs off.

In the meantime, Chinkyuu makes a bad decision which ends up getting her raped and tortured at the command of Toutaku’s lackey, Kaku Bunwa. Bunwa is one of those second-in-commands that you enjoy watching being taken down, because she thinks she’s so clever, but she ain’t. I’m sure you know the type. When Bunwa tells Ryofu about Chinkyuu, Ryofu goes off to save her lover/vassal in a stunningly impressive display of coolness and ki. Ryofu notches up several ranks of wow as she blows the life out of Bunwa’s enforcers without hardly moving. Waaaahhhhh….coooollll…. I just love a woman who can blow a man’s heart out of his chest.

Ryomou, having determined to serve Hakufu to the death, runs off to see “her” again. Not Hakufu…Goei. Bing Bing! We got a winner here! Ryomou discovers Goei falling to her knees in the street, as she has just met the Fighter that, historically, killed Hakufu. Goei begs Ryomou to protect her daughter and, Ryomou, in her second epiphany, swears to make sure that Goei is never sad. From vassal of the daughter, to serving the mother in one smooth move. Yay Ryomou!

Some other stuff happens – we learn why Toutaku always has bandages on his body, but you know…who cares? And we’re supposed to care about the dragon that is awakening within Hakufu, too. But we don’t, do we? Because *we’re* watching the Yuri-fest going on in the background. ^_^ In any case, Koukin will do all our worrying for us, so we’re free to watch the cool chicks.

The Yuri goggles are getting dusty on the shelf while we watch this volume, I can tell you. The Yuri is so blatant, starting with Ryofu’s waking up naked next to Chinkyuu right down to Ryomou vowing to keep Goei from ever being sad.

Yes, there’s fanservice, but I simply tune it out now. And for once, there’s actual nipples instead of that wretched convention of clothes that have exploded but conveniently hang down *just* to cover the nipples and groin, which I find absolutely tedious. In some ways, the fanservice was *less* stupid because it was more overt. At least it was more honest and less coy.

One final rave about this particular volume – the pencil board did not actually suck! Can you believe it? On the one side is Ukitsu (the Fighter who is supposed to destroy Hakufu) looking seductive and sweet as opposed to kick-ass, which I always find to be a disservice. But! On the other side is *my* favorite character, Goei. Yes, Hakufu’s mother. ^_^ What can I say? I adore her. Anyway, there she is mostly dressed, while her kimono falls sexily around her. She looks just as sensual and aware as she does in the actual show – no frontal lobotomy here. So this pencil board wins. I may actually use it, instead of locking it away with the ROD The TV boards in the “please don’t think I like these” collection.

I’ll be honest, Ikkitousen is not a *good* anime. But given this series’ general suckiness, this DVD is a good volume. (And, for the record, the anime is significantly superior to the manga, which you’ll notice I have not reviewed. Be patient.)

The Yuri rating for Ikkitousen, Vol. 3 is an easy 9. All the other ratings remain as before.





Ikkitousen, DVD Vol. 2

December 13th, 2004

I’m getting used to the panties – what does that say about me?

Last night, about 2/3 way through Volume 2 of Ikkitousen I started to laugh uncontrollably at the complete and utter trashiness of this story. I blame my Dad, because he has such crap-tastic taste in porn. I guess some of it rubbed off – lucky me.

Like the first volume, Volume 2, comes with a lovely reversible cover – Ryofu on one side (above), Kanu on the other, and a two-sided pencil board which depict these two fantastically competent and combative women after they have had frontal lobotomies and are now completely submissive. It’s probably just me, but I think that they are *way* sexier when they look like they could kick my ass. The mini-poster inside the case is nice, but not exceptional.

I was all ready to bitch about the 3-episode volume, but you know, the Japanese version has 2 episodes per volume, so it’s a much worse deal. Do I care? No! Dammit – this series is 13 crappy episodes! Sell it as a 2-DVD set, with a box and all the pencil boards, for pity’s sake. It’ll cost you less to print, you can gouge us for the box and boards and we’ll all be happy. Plus we won’t have to wait obscene amounts of time for all the volumes to come out. Duh.

The translation was a little tighter this time, which was good. No honorifics at all, except for, get this…Mou-chan. I was so happy that they translated that the right way. And Oba-san was turned into “Aunt Goei” so I guess that was reasonably close. Interestingly, they did not bother to translated the Chinese title “Sho Haou” that is given to Hakufu. It means, roughtly, “Little King of Fighters” or something roughly equivalent. The fansubbers had called her the “Junior Lord of Lords”.

As for content, I wasn’t kidding when I said that this anime is trash. I mean, really – it’s trash. The Fighter’s Grand Tournament has begun, by Imperial Order from Enjutsu, who remains icognito (for good reason…). Hakufu, who is clearly unprepared wants to fight anyway, while Koukin annoyed the living daylights out of me by trying to micromanage Hakufu’s every action and word. By the end of the DVD, more than anything else, I wanted someone, preferably Ryomou, to pound the daylights out of Koukin – what a jerk that boy is. And a hypocritical prude. Get *over* it already – the girls have breasts and asses, yes. Now move on.

Speaking of Ryomou – we learn that she did indeed have a life previous to this DVD and was, indeed, wearing the eyepatch before then as well. Her sempai was paralyzed and blinded in a previous Tournament. So much for Ryomou’s rich backstory. She then toddles off to a dark wood where she meets, fights and is defeated by Ryofu. Ryomou is further humiliated as Ryfou, having paralyzed her, then rapes her. But it’s all in good fun, you see, because Ryofu is really just a dedicated and omnisexual follower of Toutou. Ryofu is also impossibly stacked. She must have those things crazy-glued into that jacket.

Anyway, up from the beating she’s given Ryoumou, Ryofu goes off to have sex with Saji – and for a change we get to see him give her a good time. ‘Bout time, too.

In the meantime Hakufu destroys an entire school’s Fighters because she goes all dragon-postal.

After finding her determination (mostly to get back at Ryofu), Ryomou beats a team of Fighters on her own, then goes on to have a serious kick-ass fight with Kanu Unchou, who complete outclasses my poor Mou-chan. Even after Ryomou breaks her arm (I’m pretty sure that the arm would have been dislocated at the shoulder before it broke, but I’m just being picky,) she’s outfought. Kanu could and does, kick her ass with, literally, one arm behind her back. Hakufu give Kanu a bit of a whooping, but Kanu retires, covered in sweat and glory, leaving Hakufu’s school up one in the ranking.

Which brings us to the leaast interesting character in the series – the guy in charge. We are supposed to see Toutou as some incredibly powerful, seriously heavy juju kinda guy? I don’t see it. He’s a bore. I support Ryofu’s determination to oust his lazy-ass ass. And his favorite pillow, Bunwa? Is she a threat? Why>? All she does is suck up to him – in several different ways. Wow – getting service, scary.

In the end, Ryofu confides in her loyal lackey Chinkyuu that she’s going to be the top dog and, as is always appropriate with Ryofu, they celebrate by having sex. Whee! Much better!

So, yuri-wise, this volume is about as good as it gets. Ryofu does Ryomou (and damn I wish they would have gotten together for real…) and then Chinkyuu. Go Ryofu!

Ratings:

Story – 6

Character – 8, except Koukin and Toutou, who are 1’s

Art – 6

Yuri – 9

Music – 2 (Let’s talk about the utter suckiness of the opening theme, shall we?)

Fanservice – 10

Overall – this is a 6 at best, but I kind of like it anyway.

Ultimately, this series is about three things: fanservice, fighting, and fanservice. If you’re not into these, don’t bother.