Search - Ikki Tousen - Historic Battles (Vol. 2) on DVD

The tournament begins....enter Kanu!

Dave | Indianapolis, Indiana United States | 02/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What can I say, I'm actually enjoying this anime so far. Volume one was okay, but this one surpasses it in every aspect--the fights are better, the story and characters are further developed (nothing that deep though), and uh, for those of you that care, there's even more fanservice and sexuality.

If you've read the reviews for vol. 1, you should already know the basic story--ancient warriors from the great Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" have been reincarnated into high school students from seven rival high schools across Japan's Kanto region. These students are known as "Fighters" and the seven schools are battling each other for supremacy. Well, in this volume the Big Fighters Tournament begins, which is the ultimate event that will decide the top school in the region. Obviously, this paves the way for a number of fights to ensue. Our heroine, "Booby Bombs" Hakufu is teamed up with her cousin/bodyguard Koukin, Gakusho, and Ryomou to fight for her school in the tournament. I gotta say, Ryomou was awesome in this volume--she has to be my favorite character so far. She has the coolest fighting style, and I love her strong, noble personality. She's kinda like a cross between Rei Ayanami from Eva and Piccolo from DBZ.

A cool new character also makes her appearance in this volume--Kanu, a very strong, beautiful fighter with long dark hair that goes down to her feet. In fact she's so strong that her school let her represent them in the tournament all by herself! However, she does not desire to win the tournament--only to have a good fight with a worthy opponent. In the last episode of this volume, both Ryomou and Hakufu end up fighting with her, and they were definitely the best fights in the show so far.

As for the DVD itself, it has several extras, including a textless ending and an interview with the director which is kinda funny. And, as in vol. 1, there are hidden outakes (select the textless ending and push play as soon as the screen turns black). They're even more hilarious than those in vol. 1!

If you're trying to decide whether or not to spend money on this anime, I have to warn you that it definitely isn't for everyone, and I can see why people wouldn't like it. But if you like martial arts fighting, and like (or at least don't mind) virtualy nonstop fanservice from hot anime chicks, I suggest giving it a test run. You should at least see volumes 1 AND 2 before you decide to drop it. I wasn't quite sure about this show myself after watching vol. 1, but this one just left me wanting more. Hopefully the last two volumes will be just as good, if not better."

Better than the first volume!

Ibuki | 11/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Yep, that's right. Second volume is better than the first. Be warned, though: there's a even more sexual situations in this than the first. If you're looking for insight into the series, check out my review of vol. 1. Other than the above mentioned increased fanservice, things are pretty much the same. The story gets a little deeper too."