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リアルバウトハイスクール [Real Bout High School] #4
Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, Vol. 04
At Real Bout High School, teachers don't break up fights, they grade them In a school where martial arts are the standard curriculum, Ryoko is kicking butt and taking names. The Real Bout manga spawned the hit anime series. With elements similar to The Matrix, Charlie's Angels, and Tomb Raider, Real Bout combines martial arts with a strong female lead--the perfect recipe for today's teen audience.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 22, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2014
It's Spring Break, and Ryoko Mitsurugi has been restless trying to find a worthy opponent for her samurai skills! The last thing she wanted was to be literally dragged to see Daimon High's Student Council President Isozaki and his two lookalike brothers (they're triplets!), and they have a proposal that a girl who desires greatness can't refuse. She's asked to become captain of an all-girl group of fighters, the Shinsengumi, dedicated to wiping out street thugs through the K-Fight System in order to protect Daimon High and other schools in Japan. But. What at first glance is supposedly a 'revolution' hides far, far darker truths...and the consequences for Ryoko and those she cares for will be devastating...
It's time for ALL kinds of fan service in Volume Four as Ryoko takes charge of a truly eclectic group of girl fighters, the Shinsengumi: fellow samurai Aoi, wrestler Megumi, ninja Asuka, and binding expert(!) Xiaoxing, with tech/logistical support from Midori. What kind of fan service? Sigh, correcting what I said in my review of Vol. 1, I completely forgot about a four-page interlude in a BATHHOUSE where the girls start to get to know each other better. There's plenty of panels that linger on booty and busts, but in a strangely 'clean' way that isn't flat-out nudity; these girls aren't quite legal yet, but very little is left to the imagination. We even see a yuri/lesbian moment between two of the girls, but I won't spoil which ones! Gratuitous? Heck yeah, but it's nothing seriously incorrect, fortunately! As Ryoko takes the vigilante path in order to be a great woman dedicated to justice, Shizuma Kusanagi seems to fall in with the thugs Shinsengumi must fight...and the real bout between the samurai idol and the overcompetitive rogue seems all the more inevitable. The idea of a bunch of high school girls becoming vigilantes is as over the top as everything else in this manga...before things take a hard turn into cold, brutal shadow. But even when things turn serious, SAMURAI GIRL didn't fail to keep me hooked!
It's time for ALL kinds of fan service in Volume Four as Ryoko takes charge of a truly eclectic group of girl fighters, the Shinsengumi: fellow samurai Aoi, wrestler Megumi, ninja Asuka, and binding expert(!) Xiaoxing, with tech/logistical support from Midori. What kind of fan service? Sigh, correcting what I said in my review of Vol. 1, I completely forgot about a four-page interlude in a BATHHOUSE where the girls start to get to know each other better. There's plenty of panels that linger on booty and busts, but in a strangely 'clean' way that isn't flat-out nudity; these girls aren't quite legal yet, but very little is left to the imagination. We even see a yuri/lesbian moment between two of the girls, but I won't spoil which ones! Gratuitous? Heck yeah, but it's nothing seriously incorrect, fortunately! As Ryoko takes the vigilante path in order to be a great woman dedicated to justice, Shizuma Kusanagi seems to fall in with the thugs Shinsengumi must fight...and the real bout between the samurai idol and the overcompetitive rogue seems all the more inevitable. The idea of a bunch of high school girls becoming vigilantes is as over the top as everything else in this manga...before things take a hard turn into cold, brutal shadow. But even when things turn serious, SAMURAI GIRL didn't fail to keep me hooked!
January 27, 2019
WARNING! Here be spoilers!
Well, if you have been following my reviews of Samurai Girl Real Bout High School, you should know that this part of the six-part series is where the second story-arc begins.
It's now after Spring Break and Ryoko Mitsurugi is seeking worthy opponents following her fights with Tatsuya and Azumi. She is still being approached by the mysterious Aoi Asahina and the Daimon High Student Body President, a rich kid named Izoaki, to take part in a strange 'revolution' involving the K-Fight system. Intrigued, Ryoko is placed in charge of a squad of vigilante fighters known as the Shinsengumi who start cleaning up the streets and making a name for themselves in preparation for a large-scale tournament, but also making enemies, some of whom are ready to turn the city into a warzone to get what they want.
Ryoko is tougher in this comic now and less emotional than she was in the Tatsuya story-arc. Also, Shizuma is finally expanded on as a character. He goes rapidly from being his usual show-off doofus self to a real street fighter. The other new characters like Megumi, Asuka, Aoi, Xiaoxing, and the dangerous man known as G are quite intriguing and peak the interest of at least me. The story itself now invokes more-than-just imagery of Tarantino's fourth film (Kill Bill, and I'm talking the whole bloody affair) and it rapidly becomes a lot more dramatic and rough, especially when Asuka is savagely beaten by the male Ninja character. It's a good read, but if you are expecting more teen romance drama with occasional martial arts fights, you are looking in the wrong spot. This is full-on violent grindhouse martial arts and drama aplenty.
Well, if you have been following my reviews of Samurai Girl Real Bout High School, you should know that this part of the six-part series is where the second story-arc begins.
It's now after Spring Break and Ryoko Mitsurugi is seeking worthy opponents following her fights with Tatsuya and Azumi. She is still being approached by the mysterious Aoi Asahina and the Daimon High Student Body President, a rich kid named Izoaki, to take part in a strange 'revolution' involving the K-Fight system. Intrigued, Ryoko is placed in charge of a squad of vigilante fighters known as the Shinsengumi who start cleaning up the streets and making a name for themselves in preparation for a large-scale tournament, but also making enemies, some of whom are ready to turn the city into a warzone to get what they want.
Ryoko is tougher in this comic now and less emotional than she was in the Tatsuya story-arc. Also, Shizuma is finally expanded on as a character. He goes rapidly from being his usual show-off doofus self to a real street fighter. The other new characters like Megumi, Asuka, Aoi, Xiaoxing, and the dangerous man known as G are quite intriguing and peak the interest of at least me. The story itself now invokes more-than-just imagery of Tarantino's fourth film (Kill Bill, and I'm talking the whole bloody affair) and it rapidly becomes a lot more dramatic and rough, especially when Asuka is savagely beaten by the male Ninja character. It's a good read, but if you are expecting more teen romance drama with occasional martial arts fights, you are looking in the wrong spot. This is full-on violent grindhouse martial arts and drama aplenty.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews