(And a strange anime where there are weapons galore but no one dies.)
Correcting a phrase from the manga, we have "A few Things Learned on the -Short- Road."
What can a shounen anime in the ecchi genre, whose premise sounds very familiar to another great manga from the same demographic with a very well-known animated adaptation, offer? Let's say a half-baked story with good ideas and some development.
I can't say anything about the manga, except that the author has no more than two known works on the internet and does have good, typical 2000s artwork.
I also can't say how I came across the anime, because it's a somewhat confusing story...
img70%(https://s1.zerochan.net/Tendou.Rushuna.600.2608000.jpg)
Episodes: coherent, but flat.
The pacing isn't always good in action scenes; they have almost no tension and not many good choreographies. In general, the fights are absurd due to the inclusion of fanservice.
Even the training shown in flashbacks seems very simple and lacking in emotion.
The characterization of the characters is just enough, and the world-building is very poor, offering mostly episodic characters and abilities that need no explanation. However, what might weigh it down the most is the absence of tragedies left unresolved or not yet processed, such as moments of shock from recent deaths.
The plot can be very boring in terms of pacing and details, yet still wrap up an episode well. It repeats many everyday situations, the problems don't generate much tension and mostly have no serious consequences, and the formula doesn't vary much between episodes. The advantage the protagonists have over the villains becomes apparent, as does the ease with which they can solve everything, needing only to take down a group of bandits or simply talk.
On the other hand, for its duration, it doesn't waste episodes; it does make use of the characters' motivations and stories to connect their paths, and each conflict is self-contained, with the story holding its own by offering a positive attitude in some tragic situation related to killing or dying.
The settings are usually the same, alternating between the road, public baths (because being an ecchi demands it), castles, and little else.
Situations escalate quickly, providing just enough characterization for secondary characters whether they are bandits, citizens, people seeking revenge, etc. Sometimes, even when two episodes are used, it feels a bit rushed and very straight to the point. Almost everything involves simple plans limited to how to fight the enemy of the moment.
Characters:
The main cast has reasons to drive the story, but little is known about them: interests, values, family, other past details unrelated to their motivations, etc. This is partly justified by the kind of life they lead, but it leaves them at the mercy of a few personality traits repeated in similar situations across episodes. The villains get even less characterization time, but they have goals and positions that make them more human and not simply evil for the sake of it.
Rushuna is a mysterious gunslinger with an attitude and a vision driven to promote peace in the world, possessing the physical skills and weaponry necessary to immobilize her enemies when she cannot stop them through words.
Since childhood, she trained to be an Angel, a skilled warrior very close to the Empress, from whom she inherited the idea of convincing her enemy with a smile. The mission she embarks on is to achieve peace, disarm people in conflicts, solve problems with bandits, etc.
Rushuna's incredible dodging and shooting skills justify the complete confidence she has when facing her enemies.
Yes, it sounds familiar. Eight years earlier, Trigun also introduced a blonde gunman, also with superhuman abilities, who curiously also traveled through a dangerous world.
As a distinction, she aspires to save the world in a very different way from Vash, since the latter always had a villain to stop.
To not deviate too much from the ecchi formula, she remains a somewhat airheaded girl who doesn't care much if she's spied on or someone looks at her cleavage; she doesn't get angry about too many things and doesn't have much more than one problem to overcome. Rushuna's indifference to perverts makes her resemble a very common archetype of female character from anime that are usually not taken seriously and never end up being decent in story. Still, she breaks this mold by being an action heroine. She also has a great fondness for the co-protagonist without any special basis, but it's not something that goes against her personality.Yajirō is a former soldier from a Rebel Army, haunted somewhat by ghosts from the past that include the death of his comrades.
He is someone dissatisfied with the Angels, because he believes they never cared about people since they didn't prevent conflicts (or he’s simply distrustful of all idealistic people like them, since he never witnessed peace in his life as a samurai). He decides to accompany Rushuna on a journey so she can introduce him to the Empress, and along the way, his perspective changes as he witnesses how his new friend solves so many problems without needing to take lives.
Mikan is the companion who joins because three is a crowd. She is a girl who grew up a bit with Rushuna's help, overcoming her desire to avenge her parents. She has a peculiar way of assisting since she can make all kinds of helpful objects out of balloons, from clothing to fast transportation. She has a fun concept in her fights and delivers some comedic lines. She doesn't stand out, but she also doesn't have such a special bond with the other two.
The rest of the characters have a basic or slightly better-defined role as allies, but generally don't stand out for any particular quality.
Spoiler Alert
Story:
The conspiracy presented against the protagonist stalls in the formula of waiting for the enemy sent to eliminate Rushuna, without the possibility of giving many clues about the conspiracy beyond that, for the protagonist, a certain person could never have betrayed her, so she fully trusts that it's all a misunderstanding. On the other side, we see antagonist members who only order the protagonist's elimination without exploring motives. Nor is a past constructed that would allow for speculation. Therefore, all questions are answered only at the end.
Fortunately, the final act takes several episodes and reveals the meaning of being a Grenadier. All the main and close characters who might be relevant carry out their own actions to facilitate the encounter that puts an end to everything.
Towards the end, there is some conflict between utopia achieved through the use of violence, with a fair double standard in the villains' ambition for power and, at the same time, in using conquest as a means to achieve peace. In reality, it seems they propose a not-so-violent subversion, but these are words that last only a short time until the conflict is resolved.
Conclusions:
An enhanced ecchi? Or a potentially good story worsened by ecchi in the action scenes? I'm not even sure myself.
Most of the weaknesses of this story have nothing to do with the extra fan service, but rather with the lack of ambition, as well as very tight characterization of the characters.
Surely a short film would work a bit better, for example by introducing the 3 characters and going straight to the most important fights. The ending has some motivations, but it should have a bit more exposition to support that the peace the princess wanted was the true path, for example by showing how they came to be at peace with several nations.
Average, potentially entertaining for those adept at watching anime with ecchi regardless of the subject, potentially boring for others. Among so many popular titles that many started with and that fail just as much or more, it's really not a bad option.
P.S. Did I mention that Yajirō risks his life to defeat an enemy at a moment when he already had the advantage in the fight?