Samurai Girl: Real Bout Highschool review

[Benit149]

OK, I watched Real Bout after purchasing it at Wal*Mart for a good price, since they had Brigadoon there and it was an excellent series. Even my friend, who has watched many anime, had never heard of Real Bout before. I'm going to provide you all with a review of Real Bout beginning with two simple words:

Avoid it.

After watching the series and wondering what's what, I read some other reviews for Real Bout and realized that I made a bad purchase. Many factors go horribly wrong throughout the 13-episode series, and little to none of it gets repaired.

Story: The premise is that you have the Samurai Girl, Mitsurugi Ryoko, who happens to find some pendant in her locker and is transported to an alternate dimension of her world, called Solvania. She fights some monsters and comes back... and that's where my personal comprehension ends. The story throws in a bunch of different elements, yet never explains any of them, and thus you're wondering how Plot X connects to Plot Y when all of a sudden Plot Z is thrown in. Even after the last episode, I was left baffled about many, MANY things.

Characters: It's a decently-sized cast, mixed with fighters and common people, but they're terribly generic. As one review I read points out, "Ryoko herself is every bubble-headed anime heroine you've ever seen: not too bright, kind of clumsy, but with a heart of gold, and a lot more interesting when she was called Usagi Tsukino." The rest of the cast don't stand out and have cliche designs and personalities: the best friend, the voyeurish photographer, the rival(s), the unrequited love, the laconic priestess with mysterious powers, etc. etc. Sailor Moon became popular partly because of its variety of characters: Real Bout flops in this department.

Animation: This is the only positive review I see consistently on various sites, and they're not kidding. It's bright, clean and vivid, but the female characters look wobbly and jagged, like Masami Obari trying to pull off Tsukasa Kotobuki and not coming through. I bought Real Bout because the DVD covers were artistic and bright, and I'm personally attracted to colors and form. The DVD menus are original, bearing a fighting game theme, despite that Real Bout isn't derived from any games. At least Real Bout has a victory in this match. ;)

Genre: It's supposed to be slapstick comedy mostly, but the comedy here is nothing you haven't seen before; panty shots, name-calling, anger management issues, Japanese puns, and poking fun of other genres like sentai shows. If you want a laugh, I recommend Excel Saga, not Real Bout. And then they try to throw serious moments inbetween these comical moments, and it's like trying to mix oil with water. It doesn't work.

So in conclusion, this review exists for you guys to avoid spending your money on Real Bout unless you're willing to take the risk. There's one good episode in volume 3 about unrequited love, but nothing else outstanding. This anime is good for samurai/fighting geeks, but that's it.
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"Luca Blight, patron saint of population decrease." -- Benit, MST149

Benit149: First Lady of Addervon, Princess of Slight Fever, defender of the Nameless.

[Tonberry]

That sounds horrible. Thanks for the heads up. I won't even look into that one.

[Raven]

lyes this is a ok show its dose drift from the manga abit actualy its based after the manga you would apreciate it beter if you have read the manga.

yes it is a little wierd and isent as cool as the manga was and just mested up at time but that dosent make it a bad show.

PS. shizuma rox