Series: Master Of Martial Hearts
Release date: 4th April 2011
Certificate: 15
Running time: 150 mins
Director: Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Starring: Kaori Nazuka, Ai Nonaka, Akemi Kanda, Ami Koshimizu
Genre: Anime
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
Master Of Martial Hearts sounds like every man’s dream – a five episode OVA series revolving around a girl-on-girl fighting tournament that doesn’t skimp on the fan service. From short skirts and panty shots to clothes ripping and fully exposed breasts, Master Of Martial Hearts doesn’t do anything in moderation.
Seemingly normal schoolgirl Aya Iseshima one day witnesses a brutal fight between a shrine maiden and an air hostess. After stepping in and saving the life of maiden Miko Kazuki, she learns of a girl-on-girl fighting tournament, in which the victor will have any wish granted by a mysterious jewel known as the Platonic Heart. Aya and Miko, along with Aya’s school friend Natsume, soon become friends.
Suddenly, Aya is sent a mysterious text message inviting her to the tournament following Miko’s drop out, and when Aya goes to question Miko about it, she finds her home in ruins, with Miko nowhere to be seen and people denying her existence.
In order to find out what has happened to Miko and save her, Aya must enter the brutal tournament and win. Along the way she fights a whole hoard of colourful fighters to save her friend and discover the truth behind the Platonic Heart…
With a plot that sounds like some strange hybrid of an all-woman Fight Club and Mortal Kombat, it’s hard to believe Master Of Martial Hearts is going to win any prizes for its narrative already. While the early episodes remain relatively light hearted (despite the rather brutal fighting going on), the last two are far darker in tone, where the story seems to go off in a completely opposite direction. As all the plot threads seem to come together and the reality behind the Platonic Heart is revealed, revelations come out of absolutely nowhere as a vast amount of plot twists suddenly occur. While this serves to give the series far more depth, many of them just happen with no foreshadowing and do not fit with the rest of the series. It also proves to be too little too late, as the conclusion of Master Of Martial Hearts proves to be horribly unsatisfying.
Of course, there’s the fan service, which is the most likely the reason anyone would buy Master Of Martial Hearts in the first place. Within five minutes of episode one, there is already one fighter completely topless. While Master Of Martial Hearts includes some of the more clichéd forms of fan service, such as a lengthy shower scene and the obligatory beach/pool episode, every single one of its fight sequences end with at least one opponent almost completely naked – their clothes physically shattering with every blow landed. At first, it’s a little distracting, but it happens so often that it quickly becomes second nature to the series. It even manages to poke fun at itself, at some points, with a group of otaku complaining about how they don’t want to see Aya’s breasts during a fight because they aren’t rooting for her.
Master Of Martial Heart’s main strength is that right from the beginning it feels like a fighting game brought to life. While the various opponents Aya fights throughout the five episodes have about as much character depth as a piece of paper, they still manage to be among the most memorable in the series. Each opponent has their own theme, and play upon that during their fight sequences. Amongst the challengers is an air hostess, a mechanic wielding spanners as weapons, a Japanese pop idol using a bladed ‘magical girl’ baton as a weapon and even a school chemistry teacher. Their dialogue is littered with puns, and many of their moves derive from their apparent profession - the chemistry teacher fights using ‘chemical combo’ attacks, with various chemical symbols appearing onscreen with every blow made (think the 1960s Adam West Batman series, but more educational). These characters are the true stars of the series, and their frankly ridiculous nature is what keeps the show engaging.
The art style is great. Many of the early fight sequences have a very nice comic book style to them with flashy one-colour backgrounds so that the viewer can focus on each punch as it comes. Sadly, this is used far less as the series goes on, but with plenty of colourful backgrounds there’s still a lot to appreciate. The same cannot be said for the music, with a score that doesn’t stand out and is therefore largely forgettable, and opening/closing themes that will undoubtedly be skipped through on most viewings.
Amongst the fan service and gravity defying breasts there is something oddly compelling about Master Of Martial Hearts, which, at heart, is a solid and reasonably enjoyable fighting anime. And while the story’s conclusion comes completely out of nowhere and proves ultimately unsatisfying, once you start the series, it’s something you’ll want to finish. AJ
No comments:
Post a Comment