Anime in review: "Kampfer"

I was skeptical when I first read the description for "Kampfer". A guy turning into a girl and fighting other girls for....what were they fighting over again? Despite my reservations, I clicked on the link for the first episode, curiousity winning out. I was suprised to find myself hooked and the anime soon became one of my most frequently watched shows. Artistically it suited what I like to see when watching an anime, and even though the description mentioned girls fighting, there was a lot more plot than I was expecting to see. The main character, Natsuru, is thrown into a battle he doesn't understand (something most of the characters have in common) with the restriction that, to use his powers, he has to turn into a girl. Why he has to turn into a girl is never really explained, nor why he has such high sex appeal amongst both the male and female members of his school when he is in that form. As a viewer I would've appreciated a bit more explanation on this front, but ok, I can deal without it.

I was rather disappointed to find Natsuru so oblivious to the affections of those around him. The three girls he teamed up with were consistently coming on to him, some more blatantly than others. While I didn't mind to see such bold female characters who could take care of themselves, I wasn't so fond of a lead male character who just couldn't seem to grasp what was going on around him. He didn't to put two and two together until the second-to-last episode, which came too soon, and even then he still failed to have a complete understanding of why the girls surrounding him acted as they did.

The ending itself was, in short, disappointing. Rounding out at 12 episodes and one special, the series is definitely underdeveloped. The 12th episode didn't even have anything to do with the main arc and left me wondering why it was even added in to begin with. The actual story line could've been extended much further to add more depth to all of the characters. As it is, only two of the main characters seem to have any real personality beyond what the viewer is originally shown. As a side note, there's a huge emphasis on the female form in this anime, especially breasts. If things like that bother then I do not recommend you watch this one.

With an ending that left me wishing they'd added more, and so little character development, one might wonder why I liked the anime. Despite it's flaws, the story was compelling enough to keep me watching and the plot twists certainly helped keep it going. I won't give away what happens (you'll have to find out for yourself should you choose to watch it) but I will say it's not a complete waste of time. Overall I give it a 7.5 out of 10.