Customer Reviews

Ikki Tousen - Legendary Fighter (Vol. 1)

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

 

 

Ikki Tousen is based on Yuji Shiozaki's over the top fighting manga of the same name.(In America its title is "Battle Vixens" published by Tokyo Pop.).To be completely honest with you the original manga is way better than it's anime counterpart, but that's not to say it isn't worth a look or two!
Loosely based on the "Romance of the three kingdoms" Ikki Tousen is primarily a fighting story.During the three kingdoms era several heroes tired to unite China and failed.Their spirits came to rest inside of jewels called magatama.Whoever inheirits these "sacred beads" has their own natural fighting ability increased many fold.The down side however is that they must fight to become "Ikki Tousen", one warrior with the stength of one thousand.Along with becoming ikki tousen the must live out the destiny of the warrior inside the magatama until they die.Unfortunately for Hakufu she loves to fight, so will she be able to overcome her destiny as the "Shou Hao of Koutou"?
Only time and the next few volumes will tell.All-in-all Ikki Tousen has a pretty decent storyline thats not too philishophically heavy with questions of morality or anything like that, it's straight forward and to the point.The animation quality is good, the character designs are awesome, and the music is pretty cool too.Defenitely not for the kiddies, it has a ton of panty shots, graphic fights scenes, and later on some more controversial and questionable content. The final verdict is if your into fanservicey fights between girls in school uniforms then Ikki Tousen is right up your alley, if not then your missing out, and before I forget don't forget to check out the origial story in "Battle Vixens" from Tokyo Pop.Also avalible now at Amazon.com.

Make no mistake: this series is all about fanservice. Highly detailed panties, cleavage, etc. This series can best be described as "style over substance." There's a story here somewhere, but it's best not think about it too hard. They don't give a lot of background on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (on which this series is loosely based) so it's easy to lose the details in all the panties. I mean, how is a guy supposed to keep track of people who died 1800 years ago and of what's going on in the present while not being distracted by the fanservice?

My theory on the excessive fanservice is that it must be there for comedic effect, though it often misses the mark. But make no mistake, this show would be a very heavy series without the fanservice to remind you "hey, don't take this show so seriously." The panties go a long way toward distracting you from not only the incomprehensible backstory, but also from everybody getting the crap kicked out of them.

For those who are looking for a point of reference, I can't help you much. This series is very hard to classify. It's not quite like a fighting show, a comedy, or a drama. It does take elements from various series and meshes them as well as can be expected. The main character, Hakufu, is somewhat like a female Goku from Dragonball: loves a fight, but not very intelligent. In a suprise move, there's even a lecher. Ok, it's not really a suprise as there's a sterotypical lecher in nearly every anime. Dragonball had master Roshi, Burn Up had Yuji, Inuyasha had Miroku. The suprise is who the lecher is: Hakufu's mom! Very funny.

If you're looking for a good story, keep looking. If you're looking for social commentary, keep looking. If you don't mind fanservice and love action, then this might be for you. The series is extremely well animated, and the story, such as it is, is told fairly well. Luckily, the backstory is largely irrelevant. The Romance of the Three Kingdom stuff is good to know, but if you don't know it already don't worry about it on your first viewing of this series.

this umd for psp only has 2 episodes but i bought it just because of that. See, I didn't want to be dissapointed with the series so i bought this umd first and after seeing it, it prompted me to get the entire boxed set!!! make no mistake, $30 a dvd is expensive, but the compleat collection is on sale for $71 and if you add up each dvd thats $120 instead of $71 so if you like this series, buy the boxed set compleat for $71 and save $40-$50 on the single packed dvds. overall- this series is a 5 for those of you who like this type of anime (read all the other reviews) peace out!

Ok so this anime is alright, being pretty straight-forward and easy to follow. Normally with these types of anime, it walks a thin line between anime and hentai and at points the line blures to a point that it should just go full on hentai but doesn't. That said the first few seasons are great when all you want is a good fight between chicks like Hakafu and Kan-u. Recently I lost the bulk of my anime collection and have begun rebuilding it. Ikki Tousen, Dragon Destiny and Great Guardians are on the list and i do recommend these series but don't expect the greatest anime ever. it's just ok. beyond that i wouldn't bother because is pulls a little too far away from fighting for my taste

I second the other positive reviews and offer a few comments and viewing hints.

If all you care about is pulchritude and only want to buy one of the four discs, you will want Vol. 3.

But if you are interested in the story, you will need all four discs. This is one continuous story split into 13 episodes.

The story is so complex that you really do need a scorecard to keep track of the players - many of whom have similar sounding names. I suggest making one listing the following characters, who they are, their associations and their agendas. Fighters from Nanyo: Hakufu, Koukin, Ryomou, Gakushu, Saji, Kannei. Fighters from Rakuyo: Totaku, Ryofu, Chinkyu, Kaku. Fighters from other schools: Ukitsu, Kanu, Kakoton, Taishiji. Adults: Goei, Choko.

Volumes 1 and 2 each have at least one Easter Egg; and Volumes 3 and 4 each have at least two. The trick for accessing them has been mentioned in other reviews.

The sacred beads worn by the fighters automatically change color to reflect the skill rank of the wearer. It is significant that Hakufu remains at the green E-rank (the lowest) even as she progresses to the point she can clobber entire schools single-handedly. But at one major turning point during the 13 episodes, the color finally does change. Alert viewers will notice this several minutes before any of the characters do. Watch for it.

Also, pay attention to Ryofu. Though not the main character, she is probably involved in the most plot threads. And though introduced as a particularly cruel character, she becomes much more complex.

Although 99 percent of the violence is Three Stooges slapstick, the 1 percent that is not stands out in bold relief.

I won't reveal the ending or the moral to the story, but will point out that this turns out to be a Taoist parable concerning fate and stupidity.

It's slapstick, the art is well done and the story is light hearted. It's got a good fluid story line but don't go into this expecting Berserk, or Evangelion. I can see the 16+ rating since it deals with high school students fighting each other but honestly it's done more like the three stooges than anything else. Adult situations bare minimum, nudity??? Well ok there is SOME fan service but it's mostly well placed panty shots. I recommend this on a scale of "after 2" Martinis for fun entertainment.

but you already know that from the other reviews. And yes, they use the Three Kingdoms as a kind of foundation for the plot. But what it lacked in story in made up, for me, in humor, fight scenes, interesting measurements and the two greatest female actors in the anime world - Wendee Lee and Carrie Savage! Having the two of them work on the same series, as Hakufu Sonsaku and her mother who likes the spank her forced me to stuff paper tissue up my nose. There's one scene...^_^'
Nevermind. Just enjoy it for the action and art, if you like female student fighting each other. But even that is not true as there are also a lot of male students fighting.
The Hidden Out-takes are great and the reason the disc got four points and not just three. Select Non-Credit Opening and when the TV screen turns dark (and it will be blank for a few seconds so don't worry about timing) hit PLAY on the remote. There is a ton of Out-Takes, all very funny.
Four episodes, for 16 and older. Good, but not great.

Hakufu Sonsaku has arrived in Kanto to find she's in her element. Academies and schools are battling to control the most territory with fighters knocking the snot out of each other not only against other schools but to establish each institution's own inner hierarchy. These young high school kids are actually the reincarnated souls of ancient Chinese warriors whose fate it is to battle through the ages. Hakufu's immediate goal is to become the top fighter at her school, and then the whole country. But after kicking a half-dozen butts she comes up against a wall in the form of Gakushyu, one of the "Big Four", a group of super-fighters that rule over the school. She'll have to unlock the soul of one of the greatest warriors of all time, Shou Haou, if she hopes to become top dog. She won't be alone. Hakufu has the help of her cousin Koukin, whose quiet reserve hides his fighting prowess and his fierce desire to protect her from others and from Hakufu's own reckless wildness.

If you're looking for Shakespearean writing, you've come to the wrong place with Ikki Tousen. This show is all about fighting and fan service, with bouncing boobs and booty and panty shots! It has more of a sexy edge to it than Tenjho Tenge, which seems to revel in violence and sadism. Ikki can be over the top with all the villains licking their weapons in their best malicious evil imitations, but overall the naivete of the main characters Hakufu and Koukin give it an innocent charm. It will be interesting to see if someone as dumb as Hakufu will be able to outwit and outfight the best fighters in the land. Overall, this first volume was brainless but entertaining.

This anime is hard to review, but I gave it a good review mainly because it focuses on butchering the genre. It's a parody anime, and every episode is based on a cliche you see in most fighting animes. It makes fun of them in a stupid way, and most people will call the anime stupid. I love it and find how they do stuff imaginative and fun. Also theres alot of panty shots. I mean, every second theres one. Also lots of people believe that the anime has no plot. It does, the basics of the story is that it's all about destiny. The anime is based off romance of the three kingdoms. Well in ikki tosen, replace the kingdoms with schools, and replace the warriors from ROTTK with teen girls/ boys. But it's hard for me to recommend this, I think it's a good anime, but more people rather disagree with me.

I only saw the first 5 epis, and it is a very good anime, good story, great fluid caracters. Great animation, and very very sexy hihi ;D. Must Buy...