Customer Reviews

Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple - Season One

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

An anime series about a boy learning martial-arts from a gang of masters sounds... kinda boring. Fortunately it's anything but -- "Kenichi: Season One" is a solid start to this deliciously oddballish series, with plenty of gutsplitting comedy, explosive action, a hint of romance, and extremely eccentric martial artists. And the "weak knees" main character makes it easy for you to root for him.

Throughout his school life, Kenichi Shirahama has been weak, bullied, friendless and nicknamed "weak knees." He enters the high school karate club to become stronger, but quickly finds himself at the bottom of the food chain -- and challenged to a match by a big muscled thug.

But his life is unexpectedly saved by the new transfer student Miu, who can beat down an entire street gang. She guides him to the Ry'zanpaku dojo where she lives... and where five great martial arts masters currently reside, each at the peak of their skill and strength. Unsurprisingly Kenichi joins up with the hope of becoming stronger, but he soon discovers that their methods are kind of brutal (think racing around the city pulling jiujitsu master Akisame in a tire!).

Unfortunately, his martial-arts win only leads to more trouble -- he attracts the attention of various thugs, and gains the attention of the strongest gang in the city, Ragnarok. And moving into the dojo doesn't end the danger, as he finds that some of his friends -- including an ex-member of Ragnarok -- are being targeted by their thugs. What's more, he has no idea how close one of the gang's elite fighters is...

"Kenichi: Season One" is a strong first half to the anime series -- it quickly introduces us to the characters and scenario, then plunges right into the world of martial arts training. But on a deeper level, "Kenichi" is also about a young man who gains not only physical strength but mental endurance, and how his innocent quest to be strong rapidly escalates into something far more life-changing.

And.... it's funny. REALLY funny. Every episode is packed with slapstick, insane training (the Great Leg Divide -- a sort of medieval torture device), eccentric characters ("Riiiiiise, SEBASTIAN!"), and tsunamis of hormones whenever Kenichi gets within two feet of Miu. All this humor keeps the series from getting too deadly serious. There's also a lot of action that twists through the various episodes, as Kenichi is confronted by all sorts of opponents -- karate, boxing, street fighters, knife-wielding thugs -- and has to use different techniques to defeat them. Lots of special punches, low kicks, pivots, body-weight throws and other fun techniques.

But Kenichi himself is a strong point -- he's a likable and earnest kid who hasn't been soured by his constant mistreatment at school, and who just wants to be strong enough to defend himself and other people. And it doesn't go to his head, since he shows immense compassion towards the people he defeats. Miu is also an excellent female lead in the vein of Tite Kubo's Orihime -- busty, friendly, industrious, naive, and just a little bit weird.

And the supporting characters have a brilliance of their own: there's Miu's imposing grandpa, the rough and blunt Sakaki, the silent sword-swinging Shigure, the lecherous Kensei, and the vast and deadly child-man Apachai ("Only limit is limit of fear!"). Takeda the Puncher makes a good buddy/rival for Kenichi... and for the record, all the voice actors are simply brilliant..

"Kenichi: Season One" is a solid start to a thoroughly enjoyable series, crammed with martial-arts fighting and loads of comedy. A fun, wild little anime series that deserves immediate watching! Apapapapa!

I watched this series as a martial artist... I enjoyed the comedy and the story line i highly recommend this series (if the preview of the series interest you you wont be disappointed) The series is about a kid who trains his hardest in martial arts dispute his lack of natural skill in the arts....this has a lot to offer (martial arts comedy and soo much more )its definitely worth owning both seasons

I'm not going to spoil the show for you all I'm going to say is that this could just be the best anime of 2010. I'm not sure since I haven't seen every anime produced in 2010 "YET" but you really just can't beat Kenichi. And I would actually give season 2 six stars if I could.

Kenichi the mightiest disciple is a title i would recommend to anyone. It's fast, funny, action packed, and will leave you wanting more. Sad to see that the manga is still going strong and the anime stopped after the first story arc. There's enough material for lots of new seasons. Hopefully, there are in the works.

First, not for children due to violence, content and fan-service, though nothing too graphic. A very good story, but be aware it continues in season two parts one and two without break. (It does not stand as a story on it's own). This is one series I'm glad I picked up. The comedy is funny, the martial arts are mostly taken seriously (It IS a comedy), and the romance isn't soppy and over-done. The story develops well, if somewhat predictably in parts, and is well written and produced. I'm still watching the last of season 2 pt2, so I can't comment on how the series ends. I'll review them when I am done, so check there.

I had seen part of this anime in the TV on Demand and It look good and was very funny. I decided to purchase it thru Amazon and I believe is the best idea I had. I recommend this to anyone that likes to watch anime and likes to laugh. I would recommend to also get season two I know you will love it.Enjoy

classic story of the weak kid wanting to get stronger. It has a great story line with stunning martial arts and humor.

I have loved this anime for years. Originally an older anime, but even watching it today I can honestly say I would rank it in my top 5 anime series. Probably every eight months or so I watch through it again, mostly because I'm bored. I get drawn into it all over again, and never get that nostalgia-breaking sense of "how did I enjoy this". Great pacing, great comedy, entertaining characters that you can't wait to see what they do next.

I watched with the Japanese language, so the English dubbing that came out more recently sounds strange to me. However it is a great show. They may sound a bit different, but the characters are still there.

I've introduced it to family and friends, and all that have watched it loved it from beginning to end.

There's many ways to watch this show, but this is worth adding to an anime collection. If for no other reason than to be able to watch it with the Japanese language commercial free.

p.s. If you don't love Apachai, you have no soul. :P

The Mightiest Disciple was such an amazing series! I enjoyed every bit of this shounen anime. The comedy was silly enough to make you smile, which was a relief. The shounen genre is always at risk for nauseating repetitive comedy but this one was something new, different. I was pleased to discover only one annoying character and light fan-service because nothing could destroy a series easier than ignorant characters and random panty shots. A great story, interesting characters, and thought-provoking dialogue makes this show and instant winner in my book!

omg this is so epic,i watched episode 1,to see if its good and it was,anyway im still waiting for my package