Series Review: Senran Kagura (6/10)

Instant Summary: Five well-endowed high-school ninjas encounters and fights similar ninjas from a different school.

Senran Kagura is one of those titles that doesn't pretend it is something high-quality; even the game it spawned from is all about clothing damage and huge jiggling breasts. Once you move past the unrealistic expectations, it becomes something you can, er, actually enjoy.

Titles like these banks almost entirely on the character designs. The huge success of the games proved their appeal somewhat (I even put up Hibari as one of the most likable characters of the season). Character like Yomi, Yagyu and Katsuragi are also pretty popular on the net. It's a pity one of the most well-received characters (and one of my favourites), Hikage, never really got a chance to shine.

It may be a good thing that no one expects any kind of story at all, because the anime actually managed to surprise us with some reasonable plot. True, having the bad guy revealing his plans at the worse moment possible, losing all his allies and doubling his enemies are evidence of shitty storytelling, but hey, when the "bad guys" put pressure on the heroines in the first part of the story, they really had something going on there. No one would have predicted that it could actually be exciting, at certain parts of the story.

They actually had a good ninja vibe there with the stealthy tactics and hidden doors and stuff, but they also ruined it with stuff like bulletproof umbrellas, ninjas that dress like they're going to a ball, hidden miniguns and fighter jets under a shirt, a giant fluffy summoned rabbit, and the girl who never wears a bra, never buttons up her shirt, and jumps around the most. Why did they even go for the ninja theme?

Oh, and she wears a skirt, and all her attacks are kicks.

But it's silly to complain about the theme of Senran Kagura. People who would even approach this already knows what and what not to expect. There's a thousand and one things that are stupid or pointless, and the fans got what they want, and they the producers made a lot of money off it. Who's gotta complain?

Plot/Concept: ...Interesting
Story Style: It's a lot more engaging that I would expect on first glance. Still no wow factor, though.
Audio/Visual: Mediocre
Value: 6

Top 3 Bishoujos of Winter 2013

3. Hibari (Senran Kagura)

I know, she had a fairly useless role in a fan-service anime, and is a fairly incompetent ninja that summons a giant rabbit to fight for her. So much for stealth and quick kills. Well, I'm not really judging her as a character in an anime, but for her design in the whole Senran Kagura franchise. Franchises like these banks almost entirely on character designs (and breasts sizes, for this one), and although I hate to admit it, I'm often sold. Hibari simply scored insanely high on the HHHNNNGGHHH factor.

Despite the franchise and her appearance, she only had a very modest size of B85! For an anime character, anyway.

2. Maou (Maoyuu Maou Yuusha)

Just look at the mass of fanart that came pouring out after Maoyuu started airing. I have no doubt it's because of her oversized pair of "useless meat" that kept bouncing and swinging around first episode, but I'll say it's also largely attributed to gap moé. What supposed to be a ugly, evil and powerful demon king turns out to be a voluptuous, intelligent and elegant lady. And she had a not-so-much-hidden flustered, shy and innocent side to her as well!

Now if she would stop wearing those ridiculous maternity dresses...

1. Kitashirakawa Tamako (Tamako Market)

Kyoani strikes again. Their characters dominate my list so much that it's almost unfair... but they're just doing what they do best. And they really had a knack at producing talent as well (Hirasawa Yui, Takanashi Rikka and Tamako's VA are all fairly inexperienced when assuming their role). Tamako's also proof that Kyoani can still be pretty creative when creating their moéblobs. Keep 'em coming!

First Impressions: Senran Kagura

Instant Summary: A bunch of modern ninja girls have huge tits.

Or maybe, just "tits". This is literally a boob anime. After all, the game it spawned from is about doing as much clothing damage and breast jiggling as possible. Fans of anime oppai, this is your show. After all, the production quality isn't too bad for a show that doesn't pretend it has a lot of substance. In fact, even the action scenes and voice work aren't as terrible as I expected it to be.

Do expect plenty of fairly good character designs, especially from the antagonists' side. I happen to find Hibari irresistibly cute too. Just... don't expect a story, of course.

Outlook: Neutral, unless you're an anime boob fan.