AIKa R-16: Virgin Mission

I've always been a big fan of Agent Aika (and to a lesser extent, Najica), so I was pleased to hear a prequel was in production. Thanks to a buddy's deviantart, I found myself thinking again about the old series, and ordered both the Agent Aika Legends complete series and R-16: Virgin Mission off Amazon. I had seen most of the original Aika before, so the focus here will be on the prequel.

And it's a mixed bag. The OVA strays a bit from it's roots. The premise of an Aika in her mid-teens allows for a sillier production. It's actually a little too risqué for comfort considering the cast's age.

It further veers away by taking itself much more lightly. Part of AA's charm was it's own serious demeanor despite it's obvious ecchi cheesiness. The fact that it took itself seriously made the jokes that much more apparent, and added to the allure of cute girls duking it out.

It's kind of like the difference between a real deal catfight and a couple girls playfully wrestling around in jell-o. The staged quality of the latter gives it all a fake, manufactured feel, and just isn't as interesting or sexy.

Regardless, R-16 does have some pretty cute moments, and Aika herself is probably more likable than the stoic adult Aika from the original. Aika's later sidekick Rion is nowhere to be found, which isn't a huge loss.

The beach fight is probably the defining fight of the series (like the parking lot brawl in Aika or the rooftop maid battle in Najica) and smartly takes place in the middle episode. Aika and it's spiritual successor Najica both started off with their best, which left the rest of the respective series feeling a little empty.

All in all? It's decent. It doesn't always feel like Aika, but it does have it's moments, and it did apparently pave the way for another AIKa, AIKa Zero, which takes place sometime between Virgin Mission and the original. And it's probably a step up from Najica.


As a side note, I finally saw the live-action episode of AIka in it's entirety, and it's pretty awful. It's below B-movie cheesy, in the realm of Kekko Kamen or Ninja Vixens: mildly kinky stuff apparently shot with a camcorder. It's pretty embarrassing.

And a missed opportunity! Instead of martial arts like the show's known for, it's mostly just silly little invisible darts that render the victim unconscious. Sure, all the cute girls fall in scandalous fashion, but it's just not as fun as it could be.