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Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : March 28, 2014
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Category: Reviews

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Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutorreview provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA “Shugaku Toshi Keppu-Roku”

Director: Series-Koichi Ohata  OVA-Rion Kujo

Studio: Series-TNK  OVA-Arms

Author: Series-Koichi Ohata  OVA-Koichi Ohata

U.S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U.S. Release Date: March 11, 2014

Format and Length: DVD / 12 Episodes + 1 OVA / 300 Minutes

Genre: Action, Ecchi, Martial Arts, School, Super Power

Industry Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: C

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Ikki-Tousen

Synopsis:

The fourth season of Ikki-Tousen delivers double the ditz when Hakufu gets a disciple. But training a pupil is tiring work and catching some sleep at random times puts a delay on her dreams of combat conquest. Hakufu is ready to rumble when word of a tournament gets around and that is when a sinister force sabotages the rival schools’ into submission. Can Hakufu muscle her way to victory and save all her friends from repeating their fatal past? You will have to watch Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA to find out.

Commentary:

I can only describe Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA as more of the same that you come to expect from the series. The story line, however small it was, moved at a very fast pace and I was lost most of the time. There are many flashbacks right off the bat in the first episode that can confuse you if you have not watched the first season of Ikki-Tousen lately.

However, they did decide to introduce two new characters, Kentei the self-proclaimed “True King” and Mouki Bachou, Hakufu’s disciple.  Kentei is the one planning a new tournament for the Great Fighters so he can force them to fulfill their destiny from eighteen hundred years ago. He lures each fighter with a Magatama to an island under the name of Nanban High School where may hardships await them. Mouki Bachou’s main objective is to fight and win a battle against the person who killed her precious older brother and that person is Sousou Moutoku , the head of Kyoshou Academy. Mouki can be described as being reckless, oblivious to her own limitations, and a leaping and kicking disaster in pink sneakers. I saw her as the comedic relief among the massive amounts of fan-service.

The characters were drawn well and the fight scenes were interesting. However, the fight scenes overpowered everything else in the series because they took up most of the episode time. The rest of the time was spent filling the screen with fan-service aka shirt shredding and looking up skirts for panty shots. The plot is Ikki-Tousen classic, girls from different schools fighting until their clothing shreds apart. Nothing special there but with the two new characters added in this season we do see some character development, but not much.

The OVA, Shugaku Toshi Keppu-Roku, the three major schools are off to Kyoto seeking spiritual energy tokens called Tsubas. You also finally get an explanation for why there are no innocent bystanders hurt during the battles. Shugaku Toshi Keppu-Roku is supposed to be the sequel to Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series but it feels more like an abbreviated retelling of the series.  Nothing special in the plot or characters but it was nice to get a refresher for the series.

Extras:

Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA includes “Six Dreamy Views,” promotional videos, clean opening and closing animations, Japanese commercial, U.S. Trailer, Funimation Entertainment trailers, and episode commentary as Special Features. Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA has English and Japanese languages with Japanese subtitles.

Overall Grade: C

Ikki-Tousen: Xtreme Xecutor-The Complete Series Plus OVA has an extreme amount of fan-service and it takes away from the story line. However, it is an okay anime for what it is.

 

MM! The Complete Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : February 8, 2014
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Category: Reviews

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MM!review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: MM! The Complete Collection

Director: Tsuyoshi Nagasawa

Studio: Xebec

Author: Akinari Matsuno

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks / Section 23

U.S. Release Date: February 11, 2014

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School, Ecchi, Harem, Parody

Industry Age Rating: TV-MA 17 and older

Overall Personal Rating: C-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Okami-San and Her Seven Companions, Mayo Chiki! and Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends

 

Synopsis:

Taro Sado has a problem. He just realized that he actually likes being made miserable and knowing that only makes him more miserable. Then it turns into a viscous cycle. Desperate to break the cycle, Taro volunteers for a special club where he can hopefully work through his issues, but he soon discovers that the other members have equally complex issues to deal with. There is the club president who believes herself to be a god, a girl who is terrified of men, an adult who forces other people to perform cosplay, and a compulsive cross-dresser. Will Taro be able to get over is problem or will it take over his life?

Commentary:

MM! The Complete Collection is a strange anime to say the least. The main character, Taro Sado, is a hard core masochist. He seeks the help of a club called the Second Voluntary club to help him turn back into a normal person. However, the club president is a sadistic girl named Mio Isurugi, who believes she is a god. She loves to hurt him and he loves the pain. That is basically the entire plot of the series bar a few episodes in the beginning that had some romantic feeling.

The plot was interesting and funny until they began parodying older animes. Then the storyline got silly, and not in a good way. They used the parody to fill in spots of the plot that were dragging along. I know I counted at least three animes that were parodied. Of the three, I recognized two off the bat and thought they were not used in the right way. But that is neither here nor there. Then they decided to have Taro’s mother and sister try to have an intimate relationship with him and that was just not right. At least Taro tried to run away or yell at them each time they tried to start something. Things got very interesting when Arashiko Yuno showed up at his house one day because his mother and his sister were very jealous and hilarity ensued.

The character development was nonexistent in MM! The Complete Collection. The characters seem very one dimensional and only have one interesting quality, their “complex” issue that they each have. Mio Isurugi is the president of the Second Voluntary club and is a sadist. She also believes she is a God and is also afraid of kittens. Arashiko Yuno is Taro’s classmate and she is afraid of men. She will attack any men who touch her and whenever Taro touches her, he is assaulted and he loves it. Michiru Onigawara is the school nurse who loves to make people dress up and perform cosplay and take pictures of it. She is a sister figure to Mio. Finally, we have the compulsive cross-dresser Tatsukichi Hayama who is also Taro’s closest friend. Sadly, each character does not grow or change any during the series.

I think I would have enjoyed MM! The Complete Collection more if Taro had learned to control his hard core masochism or if any of the other characters changed at all. There was a lot of fan-service because of the cosplaying that was used to torture Taro. The opening theme kept my interest but I found the ending theme boring. If you like fan-service heavy animes that are of the harem genre then you will probably love MM! The Complete Collection.

Extras:

MM! The Complete Collection includes commentary with voice actors, Japanese promo and TV spot, DVD commercials, 10 short stories, clean opening and closing animation, and Sentai Filmworks / Section 23 trailers as special features.

Overall Grade: C-

MM! The Complete Collection is a good anime for what it is however; I usually like romantic or harem animes that have a better plot line and more character development. If you are strictly seeking a perverted comedy then I suggest you watch this, but if you want comedy with some romance and other things then watch either of the animes suggested below.

“In The Radius”:

I recommend the following animes: Okami-San and Her Seven Companions, Mayo Chiki! and Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends. Haganai is has a similar plot line, however it was better written and much more enjoyable.