On the surface, “Senran Kagura” is like any other kind of fighting girl show. Akin to “Maken-Ki” or “Freezing” or even “My-HiME”, it follows the tale of girls with special abilities and the training they need to go through to learn how to use their powers best to defeat the forces of darkness and evil and cruelty and icky things.

Now, the big question is “Are they Shinobi or Kunoichi?” Shinobi is a term used for a covert agent or spy ninja who engages in unorthodox warfare. Kunoichi is a term for a female ninja. Well, to be honest, it really doesn’t matter, as whatever ninja skills they might be learning is completely inundated by unrelenting fan service.

Let us run down the cast of characters. From left to right we have:

Asuka, the leader and a second year, she barely passed the promotion exam and is carrying on the ninja tradition from her grandfather
Ikaruga, a third year, very serious about being a ninja as her brother was bypassed to give leadership of the clan to her
Katsuragi, a third year and a touch of a pervert.
Yagyuu (but that spelling changes on who’s doing the subbing). A first year, she is a prodigy and uses an umbrella as her main weapon. Very protective of Hibari.
Hibari, also a first year and new to the group, she is both child-like and cutely clumsy.

We also have the teacher, Kiriya-sensei, but he is as mysterious as they get, as ninjas are supposed to be. I mean, it’s not like you go around, proclaiming “I’m a ninja!”

As the only five member of the Hanzou Academy ninja class, they are trained to do battle against members of the Serpent Academy. You know, good vs. evil kind of stuff. But here’s the kicker for me:

When you have a group of ladies (we’ll do five), it usually breaks down in this manner. The leader will have an enormous set of Fujiyamas. I mean, “That’s not a space station; it’s a pair of breasts.” The second in command also commands a pair of headlights. They aren’t as big as the leader’s, but they certainly could be. Three and Four are more normal-sized ladies, to act as a base or anchor, so you can see how big the first two are (like you really needed a reference point). Number Five is as flat as they get, so we can make endless flat jokes and have a Boob-Off Competition. Not this show.

In this show, not only do you have to be a female, but you have to have the acreage in order to enter the academy. The North 40? More like the Hundred-Acre Wood. And the enemies are just as moundy. Then, to make things more fun, when they enter into their Special Ninja Fight Mode, it’s all bikinis and are they luscious. (Psst. I have a pic of that one, but I felt it might be too much as my splash page. Trust me on this.) In fact, when Katsuragi goes into her primary garb, it’s an open-blouse school girl uniform, pretty much what you see up there. Are their panty shots? Is water wet? I have a feeling if they put half as much effort into their training as they do with their outfits (skin-tight, form-fitting, flirty skirty), they would be the greatest ninjas EVER!

The series revolves around both the training of these ladies and the skirmishes they have with the Serpent Academy, the biggest busted ladies…I mean, the biggest bust of ladies who ever turned to the dark side.

Now, on the light side, there is a good, legendary ninja, who has never graduated, as she wants to be the bust….I mean the best, and she trains the girls. She wraps her bosoms to hold them down or in place and she must use two miles of bandages to do it to even begin to tame them.

Shows like this bother me. Yes, the girls are cute and everything, but with so much skin and fan service flopping about, you lose sight of the message and just hone in on the honeys. Then, when one of the ladies is a breast fondler and another eats sushi rolls in a provocative manner, we are skating dangerous close to “Eiken” territory. And you are guaranteed of piles of fan service. Right from the get-go, even before the opening credits or you decide you want to be a fan, there they are, all over the city. Although it lacks the unrelenting salaciousness of “Eiken”, there are still a lot of boobs about to make it so.

A story eventually shows up, but for those of us who like plot, it really is the major flat spot of the show. You may go for the girls, but you may not stay around for the tale.
On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork 9 (If you’re this nearly nude, you had best be cute)
Plot 6 (Thin, at best)
Pacing 7 (Fight scenes do chug at points)
Effectiveness 7 (Adequate for what it wants to show)
Conclusion 7 (It reaches a coupler, but doesn’t really end)
Fan Service 9 (A similar show would be “Eiken”)

Overall 6 (It could have used more story)

And remember, it’s first run until you’ve seen it. Learn secret ninja arts.