RealBoutHighSchool

Mitsurugi Ryoko is a junior at Daimon High School. Daimon High is particularly proud of it's martial arts program, which has developed to such a degree that it dominates the curriculum (and brings in huge amounts of funding!). The jewel in their crown is a baroque form of dispute resolution called a K-fight. The idea is, that any sufficiently serious dispute among the students or staff at Daimon High is a good enough excuse for a public spectacle. The ... that attends the organization of the K-fight is a ludicrous demonstration of giddy excess.

In the locker room after winning a K-fight with an upperclassmen, Ryoko finds a necklace with a large blue jewel in somebody else's locker, and decides to put it on. Why she does this is not explained, it seems like an impetuous and dangerous thing to take this kind of liberty with valuable property not your own. She pays for her impetuosity in spades since, tada, the necklace identifies her as The Demon Lord of Yonen, and now not only must she take on all comers in the K-fight, but she gets called in at inopportune times to battle demons in the parallel universe of Solvania. Sheesh.

Real Bout High School misses being a hit by such a small margin that it merits discussion.
Animation quality is impressive. Choreography of battle scenes is first rate (the screen capture above is a good example). Character development is above average. So, just what is wrong? Well, the story develops in a confusing way, and there is a ridiculous amount of filler in some of the episodes that does not contribute to the show in any detectable way. The bad parody of Pretty Sammy (the Oyster Lulu sequence) was funny... but not funny enough to poke such a large hole in the storyline in a 13 episode show, ya know? Besides, you gotta have a good reason to parody a parody, and it just wasn't there... somebody clue me in if you think I just missed it.
In any case, chalk this up as another one that, like Sakura Taisen, has some very engaging characters that it never manages to make good use of. Ryoko Mitsurugi is a wonderfully sympathetic and strong character, but there is nothing backing her up, and so the show goes nowhere, though you really want it to for her sake. Episodes 10 and 11 reinforce the quality of her character brilliantly as she deals with her unrequited love for her kendo teacher, and then the plot just collapses on top of her in episodes 12 and 13, and that's it, the show is over and it's just sad and disappointing.

A notable quality of Real Bout High School is that it is perhaps the animated series with the greatest number of panty shots ever. Fan service taken to an extreme of parody, and even referred to with good-natured humour in the dialogue. In spite of this, the show is appropriate for children who are not squeamish about a small amount of red blood and a correspondingly greater amount of green demon blood.