As of the time of
writing we have just wrapped up another “Wrestlemania” which if
your a wrestling fan is one of those events you wait all year for and
with the WWE going all out to ramp up the spectacle its also one of
the few shows even people who don’t usually watch wrestling the rest of the year will
tune in for. With this in mins what better time to check out this wrestling
anime.
Featuring one of the
more random plot lines I’ve encountered as Haguwara Sakura a member
of the girl / Idol group “Sweet Diva” decides to take revenge
against the wrestler Rio who insulted her and her fellow idols by
challenging her to a wrestling match. Arguably not the brightest of
plans as she soon discovers herself with Rio easily beating her in their
match. Now rather than just write off the whole experience Sakura
instead decides to become a pro-wrestler and begins training with the
all female wrestling company “Berserk” so that she can challenge
Rio to a rematch.
Classified as an
“Ecchi” anime which for those not up on your anime terminology
means that its essentially a Softcore Hentai so big on fan service
but without any of the uncomfortable sex scenes which lets face it a
lot of the uninitiated assume that all anime is about. Still it would
have perhaps would have been nice to get some kind of warning about
what exactly I was going to get into as the fan service levels
throughout this series are gratuitous to say the least.
Sakura is an
instantly likeable lead for the series especially as she approaches
everything with such a positive slant which really comes in handy for
her especially when she spends the first half of the series being
beaten down and forced to submit by every opponent she faces, with
one of the commentators noting her losing streak of over 60 losses
and yet somehow her devoted fans still continue to cheer her on,
which lets face it regardless of if your the most lovable jobbler its
hard to think that any audience is still going to be cheering for you
when your rocking that kind of losing streak.
Entering into a
gruelling training regime though Sakura is soon learning such
valuable wrestling lessons as how to escape from submission holds and
find a finishing move, all things that you would have thought that
she would have figured out before stepping in the ring rather than
seemingly just trying to wing it as a professional wrestler as seems
to be her plan for the first half. Of course in the best sporting
drama tradition by the time we are into the second half she is
essentially a wrestling pro and able to defeat any of the grizzled
pro’s who cross her path as the series build up to her matches
against the world champion wrestler Jackal as well as the mysterious
masked wrestler “Blue Panther”.
One of the strangest
aspects of the show is how wrestling isn’t portrayed as a
pre-determined contest but instead here is shown as an actual
physical contest of fighting ability. Sure you still have to pin or
make you opponent submit but seemingly no one is pulling any punches
and also the reason that Sakura amasses such a losing streak as no
sadist booker could really schedule her to loose that much. The
actual wrestling though is exciting throughout the series though
perhaps focusing a tad too much on submission moves which also serve
to provide the majority of the fan service here.
Here in lies of the
main issues with the series as the fan service here isn’t just the
occasional panty shot but lingering crotch shots, while the
competitors wrestle in the most flimsy of outfits which they
constantly threaten (but never do) to spill out of. This combined
with the whimpering cries of pain frequently coming from Sakura
really can leave you feeling kind of sleazy watching the show, while
I know just writing this now that I’m no doubt completely selling
this to another sub-section of anime fan, but so is the nature of the
beast when it comes to anime.
This is far from the
deepest anime out there but at only 12 episodes and it certainly has
its flaws such as the overwhelming and arguably unnecessary fan
service but it still makes for an enjoyable filler between shows and
especially if you can’t face another 112+ episode arc and while it
might tease what the prospect of a second season at the time of
writing one has yet to happen though personally I would certainly be
down for a second round.
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