Battle Vixens Vol. 1
Battle Vixens is clearly not a title for young kids. In fact, I chose it this month to help balance out softer, kinder shows like Someday's Dreamers and Haibane Renmei. I could've purchased Suki Vol. 2, or the newest Fruits Basket manga. Instead, I chose the book with the well-endowed girl on the front with what appeared to be a dragon's tail sliding out between her enticingly toned legs. Even without the picture, you'd think the title - Battle Vixens - would hint that this isn't a kiddy title.
After reading the book, however, I discovered that it truly isn't for children. The imagery is inarguably racy, with the main protagonist's clothes frequently getting shredded enough to allow a peak at her nipples every now and then.
More than that, however, is the extremely bad language in this edition that is clearly not for kids. But then, it's really not for me either. I don't think that tossing around every curse word in the dictionary of slang makes a book "mature", so much as it makes it juvenile. There's so much random cursing and non-contextual sexual references that the dialogue is absurdly unbelievable.
Now, by no means am I easily offended. I enjoyed Battle Royale, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. is one of my favorite authors, South Park is brilliant, and censorship pisses me off to no end. But that doesn't mean that I enjoy awkwardly foul language just to hear the word f**k.
Incidentally, I'm not sure how the original version of this series read. I'm all for leaving the content of a translation as close to the Japanese (or Korean or Chinese) as possible. If this is a faithful translation, then I wouldn't have liked the writing of the Japanese edition either. If it's been changed to make us rowdy Americans enjoy it more, then I'd have to wonder what the hell do the people who wrote this adaptation think we like.
Just because Hakufu Sonsaku, the main character of this series, has huge breasts, it doesn't mean that the entire plot has to refer to them. They're big - we see them. There's plenty of sexuality in the visuals, we don't need characters saying, "Damn, those are some fine hooters" every time they see Hakufu. We know they're fine. We know they're hooters. I like fanservice as much as the next anime fan ...who likes fanservice... but Battle Vixens takes it a little bit too far, beyond the point of enjoyment for me.
The background story, by the way, is actually pretty interesting. Long ago, in the time of the Three Kingdoms, there arose great warriors who held sway over the masses. These incredible warriors have been reincarnated repeatedly over the generations, with their spirits resting in jewels known as Magatama. Hakufu is the bearer of one such gem, and as such, it is her destiny to fight all who would challenge her position as the host of a great warrior.
Unlike Toshio Maeda gritty, squishy manga (such as La Blue Girl or Adventure Kid), Yuji's style is rather cute. Visually, this series reminds me more of Saber Marionette, with playful nudity, and frequent, but not obscene sexual references. The written text, unfortunately, pushes it beyond cute and right into the realm of gratuitous vulgarity.
We'll just have to see if the "mature" adaptation of this promising series can be toned down to a point that I can stomach. If you're looking for some pretty pictures of attractive girls, then you can find them here, but watch out for all the f*****g curse words. They're everywhere!