Tetsu no shojo Jun

I'm not familiar with the manga, and I don't remember how I first came across this. The premise caught my eye, but I didn't truly expect anything more than cheesy fun. To begin watching, 'Iron Virgin Jun' definitely does immediately come across as cheesy - but to be honest, not very much fun. I can't exactly say I'm impressed.

The animation is simply perfunctory, and the English dubbing is frankly rotten. The plot is more ham-handed than I could have guessed, and even without knowing the source material - while technically complete, it's clear the narrative of the anime is terribly truncated. As a result I can only give the manga the benefit of the doubt and assume we've lost context, detail, additional fight scenes, and otherwise plot points in adaptation that would have let the film be something greater than ridiculous, predictable, half-baked pablum.

There are admirable themes suggested in the root concept of self-determination, the clash between unwelcome tradition and burgeoning individuality, and feminism, to say nothing of the lengths entrenched powers will go to to subjugate free choice. Nearly all such thematic content is reduced to nothing in a dubiously abbreviated rendition of an idea that had great if campy potential.

There are worse ways you could spend your time, but that doesn't mean 'Iron Virgin Jun' is especially worth your while, either. More than anything else I was bored while watching, to the point of nodding off; to the layperson, anyone who isn't a devotee, it's just not particularly captivating. I'm disappointed - this could have been really entertaining. I'd like to read up on the manga, I think. But this animated version of the story just doesn't cut it.