This is seriously one of the weirdest ninja shows I have seen since “Senran Kagura”, but with unprecedented levels of fan service and that one was burgeoning with it. And I mean off the charts direction of fan service. Can you have too much fan service? OK, the correct term for a female ninja should be ‘kunoichi’, but no one knows that, whereas everyone understands ‘ninja’.
“Manyū Hiken-chō” (“Magic Breast Secret Sword Scroll“) relates a tale of ancient Japan…well, a different Japan than you have seen in the history books. In a reign ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate (although it ran from about 1600 to 1870, let’s date this around 1840 or so), big breasts mean everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! Those who have huge breasts are guaranteed wealth and popularity. The women who lack them are not considered even human, more like pathetic wretches.
Members of the ruling Manyuu Clan help raise the future big-breasted women. Written on a secret scroll, possessed by the clan, there are said to be various techniques on how to grow big and beautiful breasts. Chifusa Manyuu (or Manyu, the one on the left) is to be the successor of the clan. However, she takes the secret scroll and runs away with it, hoping to fight against the cruel world that the Manyu Clan has created.
The opening sequence is fraught with peril, as you do not immediately realize that this is a comedy. Chifusa is trying to escape with the scroll, but has been set up by all to fall into this trap, including her childhood friend and attendant Kaede (her on the right). Because of Kaede’s failure to stop Chifusa, she is punished by Ouka Sayama by having her breasts slashed. Well, pretty scary stuff, right? Here’s where it gets goofy, although it took them nearly the full episode to explain things to us (but massive hints were dropped during the opening credits). Ready?
There is a technique known as the Chichi-nagare or ‘Breast Flow’. This allows one to control the form of breasts and thus grants one the ability to enlarge or reduce breasts. Kaede, who had a marvelous set, is thus reduced in…..rank! (yeah, that’s a good way to say it). Now, here comes the fun part, you window-fogging perverts. Since Chifusa hasn’t learned all the tricks about this maneuver, all she can do is take a woman’s bust line and store it on herself. She is the ‘victim’ of several BE reactions and she doesn’t want them to get any bigger (look, they are already the size of a cat bus!).
Kaede links up with her and they go in search of the Munemori Village, a perilous 10-episode trek distance away from them, to learn how to master this Chichi. But the Manyuu Clan will not go down without a fight and send assassins after the duo, led by the heartless Ouka Sayama. Orders? At the very least, retrieve the scroll. Try to get the ladies back, but if you can’t do that, oh well……..Oh, that guy in the middle? That is Hatomune Mie, a feudal lord of the land where most of the travelling occurs. He was presiding over a Breast Shaking Contest when Chifusa popped free from her kimono and he lost his mind (note his plugged nose). He wants nothing more than to take her puppies for a walk.
Once you get past the ‘drama’ of the first episode and understand that ‘slashing’ is a cosmic term (“No breasts were harmed in the making of this anime”), it ends up being very silly and incredibly perverted. I was able to find an uncensored location to see this. Now, please understand that I don’t care one way or the other about naked boobies, but the steps some sites take to prevent you from seeing them borders on both the insane and the annoying. I did not want to have another show cluttered up with fog banks and steam clouds and bright lights and black bars that take up 75% of the screen. And since these women get topless a huge amount of the time, it would have been more of a distraction that seeing those Fujiyamas on the horizon.
There is a pair of story lines presented. (Heh heh! Hehhehheh hehheh! You said ‘pair’! Hehhehheh!) The first is that Chifusa wants all women to be able to have the secrets contained in this scroll and she will do what she can to impart that information to them, so all may have beautiful, fulsome breasts. The second is Kaede and her desire to have her bust line restored to the way it was. OK, not only is this show NSFW, you may have to lock yourself in the basement to watch it. You do not want the wife or the girlfriend or the kids coming up on you and seeing the screen filled with tons of female acreage. Try and explain that one away!
The open end means that a second season is lurking out there. Chifusa still has a quest to accomplish, Kaede is still the butt of all the flat-chested jokes, the Manyuu are still hunting down the scroll, and there are avenues of perversity that haven’t been explored as of yet.
On a scale of 1 to 10:
Artwork 9 (They are stunning to see)
Plot 8 (Cute, but obvious)
Pacing 7 (Sometime the nudity slows it down)
Effectiveness 7 (Good in its context)
Conclusion 5 (It reaches a ‘coupler point’, but hasn’t ended)
Fan Service 10 (A similar show would be “Ikki Tousen”)
Overall 8 (But I enjoy broad humor)
And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. May I touch them?
