Art of Fighting (anime)



Art of Fighting (バトルスピリッツ 龍虎の拳, Battle Spirits Ryūko no Ken) is a Japanese anime television movie directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi and produced by Nihon Ad Systems (NAS), based on the first game of the Art of Fighting series. Art of Fighting was produced by Kenji Shimizu and Yoshiro Kataoka and aired on Fuji TV on December 23, 1993. It features script by Nobuaki Kishima, character design by Kazunori Iwakura, and was distributed in its English version by US Manga Corps in 1997. The Ending theme song is Yasei no Kaze performed by ROKUJI. The story is an anime original.

Plot
While looking for a cat, Ryo and Robert (two karate experts) witnessed a murder related to a stolen diamond. After fighting the murdering mobsters, they discovered that the top mobster, Mr. Big, had kidnapped Ryo's sister to exchange her against the diamond, which he believes to be in the possession of the protagonists. They then have to defend themselves anyway they can - mainly through kicks and punches. They both attempt to break into Big's hideout to save Yuri but their plans are foiled by the sudden arrival of the police force. Forced with no other options, they spend the night searching for the diamond. When they find it, they go to meet Big and give it to him. A big fight ensues, complete with an exploding helicopter and a bout with King and Big, but they are able to save Yuri and head back home. Ryuhaku and the police force arrest Big and his men. They also confiscate the diamond, which is somewhere at the bottom of Big's pool.

Reception
Art of Fighting had a very bad reception by most American websites. It was billed as stupid, idiotic and plodding, and compared to a Saturday morning cartoon. It was said it had "Choppy animation, illogical perspectives, uninspired art, badly choreographed fight scenes, and most of all horrible voice acting", and none of the interest of the video game or its sequels translate into the anime. The film gathered a 14% rating at Meta Anime Reviews, placing it in the bottom 3% of the reviewed titles. It should be noted that the terrible lack of any quality has pushed some critics to argue that it is good material "to make fun of it in a group setting", although that has also been debated.