119th G-View: ECCHIMANIA Episode 6: Battle Girls; Time Paradox

Hello and welcome to the G-Views, where creativity is respected and Dokuro-chan is rejected.If I were to describe the following show in one sentence it would be: A poor man’s Koihime Musou. Does that mean this show’s bad? Absolutely not, it just means it isn’t as good as the KH trilogy (Well it’s better than the 2nd season). This is Battle Girls: Time Paradox.

Expect many references to Koihime Musou because this show’s humor greatly reminds me of said show.

Alternative title: Sengoku Otome – Momoiro Paradox

Genres: Action, Comedy, Yuri, Historical, Fantasy

Themes: Samurai.

Number of episodes: 13

G-Rating: 7/10

Plot Summary: Modern-day middle school girl Hideyoshi is mysteriously hurled into a world resembling the warring states period of Japanese history, only this time it’s inhabited only by women. This world’s Oda Nobunaga is gathering the legendary Crimson Armor so she can rule the world, and for some reason needs Hideyoshi’s help to do it. Ironically before being transported to the Feudal era of Japan, she had to study for a history exam on THAT very subject in order to avoid attending Summer School.

The show’s pacing is similar to the Koihime Musou Trilogy: It sets up the story by introducing the main characters, contains some action every now and then, has humorous moments during the 2nd third and gets more serious near the last third. Since this is an ECCHIMANIA show you can expect it to contain the following: Action, sexy women dressed in armor that you’ll only see pro wrestling babes wear and not actual female soldiers/fighters, and as few men as possible (Thank the glacier).  The humor is almost identical to KM and I give it bonus points in that regard. and fanserivce on the show is quite tame considering the girls’ outfits. Viewers won’t see any gravity defying breast gymnastics or clothing ripped to shreds, it’s straightforward humor and fanservice based on looks alone and the occasional yuri goodness, which has both an entertaining and romantic side to it as it becomes much heavier as the show progresses. I should also mention that this is another one of those anime starring sexy female/loli depictions of legendary warriors. In this show the characters are based on Feudal Japan Warlords and soldiers like in Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls (A show I have no intention of watching). I don’t know when this craze began (Probably Ikkitousen. Correct me if I’m wrong.) but I don’t mind since…well…hot chicks kicking tooshie.

The animation is pretty straightforward setting wise. The countryside and ancient Japanese buildings are similar to what you usually see in these past era anime. The older looking ladies are well drawn and mouth-watering while Ieyasu is quite a cute looking purple girl. The Yellow Demon doesn’t interest me and has no appealing features to speak of. Though the locale doesn’t stand out in terms of shows that take place in Japan’s past, the animation really shines through in its clothing and inner decor of buildings. The texture and quality on the clothes and wall drawings and decorations here is definitely worth ogling over.

Characters:

Yoshino “Hideyoshi” Hide, aka The Yellow Demon (Insert Mega Man joke here). She is almost the ultimate City Girl stereotype on the show, coming only 2nd to that annoying woman from Beastmaster 2. Seriously, Hideyoshi is the most annoying character on the show and enduring her nonsense requires the patience of a saint. A colleague of mine called her The Yellow Demon and that name stuck because it’s rightfully deserved because she brings nothing but pain and misery in her wake. You won’t believe how much common sense this girl lacks. The ONLY reason Nobunaga puts up with her is because: A. Her behavior is strange and amusing to her. B: Because the writers said so. However, there ARE few moments where Hideyoshi shines but they are far and few.

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Oda Nobunaga, aka Haohmaru (Samurai Showdown) and Baiken’s (Guilty Gear) love child. I’m serious. When I first saw her in action, those two iconic fighting game characters are the first two people I thought about. She has the mannerisms of both characters combined. She’s an obvious badass, is energetic, easygoing, a great leader, fearless, powerful and isn’t very good at simple things like making jokes or telling stories. Her signature move, Cruel Blade, is reminiscent of Haohmaru’s super special attack in the SS games.

Mitsuhide “Akerin” Akechi: Next to Nobunaga she’s my 2nd fav character on the show. She’s given that nickname by YD because she looks similar to a classmate of hers back in the present time. Sure she’s grumpy and strict but she has good reason to be (hint).  Being Nobunaga’s humble aide, she will do whatever it takes to help her lord gather all the armor pieces and help Nobunaga conquer the land. Intelligent, calculative skilled with daggers and a trap master, this deadly warrior is only held back by her emotions being twisted up and curled thanks to a certain “oni”‘s presence.

These three girls are the main protagonists and as the show continues more female depictions of legends will appear and either aide, antagonize or amuse themselves in the company of the trio. Oh and there’s a dog named Shiro that wears a samurai helmet and can talk but only talks to YD. Oh and as for the Time Paradox subtitle, it’ll be sort of explained. Now the reason for everyone in the area being female on the other hand…just roll with it.

In conclusion: If you’ve watched and enjoyed Ikkitousen or Koihime Musou or even Hyakka Ryouran and enjoyed them then I don’t think it’ll be a problem to check this one out, if not then go watch romance of the 3 Kingdoms and Sengoku Basara instead for a more serious and proper masculine interpretation. This show shouldn’t be taken seriously and should merely be viewed for entertainment purposes and some slight history included to somewhat explain to the viewers who these girls are portraying.

P.S.: Pay very close attention to this girl.