Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart

Title:Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart
Master of Martial Hearts
絶対衝激~Platonic Heart~
絶対衝激~プラトニックハート~
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: NAZUKA Kaori
NONAKA Ai
R1 License - FUNimation
The story centers on the Platonic Heart, a jewel that — according to an old urban legend — can grant any wish when collected. Only a chosen few are allowed to compete in the Platonic Heart hunt, and high school junior Aya Iseshima is one of 11 girls and women who are taking part. (summary: ANN)

New series to aire in Oct '08.

5 OVA episodes (30 minutes each)

Here is FUNimation's noisy web site.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Avoid 7 6 6 5 2 2 Ggultra2764 [series:1922#1552]
What the hell exactly was I watching? From the looks of it, Master of Martial Hearts was trying to be some sort of Ikki Tousen knockoff where Aya is caught up in a clothes-tearing and fan service loaded tournament against a number of fetish-themed women competing for a prize that will grant one's wish. However beyond the clothes tearing, panty shots and boob exposure, the plot to this series is quite a mess. There are enough lapses in logic for the setup of the tournament where it's claimed to be a secret tournament which is quite ridiculous as there are several occasions in the series where Aya's fights with the fetish-themed women are out in the open with a good-sized crowd of witnesses. Much of the plot is pretty much padding for the ecchi content from the fights and the occasional hints being dropped about the true nature of the Platonic Heart tournament. You don't get to know very much about the women that Aya faces as their roles are limited to titillating its audience and being punching bags for Aya who is conveniently skilled in fighting. The final episode seemingly tries to rip a page from School Day's book by having a shocking and unexpected resolution concerning the reality of the Platonic Heart tournament. But whereas the finale to School Days at least worked because of how much the series had viewers hate the show's cast throughout its run (one of the few times you'll see me compliment School Days on something), the resolution to Master of Martial Hearts was quite nonsensical and mean-spirited with what is revealed and the challenges Aya had to put up with.

In terms of presentation, Master of Martial Hearts is below par in visual quality for an OAV series as it looked to be on par with a TV anime. Scenery and character designs are on the plain side in terms of quality, though battle scenes are not well animated with a number of apparent shortcuts and a decent number of occasions where the bust sizes of female characters are inconsistent. The soundtrack to the series is nothing special, though the OP song to the series tends to be a bit on the obnoxious side.

Master of Martial Hearts isn't a series I can find myself recommending to anybody unless you are part of the title's intended audience. Being unoriginal, its plot being a convenient excuse for its ecchi material, having subpar animation for an OAV title and a questionable way in which it resolves its plot, it's no wonder there are many folks who find this to be one of anime's most recent duds.

Last updated Monday, May 21 2012. Created Monday, May 21 2012.
Watch 7 5 6 7 7 8 Devil Doll [series:1922#752]
[Score: 66% = "Watch"]

Basically a Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny clone with more gloomy atmosphere instead of silliness, strangely entertaining nonetheless and with a stunning twist in episode 5 that upped several ratings significantly, vaguely reminding me of Interlude whose quality it never even gets close to. Without the final episode this would be a complete waste of time.

  • Episode 1: More violent (use of weaponry), and more gloomy than Ikkitousen; the lead girl is not just simply accepting her role. Fights are in slow-motion, i. e. weak animation; clothes fall apart with each hit. OP is trash, ED is beautiful, episode 1 suspense theme is worth looking for.
  • Episode 2: Nice teacher character, nice gloomy atmosphere. Less silly than Ikkitousen.
  • Episode 3: The second battle wasn't called for, and her crush being the bad guy doesn't look that plausible either. She should have asked him about the kidnapping in episode 1 though.
  • Episode 4: This one was funny, with her sudden change of clothing. And her best friend's family are the evil masterminds - oh well.
  • Episode 5: Exceptional turnaround - all is not what it seemed.


Last updated Monday, May 21 2012. Created Saturday, September 05 2009.
Unevaluated Stretch [series:1922#628]
(All episodes watched):

I think Platonic Heart may have set a record for the series which ended in a manner most unlike what the previous episodes had led me to expect. Having seen the conclusion, I almost wonder if I was really talking about the same show when I reviewed episodes 1 through 4.

My first impressions were that this seemed like a sort of poor man's Ikki Tousen. The strange martial arts competition, for a jewel that supposedly grants wishes, was hard to take seriously. There seemed to be a shortage of credible thoughts and intelligent observations by the characters; they were happy to believe absurd claims made by complete strangers. I was continually thinking about how I would reword the dialogue if given the chance. The one line I might have used myself was "What the hell is this Platonic Heart anyway?", since what the show desperately needed was a fairly plausible explanation--and quickly, lest it be dismissed as nonsense right off the bat.

The (lack of) complexity and sophistication in this show gave it a sort of Sailor Moon feel, but it soon became clear that it was targetted at male otaku rather than teenage girls. The combatants seem to wear a sort of frangible clothing that is designed to shatter when it absorbs blows. It doesn't rip, it explodes into shreds, leaving the bad girls topless and the good ones with their bras exposed. At the end of a match their clothing has been reduced to little more than tatters draped over their bodies. Though it was probably meant to be taken seriously, I found this hilarious. "Come on!" I said to myself; "How cheap! What a blatant stunt!"--all the while laugh-out-louding. It kind of reminded me of Variable Geo, though not as good. If Platonic Heart managed to stay as unintentionally funny as this I wouldn't mind watching some more (five episodes wouldn't kill me), but my hopes weren't very high.

I have to hand it to the makers of this show for coming up with a wide variety of ways to disrobe girls. A punch delivered to one girl's chin blows her shirt off, and a kick to the groin causes another's ass to burst through the seat of her pants. I'd like to think that the makers knew that nobody was going to take this seriously, and were taking a tongue in cheek attitude themselves. The plot seems like little more than a bare bones framework to tie the fight scenes together. The characters are extremely shallow; Aya supposedly suffering a loss of confidence seems manufactured and impossible to take seriously. It's hard to feel sympathy while the narrator says that "Even though she won the fight, Aya was left with vexing feelings she couldn't bear"--when a scene of a buxom opponent losing her shirt is playing simultaneously on screen. The show seems like a hasty lash-up that relies entirely on fanservice and fisticuffs to attract viewers

And yet I can't help enjoying Platonic Heart. The sheer absurdity, the crassness, are hilarious, whether they were intended to be or not. The plot and characters are just good enough that they don't make me roll my eyes. There is a bit of a mystery about a character's disappearance, which might still have an interesting explanation. And there are some freaky plot twists which act as effective cliffhangers and leave me curious to see what will happen next. If you have no dignity, if you're not even going to try to make a respectable show (except for keeping it from being out-and-out hentai), then perhaps Platonic Heart is the way to go.

After all the cheesy catfighting fanservice, I was expecting and hoping for more of the same, but the final episode threw me for a major loop. The plot takes off in a completely unexpected direction as the true, sordid motive of the Platonic Heart competition is revealed. Everything both Aya and the viewer thought they knew about who is good and who is evil is turned upside down. I don't know whether to admire the originality or be appalled by the mean-spirited violence. The quite serious approach to this episode makes me feel sort of foolish for having laughed at the previous ones. Then again the radically different approach to this final segment sometimes had the effect of making me laugh at it, since it contrasts with the rest so drastically--all of a sudden, the characters are behaving almost like completely different people. There's not all that much nudity this time, or more accurately it's overshadowed by the violence and hatred in such a manner that you cannot be aroused. In the end, I kind of like the way this show finally took itself seriously--it's as if the actors rebelled against the stereotypical roles which they'd been playing up 'til then and began behaving more like real people would have done all along.

My favorite line: "Besides, if I were to fight like this, my breasts would be exposed" --Aya

Last updated Sunday, March 22 2009. Created Friday, December 26 2008.
Unevaluated Jan-Chan [series:1922#967]
OMG !!! Cute girls fighting! Ripping clothes! Exposed flesh!! Bouncing B??BIES !!! This kind of reminds me of IKKI, except that it is more ecchi.

The first two episodes are out as a fansub ..... and while I am not holding my breath, I will admit to being amused for the moment.

Last updated Saturday, December 13 2008. Created Saturday, December 13 2008.
Watch Xenoknight [series:1922#2967]
Only raw eps exist at the moment still it seems and i've only found 2 of the 5 eps...

I guess it will take a little longer to get this title going mainstream.

Check out my award list to see some of the best anime titles in the world!

Never forget Xenosaga.

Last updated Wednesday, December 10 2008. Created Thursday, October 09 2008.

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