Koihime Musou

Title:Koihime Musou
恋姫†無双 (Japanese)
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , , ,
Notables: KUROKAWA Nami
NISHIZAWA Hiroka
Having lost her family to bandits during a nightime raid, Kanu swears she will not let others share the same pain. She quickly becomes a well-known and greatly feared bandit hunter. During her journey she comes across others who wish to join her cause. One of them is a girl Rin Rin, who had similar experience with bandits in the past.
(Synopsis courtesy of ANN)
Loosely based on a (dating-sim) video game created by Baseson.

"恋姫" ("koihime") means "love princess", "無双" ("musou") means "peerless, unmatched" but both terms can be person's names as well.

2:15min - Video Game Demo - YouTube Video
[edit] The ↗Koihime Musou franchise:
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 8 7 7 6 7 7 Dreamer [series:1832#2279]
The synopsis made this series sound interesting. However, you can't judge a book by it's cover, so they say.

Art, Animation & Character Designs
Artwork was the norm. Nothing really special. Details at times seemed good but other times was lacking. Animation slightly suffered a bit from a lower frame rate... so it seemed. Characters were for the most part well done. However, this series suffers from "clones". There was a handful of characters that looked nearly identical. The only difference being hair color or outfit. For me, this is somewhat a turn off causing me to take the series less serious.

Music
The OP was a rock-like piece with female vocals. It wasn't bad either. Actually it sounded slightly better than the run-of-the-mill pieces you commonly here (pop). The soundtrack was something you would hear from ancient imperial china.... or during the feudal era. At other times, you would have some great confrontational pieces but somehow it lost its edge because the characters were mostly kids (or child-like). The ED was just horrible! One thing I really hate is the stupid chipmunks voice or the helium induced voices. This is one of those songs with such voices and worse... seemed to be done in fast-forward!

Series and Episode Story
First off, I thought this series had some serious potential but somehow horribly failed. This is not to say the series was bad but simply didn't take advantage of a potentially good premise. The plot doesn't develop but rather, you get a few brief dreams and flashbacks of our protagonist's past.... which appears to give the impression that something will be explained later on. However, that never happens... although you do get a inkling of an idea what happened.

There are a ton of characters in this series and because of that, you get a lot of clones as mentioned earlier. As well, none of our characters get developed and frankly, most were pretty shallow in character. There was a bit of humor here and there, most of which was only worth a small chuckle or a smirk.

The way it ended, it left it open for a sequel (of which there is). With that said, it basically leaves you hanging with nothing resolved, nothing gained.

Overall, it's barely a watch. Not sure if I'd pick up the 2nd installment however.

Last updated Tuesday, July 20 2010. Created Tuesday, July 20 2010.
Rent Stretch [series:1832#628]
(Rent- or Watch+)

(All episodes watched):

How to describe Koihime Musou..? Kawaii, yet sometimes suggestive in a sly, witty manner. Goofy and silly. Fanservice, yet also a parody of fanservice. Not brilliant, yet an unusual show which makes me grin whenever I think about it. In short, it was fun!

At first glance it seemed rather childish to me, with very Kawaii character designs, but the opening episode was surprisingly entertaining. Kanu is a young woman whose parents and brother were slaughtered by bandits, and now she has become an expert bandit hunter. However, she's not obsessed with revenge, but rather is a mature and well-balanced woman (which was refreshing). She comes across a little girl, Chouhi, who considers herself a bandit but is allowed to "rob" the local folks largely out of their pity for her, since she is also an orphan. Chouhi's antics have been getting out of hand lately, and Kanu teaches her a lesson--after which the girl immediately bonds to her new "big sister". The two work well togther, with witty and memorable dialogue. There's a touch of fanservice, but it's genuinely funny.

Episode two was a little disappointing; actually, each episode is average in some ways but also shows some sparks of cleverness and humor, like diamonds in the rough, you might say. Or, a show located right on the borderline between the average and the exceptional categories. Anyway, I can't express how refreshing it is to both have genuinely funny jokes and also a shapely woman who doesn't just throw her boobs around.

Episode three was much better, probably my favorite one. Cute, ecchi, and genuinely funny--what more can one ask for? I loved it, especially the challenge that decided the "aptitude test". Especially welcome is the witty dialogue and the equally witty jokes. Each episode seems to add one or more new female characters, either to Kanu and Chouhi's team or as rivals. This looks like a blend of ancient Chinese mythology and modern ingredients, like a Maid Cafe and Magical Girls. Actually, I read a description at ANN of KM being a comic retelling of a classic Chinese tale with an all-female cast; sort of like a harem show without the guy. The girls don't exactly have their own complex personalities, which was probably for the best since that would only distract effort from the goofy comedy which is what this show is best at. What to do about the action from the original tale was a bit of a problem; KM uses the all-too-common solution that despite the wild swordplay somehow not a drop of blood is spilled; this could have been done better.

After a pleasing start Koihime Musou was less satisfying in the second half; perhaps the novelty had worn off. Not bad, just average. The witty jokes about naughty subjects, which were the best part of the series, were few and far between, which left me disappointed. Episodes tended not to remain in my memory for long. But the conclusion was rousing, as all of the wacky girls we've met team up once again. In the end, I can't help feeling that this is a dopey, campy, silly show which doesn't try to be fantastic but just to be fun and a little different. Just thinking about it makes me smirk, which may be the most telling recommendation I can make.

My favorite line: "I feel like I've lost something important in return, but nevertheless we won"


Last updated Saturday, October 04 2008. Created Monday, July 14 2008.

Other Sites
NameURL
-- 恋姫†無双 -- (Japanese Web Site) http://www.mmv.co.jp/special/koihime/
Japanese Video Game Web Site http://www.tactics.ne.jp/~baseson/

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