How could you not like this show? It's so totally over the top. Apparently Ikkitousen is Japanese for "Schoolgirl Upskirt Pantyshot Karate Double D-Cup Deathmatch!" Some people complain that the story doesn't make any sense and this is just a mindlessly violent softcore porn series, but to those people I have just two words.
"Well, duh!"
Of course Ikkitousen is just a mindlessly violent softcore porn series. What, was there some misunderstanding here? You thought it was a serious drama about high school violence in modern day Japan, or a contemporary retelling of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms? Oh grow up! Didn't you see the opening credits? There's more fanservice in a minute and a half of Ikkitousen's opening credits than in ten years of Dragonball Z episodes.
And the artwork is amazing! Now this is what bishōjo is supposed to look like. The people who draw Ikkitousen have apparently seen actual human females with large breasts, so they don't just draw boobs as huge, freakish balloons stuck onto the front of their female characters, unlike so many other animes I could mention. Even the violence is realistic, at least by anime standards. None of the characters throw energy balls or fly through the air, or any of that sort of nonsense. Instead there is a lot of taekwondo style kicks and karate strikes. One of the girls does a juji-gatame (cross armbar) that looks like it came right out of a judo textbook, and another fight ends with a tiger suplex. Awesome!
So if you like the idea of a cartoon with with bone-crunching, blood-spraying martial arts action coupled with realistically rendered bouncing breasts and constant panty-shots, then Ikkitousen is the anime you've been waiting for. Turn off your brain and enjoy!
