KaminaKai

Ikkitousen is loosely based on the infamous Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms which is set around 200 AD. As a person who knows quite a bit of the history during that period, I find easy to understand the relationships between characters and what the anime is trying to bring out. But I must admit it will be quite difficult for an average person with no background to try to understand what is going on in the story. So before any further rating of the show, I would like to give a bit of advice to those who plan to watch this. IF YOUHAVE NO INTEREST IN CHINESE HISTORY (though rather twisted if you ask me), AND IF YOU ARE JUST TRYING TO DIG OUT SOME HEAVY FAN SERVICING ANIME, THEN THIS IS NOT FOR YOU! You might as well go watch hentai instead. Yes, I agree that the fan service is very abundant (ridiculous is the term I would use), but I don't see the point in watching this if fan service is all you are looking for. Story: Trying to make a modernized version of the ancient war in China was a good idea to begin with. Though trying to retell it (even a small portion of it) in 13 episodes is just too much a task. The concept of the story is simple enough if you know the history. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the government became corrupted and the local governors and warlords took over and began building up their power. Which in our case, the local governors and warlords are nothing but the seven schools. At the end, three overlords eventual dominated China resulting in the period of the Three Kingdom (which was explained at the end of the anime). Here are some links if you are interested. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Dynasty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Kingdoms I rate it 7 because I don't find it very original, and messing up the genders of the characters in the Romance of Three Kingdom is just...wrong. Oh, and I really don't see much point in all those street fights. Art: Nothing too fancy...don't expect too much from it, after all it is made in 2003. But it is still decent for its time. Note that I am rating it based on the year of its production, NOT by current standard. Sound: I like the OP but everything else is just what one would call "standard" in the anime industry. Character: I can understand that the producer tried to build up some character introduction/developments but mostly ended in failure. That is not to say that they did poorly, but rather it was just too much for 13 episodes. (One got to understand that the actual cast for the Romance of Three Kingdom is ENORMOUS, the producer handpicked a very few exceptional ones only) Enjoyment/Overall: I don't recommend Ikkitousen to people looking for fan service. It is better for you to watch hentai. Seriously, there are more than enough scenes in Ikkitousen that are on par to hentai. However I do recommend this to fellows who might want to see how the story of Romance of the Three Kingdom can be turned into in a modern day Japan. Overall, I enjoyed the anime and had no regret watching it. In fact I might rewatch it after finishing Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny and Great Guardians.

infinity

When I read the official review of Ikkitousen, I told myself: "Yea! Another Tenjou Tenge. Some arse kicking fights!" But I was so horribly wrong!! There is NOTHING great about the series. The characters fight for no reason. They fight like bersekers without using their minds, breaking each other for no reason, then will ally afterwards, then fight each other again, and use insanely powerful blows on each other, but still manage to come out alive. Dreadful! Regarding character development, there is nothing great again here. The main girl lead is just a battle-addict-crazy. She is accompanied by another girly man who appears to fight like agod, but of which we are not shown almost anything. It's just fight, fight, fight and fight. No story, no reason for fighting. The story is not well developed. IMHO, I really believe they just copied Tenjou Tenge, changed the characters and created a sort of pseudo story without any meaning. I really mean it, they COPIED Tenjou Tenge (TJTG). Go watch TJTG and you will see the many similarities by yourself. The only thing good about it is the enormous amount of fan-service and ecchiness. In almost every episodes, you will get to see the panties and bra of almost all the main girl characters. In the middle of the fight, you will see shirts getting ripped and skirts being blown open to reveal the characters` underwear. There is also a fair amount of sex, although nothing much is shown. This anime, with some more ecchiness, would be a hentai. Amidst model-sized bodies, large bust sizes and lots of in-between leg shots, the fight rages... Lolz! Hentai, I tell you! (I never knew girls would give such kicks with a skirt to expose their panties so often..) Mind you! The cloth-ripping and underwear-popping-out thingies happen to only girls. The boys NEVER get their clothes torn, no matter what happens. What`s more? A kick is able to reduce a shirt or skirt to shreds, but the underwear remain intact! I don`t know of what material those underwear are made of, but I guess titanium threads. They NEVER get ripped! Skin can get bruised, bones crack, blood splurts but the bra remains undefeated! OMG! o_0 Returning to the story, the characters appear to fight for almost no reason. They wear some ear-ring objects which supposedly contains the soul of legendary fighters. So? They are supposed to fight because of that? And for what? The domination of the territory? In what way is this useful? Wakaranai! I have no single idea! Conclusion? The plot line su*ks! Now, I would like to point out parallels between Tenjou Tenge and Ikkitousen. Tenjou Tenge (TJTG) comes first, followed by Ikkitousen. Nagi Souchiro => Sonsaku Hakufu Bob Makihara => Koukin Todoh Accademy => Nanyang School Disciplinary committee => Disciplinary Committee 4 main characters (Nagi, Bob, Masataka, Aya) = 4 main characters (Sonsaku, Koukin, Ryomon, Gakushu) Main character has a dragon => Main character has a dragon too, though pitifully illustrated Ultra powerful blows => Here too Fanservice => Duh! Same! As you can see, there are many similarities between TJTG. But nevertheless, I will still prefer Tenjou Tenge. I have been deceived by the anime, and I do not believe I would be re-watching it anytime soon. Conclusion: It`s just a fight-fight-fight-ecchi-hentai-fight-kick-fight-ecchi anime with no good plot line. A great enjoyment for those who appreciate fan-service. Watch TJTG if you want the same thing, but with more fun, and better story but with a long filler. (Can't get everything, can you?)