Friday, December 7, 2007

Ikki Tousen / Battle Vixens, part 2



Seven schools in the district of Kantō are constantly at war with each other, and the students within — both male and female — have become skilled fighters and constantly battle with rival schools. Their lives and fates are guided by strange jewels, called magatama, that contain the spirits and destinies of warriors from the Three Kingdoms period of China, and also change colour according to the ranking of its bearer. The ultimate purpose of each of these high-school fighters, known as tōshi ("fighter"), is to become stronger than all others and ascend to become the eponymous Ikki Tōsen — a relatively obscure yojijukugo. Literally translated, it means "one knight who is the match for a thousand (other knights)" (the character ki, for "knight" does not translate directly, as knights in the Western mold were unknown in Japan, but the sense is the same). The destinies of those who wear the magatama, though, have repeated time and time again for the past eighteen centuries — without fail — and the carnage is immense each time around.

One girl, Hakufu Sonsaku, recently moved to Tokyo and is apparently destined to unite the schools, just as her counterpart united seven countries long ago. It is hard to believe for the other characters just as much as the reader/viewer, as she consistently shows a lack of common sense and intelligence. However, the magatama that her mother Goei passes on (which belonged to Hakufu's late father Sonken; a play on the name of Sun Jian) is rumoured to be infused with the spirit of the legendary warrior Sun Ce.

Hakufu herself knows naught of this, and explanations of what is going on are largely meant for those watching or reading. All she cares about is fighting whomever happens to be up for a rumble. In fact, fighting even excites her—especially scraps where she is heavily outnumbered. This causes incredible embarrassment and frustration to her cousin, a Toushi by the name of Shuyu Koukin with whom she is staying; he always ends up entangled in the situations in which Hakufu finds herself (to the point of being impaled once), and is driven to distraction by the conflicting facts that (a) the two of them are related, (b) she is incredibly attractive, and (c) her clothing inevitably ends up shredded.

Just like all heroes, there are darker facets to Hakufu's ultimate destiny, and as always there is perpetual conflict in those around her to break the chains of their own seemingly predetermined fates, and to make their own lives. The other main characters include the honourable (Taishiji Shigi, Kanu Uncho, Kakoton Genjo), tragic (Ryofu Hosen, Chinkyu Koudai), manipulative and power-crazed (Toutaku Chuei), enigmatic (Saji Genpo), perverted and unhinged (Kannei Koha), and borderline schizophrenic (Ryomo Shimei—her fighting and non-fighting sides are poles apart).



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