Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken TV

Information of Anime

It's the Meiji era & the Japanese government is setting policies for a modernization of the country.  Monsters called Youkai can live with humans as long as they register for a license.  Youkais that don't get a license are arrested by an organization called Kidou Shinsengumi.  Sakamoto Ryuunosuke returns to Kyoto from Shanghai with his Youkai friend, Nekomaru.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  This section does contain some spoilers.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

The show really doesn't have a storyline.  It basically shows the Kidou Shinsengumi organization fighting with the Tsubame Gumi to protect the order of treating Youkai equal as humans.  At the same time, the girls try to prevent Ryuunosuke from going back to Shanghai & stay with his mother, Oryou.

Past the halfway point, Okita Kaoru who is half human & half Youkai, falls in love with Ryuunosuke due to a misunderstanding.  This misunderstand came from an episode where her mother transformed into Ryuunosuke in order to trick her from believing it's her.  This causes girl to fall in love with him & become doubtful about Ryuunosuke's view of humans & Youkai being a couple.

Near the end of the show, around episode 11, we see the reason why Ryuunosuke left Shanghai.  It was to avoid an arranged marriage with a Chinese Youkai named Ranran, a princess of a great Chinese Youkai king.  This marriage was made because Ryuunosuke used the powers of a Youkai that shouldn't have been used on humans.  From here, Kondou Yuuko tries to get Ranran to go back to Shanghai in order for Oryou to be happy.  However, Ryuunosuke said that he must return to Shanghai because of his mission.

The show ends with a vampire named Montague trying to hunt down Ryuunosuke in Japan by kidnapping Ranran & tricking the Tsubame Gumi group in taking ownership of Kidou Shinsengumi.  Both organizations fight Montague & seal him away to another world.  The Kidou Shinsengumi gets their company back & Ryuunosuke, who was believed to be dead in the Montague battle, comes back.

My Personal Review

Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken TV is different from the OVA of the same name & I think it came from a game.  Either way, this wasn't a good series.  It's more of a fanservice to fans of the series.  There is quite a few ecchi scenes, but the details aren't drawn in.  It's not soft porn.

Animation

If you like the character designs of Ranma1/2 & Inu Yasha, then you will like this since it's from the same character designer, Rumiko Takahashi.  You cane tell the characters are drawn by her right off the bat when you see them.

The colours were ok.  It wasn't too strong or weak to create a conflict between the characters & the background.  But the background drawings weren't too good.  It looked kind of sloppy as if the animators didn't bother to put some details into it.

Sound       

The sound effects are ok.  They sounded like the things they should be, like the sound of a cheap sword breaking it's blade.

The voice actors were bad.  I didn't like lady's voice.  I didn't think she sounded tough to match her character.  The voice actress seemed to try too hard to match Yuuko.  Ryuunosuke's voice was very bad.  It sounded too feminine & the voice didn't seem to match his appearance.  It really almost sound like girl instead.

The music is a bit below average to me.  It was pretty childish & cute.  It didn't seem to fit the story well.  Also the opening & ending themes weren't too great in matching with the show's theme.

Story

There didn't seem to be any storyline for the show.  It was a bunch of short stories dumped into 1.  If there was a plot, it may appeared too late or was overshadowed by poor scripting.  Although the show's background is there, I didn't know what I was watching.  All I saw was the two organization fighting it out each episode with no advance between the two.  Even if the girls were trying to keep Ryuunosuke in Japan, it didn't feel like that was the show's purpose.  Also, what Ryuunosuke's mission in Shanghai was never mention.

The story show some character development, but it was very little.  One episode for each of the Shinsengumi  girls & it didn't really go into a lot of depth.  Plus, the characters seem pretty poor; especially Ryuunosuke.  When I saw how he fought in Shanghai & compare it with his current stay in Japan, I asked myself, "What happened?  He was a good fighter in Shanghai, but he's so wimpy here.  All he does is run away.  It's like he was someone else."  It was really that bad.

One thing to note about the series is its strong use of old Japanese.  It contains some jokes that the Japanese could understand.  In other words, culture & history.  You may not get some of the jokes unless you are very knowledgeable with old Japanese & culture.

Overall Conclusion

Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken TV isn't really for everyone & I would recommend staying away from it if you are looking for something with a plot in it.  Personally, I would watch it if you have nothing to do.  Thankfully, it's a short series.

Kidou Shinsengumi Moeyo Ken TV gets a grade of five out of ten.  It seriously lacks a decent storyline to make the show enjoyable.  I think it's basically a show for viewers to enjoy without worrying what's going to happen next.  Personally, I think the series would have been good if it had a storyline with a good solid direction.