Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

Title:Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls
百花繚乱 サムライガールズ
Overall:Watch
Keywords: , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: Animation - ARMS
The story takes place in Japan in the early 21st century, in an alternate reality where the ↗Tokugawa Shogunate has remained in power. In this reality, student councils are tasked with oppressing dissident behavior in the schools. Yagyuu Muneakira is a high school student and weapons master who rebels against the student council with the help of a buxom band of girls who carry the names of famous samurai heroes.

New anime series scheduled to aire October 4th.
(The 1st episode was prereleased on September 4th.)

12 TV Episodes.

See also: Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Bride.
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 7 8 8 7 5 6 Dreamer [series:2376#2279]
I grabbed this one a while back based on what I read as the synopsis and how good our characters looked. That was about 5 months ago..... and I just barely finished off the last episode.....

Art, Animation & Character Designs
Artwork is definitely unique here. It's one of those love it or hate it styles. Really, I'm not sure how to explain it, but it's a mix of pencil art, rather, ink art and paintings on a bland canvas. This isn't to say the artwork was bad...... but simply, different. Character designs were almost out of place. They were drawn like your typical anime but here, they're heavily outlined in heavy black..... almost like a deliberate manga illustration.

Music
Didn't care for the OP. It was an alternative piece with female vocals. It wasn't bad but simply wasn't of my flavor. The soundtrack had some nice suspenseful pieces scattered throughout the series.... and this was mostly during dramatic moments. As for the ED.... blegh! Just blegh.

Series and Episode Story
So yes, it took me about 5 months to finish this series off. To put it quickly and bluntly, it just didn't do it for me. Let me first go through a list of the reasons why I seriously couldn't interest.... 1. Artwork, though "artistic" got old really quick. 2. The plot didn't get developed until the very end. 3. The "ink blotches" annoyed the hell out of me and were a distraction. 4. Too much focus on the female anatomy

So aside from those above, the opening scene of episode one was completely out of place. I had no clue how destroying WW2 planes had anything to do with the rest of the series. Then there was the plot.... or lack thereof. It was rushed and only started developing at the end of the series... like literally the last 3 episodes or so. The rest of the series focused on boring dialogue, boobs, ass and hips. The only saving grace (and the reason for the "watch" rating... barely), was a scatter of humor that did have me snicker a bit, and the last few episodes of the series.... where the writers decided to finally add in a plot. So we actually got to see our bevy of beauties make themselves useful by having some pretty decent battles.

Overall, I found it pretty boring but only kept watching it slowly just to finish it off and see what the end result would be..... and it wasn't much to speak of either.

Last updated Saturday, November 05 2011. Created Saturday, November 05 2011.
Watch Stretch [series:2376#628]
(Watch+ or Rent-)

(All episodes watched):

I had expected this show to be set in the feudal era, but "Guardian Deities" hacking some B-29s to pieces revealled that that wouldn't be the case. This must be the ultimate form of 'swords prevailing over firearms' nonsense, and reminded me of Strike Witches. Steam locomotives and digital cameras in use side by side confused me about just when the story would be set. Apparently the Goddesses intervened to help Japan win, or at least not lose, WWII, leading to an alternate reality--or maybe this was an altenate reality from the start--with mixed technology ('Year 22 of the Heisei period' would be around 2012, right?). I was confused about whether this would be serious or comical, and where it would be on the perversion scale, since "pretty and well-proportioned samurai girls" are advertised at the beginning. Ink blots falling in strategic locations on the TV screen act as censorship. For some reason the colors continually shift back and forth from a reddish to a greenish tint. The character designs were definitely distinctive and I like the way that the main male character, Muneakira, isn't a defenseless, fill-in-the-blank type character. On the other hand, I found myself wishing that the story would pick up and move a little faster. Episode one didn't tell us all that much; there was plenty of nudity but not much story. Will it just be perverted people doing kinky things, or will there be a genuinely clever story behind it? Is the conflict with the Student Council just a joke, or does it really matter? Was this strange girl at the end one of the "Guardian Deities"? So far it seems most like Queen's Blade. It was modestly amusing but didn't provoke me to LOL. In short, I felt that this was too good to give up after one unexciting episode, but I had little idea where it would go.

Episode two was looking up with some tasteful fanservice and interesting dialogue with decent jokes. It looks like comedy/fanservice will have priority over drama. What the hell is going on with this Jubyei girl, who seems to have dual personalities? I'm willing to bite, and keep watching. The more I watch, the more I like. This show has a sort of deadpan humor which I enjoy. It's a mix of harem, humor, and occasional catfighting. The humor is the best part; often times shows assume that harem and pantsu alone will delight (male) viewers, and there's no need to invest in any decent jokes; but not this time. The liquid soap joke in episode six cracked me up; this show definitely leaves me laughing.

Ultimately, the goofy hijinx among the girls was the best part for me, since the serious plot never grabbed my interest. That's why I never wrote much here. I had only a vague idea of what was going on as the climax approached. The person who I thought would be the chief villain wasn't, someone whose significance I don't remember was, and the final episode was more confusing than thrilling--largely a battle with countless green tentacles, it seems. Either exactly what was going on wasn't made clear, or the show as a whole didn't hold my interest tightly enough for me to pay close attention (or both). So, 'Master Samurai' can somehow fly as if they have jet packs on? I guess that would explain how they took down the bombers in episode one. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, and on top of that, there wasn't much of a conclusion, either. Sort of a 'Let's just break off here without any solid answers, except that Great Japan has survived for the time being' ending. Let me guess: incomplete manga. Oh well, the girls were fun and I don't regret watching this show.

Last updated Thursday, January 13 2011. Created Saturday, September 11 2010.

Other Sites
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Hyakka Ryoran original website http://hyakka-ryoran.net/

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