Ikkitousen (Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens)

In the Kanto region, seven high schools fight to the death for absolute power. Each fighter is the reincarnation of a glorious warrior from the Three Kingdoms period, placing them in a perilous endeavor to overcome their often cruel destinies. Among them is the airheaded Hakufu Sonsaku, a student at Nanyou Academy who—despite possessing brilliant martial art abilities—is deemed to be killed at a young age by the ruthless Ukitsu.

However, her fellow classmate Koukin Shuuyu is tasked by Hakufu's mother to protect his cousin from this grim fate. To add to his burden, Hakufu is subject to sudden bursts of anger, where she loses consciousness and unleashes a destructive power that threatens her own life. Together with Nanyou's "Big Four," Hakufu and Shuuyu will have to foil the plans of their main rival schools and uncover the true nature of Hakufu's powers before it is too late.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Ikkitousen was released on DVD by Geneon Entertainment from August 10, 2004 to March 1, 2005. The series was republished in the same format by Funimation Entertainment on May 26, 2009 after Geneon Entertainment relinquished the license in 2007.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Ikkitousen
Sequel:	Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny

Kobayashi, Yumiko
Japanese

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Staff

Matsukura, Yuuji

Producer

Oosawa, Nobuhiro

Producer

Watanabe, Takashi

Director, Storyboard

Katou, Hiroto

Episode Director, Storyboard, Animation Director, Key Animation

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Opening Theme

"Drivin' through the Night" by move

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Ending Theme

"Let me be with You" by Shela

Reviews

Feb 11, 2019

FacelessVixen

Recommended

This is quite the undertaking: One of the most vocal Ikkitousen fans around tries to either convince people to give this cult ecchi series a shot or avoid it like the plague. ...if only it were that simple. As much as I've championed the series over the years, I've also had some reluctance and reservations about giving a whole-heated recommendation to those that have asked me about Ikkitousen for fear of leading people astray and potentially wasting their time. So, hopefully I'll be able to coherently explain said reservations, which mainly apply to the first season, while also trying to explain what exactly season one ... has going for it beyond "There's just something special about it and that special thing works for me."

I might as well address the elephant in the room right off the bat, Ikki's artwork for season one was not great in 2003 and it's not great now. I wouldn't say that I have bone to pick with Shinya Hasegawa, but his character design is my lead reservation for why I say that Ikkitousen season one is a little rough compared to the massive improvements made in later seasons with Arms Corporation and Rin Shin at the helm, which have also aged but significantly more gracefully than Ikki season one’s character art. But at the same time, I suppose I could make a case for the artwork being nostalgic of the "good old days" of anime in the late 90's and 2000's and the purist notion of hand drawn animation, which wouldn't be a forgone conclusion for those like me who grew up in the 90's and 2000's. So just for the sake of clarity, I describe the character design as being just competent and could have used a revision or two, but it's also not as bad as Aku no Hana. Other than that, the environments/backgrounds and animations work well enough I suppose. It’s a far cry from how elaborate animation has become in later years, but the early 2000’s were simpler times.

Another, but significantly less of a concern, is Ikki season one's story. It's pretty straight forward and easy enough to follow: Hakufu is pretty much your shonen adventure hero akin to Goku both in terms of having a love of fighting and also their intelligence; specifically in that they’re both pretty dumb. As far as introducing a series goes, it's pretty standard. But given that Ikkitousen isn't exactly the Pulp Fiction or the Unusual Suspects of anime, the standard "protagonist on a quest to be the best that no one ever was" works just fine. After all, the story of an ecchi series might as well keep the plot simple in order to keep the other form of "plot" going. But with that said, there are some moments, or set pieces, that are kind of real and even a bit raw. If anything, Ikki season one's story works best as a character study since many of the events are relevant to Hakufu's growth and progression throughout the narrative.

While the story works well enough given the tools that ecchi generally gives, I can say with confidence that the characters can be one of Ikkitousen's strong suites depending on what you're looking for. As I've said previously, Hakufu is your dumb but capable primary protagonist that provides comic relief. Koukin is one of the few somewhat important male characters of the show and mainly serves as a foil to Hakufu's stupidity. Ryomou is your anti-hero and a way better Rei Ayanami. Chuuei Toutaku is the big bad antagonist who has a thing for tummy licks. Goei is a MILF. Kan'u doesn't become a main character until later on. And so on and so forth. The point is that there are plenty of characters to latch on to, though the female ones are generally the most important, as expected.

With some of my more elaborate thoughts out of the way, I think it's time to almost wrap this up with some miscellaneous thoughts. Ikki season one does deliver on the martial arts action set pieces. Given that a sub plot is a king of iron first tournament against the rival schools, it would be pretty silly if no none threw a punch, and season one's fights are memorable enough. As for the ecchi, I'm sure that saying "panty shot" a few times in a row rings familiar, and yes, season one delivers on that front as well, probably more so than the frights thanks to key scenes involving Ryofu. The Japanese voice cast works well enough. I can’t speak on the English cast much since my vague memory of Ryomou's English VO describing "fight orgasms" makes me recoil, so, my vote goes to watching the series subbed, And the opening theme, "Drivin' through the Night," makes me beg to have "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls on repeat as a significantly lesser form of torture. In other words: I don't like the opening theme very much. More power to those that do because it is not my thing, at all.

So with all that said and done, can I actually, without any sort of irony, malintent, or rose-tinted glasses, recommend that anyone watch Ikkitousen? Well, for better or for worse, my answer is going to have to be "it depends" because it's niche appeal really depends on the audience. So would I recommend this to those that are completely new too anime? No, that would be absurd, same to the Shonen Jump casuals, or anime fans that only stick to "high-minded" shows and movies. So though what I'm going to say should be pretty obvious, Ikkitousen (season one) is for ecchi fans, though specifically for those who like an old school art style, doesn't equate ecchi to just being harems, enjoys watching a very likeable cast of femme fatales duke it out, and actually want some kind of story to follow. Yes, season one is a balancing act between its faults and its niche strengths, but it did start the beginning for a series that’s a hidden gem to the right audience and has continued to go on for multiple seasons unlike it's contemporaries at the time, such as Tenjou Tenge.

And also, Western Wolves is a thing. Do with that however you see fit.

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May 11, 2022

lamaraptor

Mixed Feelings

Boobs and punching. That's what this show has to offer. Also history nerds might notice some similarities with the 3 kingdoms period of China or something, I wouldn't know, I'm not a history nerd. As an American my only knowledge of eastern militarily history comes from the game Sengoku Basara 3. Yes specifically just the 3rd one only, it was the only one that got a western release on the Wii, which was the only console I had at the time. So I have a very limited knowledge of just the Sengoku period of Japan, and that's about it. I have no idea who any ...

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Aug 25, 2019

Whacky0573

Not Recommended

The show is only good because it has fan service and beautiful girls, otherwise the story is literally ignored. I realized that the anime explored any space to dispel and attract more viewers to the show, being on the beach, home, forest, on the school terrace, in a joke that should be comical etc ... Seeing the characters looking to develop before a Horrible narrative and full of fan service, mediocre struggles and stupidity to the limit. You noticed episode 8, where the camera followed Hakufu and ignores her expression and goes down to her big tits. (I didn't have the ...

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'Ikkitousen' to Continue in 2014

According to an announcement made on the official website on Saturday, the Ikkitousen franchise will be continued this year and not be brought to an end. It is unkno...read more

Mar 23, 2014 8:52 AM by tsubasalover | Discuss (80 comments)

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Poll: Ikkitousen Episode 13 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 16, 2008	33 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 25, 12:30 AM
Poll: Ikkitousen Episode 11 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 16, 2008	14 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 24, 11:39 PM
Poll: Ikkitousen Episode 10 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 16, 2008	12 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 24, 11:16 PM
Poll: Ikkitousen Episode 9 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 16, 2008	14 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 24, 10:55 PM
Poll: Ikkitousen Episode 8 Discussion Ranivus - Jun 16, 2008	16 replies	by gannoncannon55 »» Mar 23, 11:14 PM

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Ikkitousen

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Synopsis

Background

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Staff

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