Hynavian

I enjoy reading Battle Vixens (aka Ikkitousen) by Shiozaki Yuji and I’ve decided to give Battle Club a try since it’s also by him. My verdict? The characters look similar like those from Ikkitousen, there’s fan service but it’s so much that I find it rather distracting. Usually if there’s a well developed and interesting plot, the fan service do not get to me since I’ve mastered the art of “seeing no evil”. Though the plot is nothing impressive and lacks substance when pit against Battle Vixens, I have to admit that the various wrestling and grappling moves are well portrayed.

Mokichi Saitou is a year 1 high school student that is bend on making a name for himself on the first day of high school. He challenges the senior with utmost confidence but got knocked out cold by a sweet looking girl in a move. The guys, being unforgiving, stripped him naked and took pictures of him. Hence, he indeed made a name for himself but not exactly the way he had in mind. Shocked that he actually was knocked out cold by a sweet looking girl in a move, he decided to check out the club she’s in, the Swan Wrestling Club.

Mokichi takes a peek into the doujo only to find the sweet looking girl (who had knocked him out earlier) being knocked out by another babe. In awe, he begs to enter the club with the intention of becoming a stronger man at the end of everything. Hence, begins his life as a n00b wrestler who’s surrounded by wrestling babes who have no squirms in using their moves on him.

Tamako is also in-charge of cleaning.

Meet the Swan Wrestling Club members! The female protagonist of the plot is Tamako Kaneda (Kintama for short) and she’s the sweet looking girl who KO-ed Mokichi. Her deceased mother was an interchampion female wrestler and she’s training to be a champion just like her mum. She’s innocent and dumb (something like Sonsaku from ikkitousen) and her drive comes from protecting her friends. She’s often victimize by the president and the vice-president as they often either make her run errands or use her as a “volunteer” during wrestling practice.

Vice President Higuchi is usually cool and compose as long as she gets her Pocari.

The Vice-President of the wrestling club, Higuchi is crazy over the drink, Pocari, and often orders Tamako to bring her mountains of Pocari. She would go berserk and execute her wrestling moves with ruthlessness if Tamako fails to bring her the Pocari. Higuchi is the strongest in school and she initially joined the club with reluctance (was forced to join by the sensei) but she soon found a reason to stay.

To teach Mokichi new moves, President Taki uses Tamako as a “volunteer”.

President Taki (the one performing the lock above) is a sexy looking wrestler and is the most skilled in the club. However, “she” doesn’t get “herself” involve in club affairs and visits the club when and as “she” likes. Shiba is not a member of the wrestling club but befriends them after she lost a fight to Tamako. She was originally 2nd in charge of the Karate Club but lost her place since she chose to befriend and to help Tamako. Though 2nd in charge, not even the Karate Club leader is able to defeat her. Shiba often aids the wrestling club in quests that require them to knock out the opponent cold without any grappling.

A cool finishing pose by Shiba

Tondemon sensei is in-charge of the wrestling club and he actually groomed many female champion wrestlers before. There’s more to him than he seems as he has weird training schedules and forces only particular members (eg: Higuchi) to join the club.

The art work kept me reading as the plot is nothing great, almost near ridiculous, and there are too many fan service here and there. Pick up this manga only if you’re a fan of fan service, want to see some cool wrestling suplex moves, or you’re a supporter of Shiozaki Yuji’s works.