While walking through the streets of Tokyo, Linn Suzuki comes across a strange device sticking up from the sidewalk. Suddenly, she is set upon by thugs and is helped by a beautiful stranger who takes them all down. It seems young Linn has fled Deep Kyoto from her cruel mistress and has traveled to Edo where she hopes to find her long lost brother, who was last seen working for the Kuon Detective Agency. By chance, this stranger happens to be Miho Kuon and lets Linn stay with her (nicknaming her Kotetsu, or Little Tetsu after her brother, Tetsujin). However, a mysterious agency called the Syndicate are after Miho and Linn is now in the thick of things.
The Adventures of Kotetsu AC Admin Review
Anime has always had a bit of a stigma of featuring overly-endowed nubile young females shaking their goodies to the delight of ravenous, drooling otaku. While there are certainly a wealth of content-rich anime that defy the traditional stereotype, The Adventures of Kotetsu isn’t one of them.
The plot is fairly straightforward and without a lot of depth. Fleeing from the depths of Kyoto, Linn Suzuki travels to Tokyo to escape servitude from her former mistress. Her stay in Tokyo is going to be anything but quiet, though, for she quickly gets into trouble with common street punks. Coming to her rescue is a beautiful detective, Miho Kuon, who befriends Linn and gives her a place to stay. However, a sinister force known as the “Syndicate” has targeted Miho and Linn has no choice but to become involved. There are quite a few plot elements that aren’t explained very well or at all. The whole “Syndicate” deal is only lightly touched on and is mostly forgotten by the middle of the second episode. I never understood why they were after Miho, nor their interest in Linn. Linn’s sword also seems to be of importance, but again, it’s never explained. Truthfully, Kotetsu is really just light fluff that serves two purposes: action and fan-service. Shakespeare this ain’t.
Outside of strict hentai, this is probably the most fanservice I’ve seen yet in an anime. Panty shots, nude combat, bath scenes, skimpy leather outfits; honestly, every single female character gets naked at one point or another. Not to mention the only two male characters seem to be around solely for the purpose of rampant nosebleeds at the sight of any naked female flesh (a facet of anime I’ve never quite understood, but I digress). Mind you, the sexual content itself is thankfully played for laughs.
As for the characters, they comprise the cookie cutter variety. Linn Suzuki, the heroine, is young, cute, perky, and wields a bitchin’ katana. She’d probably make a decent supporting character (read: sidekick) in a longer series, but just doesn’t have the depth nor personality to be center stage (she also lacks a nose… freaky). Miho Kuon, the shapely detective, serves in a minor role and contributes a few giggles here and there. As stated earlier, the two male characters seem to be in it solely to act like sex-starved dorks, and that’s about all they do. There are also a couple villains, but they’re uninspired at best (another leather clad vixen? *yawn*).
The technical qualities of Kotetsu are fairly unassuming. With the exception of the main theme, which was somewhat original (not your standard J-Pop), the artwork and animation were decidedly average. One other thing of note was Linn’s odd manner of speech. She’s supposed to use a dialect from the Kyoto region of Japan, which in Japanese would make sense. But the subtitling made use of an old-fashioned English style which seemed slightly out of place.
Fanservice, fanservice and more fanservice is what it comes down to. For those seeking titillation, Kotetsu is an answer to their, er, dreams. Anyone looking for endearing characters, interesting plot lines or a chance to watch something without a naked breast every five minutes, Kotetsu ain’t what you’re looking for.
The Verdict: * * 1/2 (below average)
