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Title:
  Battle Vixens (Ikki Tousen) vol 2 - Historic Battles

UK Distributor:  MVM (DVD Only)

BBFC Certificate:  18

Suggested Retail Price (SRP):  £19.99

Episodes:  5-7 (of 13)

Audio Options:  English 2.0 ;Japanese 2.0

Subtitles:  English

Reviewer:  Rich (Webmaster)

 

Ah, the guilty pleasures of Battle Vixens (aka. Ikki Tousen), it may be a cynical attempt to grab an all-male audience of a certain age, but it knows exactly how to do it.  Kung-fu, impossibly buxom schoolgirls, lesbianism and lots of torn clothing.

The plot this time round (like you care) sees a tournament called to decide the balance of power between the major schools.  Each school fields its top fighters - all of whom are reincarnations of legendary Chinese warriors - in an attempt to raise themselves above their rivals, but Nanyo Acadamy has a problem.  Its top fighter - Seji - has disappeared and so has its number two Ryomou Shimei, leaving ditzy Hakufu Sonsaku to defend the school's honour.  She may carry the spirit of the warrior Sho-Haou, who is destined to unite the schools as he did the original Kingdoms of ancient China, but what are the true plans of current Emperors of the schools?  Can Hakufu learn to control her power in time to avoid crushing defeat or will she fall victim to the machinations of the evil warrior Totaku?

I know the above sounds interesting, and to be honest there are some interesting aspects to Battle Vixens.  History is destined to repeat itself, but with every fighter knowing this is it possible for them to escape their fate, or are they just going through the motions until Sho-Haou unites all?  It is an interesting premise that provides the first thought-provoking aspect of the series, and the Fight Club style tournament is really well done too, unfortunately though they are soon lost beneath a barrage of panty shots and tearing clothes.  Make no bones about it, most people will be watching Battle Vixens for large breasts, lesbian overtones and lots of fight scenes, but it is these aspects that let it down to and extent.

This time round the series takes titillation near enough as far as it can go without being called porn.  It doesn't actually show much beyond endless underwear shots and non-explicit nudity, but there is a lot of explicit material that is implied without actually being displayed.  There are several sex scenes that are seen in shadow or from angles that just about obscure enough to get away with it, and there is even a pretty disturbing scene in which one female fighter sexually assaults a paralysed rival.  It's not shown but you see enough of the before and after to know what happened, and it's really disappointing that it's included as it is both unnecessary and unpleasant.  Elsewhere things followed pretty much the formula set down in volume 1, lots of impressive fight scenes mainly involving sexy women who frequently lose their clothes (how does being punched in the stomach make a blouse rip to shreds?), and some hints of a big scheme that has yet to be uncovered.  The animation is excellent and there are some great characters, but this series is more about 'fan service' than anything else, which does hamper it from an objective point of view.

For the most part Battle Vixens vol 2 is just titillating and action packed fun, but there is a darker and more explicit edge that makes this volume more difficult to enjoy than the first.  The plot could be intriguing but instead is little more than peripheral, with any depth (if there is any) lost to the cultural divide.  All these legendary Chinese heroes are going to be little more than weird names to most UK viewers, who will sit nonplussed as the characters go on about the fate of 'insert-name-here' until the narrator explains a bit about them at the end of the episode.  Whilst it's hard to get anything from the plot, if you want to watch lots of fighting and buxom schoolgirls then you'll probably like this for the most part, but I hope that it ejects some of the more unsavoury elements before the next instalment.

Extras

Art gallery, trailers and clean ending sequences as usual, as well as a hit-or-miss 'outtakes' reel in which the US voice cast just take the mick by giving the characters new dialogue.  The other extra on show is an interview with the director, and if you are thinking that he must be a perv then you are pretty much right.  Following a short segment showing him and the crew taking photos of a schoolgirl in a short skirt doing high kicks, allegedly to help them with the key animation, a clearly uncomfortable Japanese woman interviews him as he discusses breasts, thighs and occasionally the plot of the series.  More than a little seedy.

Ratings

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