Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

By: Robert Murphy

Martial arts and fighting clubs have always been something that is featured predominately in many school house anime, everyone belongs to a club in some way or another and I really wish that it was more present when I went to school but these activities are usually used as a back story element. In Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple though we are introduced to the mild mannered Kenichi who dreams of being a stellar fighter one day and protect innocent people with his skills. This however seems like a dream that would never come true as his skills as a fighter are far below anything spectacular, that is until one day he meets a young girl named Miu, a spunky blonde with phenomenal martial arts talent, even if she is pretty much walking fan service in a tight purple unitard though. In hopes of improving his own skills he asks her where she trains and she in turn directs him to the Ryozanpaku dojo, a decision he will come to regret but it is one that will change him from that point on. 

Kenichi is somewhat of a character I expected a main protagonist to be when I first start watching The Mightiest Disciple but I quickly change my perception of him once I see him stand up for himself and others during the series. He proves to be a character with extreme heart and determination as I followed along with his struggles trying to learn from the master fighters at Ryozanpaku. His skills from the get go are lack luster as I mentioned and while it is part of the comedy of the show to see him be put through grueling training time and time again, he still proves to have a great amount of gumption in the face of adversity. The master of Ryozanpaku see this and even though they admit that his training may be fruitless at first, they continue to train him and see him succeed.

The masters themselves are among my favorite anime characters in any series, even Apacha who is a kick boxing master that is only able to repeat his name repeatedly like a Pokemon. Every single one of the masters at the dojo are professionals of their own respected fighting styles and Kenichi learns from each one of them, gaining a combination of all their skills and knowledge along the way. The dojo's Elder, Hayato is a towering mass of muscle and even though he doesn't look it, he is the grandfather to Miu and has taught her since she was a child, which proves a challenge for Kenichi's romantic fantasies. By far my favorite master is Akisami, a jujitsu master who also serves as the philosopher style character and he plays it very well. There is also Sakaki, a karate master with a booze problem and looks like something right out of Street Fighter, Kensei Ma is a Chinese martial arts master with a habit for spying on woman which proves to be an issue when you have Miu and Shigure around who is a weapons master and isn't afraid to use them on people.

This all proves to be a hardy amount of content to follow but outside of the training, while Kenichi and Miu head off to school, things slow down a little bit. Kenichi will often get put into fights that he is ill equip to take part in and often times he wins through some skill he learns and you know he is the protagonist so I can except that and the fights are not a dull affair. However, in moments of no action and conversation with characters the pacing with the story can prove to be a slow. A good fight is never too far around the corner but the dialogue and pacing could have used some work here and there to improve my attention to what was going on. 

I do love the fights in The Mightiest Disciple and as it turns out the kids at Kenichi's school like fighting more than most schools you've seen and there is even a feared group of skilled fighters present as well who prove to be Kenichi's rivals for the show. The group is known as Ragnorak and for those of you who don't know that name means bad news in Norse mythology and references like this come up in a few other shows too. Most, if not all the members of the group take on the names of big name Gods and figures such as Hermit, Loki and Valkeryie and prove to have incredible skills to live up to the titles. Hermit is perhaps one of my favorites among the group as he gets more of a backstory compared to other members and is a constant rival for Kenichi. The leader of this group also is a former rival of Kenichi's though going all the way back to childhood and where one has proved to be a unimaginable fighter and lived up to their former pact, Kenichi has had to come along way in a short time by comparison. The final fight between the two is almost like something out of Dragonball Z and watching them trade blows is one of the best fights for the series.

Overall, I enjoyed Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, it is an anime that doesn't go ridiculous with it's fight scenes and for the most part stays firmly grounded in reality. There were some pacing and dialogue issues for me with the story early on, mainly because the stellar characters hadn't come along yet but once they did things picked up. All the masters at Ryozanpaku are great character and while their training methods may seem to be like adventures in torture for Kenichi, they work and make him into a great fighter. I will however stick with a regular work out, one that does not involve pulling boulders, sharp objects being thrown at me and being kicked into the atmosphere by a mild mannered kick boxing master. 

Good:

- Kenichi proves to be a great character with a surprising amount of charisma and later becomes a stellar fighter 

- The masters of the dojo are all hilarious and fantastic characters

- Fights are very enjoyable and get progressively more appealing as they go

Bad:

- Some pacing and dialogue issues

- Fan service with Miu and other female characters

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10