review
Battle Vixens
Review By: Matthew Anderson
Author: Yuji Shiozaki
Company: TOKYOPOP
Length: 168 pgs (4 chapters 1 side story)
Category: Action
Rated: R (Violence, language, partial nudity, suggestive situations)
SHORT VIEW
Hakufu Sonasku is not your average teenage girl. First of all,
she has a huge pair of knockers, and an ass that just won't quit.
She also has some serious rage issues, picking fights with any guy stupid
enough to cross her path.
Because of her aggressive nature, her mother sends her to Nanyo Academy, one of the hardest and most violent training halls in Japan. There she will face some of the toughest and most powerful fighters in the world. Each battle she fights brings her closer to her goal at being an A-Rank fighter.
She also has to be very careful. The mysterious Enjutsu, leader of a powerful clique, has his own plans for Hakufu. It involves something with the ancient power of the Magatama, mystical jewels that contain the essences of fallen heroes. These Magatama have the power to unleash a fierce power with in Hakufu, a power that can destroy the world.
Too bad that Hakufu is total airhead, and completely unaware of the evil lurking in the shadows. She might have had a fighting chance.
THE LONG VIEW
ARTWORK:
Very energetic. There is a lot of
detail during the fight sequences, with plenty of great looking pose
shots. During the quiet times, (what little of it there is) the
detail is not as fine, a little on the simple side, except when it comes
to the women. You can tell that Yuji Shiozaki has an eye for the
female form.
SOUND EFFECTS: Thanks to the well drawn fight scenes, there is very little need for them. When there are sound effects, they are pretty subdued. They use heavy pen strokes, effectively blending in with the speed lines.
EDITS: The name of the manga has been changed from "Ikki Tousen" to "Battle Vixens". There are some edits involving full nudity, but I'm not sure if it was done by the artist or not.
EXTRAS: A thank you note from creator Yuji Shiozaki and one 4-con (four paneled comic strips) about how hard it is to have a social life while working on a manga.
STORY:
There isn't a lot of depth here. Reading like a B-Grade action
movie, there is a lot of titillation, serious ass kicking, and
pretty standard "good vs. evil" shtick. In this
case, it isn't the story that draws you in, it's the visuals.
If you are a fan of "Street Fighter" or big busted battle
babes, then look no further.
The only thing that makes the story confusing is the side story. I don't quite understand where the whole thing fits in the overall continuity. It has nothing to do with the previous four chapters, and comes off as just gratuitous.
TRANSLATION: Well, the translation seems to be accurate, but the heavy use of slang, accents, and "Magatama" references makes it a hard read at times. Throw in a lot of cursing, "Toushi Bitch" the most popular insult, and you can get a little lost.
CHARACTERS: Hakufu is your typical air head blond with a killer bod. Like Rio from "Burn Up W", she has a burning desire to seriously freak somebody up. She can fight like the devil, yet gets annoyed when people look at her big tits. Whatever!
There is her cousin Koukin. He is your pretty typical foil. He gets embarrassed easily, always winds up being in the wrong place at the wrong, and gets blamed for everything. You would think this would mean that his ass gets beat down a lot. You would be wrong. He is actually very powerful, and can hold his own when needed.
Enjutsu enforcer Ryomou is shaping up to be a major bad ass. She takes on even the strongest of opponents, with the great ease and skill. She also likes to bring herself to orgasm when she fights, which will have many a fan boy's heart racing.
The rest of the cast is divided to either hard core fighters or sycophants, each working for Enjutsu in one way or another.
FAN SERVICE: The whole book is nothing but fan service. Panty shots galore, incredibly proportioned bodies, and a lot of full frontal nudity...almost. I don't know if they are edits on the part of TOKYOPOP, or the artists, but you never actually see full nipple or "down south" shots. There is also a couple of oral sex references.
THE 2 VIEW
Battle Vixens or "Ikki Tousen" is pure gratuitous
entertainment. There is no deep plot, epic battles, or social commentary.
It's all hard core fighting, big tits, trash talking, and panty
shots. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Sad to say, but there isn't much more to tell. The artwork is well done, full of energy and power. The fight scenes are cool, and the fan service is wonderful. The writing is pretty straight forward, with no real surprises. I'm not saying that "Battle Vixens" is bad, just that there isn't much to it.
This title will definitely appeal to all you "Street Fighter" and "Burn Up W" fans. Speaking of "Burn Up W" I can almost hear Amanda Winn Lee as the voice of Hakufu. The two characters are so similar, Hakufu could be Rio as a young girl. Jessica Covello would be another great choice. I will be curious to see who Geneon has picked to voice the characters in the anime.
The only issue (pun intended) with this volume is the way the characters speak. They throw in way too much "Magatama Speak" with little or no explanation. They don't even give us author's notes in the margins, which sucks.
Many of the characters speak with dirty southern accents that makes for some interesting sentence structure. Throw in the cursing and all the mystical jargon, and you may find yourself going "Whatever!"
If manga must have a strong plot, and an engrossing storyline, you need to go somewhere else. Battle Vixens is only for those of you who need a strong 1-2 punch of butt kickin' and booty shakin'. Go into it looking for a good time, and you will come out smiling.