Spärlich Bekleideter Müll
Kampfer is what Koi Koi 7 would be with a higher quality budget and a slightly more cohesive plot. On it’s surface it is a show about the battle of red vs blue fighting girls. They’ve been imbued with fancy German named powers called Zauber (magic), Gewehr (gun), or Schwert (sword). The main character Natsuru discovers one day that he’s been chosen to become a Kampfer, but since only girls can be them when he transforms he also becomes a girl. However, instead of fighting most of the show revolves around how literally everyone cannot get over how hot Natsuru is as a girl. Most plots revolve around him ending up in compromising positions, while rarely actually fighting/finding out why they have to fight in the first place. He amasses a friend group of stereotypical archetypes. There’s the bookish but secretly perverse librarian (who becomes more vulgar when transformed), the aloof and scheming school president, and the long time childhood friend. All of them eventually want Natsuru, but he has his sights on another girl, Sakura, though the reasons why are unclear. I will say, there is at least an interesting development towards the end of the series and a highlight is a bunch of stuffed “Entrail Animals” singing Ode to Joy in German.
If you couldn’t tell from the description above, this is unabashedly a harem anime. Not only that, but Natsuru is neutron star levels of dense. Pretty much every harem trope is on display, and because the main character can switch genders the fan service is off the charts. Hell, even the “eye catcher” interstitials are just sexy pin ups of the main characters. There are a lot of boobs and butts, a lot of yuri scenes, and lots of sexual innuendo and situations. It leans into it hard and it epitomizes the trash that helped inspire this site. Something about how straight forward it was with it made me keep watching. I wouldn’t call this a great anime, but it was a dumb, easy ride from start to finish and there’s been worse ways to pass the time. If you’re in the mood for some straight trash and can put up with a real dumb main character you’ll probably enjoy the four hour investment. As a bonus, you get a crash course in harem anime 101 and can tell if that genre is for you.
Is it trash? YES
Rating: ★★★★☆