Real Bout Highschool #1: Enter the Samurai Girl Tokyopop 100 minutes English/Japanese English Subtitles 05/21/2002

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Watching shit like this with Amdy and Jerry of all people might not be the wisest thing you could do. In fact, far from it. Amdy's gonna point out everything that's wrong with it, Jerry's gonna shrug his shoulders and say "Heeey" a lot. And you'll find yourself sitting in the middle. I mean actually sitting in the middle. That's where I was last night when we slipped in the first four episodes of Real Bout Highschool for our viewing pleasure. Ryoko Mitsurugi is the K-Fight champion of Daimon Private High School. What's a K-Fight? Glad you asked! K-Fights (K for Kenga, street fight) are a school sanctioned way to settle disputes. Not only that, but they seem to be the way that Principal Todo decides how the money for special clubs is divided. If you're the champion, then your club gets an assload of money.

So this Ryoko girl seems pretty good at the whole "K-fight" thing, as she's won something around <insert number> fights. I can't really remember but sixty seven seems to stick out in my head. Don't quote me on that. The show makes sure to make it nice and clear how good she is by immediately throwing her against a horde of people of the amateur ninja club. I gotta admit, it was a pretty funny scene. And what's a champion gonna be without a rival? Or, a would be rival anyway. While her real rival and Kyo Kusanagi clone Shizuma Kusanagi (see where I'm going with this?) seems to be strangely absent in the beginning, one Asumi Kiribayashi is quite happy to take her place, wielding the traditional weapon of warrior women in Japan, the naginata.** Ryoko's from the Kendo club and so goes into battle with a wooden sword I believe is called a bokken, but it's been awhile so don't quote me on that.*** That's right, anything goes in K-fights, weapons...tricks, and special powers. It's kinda like an Ultimate Fighting tournament in a high school. It even has the octogonal ring!

That's not the only weirdity it has, as the show decides to drop a bit of a bombshell on us in episode for. Seems Kyo's...I mean Shizuma's girlfriend and Naomi Armitage look alike is in elementary school. Around fourteen assumedly. If that doesn't make you want to vomit than I don't know what would. I can only hope that maybe the girl's his sister and not his main squeeze. Because that's just nasty. It also has panties galore. I wasn't really thinking this was gonna be a fan service series, but with two main characters in high school how could it NOT be? I like girls in short shorts as much as the next guy, but this show gives it a bit much. Close to, but not quite at, AIka proportions.

There's a bit of intrigue with a diamond necklace and a "demon beast invasion". No pun intended, I swear. But otherwise that's most of the gist of it up there. Panties and fighting. Oh yeah, and a group of gangsters who got their fashion tips from the Blues Brothers lead by a woman that seems like she might be better suited to serving on the Nadesico Real Bout Highschool wasn't outstanding, it wasn't even great. But it had its moments, and it keeps a fairly funny tone throughout the whole thing. Some parts are just absolutely hilarious though and even -I- couldn't help but laugh. Fighter references galore and they don't just stop with the character designs for the "Shizuma" Kusanagi. Some are rather overt and some are quite the stretch. Onimusha anyone?

**Traditional if Tenchu: Stealth Assassins has taught me anything.

***Though I do remember that the Japanese word for "male erection" is "bokki" so maybe we're going somewhere with that. Please don't ask me how I know that. Please.