About

Senran Kagura (閃乱カグラ) is a 3D side scrolling video game series developed by Tamsoft and produced by Marvelous Entertainment. The series, which revolve arround groups of female ninjas, has several spin-offs, manga and anime series, and has been notorious for its ammount of fan service.

Premise

Senran Kagura is setted a world where high school girls secretly train ninjitsu, despicting several conflicts between diverse schools, mostly the Hanzō Academy and the dark Hebijo Clandestine Girls' Academy.

Gameplay

The Senran Kagura games are action "beat-'em-ups", where the player controls one of the available female ninja characters. As the game progresses, characters can be leveled up and gain new moves and abilities, along with unlocking extra content lke costumes or new character. One of the most well-known features from the games is how the character clothes torn off as more damage recieve.

History

The first game of the series, Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, was released in Japan on September 22nd, 2011 for Nintendo 3DS. A sequel, Senran Kagura Burst , was released on August 30th, 2012, and released in North America as digital release on November 14th, 2013. On August 7th, 2014, Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson was released in Japan, being released worlwide in September 2015.

From left to right: Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, Senran Kagura Burst , Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson.

On February 28, 2013 the third instament of the series, Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus, was released for PSVita in Japan, and released on North America on October 14th, 2014. The game was followed by a sequel on March 26th, 2015, titled Senran Kagura: Estival Versus and released for both Vita and PlayStation 4. The series has several spin-offs, like the card battling mobile game Senran Kagura: New Wave and the rhythm cooking game Senran Kagura Bon Appétit!, released on Japan for Vita on March 20h, 2014 and on North America on November 11th, 2014.

From left to right: Senran Kagura Shinovi Versus, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus, Senran Kagura: New Wave, Senran Kagura Bon Appétit!.

Manga and Anime

The franchise also inspired several manga series and an anime series. The main manga adaptation, written by Kenichirō Takaki and illustrated by Amami Takatsume, began serialization in the magazine Monthly Comic Alive magazine on August 27th, 2011, being the first of five manga series. The anime series, titled Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash!, aired in Japan between January 6, 2013 and March 24, 2013, and was directed by Takashi Watanabe.

Reception

The series has met with mixed reponses, being praised for its fast paced gameplay and criticised by the sexual content abundance. As December 13th, 2015, the anime series has recieved a score of 6.49 in the anime database MyAnimeList.^[5]

Online Relevance

On December 22n, 2012, a wiki about the series was created, gathering over 770 pages in the following 3 years.^[6] On January 17th, 2013, a subreddit dedicated to the series was created, gaining over 700 subscribers in the following 3 years.^[7] On May 17th, 2015, let's player Super Best Friends Play uploaded a gameplay of Estival Versus and gaining over 230,000 views in the following months. On November 2nd, 2015, YouTuber Kream Kulture uploaded a video titled "Korean Guys React to Anime Game – Senran Kagura 閃乱カグラ", featuring two korean men playing to Estival Versus, and gaining over 67,000 views in the following month.

The series gained a huge following since its release, mostly due its nature. As December 20th, 2015, the japanese artist community pixiv leads to over 8,700 results under the tag "閃乱カグラ",^[10] and the artist community deviantART leads to over 2,500 results under the keyword "senran kagura".^[9] Fandom presence can also be found on other communities like Tumblr".^[8]

Related Memes

Tits Are Life, Ass Is Hometown

"Tits Are Life, Ass Is Hometown" is a quote from Kenichiro Takaki, developer of the series, in reference to the game's fanservice nature. First uttered on a tweet from his personal account on December 19th, 2012,^[11] the quote was also used on a message included on Shinovi Versus's physical edition,^[12] the quote has often been parodied.

Search Interest

External References