Ikki Tousen



Romance of the Three Kingdoms WITH PANTY SHOTS! But seriously...

The souls of the greatest warriors, generals, and strategists of the era of Chinese history immortalized in Romance of the Three Kingdoms have continued on beyond their deaths, sealed within magatama beads handed down from generation to generation. For 1,800 years, the gems have dominated the destiny of their holders - the "Toushi", or "Fighters" - increasing their bloodlust and fighting skills while forcing them to re-enact the lives and deaths of their counterparts.

Now, the newest generation of Fighters has gathered around seven high schools in the Kanto region around Tokyo, re-enacting the battles as something in between a semi-organized street fighting tournament and an all-out gang war. And at Nanyou Academy (read: Nanyang and eventually the Wu kingdom), Idiot Heroine Sonsaku Hakufu has arrived.

And she has no clue about anything in the last two paragraphs. All Sonsaku knows is that she likes to fight, and her mom not only gave her a necklace with a pretty magatama, but also told her to make a good impression by beating up fifty Fighters on her first day. She definitely doesn't know that she's the "Reincarnation" of Sun Ce, the ruler of Wu known as the "Little Conqueror (Shou Haoh)" - the one who it's said might have united the Three Kingdoms himself if not for his untimely death.

Did we mention she's hot? In fact, it seems that most of the modern-day Fighters are attractive teenage Action Girls who have a habit of suffering massive amounts of Clothing Damage during their fights.

Ikki Tousen (Roughly "Strength of a Thousand") is an ongoing (18 volumes and counting) manga series by Shiozaki Yuji that has been adapted into four anime seasons to date, as well as a Fighting Game. The Tokyopop English release of the manga, Battle Vixens, is notorious for its Macekred translation. There was also a controversy about several panels from early in the series that seemed to be traced from Oh! Great's Tenjho Tenge manga. The whole thing originated as story-less PVC figurines in the very late 1990s.

Interestingly, the second through fourth seasons were directed by, of all people, Koichi Ohata.

Compare Koihime Musou, another series of Romance of the Three Kingdoms Gender Flip spoof. There's also Ryofuko-chan, in which the same basic premise gets a Lolicon twist.

This series is now available on Hulu. And has a character sheet.

This series contains examples of:

 * Abusive Parents.
 * Accidental Fanservice Girl: In Dragon Destiny, having Ryuubi topless is more or less a Running Gag.
 * Action Girl: Of course.
 * Action Mom: Hakufu's mom Goei (Lady Wu) isn't a frontline fighter, but can handle herself well if needed. Especially if you hit her Berserk Button by calling her old.
 * Added Alliterative Appeal: Each successive TV adaptation has done this in its subtitles. (Dragon Destiny, Great Guardians; and now, Xtreme Xecutor
 * Adult Child: Goei. Though this also counts as Obfuscating Stupidity...
 * Affably Evil: To some degree, Toutaku (Dong Zhuo)
 * Annoying Arrows: Brutally subverted in Ryoumou's fight with Ten'i, as the arrows nearly end up killing Ryoumou,.
 * The Archer: Ten'i
 * Art Evolution: This was the series Yuji Shiozaki polished his artstyle drastically, he improved so much that the first Ikkitousen Volumes just can't compare to recent ones. The anime though, still kept mimicking his earlier style, thus remaining unchanged through all seasons.
 * Ascended Extra: The first season gives Ukitsu (Yu Ji) more scenes and more interaction with Hakufu,.
 * Attempted Rape:
 * Ax Crazy: Kannei.
 * Back From the Dead:
 * Baka: One of Hakufu's Berserk Buttons is being called like this.
 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Kouchou Kanshuu (Huang Zhong)
 * Bathtub Bonding: Hakufu does it with Koukin in season one and in Great Guardians with Chuubou.
 * Beach Episode: In Great Guardians (ep 05), going through all the motions.
 * Beauty Is Never Tarnished: So averted, since the girls and the guys get beaten up real hard. As you see, not only their clothes get ripped. Heck,.
 * Because Destiny Says So: Its never really explained why people keep passing on those damn magatama beads and consigning their loved ones to brief and violent lives.
 * Berserk Button: Both Sousou and Ryuubi released their Superpowered Evil Sides upon seeing their friends get badly beaten to protect them.
 * Between My Legs: Seen fairly often on the heroines.
 * Big Damn Heroes: Dragon Destiny has at least three. First,  Later,   And in the end,
 * Big Eater: Hakufu, Ryuubi, Chouhi.
 * Big Fancy House: Shuuyu (Zhou Yu) Koukin's house (where Hakufu and Goei are staying as guests.)
 * Blade on a Stick: Kan'u Unchou carries the original Guan Yu's legendary Blue Dragon Crescent Blade.
 * Blond Guys Are Evil:
 * Blood Knight: Hakufu just wants to fight people. However, unlike her Super-Powered Evil Side, she doesn't want to really hurt anyone. Permanently, anyway.
 * Bodyguard Crush: Koukin for his cousin, Hakufu (no matter how much he tries to hide it); Kan'u (Guan Yu) for Ryuubi (Liu Bei).
 * In videogame, Kanpei for Kan'u.
 * Boisterous Bruiser: Several, specially Chouhi (as the expy of Zhang Fei), Kakouton and Hakufu.
 * Bokukko: Ukitsu
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Lots of people in Great Guardians.
 * Cannot Spit It Out: Kan'u (Guan Yu) towards Ryuubi (Liu Bei) in Great Guardians, the third season.
 * Car Fu: does this in desperation in the last episode of Dragon Destiny.
 * Charles Atlas Superpower
 * Chaste Teens: Good luck finding anyone who hasn't got the words "Sonsaku, Hakufu, Ryuubi and Gentoku" in their names who has the trope in this franchise.
 * Clothing Damage: The female characters' clothing seems to disintegrate at the drop of a hat. Somehow averted by Chou'un (Zhao Yun), who practically is the only female who never had her clothes torn in a fair fight (the only time her clothes was torn was due to an interruption), this possibly being a symbol of her Lady of War status.
 * Coitus Uninterruptus: In Dragon Destiny, Kaku Bunwa (Jie Xu) and Kakuka Houkou (Guo Jia) discuss strategy... while doing the nasty.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Bachou Mouki, who in the first episode of XX finds nothing wrong with shots to the groin and using pastries to pad her chest, then turning right around and using the filling of said pastries to blind her enemies while she kicks the crap out of them.
 * Cooldown Hug: Used by Chuukou, on Sousou.
 * Creepy Child: Shokatsuryou Koumei (Zhuge Liang), combined with Little Miss Snarker
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Several
 * Cute Bruiser: Chouhi (Zhang Fei), Ukitsu, Kyocho Chuukou (Xu Chu) who mixes this with Huge Schoolgirl. Though, this being a voluptuous schoolgirl version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, they're more like Hot Bruisers.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Hakufu
 * Damsel in Distress: Ryuubi is in this position at first, due to her klutziness and lack of fighting skills. Until her ultra powerful Super-Powered Evil Side shows up, that is.
 * Dangerously-Short Skirt: It's harder to list that girls that don't have one.
 * Dark-Skinned Blond: Saji Genpou (Zuo Ci) and Chouryou Bun'en (Zhang Liao)
 * Dark-Skinned Redhead: Sousou (Cao Cao)
 * Little Miss Snarker: Koumei
 * Defeat Means Friendship: Hakufu often befriends those she defeats
 * Depraved Bisexual: Ryofu Housen (Lu Bu) skirts the line, especially in the first season of the anime. She rapes  after rendering her helpless during a fight , has had sex with   and is also Schoolgirl Lesbians with her best friend, Chinkyuu (Chen Gong). The last relationship actually counts as Pet the Dog.
 * The Ditz: Ryuubi
 * Dojikko: Ryuubi, again. And according to Hakufu, Ryoumou also is one of them when the two work as waitreses.
 * The Dragon: Ryofu (Lu Bu) is introduced as one for Toutaku (Dong Zhuo).
 * Dub Text: Battle Vixens features several examples, such as the subplot about Saji raping Ryofu, Kan'u and Ukitsu showing interest in Koukin, and making Ryuubi into a Transparently Closeted homophobe constantly worrying about Kan'u lusting after her.
 * Ecchi: Read the rest of the page and it should be obvious.
 * Emotionless Girl: Koushaji (Hue Che Er)
 * Evil Costume Switch: after going to Sousou.
 * Evil Cripple: Shiba'i (Sima Yi) is one of the more ruthless strategists in the series and she's confined to a wheelchair.
 * Evil Redhead: Toutaku, Sousou after his "awakening" (and even more so in the manga)
 * Expository Hairstyle Change: The short-haired Ryoumou used to have long hair, as a picture featuring her, Saji and  shows.
 * Expy: Sonsaku is basically Asuka Soryuu but a bit taller and with a hilariously massive bust (oh, and replace the word 'bitch' with 'idiot'). Ryoumou is Rei Ayanami, as noted below, straight down to the effing eyepatch.
 * Eyecatch: In season 1, it's Hakafu kicking into the camera for the "going to commercial" eyecatch, and her skirt lifting for the "back from commercial" eyecatch. Both eyecatches feature a karaoke snippet of the OP, "Driving Through the Night". In seasons 2-4, it's a still image of a character, often in revealing attire, set to a brief rock music cue.
 * Eyepatch of Power: Ryomou (Lu Meng) wears a medical eyepatch Later,   starts wearing one as well,.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Chou'un Shiryuu (Zhao Yun)
 * Eye Scream:
 * Facial Markings: Koushaji has a small flower-shaped one on her left cheekbone
 * Fan Disservice: Koushaji has a pantyshot-laden battle against Sousou (Cao Cao), which she loses. She then gets killed by having her head crushed against a wall by Sousou,.
 * Fan Service: Naturally.
 * Fastball Special: Chouhi grabs and tosses Kan'u towards the tower where  are fighting, in the last episode of Dragon Destiny.
 * Fetish Fuel Station Attendant: Ryomou - a Tsundere Rei Ayanami lookalike with an eyepatch, wearing a maid outfit, who fights by grappling her opponents...
 * Finger-Twitching Revival
 * Five-Bad Band: Rakuyou. Kyoushou was more of a Three Amigos Power Trio in the first season, but becomes a Five-Bad Band in Dragon Destiny.
 * The Big Bad: Toutaku (Rakuyou), Sousou (Kyoushou)
 * The Dragon: Ryoufu (Rakuyou), Kakouton (Kyoushou)
 * The Evil Genius: Kaku (Rakuyou and later Kyoushou), Shibai (Kyoushou)
 * The Brute: Ryoufu and Rikaku (Rakuyou), Kakuka and then Myousai and Chouryou (Kyoushou)
 * The Dark Chick: Chinkyuu (Rakuyou), Ten'i and Chuukou (Kyoushou)
 * Sixth Ranger: The Three Pillared Gods (Kyoushou)
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor:
 * Five-Man Band: Nanyou and Seitou.
 * The Heroine: Hakufu (Nanyou), Ryuubi (Seitou)
 * The Lancer: Ryoumou (Nanyou), Kan'u (Seitou)
 * The Smart Guy: Koukin (Nanyou), Koumei (Seitou)
 * The Big Guy: Gakushuu (Nanyou), Chouhi and Kanshou (Huge Guy, Tiny Girl duo, Seitou)
 * The Chick: Goei and later Chuubou (Action Mom and Yamato Nadeshiko, Nanyou), Ryuubi (Seitou, doubles as Chick and Heroine)
 * Sixth Ranger:  (Nanyou), Kanshou (doubling as Big Guy, Seitou), Chou'un (Seitou).
 * Flanderization: Happens to most characters in the third anime season, but the treatment of Kan'u is especially egregious. Be thankful that this somehow stops after Episode 4.
 * The Fool: Hakufu, Ryuubi.
 * Gecko Ending: The first two seasons (Ikki Tousen and Dragon Destiny) each have an original ending. The third season (Great Guardians) is 100% Filler.
 * Gender Flip: This is almost a complete Gender Flip of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
 * Genre Savvy: The characters are all aware of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and even try to use that knowledge to their advantage. Yes, even Hakufu breaks out the Cliff Notes when things get serious on her.
 * Gentle Giant: Gakushuu (Yue Jiu); he even has a sweet tooth. Also Kouchuu Kanshou, who blushes intensely when he touches Kan'u and Chuhi's clothes which he had to wash per instructions of his master.
 * Girly Run: Ryuubi
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: If you have a dragon spirit inside you, you'll have these eyes when your other side manifest. Also,
 * Go Out with a Smile:
 * Handsome Lech: Saji, so much (he's the trope picture, by the way).
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Heroic Sociopath: Ryomou started as one of these, evolving into a Type A Tsundere.
 * Hey, You: Hakufu calls others (except Goei, Chuubou and Koukin) by nicknames
 * Hot-Blooded: Indeed.
 * Hot Shounen Mom: Goei (Lady Wu), Hakufu's mother.
 * Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Kanshou and Chouhi, Kaku and Kakuka. In a platonic sense, Gakushuu and either Hakufu or Ryoumou.
 * Huge Schoolgirl: Kyouchu Chuukou. In the manga, she was even bullied for her huge size by the boys in her and Sousou's ex judo club.
 * In Name Only: For kicks, show the anime to anybody with even a mild interest in Chinese literature, and watch them vomit blood.
 * Ki Attacks
 * Kikuko Inoue: Goei
 * Kissing Cousins: Koukin crushes on his cousin Hakufu. In the anime, Goei actually approves and encourages it to some degree, much to Koukin's embarrassment.
 * I Have Your Wife: In Episode 12 of the first series,  tells   to kill   When she refuses, he grabs her teammate   and forces her to fight. Later,   are captured and held hostage to force   to fight  . And in Dragon Destiny,   surrenders herself to Kyoushou when   are threatened by
 * Ill Girl:
 * I Just Want to Be Normal: Ryuubi tells Chouhi and Kan'u that, even when she knows she's the reincarnation of Liu Bei, she'd rather live normally like she always has.
 * "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: Used quite often, with varying results.
 * Subverted:  tries this on   who's being used by   as his Soul Jar. He fails and she brutally beats him up, but then   appears and is the one who hits   Berserk Button and lets her get free of   grip.
 * Played straight:
 * And again, in Great Guardians:
 * Intimate Healing: Ryoufu, on a bed-ridden Saji.
 * I Owe You My Life: Myousai, to  who took her in when she was a child soldier. Ten'i, to   who rescued her from particularly cruel school abuse.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: In Great Guardians,  tells this to   so they can hook up.
 * Lady of War: Chou'un, Kan'u.
 * Lazy Artist: It came with Yuji's improving of his artstyle, there are times he blatantly copy-and-pastes his panels more than once, they're small panels with no background featuring some character being shocked, surprised, being emotionally strucken by something & etc.
 * Likes Older Women: Kakouton (Xiahou Dun) is mistaken as being like this, much to his embarrassment.
 * Little Miss Badass: Ten'i is a damn dangerous Archer who wears a Gothic Lolita dress when she fights. Also,
 * Loads and Loads of Characters
 * Loving a Shadow:
 * MacGuffin: The Imperial Seal, the Jade Dragon.
 * Male Gaze: Lots of it.
 * Manipulative Bitch: Kaku Bunwa (Jia Xu), Shibai.
 * Meganekko: Ryuubi, Rikuson (Lu Zun). Kaku is a subversion, since her manipulative personality is very atypical for a Meganekko.
 * Meido: Ryomou's fighting costume.
 * Medium Awareness: In Dragon Destiny, Goei complains to Koukin that her screen time has disminished and wonders what's the reason.
 * The Messiah: Ryuubi, Chuubou to some degree.
 * Mind Control Eyes: Abundant in Great Guardians, as a side effect of characters ending up Brainwashed and Crazy.
 * Mind Probe: Gakushin (Yue Jin) can use her kiss to dive in the minds and memories of her victims.
 * Moment Killer: Koumei pulls this at least twice towards Kan'u when she wants to be with Ryuubi.
 * Mooks
 * My God, What Have I Done?: Kan'u in season 3, after realizing that she's been flanderized. She tried to atone with death, until Ryuubi stops her using an Armor-Piercing Slap.
 * Naughty Nurse Outfit: In the first series, Genpou Saji fondles the nurse (who wears such an outfit) while in his hospital bed.
 * Nice Girl - You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who is as sweet, nice and kind-hearted as Hakufu; She is able to forgive anything short of rape and befriend anybody, complete with cute-nicknames and regular hugs, when the fight is over.
 * Nosebleed: Koukin gets one when he walks in on Chuubou and Hakufu bathing together.
 * Onee-Sama: Chuubou refers to Hakufu (who doesn't fit the personality at all) as such and Koukin as "onii-sama" (he comments he can easily get used to it).
 * Only the Chosen May Wield: The Hyakuhekitou swords.
 * Out-of-Clothes Experience:
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Koukin, although he borders on being a Faux Action GUY.
 * Panty Fighter: You need to ask?
 * Panty Shot: And according to some tropers, it has some of the most realistic skirt physics around. See Shown Their Work, below.
 * Peek-a-Bangs: Kan'u's left eye is always hidden under her bangs
 * Except in the first season, where her two eyes are plainly visible.
 * Perpetually-Shiny Bodies
 * Pet the Dog: Ryofu softens quite a bit around her old friend (and girlfriend) Chinkyuu.
 * Potty Failure: Several of the girls pee their panties during fights, and some of them actually consider it an achievement to make their opponent wet herself (however some arguably that this is a case of Orgasmic Combat). This actually became a plot point at one time as Tanfuko could tell his plan to weaken Kan’u was working because of the liquid coming down between her legs
 * At least one time a fighter lost control her bladder was probably fear based, the assassin that attacked Sousou and blinded his best friend Kakouton, wet herself after Sousou's Super-Powered Evil Side took over.
 * Pretty Freeloaders: Hakufu and Goei (for Koukin). At least Goei handles the housework and the cooking, so...
 * Psycho for Hire: Kannei (Gan Ning)
 * Public Domain Artifact
 * Rape as Drama: Poor, poor
 * Double Standard Rape (Female on Female): During Ryofu's first episode she rapes one of the show's most popular characters, Ryoumou, after defeating her. This is never brought up again, and she even becomes an Ensemble Darkhorse herself.
 * In Dragon Destiny it was revealed that another character, Ten'I, had been gang raped at her old school by a sadistic Alpha Bitch and her Girl Posse. They pretty much used this trope to justify their actions
 * Rapunzel Hair: Kan'u.
 * Razor Floss: Myousai's Weapon of Choice
 * The Real Remington Steele: A BIG Revelation of Great Guardians is based on this.
 * Recycled in Space \ Setting Update
 * Reincarnation: For all practical purposes, at least.
 * Rescue Romance: Genderflipped. It's hinted that Koukin loves Hakufu ever since, as children, she protected him from bullies.
 * Sarashi: Ryuubi uses this once in a while.
 * Schoolgirl Lesbians: Ryofu and Chinkyuu. In the beginning of the third season, Kan'u thinks like this, Covert Pervert style, towards Ryuubi (who's oblivious)
 * School of Hard Knocks: AND HOW.
 * Screening the Call: In the manga, Goei tried to keep Hakufu from picking fights to save her from her fate as a Fighter. In the anime, she goes as far as . It didn't work in any of these cases.
 * Screw Destiny: Many of the major characters try to do this. Try.
 * Senseless Violins: Ten'i carries her bow in a cello case.
 * Shout-Out: Goei likes to proclaim herself to be 17 years old... exactly the habit of her seiyuu Kikuko Inoue.
 * Shown Their Work: One of the DVD extras for the first season shows a "reference photos" session, wherein the anime staff managed to recruit an actual schoolgirl to do a bunch of panty-flashing high kicks.
 * Skinship Grope: Hakufu seems to like groping Ryomou quite a bit. Same goes to Koumei, when she bathes with Ryuubi.
 * Soul Jar: The ones with the dragons inside. Also,.
 * Spank the Cutie
 * The Strategist: Koumei, Rikuson, Kaku, Shibai Chuutatsu (Sima Yi).
 * Thou Shalt Not Kill: Unlike her Super-Powered Evil Side, Hakufu explicitly rejects fighting just to kill her opponents.
 * Stripperiffic: Ryofu, Kan'u
 * Strong Flesh, Weak Steel: The stronger characters regularly survive attacks that leave craters in concrete.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Ryuubi
 * Super-Powered Evil Side: Hakufu, Ryuubi, Sousou (Cao Cao), and contain "dragons", berserker spirits, within them.
 * Taking You with Me:
 * Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: Kan'u (Guan Yu), Kaku (Jia Xu).
 * Theme Naming: All of the characters have the same names as the Japanese reading of their counterparts from Three Kingdoms. To be exact, their surnames are the full, real names of their Chinese counterparts, and their given names are the courtesy names of their Chinese counterparts. (See Chinese Names for the issue of "real names" and "courtesy names.")
 * This Is Something I Have To Do Myself: Hakufu tells this to Goei in the first season, before
 * This Is Unforgivable!: Hakufu's Catch Phrase, when she seriously gets pissed off.
 * Three Amigos: Saji, Ryoumou and . All female version: Ryuubi, Kan'u and Chouhi. All male version: Kakouton, Kakuka and Sousou.
 * Tomboy and Girly Girl: Ryoufu and Chinkyuu, Chouhi and Ryuubi, Chuubou and Hakufu.
 * Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe
 * Too Long; Didn't Dub -- Because all translations insist on using the direct Japanese equivalents of the characters' actual Chinese names, most of the international audience don't even know it's based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and those who do have an incredibly hard time following along trying to keep track of who everyone's supposed to be. The official subtitles in particular is a mess in this regard, clearly translated by someone who went into the series not having a clue what all these weird names tossed around are supposed to be. Literally the only non-Japanese name in the entire series written the way an English-speaker would recognize is "China".
 * Likewise, official English descriptions of the series claims that main character "Sonsaku", whom the entire non-Japanese-speaking world knows as "Sun Ce", is the "reincarnation of a person named "Sho Haou". Did Not Do the Research on a borderline Blind Idiot Translation level.
 * Tournament Arc
 * Tsundere: Ryomou
 * Two-Teacher School: Of the No Teacher variety.
 * Actually, one scene does feature a teacher... but the students apparently didn't notice his presence.
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend:  is an odd variation: she was "destined" to marry   per their reincarnations and was pining for him before they even met.
 * The Vamp: Kaku often uses her sexiness to get what she wants. Then again, so did Toutaku and Saji...
 * Victorious Childhood Friend:  in the anime. Not as lucky in the manga, yet. Also in the anime,  is a Les Yay version for   and so was   before she bit the dust.
 * Villains Out Shopping: Toutaku is often seen tending to his small watermelon and flower patches.
 * Weirdness Censor: Hey, nobody seems to notice that hot schoolgirls and schoolboys are beating up each other.
 * The Worf Effect: Poor Gakushuu, Koukin and Kakouton...
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit: A really nasty one happens in the manga.
 * White-Haired Pretty Girl: Chou'un Shiryuu, Koushaji
 * Wuxia: Smutty fanservice notwithstanding, the story does bear elements of the feroicious passion plays of honor, romance and tragedy that is staple of the genre. In particular, Yasuhara Takanashi's hot-blooded soundtrack for Dragon Destiny, Great Guardians and Xtreme Xecutor captures the heart stirring heroism of films like Once Upon a Time in China just right.
 * Xtreme Kool Letterz: Xtreme Xecutor
 * Yamato Nadeshiko:  Sonken Chuubou (Sun Quan) . Parodied in Dragon Destiny   trying her hand at ikebana and failing miserably, as she uses the scissors like a katana of sorts.
 * You Can't Fight Fate
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: In Dragon Destiny, s Super-Powered Evil Side) severely injures and presumably kills   half because of this, half because he let  go. He gets better.