Customer Reviews

Grenadier - Service With a Smile (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grenadier takes place during the Japanese Civil war, where the only surviving samurai Yajiro is being chased after by an enemy army of senshi (gun-wielding baddies). Lucky for him, he is saved by the beautiful/bubbly Rushuna and her gun-slinging skills. As they both travel to different towns, they are constantly being chased/shot at by various enemy senshi. The main enemy in the first 4 episodes is the Jester, who looks pretty freaky due to his "Jester" mask that covers his entire face. He has the ability to stop Rushuna in her tracks, preventing her from pulling the trigger. He also has the ability to fly in the air and teleport himself all over the place, serving as the eyes and ears of..... [not spoiling this for you any further].

To be honest, this was a definite impulse buy. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how I wanted to see more episodes of this particular anime. Yes, there is some "fan service," aka bouncing chests and hot bath scenes. But, most of the time, it's in good taste. **Unless you're a collector, I recommend not purchasing Grenadier with the collectable figure, mainly b/c it doesn't have any articulation points, nor does it even stand properly on its own.**

Grenadier - Hohoemi no Senshi aka Grenadier the Smiling Warrior is a great anime. I agree with the person above, it woud of been nice to have a box, but seeing that this is only a 12 episode series and only gonna be 3 DVD's with 4 Episodes a disc. Maybe we will get a box with the final volume, also the Figure was a Plus and like the other reviewer the Mini Documentary was awesome.

Maikeru Shein-san

Grenadier was a very fun, exciting and playful show. I found it very enjoyable. Not only that Rushuna dislikes wars and violence
she tries to change the world with a smile just the way she was taught, but not everyone agrees as she will have to struggle with the enemies she encounters and the bounty on her head put by Tenchi who is supposed to be sort of a mentor for Rushuna.

As a Samurai during the great Japanese Civil War, Yajiro Torajima finds himself on the losing side of history as firearms have become the great equalizer. He's resorted to becoming a mercenary and has joined with other samurai to rescue their Lord, whose castle and life are being held for ransom by a bandit gang. Of course the samurai are cut down by gunfire, but Yajiro survives and is saved by a beautiful gun toting lady named Rushuna, who thinks you can end all war with a smile! Even though she finds herself fighting all the time, she never kills. She was sent out by her teacher to show the world that might does not make right. Yajiro, who was just a hired warrior up to this point, while skeptical of Rushuna's ideals, nevertheless sees something admirable in her beliefs and her skill with a pistol and tags along with her perhaps in order to become more like her. In Volume 1, the two travel from town to town, trying to right wrongs without hurting anyone, but you know, some evildoers just don't listen to reason! So that's when the pistol and katana come out.

I found Grenadier quite enjoyable. You should know right off that you shouldn't take this show too seriously. Rushuna is able to fire off incredible feats of shooting with her six-shooter. One of the funnier moments in episode 1 is when she shoots a line of 4 bad guys in a row, and they swan dive like extras from some bad action move. Another unorthodox move used by Rushuna is when she runs out of bullets, she flexes her bosom and six more bullets pop from between her breasts and then she makes a swift motion, reloading the bullets as they hang in the air! While there is a lot of fan service in this show, it never gets dirty, and it was refreshing that Yajiro is not the stereotypical pervert that would usually be tagging along with this buxom blonde. He doesn't really think much of taking a bath with Rushuna and seems more adult. He's more of a companion who wants to improve his moral character by being around Rushuna. I liked the two main characters a lot. If you don't take it too seriously, you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of this anime.

Yay, Grenadier is an awesome anime...I guess it's completely underrated. It has a great story and incorporates gun-wielding ladies AND awesome samurai! Great story, I highly HIGHLY recommend this anime. It's only 13 episodes at the moment, but hopefully it will be completed. So BUY THIS ANIME and maybe the studio will finish the series!! ^^

Tendou Rushuna is a female Senshi with very ample assets, and a knowledge of the handgun that would put and sharp shooter to shame. Her love of baths, her long blonde hair, and her bubbly personality are accented by her seemingly endless supply of ignorance.

Basically, a blonde bimbo with a big gun.

Now dont get me wrong, im all for a gun wielding scantily clad women, but i was also hoping there would be a driving storyline and some plot twists along the way.

Its mostly one misadventure after another until the end when everything comes to an end very abruptly. They did all the could with what they had, and it was an enjoyable 12 episodes, however it wont rank among my favorites.

Japan during a time of war. A time when a man with a gun could always find work and life was cheap. Huh, wait, is this an Italian Western or a Japanese Samurai Epic?
Grenadier is about a female shootist who believes a smile is the best weapon but still packs a 38 six-shooter with all the chambers loaded. Tisk, tisk - rule number one of the gun fighter was always leave the chamber under the hammer empty.
But this is fantasy, so who cares?
Machine guns, power suits, antigravity. You get the picture. Don't take anything seriously in this anime. On the other hand Wendee Lee is the English voice for Rushuna. What surprised me is I didn't know that till I saw the ending credits. Hey, she has played many female roles, a few male roles and even a turtle. So her ability to create a new voice isn't a shocker. She is also the English writer and voice director so you know the translation is going to be good. Her takes pride in her work. In other words it was a nice surprise.
Too bad the original material is so flawed. Sorry, but there was too much fan service for me, the art work isn't that great, the gun battles lack energy and the plot failed to hook me. And there is only four episodes on the first disc.
Now, there is lots of extras in the form of Japanese commentary for each episode and even the pre-broadcasting special, but that can't make up for all the faults. I would give it only a three out of five but I happen to be a fan of Wendee Lee, so it keeps a point.

The box is actually not a series box for the DVDs, but merely a packaging box to bundle the DVD with the figure. Nevertheness, the DVD is nicely done, including some rare extras such as Japanese cast commentaries.

The faitful samurai Yajiro and the gun toting, bouncing beautiful Rushuna join forces in their quest to bring an end to the escalating civil war that is plaguing in Japan.

The latest fad it seems in Japanese anime is the big busted light haired goddess-like super human that loves to show off her body (Tenjo Tenge, Gravion, Goh Dannar, UFO UltraMaiden Valkyrie,.. on and on and on...) In the uncut Japanese version (all 12 episodes) there seems to always be a hot spring close by that she inevitibly is taking a bath in... of course totally nude!
And the most irritating thing for this viewer is the insistance upon white women with overly large busts or 'non-japanese people', being the really evil characters. Is this is truly a Japanese ideal... maybe some left over super raging hormone condition of the creators of this stuff???
Maybe I am just crabby! But I personally think Grenadier is nothing but fan service fan service fan service,.. and a very poor quality job of it at that and a rip-off of the Kenshin-style scenario. Pretty face... but not good enough to score as a 'must see' or 'take the time to see...'!
There is a lot of good material out there, but Grenadier is not part of that material. Another $29.00 down the drain!..