Miki is a very active, boisterous 20 year old delivery girl working in her mother's shop. But everyday it seems like the same old routine. Her mother gives her a delivery, and every day something gets in her way that prevents her from making the delivery proper, prompting her to fight. Add to that her battle with the bakery shop girl rival Megumi, a just graduated college student named Kankuro who tries to fight Miki but doesn't understand why she doesn't remember his name, and the neighborhood mean dog Toshiyuki whom Miki is able to understand for some reason, and she leads a pretty busy life. On top of that, there is the local grocer named Akihiko who is addicted to the sensei show Super Space Battle Team Star Rangers, and a teacher named Ms. Katakana who unintentionally scares her students but manages to smile when she eats ramen.
And that is pretty much Ramen Fighter Miki. But you're missing out if you pass this one by.
I'm sure we've all seen old Looney Tunes or Tom and Jerry cartoons. Well, this is the anime version of that. The show is composed of two mini stories tied together with a common theme (for example, one episode starts with Miki trying to "expose" Megumi at her bakery in the first part, and in the second part Megumi goes to the ramen shop to find out why the shop is so busy at lunchtime every day). And although the show is violent, it's so cartoonish you can't take seriously -- no one seems to get seriously hurt despite the blows they take.
The show parodies a lot of different types of anime and films. When characters encounter Ms. Katakama, for example, they see her initially as a vengeance spirit similar to that of the spirit in The Ring. You also have Akihiko's addiction to super sensei shows, similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. And the opening sequence can be seen as a parody of other fighting shows that feature characters on a "great quest."
The writing is pretty good on this one, with characters breaking the fourth wall on occassion. The jokes are spot on in this show, and really highlight the silliness of everything going on around the characters.
The only problem I had was that this was only available as a subtitled show. It would have been nice to have a dub, as well, so that I had a choice.
Overall, pick this one up when you see it on the shelves, or you can view it streaming at Hulu or Crunchyroll.
Well, some facts about "Ikki Tousen." It's based on a manga, which seems almost a given in anime these days. The show was broadcast in 2003 in Japan, and has had three additional seasons since its premiere. I don't know who's watching this in Japan that would justify the additional seasons, but wow.
Anyway, the concept of the show is this: rival high schools are fighitng each other for dominance. Because of this, each school has their own set of fighters to defend the school. Hakufu Sonsuru enters the picture, and doesn't realize that her destiny is to unite the schools in peace. "Helping" her in this (a very loose term) is her rich cousin Kouyou Shuuyu, who is determined to protect her but instead becomes a punching bag each time he tries to "protect" her.
And that is pretty much the show.
I should probably save the most obvious problem of the show for later, so let's start with the writing. What little story there is takes its plot very, very loosely from the Chinese Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Each character and story is supposed to be representative of that. But it's just inane. The character development is sorely lacking in this show -- you can pretty much interchange any character in the story and it won't make a lick of difference to what's going on onscreen. Any character development would come from Hakufu, but it goes from "I'm a stupid character with big boobs who has no clue how the world works" to "I'm a stupid character with big boobs but I have a DESTINY!"
The voice acting in the English dub is terrible. Which is sad because looking up some of the actors they've done some good work. I don't blame the actors in this case so much as dealing with some inane dialogue and trying to take it as seriously as they can, but having it sound really, really stupid because of it.
The background music for the show is actually pretty decent. However, the opening theme for the show has this kind of techno/rap feel to it that doesn't quite fit the show.
The animation for the show also leaves something to be desired. The action scenes, of which there are numerous, aren't very ACTIVE. You'll get a still shot suggesting movement, the characters attacking each other, then one character will go into detail what he's doing to the other character. Um, aren't we supposed to see that? If you're going to paralyze someone, shouldn't you show us how you're doing it instead of going into ridiculous detail on what you are doing to the other character? It ends up being a series of still shots with suggested action, making for a not so exciting fight.
In fact, it's almost like they blew the entire show's budget on the animation of the women's boobs. Which is the elephant in the review and I didn't want to get into until last.
The fanservice. The purpose of "fanservice" is to service fans. But you know how if you get too much of a good thing it can actually make you sick? Well, that's what we have here. According to Anime News Network's review of the first DVD release, there were 41 panty shots in the first episode alone. Ick. And the women wear skirts to school that are short enough to allow for that many panty shots.
On top of that, it's laughably ridiculous how easily the women's clothes rip and tear during a fight. A slight breeze would cause a rip in the clothing. And it always seems to tear at very strategic places. The boobs on all the women are so huge that you can't help but wonder how they keep themselves upright at any point during the show.
. But you're missing out if you pass this one by.
or Tom and Jerry 
cartoons. Well, this is the anime version of that. The show is composed of two mini stories tied together with a common theme (for example, one episode starts with Miki trying to "expose" Megumi at her bakery in the first part, and in the second part Megumi goes to the ramen shop to find out why the shop is so busy at lunchtime every day). And although the show is violent, it's so cartoonish you can't take seriously -- no one seems to get seriously hurt despite the blows they take.
. You also have Akihiko's addiction to super sensei shows, similar to Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
. And the opening sequence can be seen as a parody of other fighting shows that feature characters on a "great quest."
