Senran Kagura

I realized that there were no threads at all for this wonderful handheld video games series (and anime).

So, to commemorate the recent announcements of both Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus, as well as Bon Appetit, I made a thread.

Be prepared to debate best ninja waifu.

Yagyuu is best

But on serious note, any one not familiar with the game, the first localised game is for 3DS (Senran Kagura Burst) and I believe its digital download in North America and physical copies in Europe. Fun beat-'em-up, some interesting story bits (even if they can go on a little bit), and of course, boobies.

We also have a trope page for Senran Kagura.

Continue the bloodline, Fujimaru!

Really wanted to like Burst. Sucks that there's little to no diversity between the girls, a shot in the foot for a Fanservice game. Nevermind that it upholds the monotony of the beat em up genre where most had done away with it quite cleverly.

I'm sure they'll improve quite a bit on the sequels though. I don't entirely regret buying Burst.

edited 9th Jun '14 1:35:48 AM by Schitzo

ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.

A fellow Yagyuu bro is one that should be treasured for life.

Somehow I only realized today Dekamori is getting localized...

edited 10th Jun '14 10:28:49 AM by danna45

"And you must be Jonathan Joestar!" - Sue

Bought the game back in December, but haven't done much with it. It didn't help that I got it alongside Pokemon X & Y and Code of Princess. I've only beaten the first chapter of the Hanzo-side story so far and was spending most of my time getting characters to level 30. Overall, it kind of feels like a sidescrolling incarnation of Dynasty Warriors in a way.

I'm glad Versus is getting localized, but I'd need to get a Vita to enjoy that game... Also, what's "Bon Appetit"? The only other Senran game I know about is the card game...

edited 10th Jun '14 10:35:47 AM by Customer

Not aware of the Vita cooking rhythm game?

No, first I've heard of it. Doesn't sound all that interesting to me anyway.

Here's a trailer for it (I would put up a warning, but I think "NSFW" warning would be automatic)

But on other stuff, I must admit, I sort of take fanservice in this series in a way that I try to "ignore" it. I was asked to write a story about Asuka and Homura and wanted to look more into the series. And when I heard that the game was coming to my country, I wanted to pick it up to see if there was more to it than just the fanservice. Note, I don't mind the fanservice since its defiantly knows that its the main point, but I can look past it in sense.

edited 10th Jun '14 12:48:19 PM by TPPR10

Continue the bloodline, Fujimaru!

I'm amused at how much the fanservice slightly escalates as the franchise gets more titles under its belt. It looks like they've include some characters from New Wave too, which is neat. But rhythm games aren't my cup of tea...

The fanservice doesn't bother me (outside of making this game a hard sell to anyone not in Japan or into particular quirks), mostly because it's supposed to be like that and I'd be a fool to gripe about it when it's this obvious. If it did bug me, I wouldn't play it. I find myself rolling my eyes at times though.

I do have trouble viewing the anime though, and feel it's not a terribly good representation of the games upon initial viewing. I've only watched three episodes, but from what I've read about it (on its Works page here and other places), the anime gets rid of whatever nuances the plot and characters possess in favor of just jacking up the fanservice, but since I've played the game, I've considered giving the anime another go, if only so I can have a better opinion about it.

Character-wise, it's hard for me to really judge who I like; as mentioned, the game/franchise suffers a bit of Only One Female Mold, kind of like what Dead or Alive used to do, so outside of personalities and the like, everyone kind of seems similar (I also need to get through more of the game anyway). However, I am glad that New Wave kind of addressed this slightly^note Mirai is no longer the only flat-chested character, even though one of those characters becomes as buxom as everyone else in her Shinobi transformation. And some of the other character designs are more varied, even in breast size, which tends to look the same on everyone despite what official measurements are supposed to be saying. Ranmaru stands out a lot to me by virtue of being only modestly endowed, as opposed to being really flat or really large..

So far, I'm partial to Ikaruga and occasionally, Kat, once I had finished Chapter 1.

The thing with the anime is that works best as complement for the game/manga since while losing a bit of the girl's characterizations it compensates by giving Daidoji, Rin and Kiriya a LOT of development (specially notable with Daidoji that was only a glorified cameo on Burst). The fanservice isn't upped too much and is mostly a lot of male gaze, a few bath scenes and Katsuragi being Katsuragi , the specials included on the BD are more risky but also hilarious. While a bit weak on its own is recommendable and it has some of the best final episodes I've seen last year.

Regarding Burst, I'm surprised about the complaints of the girls playing the same. I've played Burst for nearly 200 hours (since I'm doing a frantic run with each character) and I can say for certain that every girl plays differently. The exception are Daidouji and Rin though, but that only because they're so overpowered that don't need any strategy.

My issue wasn't that they play the same (because they don't; Hibari is very different in gameplay style than someone like Asuka or Kat), but that they more or less had the same character model, despite their physiques supposedly being more varied (hence the link to Only One Female Mold).^note I assume this is what Schitzo above meant as well. The games after Burst seemed to have addressed it though (especially New Wave).

And while it's obvious that the anime was meant to compliment the games, to many non-Japanese gamers, the anime was their first exposure to the series, thanks to Funimation simulcasting a few episodes when they premiered. Based on the reactions I've seen, a lot of people wrote off the series for being generic, because the anime, especially in the first few episodes, really doesn't do much for itself to make it stand out from a lot of other fanservice-laden shows. Which I feel is a shame, since it could've gotten more people to try the games out.

I'll personally probably end up enjoying it more once I actually get around to watching it all. And I keep forgetting that a manga exists...

edited 25th Jun '14 1:23:47 AM by Customer

Using a model was to be expected I think, with SK being the first incursion of Tamsoft on the 3DS and techinical limitations, I wasn't too bothered by it since you don't get many close ups to the characters models. Props for Daidoji though, she really looks imposing and all kinds of badass.

And with the anime, Funimation really dropped the ball with the promotion since it couldn't pick the strong points of the series and instead going the generic fanservice route (the trailer for the dub is also terrible since it seem advertising for a cheap porno )

There are three mangas that I known of: Skirting Shadows that is a more direct adaptation of Hanzo's story, Snake Girls that adds a TON of new content and is IMO the best series and Spark that tells Kat and Ikaruga's first year at Hanzo; pretty nice but the most notable thing is Daidoji being a major character.

Skirting Shadows fell in a limbo and hasn't been finished (is also licensed by Seven Seas), Snake Girls was serialized on Comics RED and so the art is nearly hentai. Is still really good but was never fully scanlated and I doubt it will be licensed soon. Spark is the only series completely scanlated and really worth a look.

I really never noticed that they would have the same body model. Maybe its because I am more focused on their clothing and other details than their actual bodies. Which for me is bit more important.

Continue the bloodline, Fujimaru!

I already updated the main page with this article, but in case someone missed it, here's another interview by Siliconera regarding Senran 2.

There were only two highlights that stuck out to me: the first is that Murasame will be treated the same as the girls, sexy poses and all. I'm really happy about this, and kind of hope more males will be added if they get the same treatment. However, nothing was said about the 2nd male, making me wonder if there will even be another one in 2.

The second is that XSEED has been localizing Bon Appetit along with Shinovi Versus, so maybe there will be a bundle or something? However, they also mention "taking a risk" with the localization. They attributed it to the Values Dissonance between Japan and North America possibly affecting the games' sales, but I think they're also worried that the Vita's alleged status as a "dead console" in the US might affect sales as well.

I still plan to get a Vita though, and I may just buy Bon Appetit just to help with sales numbers. Going by that interview, I may even play it, since it sounds like they're attempting to make it a more visual-based Rhythm Game like Rhythm Heaven than the more button-meter focused ones.

Being able to play as Murasame is cool. Him being Mr. Fanservice is even better. I am straight (I think), but even I can appreciate when manservice is thrown into the mix. Similar case happened with Tekken Tag Tournament 2. When I heard that a swimsuit pack would be a DLC in it, I roll my eyes as I though it would only apply to girls. When it turns out it also includes swimsuits for male characters, I pretty was fine with it.

Continue the bloodline, Fujimaru!

The Vita got a sudden push on popularity with the Borderlands bundle (so much that is nearly impossible to find now) and Senran Kagura has gotten a lot of good word so I'd say that the risk with Bon Appetit is the fanservice. Personally I think that its biggest obstacle will be the price, it will be sold as a full game with Hanzo and Homura's girls, 11 songs and the rest will be DLC.

For some it will be really pricey for what it is.

It surely will be pricey for what it is, considering that for the same price (I assume $40), I got Guitar Hero Metallica for PS 3 and that one had like 49 songs on it.

So I'm just browsing the Senran Kagura 2 website and holy hell these Yoma designs are both terrifying and awesome. I was expecting Ōkami-esque demons, not... these (which remind a lot of Shin Megami Tensei's demon designs, actually).^note I haven't seen Orochi yet by the way. Maybe that would have levied my reaction a bit.

EDIT: At some point, I'm going to need to look through the character page and help add tropes and images to some of the characters.

edited 3rd Jul '14 4:20:59 AM by Customer

Regarding the recent edits at the page (and since the actual discussion for that is dead, Takaki pointed out on an interview given during the E3 that the franchise has branched out: the 3DS games are more serious in tone with the fanservice taking a backseat to the story and gameplay while the Vita games are more lighthearted and with a stronger emphasis on fanservice, and even then they will always try to keep an adequate balance between the fanservice and gameplay/plot on every installment.

For reference, Bon Appetit was sold on japan in two packs (each containing ten characters and songs) at 2500 yen with the bundle being 3700 yen. I'm expecting for the game to sold at 20 bucks and a bundle at 30.

EDIT: New trailer with Murasame gameplay: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=588667991253696

Takaki did keep his word about manservice

edited 3rd Jul '14 10:23:53 AM by Tzitzimine

Added that info the main body, thanks. I was mostly trying to make it broader than its original incarnation, that mostly discussed the first game instead of the series.

Though I do see what Takaki means about the 3DS games being more serious than the others; I watched some trailers on the sequel's website and the tone of the game is obviously dark compared to what the websites show for Versus and Bon Appetit.

Regarding Bon Appetit, are they still releasing newer packs for it in Japan or was it just the two initial ones?

EDIT: That trailer's sweet. I hope the localizations for the Vita games sell well enough for it to be ported.

Murasame is just as I expected him to be.

edited 3rd Jul '14 10:40:34 AM by Customer

AFAIK they're done with Bon Appetit (outside of random costume packs they could squeeze here and there) and moved full time to Deep Crimson. And I'm glad for that since Deep Crimson looks like a massive improvement over Versus and Burst (and in contrast Tamsoft's Neptunia game looks really mediocre).

Looking around the 'net it seems that there isn't a second male character for Deep Crimson and was just a screw up on Siliconera's part.

I've only just noticed that there's a trailer for the English version of Shinovi Versus out...:

Seems they followed through on their plan to release Versus as a physical disk. Amazon lists the price range of the collector's edition at $50 (comes with a soundtrack and artbook), but I'm guessing the vanilla version will be $30.

Meanwhile, XSEED talks about localizing future fanservice games.

Color me interested.

ALL CREATURE WILL DIE AND ALL THE THINGS WILL BE BROKEN. THAT'S THE LAW OF SAMURAI.

AFAIK Versus will only be released on the Lets get Physical Edition.

That's an odd decision (usually "Limited Edition" implies that there is or will be a regular edition too), but I'm fine with it. I plan to pre-order the game anyway.

Two more articles from Siliconera. One is the trailer for Senran 2, which some of us have seen already on Facebook.

The other is simply a few screenshots showcasing Daidouji and Rin. I do love the fact that their team-up attack is just them fighting each other while the enemies are simply caught in the crossfire.