Real Bout High School is just one of the best all-around stories I have ever had the pleasure of watching, reading, hell even the soundtrack kicked ass! I had the great pleasure of watching the anime and getting my hands on the soundtrack, and I was equally impressed. Samurai Girl had great video game style fight scenes complete with the supernatural elements and the strong lead character Ryoko Mitsurugi, the Samurai Girl, and the soundtrack only heightened the action.. So when I was able to get a hold of the manga I was only to thrilled to give it a try, and for those who think animation is better than seeing on paper, your opinion will change once you take a look at this manga.
The story is the same as the adapted anime version. In a school where martial arts are standard curriculum, Ryoko is the top fighter and the most popular student around. Ryoko's character has a deep love and respect for the history of the samurai. She seeks to always develop her fighting skills and is very disciplined, but her emotions are easily manipulated and until she can control them, she will never be the samurai she strives to be. This character flaw is only heightened when Shizuma Kusanagi transfers to the school and makes life a living hell for Ryoko. His amazing fighting skills have people talking and Ryoko must deal with the fact that her position is danger.
The manga offers anime viewers a little background on the illustrious K Fight. The K Fight was established to stop the gratuitous violence that has erupted in Real Bout High. Principal Todo hopes that this tournament of skill will allow the various clubs of the school to co-exist. Of course Ryoko and Shizuma battle and things get ugly when a winner cannot be determined.
However, before that can be settled Shizuma's attention is diverted by a teacher who is tired of Principal Todo's desire to have his students fight to settle their differences. Feeling the students are getting out of hand, Mr. Saotome decides to take matters into his own hand, bullying the students until Shizuma gets in the way and embarrasses him in front of most of the student body. Nothing like this happens in the anime, so it was like a totally different story with the same feel and the same great characters. Will Shizuma avenge the student body against the head busting teacher and what will Ryoko do to maintain her popularity?
Real Bout High School is just fun to read! The characters are likeable and are drawn so damn well, that the actions scenes just seem to come to life. But the story is the driving force behind this series, and outshines the anime on every level. However, the anime creators did manage to keep the integrity of the characters with difference that allowed me to seamlessly jump right into the manga. The only reason why I enjoyed the manga more was because despite the sanctioned school fighting, the manga seems more realistic without the supernatural (something I still did enjoy). Of course, that can all change with the second volume and you better believe I am going to get my hands on that, right along with volume two of the DVD. Yes, you are allowed to like both. I sure do.
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