The Mobile Shinsengumi was organized for the specific reason of keeping Kyouto safe from influences which would hinder Japan’s efforts towards westernization, be those demons and monsters of every shape and size or a band of misanthropes bent on turning the clock back for the city of Kyou. Yuuko Kondou, Toshie Hijikata, and Kaoru Okita are daughters of the reknowned Isamu Kondou, Toshizou Hijikata, and Soushi Okita, leaders of the feared, original Shinsengumi. They have come together under the banner of “Truth” as their fathers once had and under the guidance of Ms. Oryou. With the help of Oryou’s son Ryuunosuke, Shintarou, Gennai, and the cat monster Nekomaru, they protect Kyouto from the evil that lurks in the shadows. But, who protects the people of Kyouto from the Mobile Shinsegumi?The heroines of the OAV Moeyo Ken (2003), Yuuko, Toshie, and Kaoru, are the descendants of heroes of the Shinsengumi, the army of ronin (masterless samurai) the Tokugawa organized to defend Tokyo. The girls try to follow in their fathers’ footsteps, but manage to defeat their supernatural foes only after mishaps that devastate big chunks of Kyoto. Moeyo Ken borrows heavily from other comedy-adventures, notably Burn Up! and Dirty Pair. Rumiko Takahashi designed the characters, and the giant purple cat Nekomaru looks suspiciously like the Ghost Cat in Ranma 1/2. The girls battle various demons summoned by Miki Saotome, who wants to return Kyoto to an older, more picturesque form. This kind of farce demands likable characters, hilarious gags, and an extravagant plot, but Moeyo Ken is just a collection of gags borrowed from funnier comedies. (Rated 13 and older: nudity, violence risqué humor, alcohol use) –Charles Solomon
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May 6, 2010
#1
an anime of great potential wasted. Dirty Pair + one goes to the Meji Restoration. While the techinal quailty of the DVD is good, the story owes more to the Dirty Pair idea of girls are chaos in action. not to metion the kommi reconstrustion company is alive and well in this past era. Plots are a streight line and character development is non exsistant and the cat demons has some of the better lines.
On the other hand if your young enough not to care about that or if your in the right frame of mind it can quaility as a gulity pleasure.
May 6, 2010
#2
I had heard a bit about this OVA when I began watching it. The list of people involved was impressive, (How can you beat Character designs by Rumiko Takahashi?) and the story sounded great as well. Three daughters of Shinsengumi swordsmen protecting a town against monsters and demons, all while the townspeople resist the westernization of their village.
By the second episode, though, I was beginning to have my doubts. Each episode involves the girls fighting some sort of monster (After going through a stock-animation “shielding up” sequence.) and revealing a tiny bit about their past, with very little to hold them all together but a side-story about a necklace.
In the end, I lost interest in this anime and stopped watching it about ten minutes in to the last episode. The only true bright spots about this OVA are the character designs and the theme song. This is one DVD you can easily pass up.
May 6, 2010
#3
I bought this ova because the character art was reportedly from Rumiko Takahashi. Maybe the original sketches were, but the animation is subpar. The story is threadbare, childish and repetitious, and the relationship to japanese legends is lame pretense. Only the music sounds good-but there are only a few seconds of it. Sorry.
May 6, 2010
#4
The city is under siege and paranormal phenomenas are to blame. Who do you call? No need toc call anyone… the Mobile Shinsengumi are there.
Who are the Mobile Shinsengumi? They are the daughters of Shinsengumi heroes featuring team leader Kondou Yuko, Hijikata Toshie and Okita Kaoru who follow in their father’s footsteps as loyal guardian heroes in this 4-OAV series by Hiroi Ohji (“Sakura Wars”, “Virgin Fleet”) and character designs by Takahashi Rumiko (“Urusei Yatsura”, “Ranma 1/2″, “Inuyasha”).
The storyline of “Moeyo Ken” revolves around three daughters of shinsengumi heroes protecting their city against demons, ghosts and the Gods that people believed in Japan’s yesteryear. Throw in plot devices such as destruction caused by our heroes and the people they protect, despising them to the heroes owing money or broke because they aren’t making money doing the job they do, that’s “MoeyoKen”.
I would have to admit that watching the first episode, I found “Moeyo Ken” a bit campy. With several anime series out there that take on the Meiji era and even more that focus on samurai action, it was interesting to see the daughters of the shinsengumi in mobile arbor and in a Batman-like vehicle.
I figured that I should ease up and not take this anime in too seriously and question how modern technology got into the mobile shinsegumi’s hands (ie. too not be too analytical) and just enjoy the anime as is. Afterall, Hiroi’s “Sakura Wars” is similar yet totally different and so I figured that I needed to watch more episodes.
Episode 1 features the mobile shinsengumi’s battle vs. the wanyuudou, a wheel-shaped monster bearing a human face. Also, a battle with the photograph monster who steals the souls of people. More or less an episode introducing the main and supporting characters and how the villagers view our three heroes.
But who is responsible in resurrecting these spirits and why?
It was until I watched OAV episodes 2-4 when each episode focused on each of the Mobile Shinsengumi characters is when I started to enjoy “Moeyo Ken” much more.
As for the DVD, the animation combines the cool character designs of Takashi Rumiko and 3D renderings of the Mobile Shinsengumi vehicle and headquarters.
I must admit it felt weird seeing the 3D renderings in this anime especially since it’s used mainly in the vehicle scenes but in some instances, such as 3D use in buildings look quite nice. The anime is presented in 4:3 ratio.
As for the audio, I listened to the Japanese 2.0 track and the English 5.1 track. Although I am more biased towards the Japanese track for my anime viewing, the English vocal track is good.
Special features on this DVD include production art, character sketches, 3D model art, “Moeyo Ken” bestiary and the clean opening an closing theme animations.
It’s definitely nice to watch a Hiroi Ohji anime series and “Moeyo Ken” is a type of series that would be great if it became a television series.
There are many characters in this anime aside from our three main characters that are so fun and interesting, that it would be fun to explore the storylines of each of them.
I enjoyed “Moeyo Ken” and I would definitely love to see more. With so many interesting characters, several unanswered questions, I hope that the OAV series will evolve into a television series.
May 6, 2010
#5
The Shinsengumi was organized for the specific reason of keeping Kyouto safe from influences which would hinder Japan’s efforts towards westernization, be those demons and monsters of every shape and size or a band of misanthropes bent on turning the clock back for the city of Kyou.