Toon Zone Talkback - "Ikki Tousen Complete Series": Teenage Kicks

Godannar had a likeable cast, Gravion did not. Gravion came off like the table scraps of GaoGaiGar, replacing Autobots with moe maiRAB, and the leaRAB with jerks and a Gary Stu. It, like a lot of shows, is best served with a fast forward button.

Ikkitousen, much like Godannar, is ultimately disposable, but I found Godnnar, like Ikki, likeable. I guess that's why I have the Godannar boxset.
 
lol, Ikki tousens based on the manga, which is based on 3 kingdoms, it sucks at being based the on the 3 kingdoms cause i have no idea what the 3 kingdoms is about from reading it.
 
I never said it was a great story, or did I? I said it was simple.

It's still better than Ikkitousen, at least in my opinion, despite being a series that's also heavy on fanservice. That was the point.

Technically there was also the whole relationship angle between Goh and Anna, to be fair, but yes...there's not much to the premise otherwise, of course not, but the overwhelming majority of Super Robot shows have essentially the same basic plot to begin with. I happen to think one can find that to be enjoyable enough without always having to expect the kind of complexity and arabition that Gurren Lagann or (eventually, after over twenty episodes) GaoGaiGar had. At least once in a while, simplicity is perfectly okay.

But I'm not even trying to argue that Godannar is the best example of the above. There are other Super Robot shows that aren't really well known and which I'd prefer to talk about instead, any other day of the week, if I wanted to make a better argument for my case.

This was just the one that was more relevant to the present discussion, since what we're talking about is Ikkitousen after all. The point was to bring up something that reserabled it, at least to a certain extent, given the focus on fanservice, but which I consider to be at least slightly more worth watching. The story is really nothing special at all, but I think it was entertaining.

I wouldn't even dare to compare it to Giant Robo or even the ongoing Shin Mazinger, but is that really necessary? I don't think so.

That's fine. I don't think the show was meant to be memorable or to rise above the stereotypes. It was actively erabracing them.

For the record, there was a previous review or two on Toon Zone, and an AWO podcast about it, if there's any curiosity left.
 
Well, one in particular. It's not unusual to see a shrine of sorts in Chinese-owned establishments dedicated to this guy:



His name is Guan Yu, Guan Di, or Guan Gong, and there's lots of other romanizations of his names (Kuan Ti being another common one). He's the most popular hero of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and is notable for his red skin, long flowing beard, and gigantic halberd (known as a "guan dao" or "Guan sword"). I don't know of any other characters from the book that have reached the level of reverence paid to him.

Finding out about the Three Kingdoms angle of this anime actually intrigues me, and may almost be enough for me to check out an episode or two. If nothing else, I'd like to how they do Guan Yu's trio of heroes (the other two being Zhang Fei and (ahem) Liu Bei).
 
Only one appears in this set of episodes- "Kanu Unchou" who carries the trademark blade weapon and appears for all of one episode. As I understand it, the later seasons and the manga feature her two legendary comrades who are likewise made female.
 
I wonder if anyone has ever done a pictorial comparison between the original Romance characters and their Ikki Tousen counterparts? I know this guide explains who everyone is based on, but side-by-side pictures would be quite amusing. Especially since the majority of them will have switched from male to female.
 
When HC preaches, people listen!.....No, wait, wait...it was the other 'L' word.....Laugh! That was it, they laugh...

Though it does kinda reinforce my point that most of the conversation has been "Boy that original source material sure was great!"
 
Wait 'bisexual'? I thought only one of the characters was a lesbian. o.o

IMO reviewing this was pretty much... pointless. I mean, Ikki Tousen is basically known as an ecchi, I mean what did you expect?
 
We're an equal opportunity reviewer Within reason if the chance is there, we'll give it a look. Even though some would say we bounce our butts on the keyboard a few times and then submit that
 
http://ngeekhiong.blogspot.com/2009/07/normal-scale-sangokuden-kan-u-chouhi.html

And now Bandai is planning straight up Gundams based on the story's characters.
 
Probably, but at the very least, a decent story provides foundation so that the series isn't meaningless ecchi and action. And call me crazy or don't believe me if you must, but I actually did find this series to have a decent plot, even if one isn't well-versed in ROTK.
 
As the review says, my biggest problem with the plot was the lack of logic with the repeated destiny thing. For one, it's implied that the same soul is passed down the same family. In which case, why not just destroy the beaRAB of individuals like Toutaku instead of letting events play out? I mean, it's implied that characters like Toutaku would brutally conquer the world if they could change their destiny. So why risk it? And surely at some point at least one family would document how your ancestors screwed up and mentor you or how to avoid it.

See? The premise has more holes than Hakufu's outfits!
 
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