4/5 Read the other reviews
  by DPW (Irmo, S.C.)
I enjoyed this Anime collection very much. You can find other reviews that will tell you all you could want to know about the story and content. So in summation it was amusing and enjoyable.


5/5 Cute girls, goofy characters, confusing plot...why 5 out of 5?
  by maskedgamer

All I have to say is Season 2!

I caught the english dub of Ikki Tousen after learning that Carrie Savage (voice actor that plays Hakafu) says that this was one of her most favorite anime's that she did in her career. If you know Carrie Savage's work than you know she has a very cute child like voice (check out Solty Rei). I like Carrie so I thought that I'd check it out.

I will say that Ikki Tousen off the top isn't the type of anime I go for. This one is pretty much nonstop fan service. Yeah I enjoy some fan service in the likes of (Burst Angel) but this is no holes barred for 12 episodes. It's entertaining to see, but somehow it cheapens the serious plot.

The plot of Ikki Tousen in itself is interesting. There is a group of teenagers that live out their lives as the reincarnations of fallen heroes from a story called "The romance of 3 kingdoms" they all posses the powers of the warriors from these stories, and live out thier lives according to the tales. However, they wish to defeat the fate that their incarnations fell victim to 1800 years ago. They go around fighting eachother only to solve the 1800 year old quarrels of their predecessors.

Each group of fighters has a leader that they follow, and each group is classified by the highschool they represent. Some schools are friend,some schools are foe, but in the end they all share the same destinies as Kingdoms of long ago.

Ikki tousen focuses on the story of a clumsy girl named Hakafu who likes going around fighting random people while wearing a very short skirt. In the series we follow Hakafu as she discovers herself and her new found friends. Through her journey she finds out that she's more special than she thinks she is. She is actually the reincarnation of a powerful warlord names Sonsaku Hakafu. What makes Ikki-Tousen entertaining is that Hakafu is just an airheaded 16 year old girl, but inside her is a powerful warlord that lies dormant.

On Hakafu's journey you get to meet other characters with the same delimma Hakafu has. They are bound to the fates of their predessors wether they like it or not. Some of these characters accept the fate given to them, while others whos fates mean tradgedy try to fight against it. The story has a wierd pace as it jumps from Serious to Sexy to Hilarious then back again. Overall the first series (the English Box set) is pretty light, the series gets extremely serious and dark in Season 2(only available in Japanese).

I thought the first season of Ikki Tousen was so so entertaining, but mainly because of the way the story was being told. The seriousness of the story doesn't shine through untill you get to watch the other seasons 2&3 then it all makes sense.

Season 1 sort of paves the way for the plot, but with its strange style of giveing you Comedy,T&A(you know what I mean), and Tradgedy all at once it can be very confusing. The story ties up in 12 episodes so it goes slow at first, then wraps up pretty quickly. You don't get to see so closely into the personalites of but a few fighters in the Season 1 box set, but you understand them more in the 2nd and 3rd seasons. Character development in the Season 1 set isn't really there, or better yet isn't shown as well as in the other seasons.

Bottom line, as a stand alone season, The complete box set isn't worth your time. You won't get much of a story but you will get plenty of fan service if that's what your looking for.

I reccomend this DVD be brought along with the season 2 and season 3 disc if you can get your hands on them. Ikki Tousen season 1 is pretty much only half a story without watching the other seasons.


5/5 So Anyone know?
  by Chase (Baltimore, MD)
I have seen the english dub online already it was pretty good. Not as good as the second or third season but still worth a watch. But does anyone know if this new one here is uncensored?

3/5 Ikki Tousen
  by D. Aiken (Eastern Oregon)
OK,people. The primary target audiances appears to be those with a fasination with teenagers panties,something this series has way too much of. The storyline does not work well with those not well-versed in Chinese/Japanese history nor with those that cannot grasp a concept that allows high school students to issuse "imperial orders" that must be obeyed by students under pain of death. The whole concept of high school students fighting to reinact events that happened more than a thousand years ago in another country and have no control over the outcomes isn't a Western concept. But, on the other hand, if all you want to watch is a dingbat bounce around and show her panties, well, this is your series. Admittedly,however, it is lively,funny and light-weighted enough to be enjoyable for those times you don't want to have to think. The storyline, however, should you wish to get really involved, is quite difficult to follow as it relates to the retelling of the 1000 year old Chinese history of the Three Kingdoms and how that history is now controling the actions of modern Japanese high school students. Nudity is minimal but there is some.Breasts are too frequently over sized,sometimes to a point of off-putting. Several of the females are quite attractivley done but the males are generaly average at best. Recommended for an evening of light viewing but don't expect any great enlightment. OK for most teens, 16+, but there are a few sexual scenes that are implied in such a manner that they cannot be otherwise rationalzed.