Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the character design is basic and simple. Some people may see past this, some probably won’t. But I feel that the diversity of the character design in comparison to lets say Gundam SEED makes up for it because you’re getting all kinds of outfits and characters in this show which adds personality. Overall, I feel that the character designs that were presented are good examples of how to draw anime and I feel it should be in a beginner’s guide to drawing anime.
The fights are reasonably paced and exciting. Considering the nature of this anime, you’re not going to get fireballs, bullet time, or anything that excessively violates physics in a trendy and cliché manner. So if you enjoy the fights in Hajime no Ippo or Grappler Baki, you will probably like this one though it’s really not as technical as the fights in those shows. I say if you like Jackie Chan and Jet Li fan, then this is truly for you, but if you’re a Mixed Martial Arts fanatic like I am, there will be some things that will probably irritate and you which I will get into at the conclusion of my review.
The theme songs which I forgot the names of and too lazy to look up are pretty nice and energetic, but compared to other main stream songs and artists out there like what L’Arc~En~Ciel has done for GTO, Rurouni Kenshin, and Gundam 00, it doesn’t really stand out and doesn’t really capture my interest in comparison to that band as well as other big name artists and bands like NEWS, TM Revolution, Crystal Kay, Nami Tamaki, BoA, Hamasaki Ayumi, and some others. But you’re free to disagree on that one. I’m saying the music is good, but not really great. The background music on the other hand is pretty intense and accurately captures the eastern setting like how Naruto does in the ninja kind of manner and used appropriately.
The voice cast I have to admit is top notch. The English dub is officially not out yet upon the time of this review so I really can’t comment yet on that, but the Japanese version should be satisfying for those interested. I really loved the multi-talented Tomokazu Seki, the voice of Miyata from Hajime no Ippo; Keisuke from Initial D; and Domon from G Gundam as Kenichi. He captures the characters situations and moods very excellently. My favorite cast member had to be Horikawa Ryou, the voice of Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z as Hermit. He plays the character in a very interesting way and his acting abilities are just convincing the way he comes across at times which you have to see for yourself to understand because it’d be a spoiler if I talked about it.
Now that I’ve gotten the good points out of the way, I feel I should now talk about the bad points, but I don’t feel the qualities I found negative should make anyone refrain from watching this anime because I admit I’m making the negative qualities stand out more from the good though that wasn’t really my intention. First off, a guy who trains in all these disciplines and these characters that represent other kinds of martial arts is the novelty, but I felt the biggest flaw in relation was the execution and it’s based on how I view martial arts today. It’s not something I would say as inaccurate or myth, but an archaic way of thinking, especially in relation to Mixed Martial Arts and the philosophies of Bruce Lee. The perfect example is when Renka is critical of Kenichi for practicing other martial arts saying he should stick to one. That alone from tells me what this anime is doing is a completely outdated way of thinking and this is probably something that could have acceptable by my standards in maybe 1998 instead of 2008. Bruce Lee always talked about not limiting oneself to one style and the concept of styles shouldn’t really exist. His frustrations with wing chun in a fight and seeing his own art’s limitations bounded by their techniques and traditions was what led him to develop Jeet Kune Do.
Then 30 years later, mixed martial arts came and what you see in UFC makes up a good portion of what Bruce Lee is in a philosophical sense. The ending fight is also something that violates what Bruce Lee also talks about. Such as Kenichi transitioning moves from one martial art to the next. Some people have a misconception of Bruce Lee’s philopshies of how he took the best moves from these martial arts to create JKD, but here is an example of what he’s really talking about. You’re in a street fight and you use a jab similar to boxing but you miss, do you switch to using a karate seiken punch in hopes of winning? That’s an example of what this show is doing. I have never taken a Jeet Kune Do class, but I have friends that are certified instructors and they tell me in that situation, if you miss, you can still attack with the corresponding elbow you throw the jab with since your elbow could still be in front of your opponent’s face. Jeet Kune Do was about using every possibility to your advantage in a street fight. Even biting, eye gouging, and striking the family jewels. And I just felt that this anime doesn’t do the best job of differentiating between intramural martial arts and real fighting and the only exemption to this was when Kenichi fought the captain of the Karate club.
Before I get into the next topic, I will address what people are going to say. “But GrapplerJMo, it’s just an anime.” Yes, I know that, but remember that when kung fu movies came out in the 1970s it was creating actual misconceptions that what you saw also worked in real fights, and when kickboxing came along in the 1980s for awhile, people were disappointed that what they saw in the movies wasn’t real fighting because they never really saw those flashy kicks in those fights, and I got this personal paranoia that to some extent this anime is capable of carrying on that tradition because this anime is still based on real world principles at some capacity. But going on.
Another trait in relation to what personally bothered me was the lack of representation of other phases of combat or styles such as ground and submission fighting. The only character that somewhat represents them is the street brawler, Shinnosuke. Akisame is sort of like this, but his holds are based more on small joint manipulation and you really don’t see them in the fights that often anyway. But it did disappoint me I didn’t see the use of the guard, an armbar, or a chokehold, which are considered effective moves. And some of these real life practioners and fighters such as the Gracie family and Ken Shamrock are training our troops who fighting in the middle east and I feel with the mainstreaming of MMA, especially in Japan for 15 years now, it is a personal disappointment for me because of the intention this show has in that regard. Though it does represent the spirit of marital arts, it doesn’t represent the evolution.
