Busou Shoujo Machiavellism / First Impressions / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「Shocking Blue」 by Miku Itou

「素晴らしき刃、鬼瓦輪」 (Subarashiki ha, Onigawara Rin)
“The Magnificent Blade, Rin Onigawara”

So what happens when you take matriarchal utopia, mix it with Prison School, and shed any semblance of seriousness? I have no bloody idea, but Busou Shoujo Machiavellism sure takes a stab at it. Previewing this series left me with the impression of parody in place of conventional story, and the first episode certainly did not disappoint.

Part of what kept Busou Shoujo’s opener so amusing for me is the clear lack of sh*ts given. The show certainly raises and eyebrow or two with its setup of armed girls and emasculated men (sure living up to the show title isn’t it?), but never really ventures off in the explorative direction. Rather this setup is used as a foundation to accentuate just how different the main man Nomura (Hatanaka Tasuku) is from his new school of “choice”. Rather than some societal commentary—and believe me the arguments abound here—the feminism wet dream succinctly defines Nomura’s enemies and the obstacle to his peace and quiet. These girls hate men (i.e. what men stand for), so when the flirtatious Nomura rejects their demands and faces off against them, the situations and jokes write themselves. Guaranteed Rin’s (Takada Yuuki) defeat and her hilarious first kiss—don’t deny, you know it’s her first—wouldn’t have been as funny without that delicious, radicalized mindset driving her actions. Makes it all the better too that the pint sized Char Aznable screams tsundere with a cute side begging for some exploration. Not like Nomura will have any trouble with that.

The intriguing bit regarding this series, however, is the surprising emphasis on fighting. This honestly is the sole part I cannot tell if Busou Shoujo actually treats seriously, or goes all in just for maximizing the parody points. We go from the ubiquitous technique names part of a dizzying array of martial art schools (i.e. parody) to semi-realistic lessons on the effects of balance, muscular contraction, and torsion (i.e. seriousness)—it’s quite the interesting mashup. Although I’m biased in favour of any show tickling my anatomy itch—and I love me my anatomy—the concept arguably works here because of that parody visage. Giving Rin’s Mirror Breath or Nomura’s Spirit Bullet a dose of truth makes the whole thing funnier because we know they could technically work. When Rin actually cuts Nomura and draws blood, it accentuates the overall comedy because of the situation’s sheer ridiculousness. Without that veneer of plausibility, a lot of the humour here likely would not have worked. Of course it’s unclear just how well this setup will continue working, but with a varied cast of girls (and bears) I think we won’t be lacking for new material anytime soon. Hell I’m looking forward to see just how secretively crazy Satori (Nishida Nozomi) actually is.

While not much may have happened story wise this week, next time should delve us further into this forced peaceful world of coexistence. With Rin beaten you can be sure another Five Swords member will jump forth for correction duty, while we have yet to find out who the Empress actually is. Given there is also a clear connection between Nomura and the Empress, you can be sure the fun and games are only just beginning. Will Nomura find his freedom, will the Five Swords win? Just have to keep on watching.

Random Tidbits

With Elfen Lied easter eggs popping up, you know the good stuff (i.e. bloody awesome fights) is just waiting in the wings.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「DECIDE」 by Tenga Goken

Preview

20 Comments

  1. Almostevery martial arts in the series are actual martial arts in Japan and while some of them are exaggerated for the manga, most of them are accurate? Some of the effects of the techinque are obviously exaggerated

    Here’s the wiki links for the styles used by the main characters. Almost all the techniques used by the characters are real ones. Most of these are Japanese wiki:
    Onigawara:Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashim…nkage-ry%C5%AB
    Warabi: Taisha Ryu
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82…8D%A8%E6%B5%81
    Satori: Keishiryu Kidachi Kata(This is the techniques that is given to police officers in Japan, which probably is a hint to whoever is Satori’s master)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AD…A6%96%E6%B5%81
    Tsukuyo: Yakumaru Jigen Ryu (Iai)
    https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%96…A1%95%E6%B5%81
    Nomura: Jigen Ryu (but in this he applied to a hand-to-hand fighting style, so the author invented some of it)

    In the manga, The writer even listed many times the source or manual books and the name of it’s authors he used to learn the techniques. He’s actualy a martial arts practicioner himself and still learning even to these day.

    One actual practicioners of the Taisha Ryu, the style used by Warabi even thanked the author for using the style as it is generally uknown to the general public

    Donto
    Reply

    1. I knew a lot was referenced from reading a couple of volumes, but damn I didn’t think it was that well referenced. Thanks for pointing that out.

      For me though, this research reinforces the parody aspect. Martial arts are something you definitely don’t expect the student council (Five Swords) to be busting out for “corrective” purposes lol.

      Pancakes
      Reply

      1. What most people outside the Japanese fandom don’t know is that this series is actually a stealth sequel (thanks tvtropes) to the authors’ previous series, Shinakoi, which was sadly cancelled leading to a rushed ending. Tsukuyo is actualy a major last minute character from Shinakoi. Shinakoi was even more detailed as the series was very much a martial arts action-dramedy-romance series with the martial arts aspect being generally the focus of it. It’s also more serious though never without comedic moments.

        In the newest arc, some major Shinakoi characters has start appearing, which will probably confuse the non-Shinakoi readers. This is something that actually makes me wonder, if Busou Shoujo ever get a second season which probably will takes place after the Empress arc, how are they supposed to explain those characters without a LENGHTY flashback. Not to mention, Tsukuyo’s background tied heavily to Shinakoi’s plot. Same goes with how Aiichi was founded.

        Honestly, I have a huge suspicion that the authors deliberately cook up a ridiculous premise to draw new fans before segueing to the martial arts theme of Shinakoi once more. The newest arc have been getting more serious, more in line with Shinakoi. Focusing very much less on the women domenating men to more conflicts between powerful martial artists while also focusing on their personal development. Busou Shoujo never truly abandons it’s ridiculousness though, it’s still overall diferrent than Shinakoi, after all.

        BTW, I miswrote the links, it’s rather hard typing them with iphone. Here’s the correct ones:
        Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashima_Shinden_Jikishinkage-ry%C5%AB
        Taisha Ryu:
        https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BF%E3%82%A4%E6%8D%A8%E6%B5%81
        Keishi ryu Kidachi Kata:
        https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AD%A6%E8%A6%96%E6%B5%81#.E8.AD.A6.E8.A6.96.E6.B5.81.E6.9C.A8.E5.A4.AA.E5.88.80.E5.BD.A2
        Yakumaru Jigen Ryu:
        https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%96%AC%E4%B8%B8%E8%87%AA%E9%A1%95%E6%B5%81
        Jigen Ryu:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigen-ry%C5%AB

        Donto
        Reply

    1. Anyone who ends up taking this seriously is definitely doing it wrong.

      I mean, I could and dig into the setting, but that would ruin the hilarity here. This and Renai Boukun look like the main comedic relief of the season.

      Pancakes
      Reply

  3. I read the manga of this series and I’m happy that the anime definitely flow better than manga. The emphasis on martial art is explained in a more interesting way and since fight looked more interesting here, it’s a lot easier to swallow. I just hope that Silver Link knows when to end the adaptation, because if things are going at this rate and with it may be a one cour, the end of the series would not be very good, making it hard for it to have a season 2. My Rokujouma was ended before it got really interesting :[[[ I hope this won’t happened for this series because the secrets and world buildings in this fighting oriented series really intrigue me XD

    Olghag
    Reply

  6. I’m glad I picked this up on a whim, Action comedy with emphasis on the action is fresh for me, and I can’t wait to see the other girls’ skill. Definitely on my watch list now xD

    raxar
    Reply

  7. I am an advocate of true gender equality and an anime about a guy beating up some nazi-feminists is always a good anime for me.

    As to the Ma-Dan, Nomura’s finisher, I think the principle on it is basically the same as Bruce lee’s one inch punch though, exaggerated for entertainment.

    Jeffers
    Reply

  9. I’m curious. Have there been cases where the male students chose to quit this school for what it would’ve done to them? Cause if all of them chose to stay and crossdress, then that would only accentuate the parody 😛

    And how would the disciplinary committee of the education ministry approve of this rehabilitation method? O.o Head scratching

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

    1. Even better would be if some wanted to quit, but were denied. Not just voluntary crossdressing, but crossdressing under duress. At that point the parody all but writes itself.

      And who says the education ministry ever got word/complaints about their methods? For all we know they tour around and just see male students getting in touch with their inner feminine side 😛

      Pancakes
      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *