Shootfighter Tekken, Round 1 (2001)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by Jin Munesue, based upon the manga by Tetsuya Saruwatari, which was originally serialized in Shueisha (Weekly Young Jump)
Directed by Yukio Nishimoto
Character Design by Fumitomo Kizaki

Features:

• Art gallery
  
• Trailer
  

Dindrane's Anime Warnings:

• Violence
• Buckets o' blood
• Testosterone running amok
• Predictability
• Guilty giggles and fun

Released by: Central Park Media
Region: 1
Rating: 16+
Anamorphic: Yes.

My Advice: Rent it first; skip it if you don't like fighting anime.

Kiichi has studied the deadly, secret Hanshin Shadow martial arts style under the tutelage of his father, called simply Otan. His father's old arch-enemy, Kiba, once lost an eye to Otan during a pro-wrestling bout and has never forgotten the embarrassment. In the intervening years, Kiba has learned something of the Shadow style and wants to use it to defeat Kiichi and pay Otan back for his defeat. Kiichi is, of course, eager to prove himself to his father and himself, and takes up the challenge gleefully. Battles ensue.

Based upon the manga High School Exciting Story: Tough by Saruwatari, the show is very episodic and revolves entirely around Kiichi's navigation of the pro-wresting world. It plays very much as a film version of a fighting game (big surprise), and as such will please some fans and alienate others. It is also very violent and might disturb some viewers due to its extreme bloodiness.

This release doesn't have much in the way of features. We get a nice art gallery and some original trailers, but that's about it. Nice enough, if not outstanding. My real grudge is that this show was originally broadcast as a three-part OAV series that has been split up on three DVDs. Given that each OAV part is only about forty-five minutes, there's no reason that all three parts couldn't have been released upon one single disc. That would have been much more convenient, a more pleasurable and less interrupted viewing experience, and cheaper for the fans and the production company, even though these were released at a comparatively low individual price. The disc does come with a reversible cover that lists the full voice casts on the back--nice.

The visual quality is good enough, though in a few places, the colors seem to fade out a bit. The character design and overall aesthetic are rather angular and darkened, as well as somewhat retro. The sound is about the same, being good overall, with only a few places where the stereo seems to drop out and cause some dullness in the vocals. The sound effects are nicely balanced with the vocals and the background music. The casts of both languages are talented enough for what they're asked to do, which isn't much, admittedly. There isn't much call for intense emoting in a fighting show like this one. Just the ability to grunt and groan a lot.

Fans of fighting games or the more fighting-game like anime titles, such as Dragonball, will appreciate Shootfighter Tekken. It's what it tries to be--an entertaining excuse to have lots of characters beating the snot out of each other couched as a coming-of-age tale--even though it's not much more than that. If you're tired of the angst and melodrama of a lot of modern anime and film in general, then you just might appreciate this return to a simpler, more straightforward plot. Get it if you like the genre; if you don't know if you like fighting anime or not, then rent the first disc, and then pick up the set if you like it.