Ikkitousen is, quite simply, a history lesson set in modern-day Japan. Okay, not really, but it's really close. Based off of the Three Kingdoms Era of Chinese history, which was a REAL event by the way, it shares many similarities with that period. At the end of every episode, it even explains what happened to each of the characters in real life as they're introduced in the anime.

Of course, you have to realize one thing before watching this series. Most of the people in the Three Kingdoms Era have been replaced by girls with mini skirts and bras that are several sizes too small. It seems like all of the really interesting backstory in this show was completely wasted just so the creators had an excuse to show as much cleavage and panty shots as possible in a single episode. It doesn't just stop there, though. It goes above and beyond the call of duty to go about as close to the full monty as possible. If you want to imagine what it's like, think of Fujiko of Lupin III. Now, multiply the amount of times her clothes get torn off per episode by ten and you have a good idea of what's going on.

The fight scenes in Ikkitousen are pretty good, though. Even though they are essentially nothing more than displays of certain parts of the female anatomy, they are still pretty well choreographed and the animation is very nice too. Add to this the excellent music by MOVE (who also did the music for Initial D) and you have a pretty enjoyable experience.

Unfortunately, trying to stuff the entire Three Kingdoms Era into thirteen episodes is hardly a possible task, and each episode feels rushed beyond belief. So much is left unexplained, and we're hardly given any breathing room as one scene switches to the next in record speed. Also, many of the episodes spend more time concentrating on Hakufu's breasts more than story development (although, one could debate that that is another sort of development) and the last few episodes are something like a race to the finish. It all felt very rushed, and things really didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Many people have complained that the ending really stunk for the series. I was quite pleased with it, though, and I really wasn't disappointed at all. I think these people had their expectations really high for the series even after watching the twelve episodes prior. I thought it was a nice conclusion to the series. I mean, it wasn't any worse than the rest of the series. Anyway, watch this if you want to see some cleavage. If you want the backstory, go watch Romance of the Three Kingdoms instead. It's a much better anime. There's also the Romance of the Three Kingdoms strategy games for a few of the consoles which are pretty good.