Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan!! - Reviews

This is an alternative take on the concept of angels. In this case Charge Ladies from a parallel universe are tasked with visiting our world and injecting energy into those people who are feeling down and depressed. The central character is Plug who has a heart of gold but a brain of mush. Her supervisor is the accomplished, but cold, Arrester. Together they become involved in the life of a human, Sento who can see the ladies from another world, while also trying to understand why more and more people are becoming depressed within Plug's jurisdiction.

The show got off to an indifferent start with no merits but a being a goofy sci-fi. But quickly Plug really came to grow on me as a clumsy character struggling for acceptance in her profession, and a desire to do good in the human world. She finds something of a kindred spirit in Sento who, despite his barbaric demeanour, also has a strong sense of altruism. The characters’ were fun but there’s nothing to fall in love with here. At first I did find the casual violence toward the Charge Ladies to be highly loathsome, but came to accept it as they actually become aroused by being struck with Sento's bat.

I found the story to be engaging and funny but where the show really delivers is the fan service. It's an ecchi-fest which will make it despised by some but for those that like seeing animated chicks loose their clothing every so often I wholeheartedly recommend this show. For my tastes wackiness and smutty shenanigans is what I enjoy in cartoons. If I wanted to be intellectually engaged then I’d read a book. And the show’s not without soul either, I liked how the last episode took place at Christmas tying in with the notion that humans aren’t alone but we share the world with Sprite’s who give us a boost. Even if that boost is just to encourage our love of panties as a reason to go on living!

9/10

Studio Hibari’s adaptation of Bow Ditama’s ecchi-sci-fi-comedy manga is as equally brilliant as it silly. It is just one of those shows you expect to hate but end up loving. Although only fifteen years old the current Crunchyroll version is not only censored but only available in old-fashioned TV aspect-ratio format. This makes it look more dated than it actually is. In all other aspects it looks pretty contemporary and is thoroughly good entertainment. The show is about a parallel world of high technology from which our world is receiving regular (but invisible) visitors. Those visitors are the “Charger Girls” whose job it is to find unhappy people in inject them with happy-energy! Yes, it is THAT silly. Yet it is also a riot. Our hero is Charger Girl “Plug” who is a bit of a misfit and always running into problems at work. She is ditzy and never meets her quota. Things will all change when she runs into a human lad Sento Oumi who for unexplained reasons can see the Charger Girls. Along with fellow Charger Girl “Arresta” she is going to develop a whole new theory of how to make people happy that goes beyond just injecting artificial happiness into as many humans as possible. What she learns comes in important when the trio meet their nemesis – a Discharger Girl called Rona.

Cut past the superficiality of the ecchi humour and there just might be a lot more going on here than we first realise. To be honest we could not quite grasp the subtext of the show yet its handling of human depression and suicidal tendencies hints at greater depths. Sure, you can take a quick fix and pop a few anti-depressants to fix your mood. But is this really fixing the underlying malaise? This is what bothers Plug. It is in contrast to Arresta who is a high-flying company-girl only interested in filling her quotas. The idea that quality matters over quantity is a mystery to all the Charger Girls other than Plug. Their targets – the unhappy and unlucky – don’t quite realise that these guardian angels exist. The source of their misery is varied with some elements being very particular to Japanese culture. Exam success, professional deadlines, etc. This element of the story is quite touching even if it never quite manifests as anything too meaningful. The anime is only a small snapshot of the whole manga (2009 to 2013) so maybe the author’s attempt at metaphor is better achieved elsewhere.

The show suffers from some dodgy elements that might make some uncomfortable. Specifically, the cartoon violence towards women. Sento seems to keep hitting the Charge Girls with a baseball bat and they react by getting sexually aroused. There is no way to dress that up as anything else other than disturbing. Somehow the show just manages to be acceptable regardless of all the fan service and panty-wetting scenes. It really doesn’t need them. It actually has a good story that with a little work could have been quite thought provoking. Instead, it mainly plays it for laughs. Which is fine. The characters are all pretty adorable and our main male hero Sento is the rugged-yet-sensitive type. When he falls victim to depression himself the audience feels his pain. When Arresta realises he can no longer see her there is a moment of genuine emotion that exceeds the sort of level a silly show like this should have been able to portray. Strangely enough you find yourself caring a whole damn lot about the characters. It may well be because they are touching deep within human frailties. The show asks real questions about what it is to be happy and what motivates us. Plus, it is laugh-out-loud funny too with loads going on. It really is far better than you would ever think.