Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

By Drew Hurley 19.03.2016 1

Image for Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

Kämpfer (UK Rating: 15)

The good news: he just got into the pants of the hottest girl in school! The bad news: it's because HE's now HER; SHE's in a deadly trouble and HE is oh so NOT enjoying being a girl! With the complete collection will be available from 28th March via MVM, containing all 12 episodes, along with a clean opening and closing, trailers for some upcoming series, and a featurette around the bowel familiars, Cubed3's popular Lights, Camera, Action! series delves into this latest series to see how it compares to other recent releases.
Image for Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

Otherworldly entities forming contracts with young girls that then imbues them with special powers is an age-old trope in Japan, as famous as the cliché if superhero origins in the West. While the recent comedy series Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love did a great job of playing off the comedy of what would happen if guys were to form the magical girl contracts instead, it did so by putting the guys in the outfits and in the silly transformations sequences, as well as granting them crazy love powers. Kämpfer does things a little differently and instead transforms the character, quite literally, into a magical girl… gender-swapping the protagonist whenever he transforms.

The recipient of these magical girl powers, and the associated unwanted gender transformation, is Seno Natsuru. When he accidently forms a contract with a creepy/cute stuffed animal known as a bowel familiar (this one being a tiger with its intestines protruding…) he finds he has become a Kämpfer. Through some very short exposition, it's explained that Kämpfer must fight each other in the simplest premise, RED VS. BLUE! Kämpfer are equipped with a coloured bracelet (red or blue) that facilitates the transformation, along with a special weapon to fight - a firearm, magical energy attack, or sword.

Image for Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

The battles between the Kämpfer end up being something of a background story, while the focus is instead placed on Seno and how he deals with living as a girl. Living day to day is hard enough as he can't even change clothes without losing a mass amount of blood through his nose and it seems 99% of the female population of the school immediately get the hots for his female persona! This is where it all begins to turn into something of a harem series. Seno is in love with his childhood friend Sakura and it's soon enough revealed she has feelings for him, too… or rather feelings for his female form. On top of that two person love…triangle(?), a host of other potential love interests are added for Seno, each a Kämpfer. There's the quiet and shy Akane, who changes personality to an aggressive psycho when she transforms; the aloof and perfect school president Shizuka; and, finally, there is Seno's childhood friend, the hyper and joyous world traveller Mikoto.

Each of these ladies finds themselves in possession of a bowel familiar plush animal. These tools of the mysterious "Moderators" grant their owners the Kämpfer powers and are each designed around an animal that had suffered a horrendous death - a strangled dog, a burnt alive lion, the previously mentioned disembowelled tiger... These characters are the comedy relief and tools of exposition throughout the show, and most of the - frankly rare - funny moments come from these creepy little creatures.

Image for Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

There are magical powers, an overseeing mysterious authority, a love triangle, plenty of romance, and battles. It's a shame that all of these solid elements and premise are wasted here… The show ends up feeling completely schizophrenic as the anime jumps around unsure of just what it wants to be… a shonen battle anime, a romantic comedy, a harem series… Instead, it ends up embodying all of the worst elements of all of these genres. The romance, ecchi, and yuri elements are far too on the nose, as well, never really letting up and it gets old really fast.

Seno goes from episode to episode finding himself in the clichéd and predictable situations of every romance, yet here he has all the women in his life fawning and fighting over his female self, completely ignoring any real progression to the plot or the other elements of the story. The whole Red vs. Blue premise is pretty much ignored all the way through, until the final few episodes, and instead the cast engage in pointless and unintelligible distractions. There are occasional, brief moments of actual story as new white Kämpfer are added towards the end of the show, but even then it's quickly forgotten about. The perfect metaphor for the whole series is the finale, which is just a train-wreck - a side story that feels like a filler story that has been randomly tacked on...

Image for Anime Review | Kämpfer (Lights, Camera, Action!)

It's not all bad, to be fair, as the comedy has some funny moments, especially when the show goes quite meta, referencing other anime series and voice actors. The joke is explained on-screen with a helpful translator's note, too. This includes the characters' voices being compared to other characters their actors have voiced, and regularly includes nods and winks to famous series like Gundam and Code Geass. Akane and her violent personality are a particular highlight, with the few truly humorous moments coming from her bad-ass persona.

4/10
Rated 4 out of 10

Subpar

Kämpfer is a thoroughly flawed show. While there are some slight saving graces - the fun and fresh take on an old premise, some funny moments, and a few enjoyable characters - overall it has little else going for it. The final few episodes begin to turn it around, with a decent twist and some interesting developments, but it's just too little too late.

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Comments

I have quite a lot of love for this series. I think it's because I watched and read it back in highschool.

I own all the consoles, ask me anything

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