Synopsis

At Daimon High, K-fights are used to settle disputes between students. Ryoko Mitsurugi is the current K-fight champion and one of the most popular girls at school. As if fending off potential challengers weren?t enough, she finds a mysterious pendant that occasionally transports her to an alternate world called Solvania where she must battle demon beasts. Now, with a little help from her friends, she must cope with problems at school while defending two worlds.

Review

Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School has a very promising beginning. The first episode is filled with action from the first minute onward, ending with a very well-choreographed K-fight. Unfortunately, it seems to me that this is probably the climax of the series. This is not to say that the rest of the series is shoddy or worthless, but the first episode shows a bit more promise than the show is able to deliver.

At the onset of the story, Ryoko is struggling to deal with her rivalry with Kiribayashi, which culminates in a K-fight and several other fierce competitions. Her K-fight championship title is also being continuously threatened, and the former champion, Shizuma Kusanagi, has returned to battle her once more. So, the story begins with exciting challenges coming from all sides and has a great street fighter theme. Unfortunately, the show goes off course with the insertion of magical non sequiturs that are barely discussed and never resolved.

The introduction of the alternate world is sudden, and never explained thoroughly enough to feel as if it?s contributing to the show at all. It?s as if the story is moving along normally, occasionally interrupted by another unrelated show involving encounters with demon beasts. Ryoko is simply transported, seemingly at random, to Solvania where she must defeat a monster in order to return to her world. There is not even an attempt made to explain why this is happening, and entire episodes pass without any reference to Solvania. It is typically discussed only a few minutes at a time, and even at the end of the series there is no clear answer to most of the questions raised. Even the characters seem to sense the weak plot. They often ask, ?What?s going on??, only to receive a vague sentence or no response at all.

If this aspect of the show were to be ignored entirely I think the series would have been better off. There was sufficient material without the addition of the over-mystified elements. For instance, the relationship between Ryoko and Kusanagi could have been developed further. Ryoko?s battle with Kiribayashi over the heart of Shishikura was a large part of the show, but it could have been emphasized even more, as it was highly amusing. I also wish there had been more of a focus on the K-fighting aspect of the show, as that would have been intriguing. The point is, Samurai girl contains plenty of material for such a short series. I think the attempt to do too much makes the show seem a bit unfocused and underdeveloped.

The characters and animation of Real Bout High School are high points. The animation is typically very smooth and detailed; although I think the first episode was probably the apex of quality. There were several episodes where the quality of the animation looked considerably worse, though not too many. The character designs were attractive and distinctive, but the environments and enemies looked a bit generic.

I found the characters to be amusing and enjoyable as well, if a bit shallow. The conflicting hot-headed personalities of Kusanagi and Ryoko create a hilarious atmosphere, and Kiribayashi?s talent for obnoxious behavior is laudable. There is plenty of lighthearted humor present throughout the series, and the Magical Waitress Oyster Lulu (spoofing various magical girl anime) scenes were brilliantly funny.

Conclusion

Samurai Girl is a fun series for those who enjoy cute characters and a blend of action and comedy. The animation and action are well-executed, but unfortunately the story is a mix of incomprehensible fragments that never resolve themselves into a lucid plot. Still, this series is quite engaging and perfect for light viewing.

-Review by Reptile (30 Jul, 2006)

Audio:	Fitting upbeat soundtrack
Video:	Smooth animation and good fight scenes
Plot:	Incoherent fragments that are never explained
Style:	Nicely done cute character designs
Characters:	Entertaining but fairly shallow characters
Violence:	Mild
Language:	Mild
Nudity:	None
Genre:	Action
Episodes:	13
Rating:	3.0 of 5
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