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| Episode Details | |
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| 99, 1893 | |
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Avoid | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 3 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:2190#1552] |
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Egad, this was mindless. Kampfer appeared to be focused on empowered teenage girls battling amongst one another at first glance until I seen the twist with Natsuru gender-swapping into his transformation as a Kampfer. This eventually led the series to turn into yet another unwanted harem anime with ecchi antics and several girls having interest in our doormat of a male lead, on top of the gender-swapping leading to sexual harassment, fangirls ogling for Natsuru's female form and implications of yuri with Kaede's interest in the female Natsuru. There isn't really much of a plot for much of the show's run as it is mostly focused on the mentioned antics of the cast with little focus on the battle element it eluded to in early episodes. An attempt at a plot comes about in the show's later episodes, yet is so poorly written and rushed that you'll feel like your brain just got soaked with bleach. Adding to the mess is that the final episode is nothing more than a failed effort at comedy and doesn't add anything to the anime's failed efforts at a plot. Unless you're in this for the ecchi or unwanted harem, don't waste your time on Kampfer.
Last updated Saturday, May 25 2013. Created Saturday, May 25 2013. | ||||||||
| Watch | 8 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
 Dreamer
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[series:2190#2279] |
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I have a policy about watching a series completely through even if in the rarist of rarist events that a series is crappy or a waste of time. This is why I completely review and analize a series prior to picking it up and spending my time on. As of this review, this series has been the 1 and hopefully only series I've picked up and viewed that I seriously disliked.... yet due to my personal policy, I suffered through it and watched every episode. Art, Animation & Character Designs Artwork was good. Far better than the norm. Animation was equally as good. Character designs were good as well, if not better than many other seris.... except for the ugly looking stuffed animals... (Entrail Animals). Actually, they became annoying after a few episodes. Music The OP, was a rock-ish, pop-like piece that wasn't really too bad. Not my flavor but acceptable. The soundtrack was not really worth mentioning here. The ED was a typical pop piece with female vocals. At least it wasn't high-pitched. And what's up with the xmas song??? Series and Episode Story I had a hard time with this series. First, it totally didn't make sense why the two sides had to fight. Even worse, when they fight, they're practically fighting to the death, yet, when they're not in their "fighting mode", they're friendly as hell to each other. I mean, it's not as if they lose their will power or abilities "not" to fight in that mode. Akane's gun was totally unnesessary! Especially when she's shooting everything up at school. C'mon! Really? No teachers there to stop them? No one wondering where all the gunshots are coming from? So I figured, okay fine, this is going to be a parody. NOT! Then, the 2nd to the last episode explained what "Kamfers" are, why they have to fight and what's really going on to a very limited extent. Did it make it any more interesting? Not whatsoever. And that fight scene was as corny as hell.... I'm pissed! Then, after the fight, it simply ended!!!! What the hell? The final episode was a slapstick waste of an episode that had nothing to do with the storyline. Hello? What happened? Where's the rest of the episodes or explanations? The premise of the series should have been interesting and fun... but I barely laughed and most things were just too corny. Then to make it worse, it simply ended with no rhyme nor reason and nothing resolved, no answers given, no conclusions of any kind. Overall, aside from the first couple episodes, this was an utter waste of time. It had no story, no plot, boring characters, tasteless ecchii scenes and the worse non-ending ending I've witnessed to date. The only redeeming quality was the fairly okay art and animation. And if you're purely in for the bouncy boobs and echii scenes, there's tons of that. Last updated Sunday, January 03 2010. Created Sunday, January 03 2010. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
 Silence
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[series:2190#2939] |
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Rent-
All episodes watched. It only has 12 episodes right? Right?! Kampfer started out as a whacky, sexy comedy that mocks itself as well as anime in general. It does all sorts of unusual things like seiyuus introducing themselves. The whole setting at the start can be considered a parody: a bunch of hot girls fighting each other for no apparent reason other than being assigned to different groups. And the fact that Natsuru can change sex is exploited to sleazy and hilarious effect. And like all harems, the girls all fall for the same guy, who admittedly is not all that great. The story is never meant to be taken seriously I think. With little progress on why the two teams fight in the first half, and with the President turning so aggressive that this series almost becomes hentai in the second, there is little room for the story to develop in any coherent sense. All of a sudden, white kampfers appear, and Sakura becomes a weirdo. Then the story spun out of control into a cliche action conclusion with our heroines powering up to defeat the talkative villain, only to let her get away because they are all vying for Natsuru's attention. Then, the last episode becomes some Christmas OVA-ish thing that has little to do whatsoever with the entire series. All the development so far is just ignored and they go back to square 1. I mean, WHAT? This is the end? In the true spirit of EVA maybe? Weird is the only word I can come up with. Funny and sexy at first, but as the story tries to progress, madness occurs, not in a good or funny way. Just incoherent. and so is my review. Bleh. Last updated Monday, December 21 2009. Created Sunday, October 11 2009. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:2190#628] | ||||||
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(Rent+) (All episodes watched): I think this is actually a rather clever show which doesn't waste time and holds my interest firmly. The premise of a superhero that can bend gender reminds me of Birdy the Mighty. The transformation sequence was pretty neat--well animated and they just give you a peek of the naughty stuff rather than pausing to drool over it. For all the short-skirted girls you don't see much pantsu, except in the commercial break and ED sequence (which was memorably animated). The jokes were fairly good, especially the ones about VAs. A number of characters have been given reasonable introductions, and their strange quirks are encouraging. In short, Kampfer looks like fun. Going in, my expectations were pretty low since I had read several comments about how Kampfer was good precisely because it was so terribly bad. This implied that I'd be laughing at the show rather than with it. But, on the contrary, I was pleasantly surprised at how much enjoyment I got out of it, and I'm modestly impressed by the good job which the makers did. In fact, I would say that Kampfer is my favorite new show of the Fall '09 season. One definite sign of quality: I watched episode one twice, even though I had countless other new episodes of new series waiting to be viewed. Whenever I enjoy the first episode of a new show this much, I get a nervous feeling that episode one might have been a fluke, and the remainder of the show won't be nearly as good. Therefore I was closely scrutinizing episode two with my fingers crossed. For the most part, I was relieved--a number of gags (like "the stupid dance") had me laugh-out-louding. On the other hand, just how well the story will fit together was still unclear. What I think would be quite cool would be if the three Kampfers (a new one is identified in this episode) were to agree to cooperate in order to find out just what's going on, who the "Moderators" are, etc, rather than just fighting mindlessly. The show still seems like great fun, but I'm uncomfortable with it not explaining much. The silly and entertaining style is neat, but whether it will have a high quality plot is still unclear. Also, Kaede didn't seem at all surprised to see Senou transform from male to female mode--did I miss something? At any rate, the ED sequence, which starts with Senou and Kaede shaking their asses in a ridiculous manner, is fun. Episode three seemed a yuri festival, as female Senou poses as a new transfer student in the girl's school and is immediately idolized by almost everyone. It seemed like a mix of overdone lame gags and some good ones (like the references to other series, like Akikan). I couldn't help wondering where the plot was going, but there was one brilliant moment at the very end where Sakura's dislike of the male Senou and strong attraction to the female one becomes even stronger. This show seems to have a talent for ending episodes with a potent teaser--often a revelation which makes Senou's love life even more complicated. The concept of red versus blue Kampfers has been set aside for the time being. I'm not sure what to make of this; where is it going? Instead, this show is wacky. I don't always get the jokes, but that's better than humor set for the lowest common denominator. Episode six had me laughing continually, almost shedding tears. There is definitely some talent at work here which is missing from your average fighting girls & fanservice series. Senou's switching back and forth between genders makes what would ordinarily be a generic harem something new and interesting which the viewer is liable to sit up and take notice of. The greater complexity of character relationships opens up new opportunities for greater humor as well. Most shows of this genre aren't terribly funny, but this one cracks me up at times. There's plenty of fanservice but I would say it is distinctly less exploitative than usual, perhaps because poor protagonist Senou is often obliged to deliver it himself/herself. There seems to be no sign of a serious attempt by the characters to investigate the Kampfer scheme, but I don't mind that since the show isn't relying on half-assed fight scenes to stoke up "emotion" on my part. That was what I had feared would happen at the beginning, since it is so commonplace. But Kampfer is at least a step above the average. Plus, there does seem to be some sort of intelligent long-term plot forming. As a result, Kampfer remains my favorite series of the Fall season, and the first one I watch after collecting a week's series. Episode seven was great fun as the Kampfers spend a night over at Sakura's and get a look at her collection of Entrail Animal dolls--the most uncute stuffed animals a girl could possibly collect, and yet she does. And then they make a surprising discovery regarding the Kampfer competition (except that a certain person doesn't seem particularly surprised at all). That's what I like: a show which is genuinely humorous, yet also has a plot that seems to be going somewhere. With most fighting girls series, 13 episodes seems the best length, since the overall quality isn't high enough to maintain my interest for 26. But I wish Kampfer would go the full distance. It's hard to put into words, but Kampfer just feels right--the timing, the lines, pretty much everything gives me the impression of a show that is written with skill, and thus it has built a sense of confidence and eagerness within me whenever I sit down to watch a new episode. In episode eight Shizuku arm twists male Senou into going on a date with her. Nothing radical happened action-wise, but what I thought was significant was Shizuku's declaration that she does not intend to be manipulated by anybody, namely the Moderators. This is just what I want to hear--characters who resist being shallow fighting girls, and instead have minds of their own. Episode nine provided the mandatory swimming pool visit. It seemed a bit confused--namely, what was the point of the encounter with the three new girls, other than to tell us that there is more than one White Kampfer? All of a sudden the Whites go from one mysterious person to a larger faction than any other, but we still have little idea what purpose they serve. There is some talk of the Moderators, but little new information. I hope this show will not take the Kampfer competition too seriously and will instead go for the comedy, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to be more careful about the rate and manner in which clues about its nature are presented to the viewer. Everybody would like an interesting and fun explanation at the end, right? The "indirect kiss" gag in episode ten was good. Otherwise, things start to get serious. I hadn't noticed the telltale look in Sakura's eyes when she met the three White Kampfers in the last episode (probably because my own eyes were on the subtitles). In this episode something funny is definitely going on with her--brainwashing? memory loss? an imposter? At the station break it seemed that Shizuku and the others had realized something important and suspected Senou of turning against them, but afterwards the topic was dropped, so I guess they were just pissed at him for letting any one girl in his harem make any romantic progress relative to the others. Still, the last thing you'd expect has happened and I can hardly wait for an explanation. As I watched episode 11 it gradually dawned on me that this next-to-last episode would in fact be the climactic one, followed by an omake episode. A certain character finally comes clean about the purpose of the Kampfers; it made some sense (reminding me of Bokurano) and was definitely more original than the usual fighting girls show. Still, I couldn't help feeling that only the basic skeleton of an explanation had been provided, while I would have liked to have had it fleshed out some more. How did Sakura get involved? Why did she have dual personalities without any physical difference (or was she just faking her kindness all along?)? What was the story behind Shizuku's former comrade (a neat touch, but it seemed tacked on almost as an afterthought)? Have our heroines truly broken out of their obligation to serve as Kampfers? Etcetera. Still, this was pretty cool. Some high quality animation was added for the final transformation sequence. The climactic battle didn't "flow" flawlessly, but clearly greater effort was put into it than with most anime series of this sort. Perhaps best of all, it dared to commit the anime heresy of violating the rule that says that the harem leader's favorite girl must always come out ahead at the end (though episode 12 may undo this). All-in-all, an appropriate Christmas gift for me. Episode twelve was a bizarre all-comedy postscript which was amusing but didn't really provide any additional answers. No doubt Kampfer is still an incomplete manga; an additional season could be tacked on, since there are so many unanswered questions, or it could end satisfactorily here. I won't try to claim that this is a brilliant show worth buying and rewatching numerous times. Instead, Kampfer was a breath of fresh air in the current anime wasteland of predictable and repetitive comedies. It wasn't a revolutionary show, but this is what's possible when a little originality is applied to a stale genre. Whereas when most comedies come to an end I'm more than ready to move on to something new, I wish Kampfer had continued. ...and it turns out that it will! Catch Akane Mishima's montage at the Cute Girls with Guns and Screaming Anime Characters pages! Last updated Saturday, October 16 2010. Created Friday, October 02 2009. | ||||||||
| Buy |
 Forbin
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[series:2190#1573] | ||||||
Analysis : 11 Fansubs Watched
 Maburaho, it's a GUARANTEED WATCH FOR ME!Now on to the show. So far we have
This final plot of the Evil Kaede and the White team has got me major hooked! OMG Shizuku! You ALMOST made this a hentai! For Stretch : The whole purpose is not to introduce the white team but show the connection between them and Kaede. MAISM! Last updated Friday, December 11 2009. Created Friday, October 02 2009. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:2190#967] | ||||||
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This series barely rates a RENT- (barely...) What a waste... This series starts with bit of promise, but it quickly gets lost in a flurry of boobs and yuri action when all of the 'kampfer girls' get together. (Just how many times did bathing scenes play into the story?) To me, this appears to be a teen-boy treat title; T&A treats with lots of bounce and butts. Eye candy intended to distract the audience from glaring deficiencies in story. Otherwise, this is a hopeless tale of Natsuru, a shy high school boy with a high pitched voice who secretly longs for the unobtainable school idol girl: Kaede. It gets even worse when Kaede seems to like only the female Natsuru and finds the male Natsuru to be too much of a whimp (which he is of course). Natsuru also has three other girls who are interested in him, but he is too clueless to notice their attentions. (Can we say looser-boy yet?) And I never really understood what all the Kampfer fighting action was about. Episode 11 gave some vague hints, but then the series ended. Sigh. And when Natsuru changes into a Kampfer, he changes from a boy in school slacks into a buxom girl with a short skirt. (Can this be considered a magic-girl or magic-boy transformation?) More information - There are three types of Kampfers -
Last updated Friday, December 25 2009. Created Friday, October 02 2009. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Kämpfer @ TBS (Japanese) | http://www.tbs.co.jp/anime/kenpu/ |
