American University Anime Society’s Blog

Alright, time for a review of a random anime series, one not seen in the Anime Club this year or last! Craziness! Though, it’s more of a warning than anything really. Because, yes, the show is that bad.

Ikki Tousen has a rather interesting opening concept, one that could have been put to somewhat interesting usage if done correctly. The premise of the story is this: Hakufu Sonsaku is a new transfer student to Tokyo, who loves to do nothing more than eat and fight people. What she dosen’t know initally is the fact that the students in the area have the souls of the heroes who fought to unite China during the Three Kingdom Era (184-284AD) and that she has the soul of one of the most powerful heroes of the time, Sun Ce. She now has to not only survive aganist the other students, each with their own agendas, but her own destiny as well, which predicts for her a young death.

Each of the characters are bound to thier hero’s destiny, and one of the show’s major themes is the fight between fate and freedom. Now, the heroes that the characters have imbedded in thier souls are actual real historical people, though if you reconize the Three Kingdom Era, it’s probaly either because of the novel Three Kingdoms (only one of the top five selling books of all-time worldwide) or through Koei’s numerous video game series (including Dynasty Warriors, and the aptly named Romance of the Three Kingdoms). As a big follower of this era, it hurts when they pretty much completely screw up everyone. It also dosen’t help that the show uses the Japanese names for the characters, so if one has heard of the era before, or even a big fan, they won’t realize who most of the people are, even after the show tells you , which is pretty bad, since the show expects you to know most of it and the backstory. Basically, it really screwed up the one original thing it had going for it.

The show has a very simple storyline for most of its short run; Hakufu meets badguy, other characters comment, Hakufu fights, and either she’ll win or lose and have someone or something save her. Of course, there are lots of shows like this, but this one is just painfully obvious. The plot is incoherent most of the time, and Hakufu is more annoying than anything; you can only take so much of the crazy fighting blond till you get sick. The majority of the other characters are rather not memorable and some of the interpretations for the heroes of the Three Kingdom Era are just plain wrong.

Having said all of that, the opening song is catchy, and the animation is very good. But, the story, the characters, and basically anything that makes a show good, is terrible (oh, for all 6 of you that listen to Anime in English, it’s not good either) You know it does not bode well for a show when the director says that he wants “to explore the sexiness of fighting”. And by sexiness, he means girls losing thier clothes and fighting in their bras. There is a ton of fanservice, so if ya into that type of thing, then go for it. Otherwise, this show has no redeeming value at all, and no one should be tortured or bored enough to see it.

Review: 1/5 Just don’t it. Just don’t.