Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens

Japan loves underwear. Or to be a tad more specific Japan loves panties. The particular panties they like are the kind that have been lightly steamed by the body of a schoolgirl. Here's a fun fact for you that illustrates my point. Did you know that in Japan there are shops in which young girls can trade in their used undergarments for money so that any old stranger can buy them and do with them whatever they please? Well if you didn't know that then you sure are lucky you've got me around, slaving tirelessly on this blog to bring you all the must-have info of the world. I mention Japan's love of all things clinging to female genitalia because today's anime, Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens, seems very keen to reward this love. Just take a look at the pictures I have provided. I hope you don't mind these sorts of images, because you'll be seeing a lot of them in this anime.

But there's more to Ikki Tousen than ass and titties. It actually has a decent story. It's basically about a bunch of fighters from rival schools who compete in a tournament in which there are basically no rules regarding torture and death. The story also tiptoes briefly around sexual abuse but we won't get too into that. Basically the main girl (the one on the left in the picture above) has some inner-dragon thing that all the other characters are either trying to unleash, repress or control. Ok so it's not really a fantastic, epic story or anything but I mostly liked the way it was handled. I actually wasn't entirely bothered by the upskirts and nudity because, let's face it, if half a dozen young, full breasted women are gonna fight each other in short school skirts then it would be kind of rediculous if you didn't see some bum hugging white panties. Actually, come to think of it, they're all wearing the exact same underwear. Ok so that's a bit hard to swallow. Besides, what if I have a fetish for a different style or colour? But I digress. The fact is that the semi-nudity actually makes sense and for the most part actually fits in with the situations.

The lame thing about Ikki Tousen: Battle Vixens is that for all it's shameless upskirts it's actually a pretty enjoyable anime series; which is lame because people will inevitably see images like the ones above and disregard it. It's this well balanced blend of action, narrative and rediculously comic soft pornography that somehow manages to make a consistent, decent series.That said, it's not a classic by any means. The story is consistent and makes sense but the whole thing ends up going basically nowhere. Characters have learnt nothing, the status quo is restored and the world carries on unchanged. I understand that there are further series and OVA's of Ikki Tousen so perhaps the story is yet to fully develope? I certainly feel that a few character relationships left a lot to be desired. But you know what? At the end of the day I don't feel like an anime like this really wants serious critical treatment. I mean it's definately supposed to be rediculous; the boobs make *boing* noises for fucksake. So in the end I guess what I'm trying to say is that Ikki Tousen might actually be worth checking out. You'll probably feel a little confused as to why you don't hate it, I know I am.