Review: Fighting of Ecstasy

Wrestling is not that well represented in anime compared to many other sports so when ones comes up I am always eager to check it out, even more so when it crosses over into the world of porn such as is the case here with Fighting of Ecstasy adapted from a Crimson game. Does it blend the best of both worlds or fall flat?

Underground fighting tournaments are rife and causing untold issues. A young woman named Shien, at the will of the police has been sent to infiltrate and find the organisation behind this as well as her own secret motive: to rescue her younger sister who has been kidnapped. It never goes as planned though as she will have to win a tournament to rescue her. Meanwhile Black Rose, a champion above and below ground finally comes up against an opponent who will push her to the limit.

I like the setup but it is bare bones as it gets. All of the above is told as they are making their way to the ring, that’s it. Sure infiltrating an underground organisation has been done before time and again as is the saving of a sibling but here it works because it sets up a way for the sordid acts to occur that makes sense. Nothing is off limits underground so Shien has her hands full. Saving her sister is her top priority.

The acts themselves are naturally where the real meat is and here it does not disappoint. Wrestling can appear exploitative in ways thanks to the moves themselves but here it goes full on humiliation and rape. It is certainly not vanilla in content so those who do not like the darker more sordid acts are best off avoiding this.

Shien is fighting against an opponent far too strong for her and this is where the fun begins. She struggles and struggles before he overpowers her. He begins groping, fingering, teasing, being forceful before exposing her private areas for the crowd and arena to see. She is humiliated, raped and degraded with nothing she can do about it.

The other girl here is Black Rose, a pristine fighter in these tournaments as well as being well known above ground, she has less to her with just wanting to fight and prove her strength but provides a lot of excitement. The same scenarios eventually happen to her with degrading acts, humiliation and rape inflicted upon her in front of baying, raucous crowds.

I loved these scenes, the humiliation angle is one of my favourites so seeing the girls exposed in front of all those people, succumbing to the pleasure whilst being treated like objects and toys. It is very arousing and it just keeps ramping up the levels of this until there are multiple men having their way with her whilst never feeling too padded and always introducing just enough to keep you hooked.

My only complaint here is the same thing happens to both girls with only a bit of variation. I felt like a lot more could have been done to differentiate between them to make the show stand out more. With just two episodes it feels kind of samey which is even more of a shame as these episodes bare no relation to each other apart from the setting so it feels like a missed opportunity.

Visually the show is a mixed bag. The art takes Crimsons distinct style and translates into the anime well. The girls bodies and facial features match that style if somewhat less polish. The girls proportions aren’t that over the top and their outfits are suitably skimpy and erotic highlighting their salacious frames.  The character art is the only real positive in the visuals though. All the action takes place in the ring in the arena, two episodes and that is it. The lack of change and variety does grate a bit but the combination with the animation just takes you out of it a bit.

Yes the animation. Slow throughout, numerous scenes frames and motions recycled, plenty of still shot and lots of panning shots with little to no movement. Then from time to time it starts moving like you’d expect. It is more noticeable during the sex scenes themselves and easily some of the cheapest animation I have seen ero or otherwise. The saving grace is the art and that the camera always focusing nicely on the girls bodies and emphasises their humiliating positions when being raped by getting just enough in shot to show off their predicament, it knows how to play the voyeuristic angles well.

I love wrestling and love porn so this seeming match made in heaven was enjoyable despite the noticeable visual issues and storytelling basics. Don’t let those aspects put you off though as the scenes offer exactly what you’d expect and make it pleasure to watch.

Studio: Pink Pineapple

Release: 2011

Length: 2 episodes

Availability: 2 x DVD singles

6/10