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.
