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In a school where martial arts is the curriculum, Ryoko takes on all comers. But this girl is in for the fight of her life when she is transported to the alternate dimension of Solvania and must defeat a myriad of evil adversaries. Taking on the fighting game genre made popular by Street 
Fighter, Tekken and others, Samurai Girl explores a world where sensationalism is all the rage and a trained fighter is only as good as his or her last fight.
Ryoko is the most popular girl in school because of her unmatchable fighting abilities. Girls follow her around giving her gifts and one boy groupie collects video and pictures of Ryoko's most intimate moments. But with mo' popularity comes mo' problems.
Ryoko attends Diamond High School, where administrators organized fights, known as K-Fights, which are a cross between Street Fighter and wrestling. One girl announces the fight and the Principal, himself, serves as the color commentator for each brawl. The principal, like Vince McMahon, thinks competition has become too redundant with Ryoko as champ and searches for new adversaries. Ryoko as well is bored with the competition and is just going along with her until she achives her dream...to become a TRUE samurai!
Royoko's dreams come closer when she enters the alternate dimension of Solvania where she must defeat a myriad of mythical creatures including dragons and other monsters. At first Ryoko believes her trip was a dream until the very first K-Fight champion, Mr. Nagumo, shows up and informs her that she did a good job for her first time in Solvania.
This is a great series. I was pleasantly surprised that it would be this good. Right when I saw announcers come out to describe Ryoko's fights, I became hooked. The surreal atmosphere of Diamond High School and the sensationalistic view of fighting made for a very interesting and often times humorous story. I was amazed with the art style, very impressed with the smoothness of it all including each action packed fight scene. It was cool to watch these characters go at it seamlessly, almost coming straight from my Playstation 2. Equally impressive was the character development. The story holds up with each episode perfectly moving the story along to its next logical point. I laughed; I felt sadness and excitement, even intrigue as I wanted to discover more about this strange new world and these mysterious people also tracking Nagumo. There is just so much packed into this story that everyone will find something enjoyable about it.
Even more important are the extras you get on the DVD. Besides four great episodes that you can watch in English or Japanese, the DVD includes live action vignettes featuring two of the beautiful ladies who provide the voices for some of the characters. There is a section with previews and even a bonus with outtakes from the show. Don't you hate when animated characters flub their lines? Also look for a nod to Street Fighter within the series. Even the menu rocks, further lending to the whole video game feel Ryoko does battle as you choose from the menu options. Watch as each character's health bar goes down! If you enjoy fighting games and love anime, I suggest you get a hold of this DVD. And if you enjoy the music of the show, get the soundtrack, too. Like the lead character, it kicks ass!
Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School also finds strength in the awesome soundtrack distributed by TOKYOPOP as well. Inspired by a variety of sounds, which include the generic fighting game, electronica, rock-n-roll, jazz, classical, disco, hip hop and even a bit of opera, the soundtrack for this series is a perfect compliment to the show. I like the use of keyboards and the drummer provides some excellent beats to go with each song. The music helps to bring the characters to life. The very best tracks are the opening and ending tracks off the show. I love instrumentals, but these tracks rule, because the performers have such beautiful voices. I may not understand what they are saying, but from watching the DVD, I could tell the music had to do a lot with romance and not much with fighting. I love Japanese music and this soundtrack really presents the best of it. A great story line, wonderful animation, and superb fighting action are made that much better by the music supporting it.
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