Three words: supernatural, female, fighters. If that didn't instantly sell you, then allow me to explain a bit further. Kampfer takes the whole "mortal kombat women" thing, and adds in a dash of gender swap drama, with a pinch of teen romance. This recipe creates one of the most entertaining and funny anime I've had the privilege of viewing. The characters are interesting, the fighting is exciting, and the comedy is really hilarious at times. Still interested? Lets take a look further shall we? (Spoilers: FAN SERVICE INBOUND)
The story revolves around our protagonist Natsuru (blue hair), an unlikely hero who happens to be a Kampfer. What's a Kampfer you ask? It's an elite fighter chosen by a mysterious group known as the Moderators. These moderators select people to compete against each other and fight to the death using special skills and abilities. The only rule is that Kampfers can only be women, but that's a problem for Natsuru because he's a GUY!
Kampfers also have to wear Oath Bracelets to show they are involved, and they glow when the wearer is about to transform. Each fighter has their own alter ego that they morph into during a fight. Most of them are completely different than their regular persona. Natsuru's persona for instance is a tall, voluptuous, fire wielding woman. Not his typical self as you'd expect.
As you can probably imagine, this entire situation is quite a shock for him at first. But just when things couldn't get much worse, other Kampfers start coming from everywhere to kill him and move him out of the competition. This makes going to school and acting normal pretty difficult.
It starts to get really comical though when Natsuru saves his school crush from getting killed in the crossfire, which in turn causes her to have feelings towards his female form! This can make for some hilarious moments, especially when he's in the process of transforming at random.
Besides transforming at any moment without control, our hero also faces another challenge. He doesn't want to kill anyone or fight. He even attempt save the lives of his enemies even after they just tried to kill him moments before. This makes his character very likable, and gives him an interesting Achilles heel while in a confrontation.
My favorite moments are when the other fighters start to transform as well, causing drastic changes in a few of them. Akane (red hair) is one of the best. Her usual self is a quiet and shy nerdy girl, while her alter form is a spirited loud mouth with anger issues and a gun. Some other pivotal characters change as well, but I won't spoil them for fear of ruining the surprise.
I do have to bring up the fan service, however. It's not as bad as you'd expect from a show like this. The romance between the characters is fairly tame, and there aren't really boobs bouncing all over the screen all the time. If you like that kind of thing, I can totally understand why, but most of the time I just find it distracting. So it was nice to see minimal use in this show.
This isn't going to be one of those anime that teaches you a life lesson, is going for an Oscar, or actively tries to make you cry. It's just a fun and out of the ordinary story that any anime lover could enjoy. The art style is fantastic, vibrant colors, unique characters, comedy, action, and some love thrown in. What's not to like?!
A simple show for when you're in a fun mood. If you find the time, I'd definitely recommend giving this one a watch. You won't regret it.
Thanks for reading otakus! :D
