Ikki Tousen

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Ikki Tousen


caption =
ja_name = 一騎当千
ja_name_trans = Bakunyu Hyperbattle Ikkitōsen
genre = Martial arts, Ecchi, MatureInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Yuji Shiozaki
publisher =
flagicon|United States flagicon|Canada flagicon|United Kingdom Tokyopop
demographic = Seinen
magazine = Comic Gum
first = 2000
last = ongoing
volumes = 14Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Takashi Watanabe
studio = flagicon|Japan J.C.Staff
licensor = flagicon|USA flagicon|Canada Geneon
flagicon|UK MVM Films
flagicon|Australia flagicon|New Zealand Madman Entertainment
network = AT-X, UHF television stationsflagicon|Europe GONG
flagicon|Philippines Hero
flagicon|Turkey S'nek TV
flagicon|Russia 2x2
flagicon|Ukraine TET
first = July 30, 2003
last = October 22, 2003 (AT-X)
episodes = 13Infobox animanga/Anime
title = Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny
director = Koichi Ohata
studio = flagicon|Japan ARMS
licensor = flagicon|USA AnimeWorks
network = AT-X, UHF television stations
first = February 26, 2007
last = May 14, 2007 (AT-X)
episodes = 12
publisher = MVM

Infobox animanga/Anime
title = Ikki Tousen Great Guardian
director = Koichi Ohata
studio = flagicon|Japan ARMS
licensor = flagicon|USA AnimeWorks
network = AT-X, UHF television stations
first = June 11, 2008
last = August 27, 2008
episodes = 12

nihongo|"Ikki Tousen"|一騎当千|Ikkitōsen|literally "a lone rider with the strength to withstand a thousand" or "Bakunyū" Hyper-Battle Ikki Tōsen" is a 13 episode anime series loosely based on the manga by Yuji Shiozaki, which is in turn based on the classic Chinese novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". The series is known for being full of fan service, featuring a very large cast of attractive young girls, who fight in short skirts and dresses which get constantly ripped off, in addition to numerous other ecchi situations.

The TV series ran on AT-X from July 30, 2003 to October 22, 2003, and its license is held by Enoki Films. The whole series has been licensed by Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. for the North America market, and is available on four separate DVDs. The manga is released in English by TOKYOPOP under the title "Battle Vixens". The official German title is "Dragon Girls", while in France and Spain it is called "Ikkitousen".

As with numerous other Geneon series, the anime is distributed in United Kingdom by MVM Films. But unlike Geneon, MVM seem to have some ties with TOKYOPOP, as their releases use both "Ikki Tousen" "and" "Battle Vixens" as titles, using the title graphic from TOKYOPOP's manga for the latter of these. The DVD covers are reversible, for those who prefer the original title, and a limited edition of the first DVD came in a box set with the first volume of the manga.

A second season of "Ikki Tousen" was picked up, titled "Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny", which began airing in February 2007. An accompanying radio series named "Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny Radio" was hosted on Media Factory. A DVD for chapter 0 was released on Comic Market 71 for 1000 yen, featuring an unedited "Dragon Destiny" promotional video, voice actor interviews, and DVD for "Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny Radio", recently Ikki Tousen: Destiny was licensed by Media Blasters.

A third season, called "Ikkitousen - Great Guardians", has been begun airing as of summer 2008, involving a brand-new storyline and added characters. [ [http://www.densetsu-shoujo.com/3rd-series-%e3%80%8cikkitousen-great-guardians%e3%80%8d-announced DENSETSU SHOUJO: 3rd series Ikkitousen - Great Guardians announced] ] One of the new characters introduced is Sonken Chuubou, based on Sun Quan.

OVAs are also being created to accompany future DVD and soundtrack releases. They are a short series of OVAs focusing on elements of fan service and are uncensored with scenes involving full frontal nudity with in-themed censoring of the genitals.

Plot Summary

Seven schools in the district of Kantō are constantly at war with each other, and the students within — both male and female — have become skilled fighters and constantly battle with rival schools. Their lives and fates are guided by strange jewels, called "Magatama", that contain the spirits and destinies of warriors from the Three Kingdoms period of China, and also change colour according to the ranking of its bearer. The ultimate purpose of each of these high-school fighters, known as "tōshi" ("fighter"), is to become stronger than all others and ascend to become the eponymous "Ikkitōsen" — a relatively obscure "yojijukugo" which, literally translated, means "one rider who is the match of a thousand". The destinies of those who wear the "magatama", though, have repeatedly reincarnated time and time again for the past eighteen centuries — without fail — and the carnage is immense each time around.

One girl, Hakufu Sonsaku, recently moved to Beijing and is apparently destined to unite the schools, just as her counterpart united seven countries long ago. It is hard to believe for the other characters just as much as the reader/viewer, as she consistently shows a lack of common sense and intelligence. However, the magatama that her mother Goei passes on (which belonged to Hakufu's late father Sonken; a play on the name of Sun Jian) is rumoured to be infused with the spirit of the legendary warrior Sun Ce.

Hakufu herself knows naught of this, and explanations of what is going on are largely meant for those watching or reading. All "she" cares about is fighting whomever happens to be up for a rumble. In fact, fighting even excites her—especially scraps where she is heavily outnumbered. This causes incredible embarrassment and frustration to her cousin, a Toushi by the name of Shuyu Koukin with whom she is staying; he always ends up entangled in the situations in which Hakufu finds herself (to the point of being impaled once), and is driven to distraction by the conflicting facts that (a) the two of them are related, (b) she is incredibly attractive, and (c) her clothing inevitably ends up shredded.

Just like all heroes, there are darker facets to Hakufu's ultimate destiny, and as always there is perpetual conflict in those around her to break the chains of their own seemingly predetermined fates, and to make their own lives. The other main characters include the honorable (Taishiji Shigi, Kanu Unchou, Kakouton Genjou), tragic (Ryofu Hosen, Chinkyu Koudai), manipulative and power-crazed (Toutaku Chuuei, Sousou Moutoku), enigmatic (Saji Genpou/Ouin Shishi, Chouun Shiryuu), perverted and unhinged (Kannei Kouha), and borderline schizophrenic (Ryomou Shimei—her fighting and non-fighting sides are poles apart).

Terminology

;Magatama:Magatama are jewels worn as earrings by all Toushi which contain the spirits and essence of warriors from the era of the Three Kingdoms in ancient China. How they all wound up in Japan is a mystery. Magatama impart their power and fate upon each Toushi (regardless of age or gender; all of the characters from this period are male but most of cast are attractive young girls) which range from average to incredibly powerful but come with the will of the spirit within and ultimately their fate, which usually tends to be tragic and painful. However, a few characters seem to be in the process of defeating their fates, even though the cycle has played over repeatedly for 1800 years. Not every fate is the same however; numerous important characters are missing, and some relationships and obviously personalities have been drastically altered, but the end results are significantly analogous. Some magatama are very selective; others can switch their magatamas increasing their own personal power. They also indicate a Toushi's skill and power by a distinctive color related to the Olympic medal system, which often tends to be misleading with certain characters. The ambiguity of it is further enhanced by the anime's introduction of Hakufu's jade magatama (which briefly turned red when she was possessed by Toutaku).

;Gyokuji:The Imperial seal supposedly found by Sonken, Hakufu's father, it is a large jade seal that serves a role similar to a Royal Crown. Whoever carries it is granted authority over all the other nations but it expectedly becomes a big target for everyone. Seito Academy originally held it before Toutaku stole it, but it eventually went to Ryomou from Ryofu who passed to Saji then finally back to Seito.

;Dragons of Hao:The Ruling Dragon or Shouryuu (literally Dragon Lord) is an enigmatic entity or entities resembling a massive oriental dragon conferred uniquely upon the three destined rulers of the Three Kingdom period: Hakufu, Sousou and Ryuubi. It is proof of their birthright as conquerors. They confer massive power onto each of them, putting them well above A-rank regardless of their own skill, though each manifestation varies. Saji managed to stop Hakufu's first manifestation fairly easily, however Koukin was only able to subdue it the second time with both a Hyakuhekitou and Ukitsu's help.

:They do, however, create terrible destructive impulses that differ for each character. Hakufu's manifests a berserk, sadistic, psycho-sexual monster but less so than Ryuubi and Sousou. Sousou's is psychotic and the most malicious but otherwise completely in control, while Ryuubi's is completely out of control to the point of suicidal and self-mutilating. It is also the most evil, radiating deathly energy that consumes the life around it.

:In addition to the three Ruling Dragons, other characters in the series have been shown to harbor dragons as well. Because of the qualities of Ryuubi's dragon, Kaku believed Toutaku may have possessed a dragon of his own. As a result of Ryuubi's dragon first awakening three years ago and the ensuing battle its presence caused, Ryomou possesses a dragon as well, however only Saji, Teifu, and the main characters of Seito, excluding Ryuubi, are aware of this fact. Koumei is believed to harbor a dragon as well, as Ryuubi witnessed it for a brief instant.

:It has also been hinted several times in both the anime and manga that Chou'un also harbors a dragon, as whenever she opens her eyes, her pupils are cat-like and yellow in color, very similar to those of the awakened Toushi. Likewise in the manga, Kanu displayed identical pupils after Gakushin's aborted attempt to invade her mind, during her fight with Kyoshou's Three-Pillared Gods.

:Typically when a dragon manifests, the eyes of the Toushi either glow red or turn yellow with cat-like slits. The forearms manifest bulging veins, which can sometimes extend over the entire body; fangs are also sometimes shown. In the second season of the anime, each dragon is of a different color; Hakufu's is blue, Sousou's is red, and Ryuubi's is gold. Unlike the manga, Ryomou's dragon appears to be her own and not Ryuubi's, and is black. Koumei is also shown with a silver dragon referred to as the Crouching Dragon.

;Hyakuhekitou:A set of 5 legendary Chinese jian made of jewels. Supposedly made by Cao Cao in ancient China, they are each named after an animal: Dragon, Tiger, Sparrow, Bear, and Horse. Incredibly evil and powerful swords capable of beating even the Dragons of Hao. Originally all five were embedded in a large boulder on Choushou's property and sealed with chi making them impossible to remove. Toutaku extracted an unnamed sword while studying and failing under Choushou. Kanu also trained under Choushou and extracted but broke a sword named Kusanagi in half, leaving half the blade still embedded in the rock. It is not known which of the five it is. Teni had Dragon likely passed to her from Chiba, and Hakufu managed to remove Tiger completely intact, but Saji recovered it and entrusted it Koukin so he could stop Hakufu's dragon. Toutaku later destroyed the boulder, freeing up the remaining two and the other half of Kusanagi which he brought with him to his grave. Sousou recovered all of them and two of the intact blades were seen under high security at Kyosho. Saji had a sword made of jade; it's also an ancient sword. It is unknown if it is one of the five as it is named Dragon, but Teni had Dragon distinctly named as a Hyakuhekitou so it is likely another ancient sword. On a sidenote a katana named Muramasa lies in Gogun academy. All of these are so far absent from the anime.

;Seiryutou:Guan Yu's legendary Green Dragon Crescent Blade visually accurately depicted and carried by Kanu at all times though supposedly made of jewel rather than metal. Extremely powerful and possessing massive chi. It was melted during a battle against Ryuubi's dragon 3 years prior to the start of the series but was repaired.

;Dragon Jade (anime only):A new artifact introduced in the second season of the anime. It is a gold oriental dragon coiling around a gold orb sealed in a glass orb. Supposedly it has the ability to tame a dragon (though has failed to do so as of yet) and thus change the destiny of any toushi, something otherwise impossible. For that reason all sides are actively pursuing it; it is not present in the manga on the account that thematically it replaces the Gyokuji. Unlike the manga, the Gyokuji Kaku gave to Kyosho was a fake which was switched by Ryofu, who handed the real one to Ryomou. In the anime, the Gyokuji Kaku had was the real one. A lot of plot revolves around antagonists pursuing the Imperial seal, hence why the Dragon Jade was invented (presumably). It is extremely mythical, and until Ryomou found it, everyone thought it didn't exist. In fact very few even knew about it in the first place. A mysterious monk (who is presumed to be the same one who was with Kaku earlier on) told Ryomou about who proceeded to find it. Ryomou, however, was ambushed and badly injured by Teni then finally defeated by Shiryu, who stole it and brought it to Kanu. According to the monk, it will only activate when all three dragons are roused and brought together, but Ryomou is seen holding it and activating it creating a blue aura, making her left eye glow blue then summoning a black dragon.:But towards the conclusion of the second series the Dragon Jade truly activates, due to the presence of all the three dragons (Sousou's Red Dragon, Ryuubi's Yellow Dragon and Sonsaku's Blue Dragon) in its vicinity and causes the change of fate, that it was destined to do in the first place.

Characters

taff

*Director: Takashi Watanabe (Season 1); Koichi Ohata (Season 2)
*Script/Series Organizer: Takawo Yoshioka
*Original Creator: Yuji Shiozaki
*Character Designer: Shinya Hasegawa (Season 1); RIN-SIN (Season 2)
*Art Director: Yoshinori Hirose (Season 1)
*Music: Hiroshi Motokura, Project IKKI (Season 1)
*Chief Animation Director: Takashi Wada (Season 1)
*Sound director: Tsuyoshi Takahashi (Season 1)
*Sound Effects: Shoji Kato (Anime Sound Production) (Season 1)
*Animation Production: J.C. Staff (Season 1); ARMS (Season 2)

Episodes

Ikki Tousen

#"The Champions"
#"A Confrontation at Nanyou"
#"My Chastity is in Danger"
#"A Duel! Taishiji vs. Sonsaku"
#"An Angry Hakufu and a School Wide Counterattack"
#"The Great Tournament Begins"
#"A Confrontation With Destiny"
#"Why! The Betrayal Of Gōei!"
#"Viva Hot Springs!"
#"An Encounter Between the Ruler and the Devil"
#"Ryofu - Love and Death"
#"Summer Comes to the Watermelon Patch"
#"Farewell to Hakufu and the Days of Fighting"

Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny

#"The Movements of a Newborn Dragon's Spirit"
#"Awakening of the Devil King"
#"Dripping Blood, Shedding Tears"
#"Chance Meeting Between Two Dragons"
#"Cruel Toushi"
#"An Encounter with The Crouching Dragon"
#"Kanu's Surrender"
#"A Minor Leader's Glorious Defeat"
#"Shattered Friendship"
#"Koukin's Vissitude"
#"The War of Toushi"
#"Chibi Ablaze!"
*Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny OVA
#"Seito's Big Boobs"
#"Nanyou's Wild Breasts"
#"Let's Cosplay Glorious General"
#"Unparalleled Explosive Breasts Yakyuuken Part 1"
#"Unparalleled Explosive Breasts Yakyuuken Part 2"
#"The Party Remains Left by the Fighters"

Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians

#"The Military Is A Great Matter Of The State"
#"All Warfare Is Based On Deception"
#"The Dead Cannot Be Brought Back To Life"
#"Love Your Soldiers Like Your Children"
#"Do Not Fight Unless The Situation Is Critical"
#"Use The Highest Intelligence Of The Army For Purposes Of Spying"
#"At First Like A Young Virgin"
#"To The People And Not For The People"
#"Many Calculations Result In Victory, Few Calculations Result In Defeat"
#"The Best General Will Aim To Ruin The Enemy's Plans"
#"Taking the Initiative Insures the Enemy's Defeat."
#"Bound to reunite after a long separation."

Manga Volumes

Music

Ikki Tousen

Opening: Drivin' Through The Night by M.O.V.E.

Ending: Let Me Be With You by Shela (Episodes 1-7,13) Fate by Masumi Asano (Episodes 8-12)

Ikki Tousen: Dragon Destiny

Opening: Heart & Soul by Kariyuki Mai

Ending: Garasu no Hana by IORI

Episode 11 Insert: Musume E by Kikuko Inoue

Episode 12 Insert: Get up! by Masumi Asano

Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians

Opening: No x Limit! by Kariyuki Mai

Ending: Kage~Shape of Shadow~ by Rio Asaba

pinoffs and Merchandise

Video Games

* A video game of the series, "Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon", was released for the Sony PlayStation 2 in Japan on 26th July 2007. The game has an original storyline with Hakufu, Ryomou and Kanu as the main playable characters. Koukin, Ryubi, Chouhi, Chou-un, Myosai, Ukitsu and Ryofu also being playble characters. The game has a new character named Chou-Sen, which is the Japanese name of Diao Chan.

* A second video game, "Ikki Tousen: Eloquent Fist", was announced for the Sony PlayStation Portable, to be released on October 2, 2008. The game is a hybrid between fighting and adventure, and it features 15 Ikkitousen heroines. cite web|url=http://www.animekon.com/news-566-Ikkitousen-PSP-Game-Announced-And-More.html|title=Ikkitousen PSP Game Announced, And More|publisher=Animekon|language=|accessdate=2008-05-24]

* Many toys and other products, including statues and figures [http://benippon.com/s?q=Ikki+Tousen] , are released in Japan.

References

External links

* [http://www.mediafactory.co.jp/anime/ikki/ "Ikki Tōsen"] official website by Media Factory ja icon
* [http://www.ikkitousendvd.com/ikkiMain.html "Ikki Tousen"] official website by Geneon
* [http://www.tokyopop.com/S-1227/ "Battle Vixens"] official website by Tokyopop
* [http://www.ikkitousen.com/index2.html Ikki Tōsen Dragon Destiny site] ja icon
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