Master of Martial Hearts

Master of Martial Hearts
絶対衝激〜プラトニックハート〜
Genre	Action, Martial arts
Original video animation
Directed by	Yoshitaka Fujimoto
Studio	Arms Corporation
Licensed by	Funimation Entertainment Manga Entertainment Madman Entertainment
Released	October 29, 2008 – February 25, 2009
Runtime	30 minutes
Episodes	5
Manga
Written by	Cangshang Atsushi
Published by	Futabasha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Comic High!
Original run	September 2008 – January 2010
Volumes	3
Anime and Manga Portal

Master of Martial Hearts, known in Japan as Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart (絶対衝激〜プラトニックハート〜^?), is a series of five Japanese original video animations based on women fighting for a jewel that can grant any wish, the Platonic Heart.^[1] The OVAs are created by ARMS. On January 7, 2010, Funimation Entertainment announced that they have acquired the OVA series. They were released on August 10, 2010.^[2]

OVAs

The opening theme of the series is "Tatsumaki Wave" (タツマキWAVE^?) by Little Non. The closing theme for episode 5 is "Zero Gravity" also by Little Non. The OVAs were released in Japan between October 29, 2008 and February 25, 2009.

Episode listing

#	Title	Original air date
01	"Battle 1 ~ Destiny Sprints Into Motion"	October 29, 2008
Aya is walking home with her best friend Natsume from their high school, when they walk right into the middle of a fight between a teenage girl dressed as a priestess and a young woman dressed as a flight attendant. The priestess looks like she is in trouble, so Aya demonstrates some awesome kick-butt action and beats up the attendant. The priestess is thankful and introduces herself as Miko. She says that she was fighting to win a tournament in which the prize is a gem called the Platonic Heart which can grant any one wish. Aya, Natsume, and Miko become friends, and since Miko's wish of making friends is now granted, she withdraws from the tournament. But later that night, Aya discovers Miko's apartment ransacked with Miko nowhere to be found, and she remembers the rumor she heard that the Platonic Heart not only grants the wish of the winner, but also banishes the losers.....
02	"Battle 2 ~ A Reason to Fight"	November 27, 2008
Aya's new friend Miko disappears without of trace and it seems she never existed. Aya now has to compete so she wish her friend back but her next opponent is her favorite teacher.
03	"Battle 3 ~ Three Sisters, Sworn Enemies"	December 20, 2008
Aya tries to find her new friend but no luck. So she decided to go to a local pool to calm her down. Just then she face off against another opponent, a lady cop in a bikini.
04	"Battle 4 ~ Silently, Like Secrets"	January 28, 2009
Aya is in a sea of turmoil as she wonders whether it was really Natsume's brother she saw as the leader of the martial heart and her semifinal match is in a maid cafe.
05	"Battle 5 ~ Flames"	February 25, 2009
Aya faces her final opponent, a lady in red who says she is a clairvoyant who can see her heart. The lady tells Aya that the tournament is nothing more than a game, a trick by Miko. Angered, Aya defeats the lady in red, but not before the woman claims that Aya's heart has become "a sheet of darkness". Aya seems to snap and beats the woman to death, still hitting her after she has died. Miko appears and tells her that since Aya won she got her wish and Miko has returned. Miko takes Aya into a warehouse where all of her past opponents are being held. All of Aya's past opponents have gone insane and Miko says they are now "perfect women" that people would pay a lot for. Natsume and her brother also appear while Aya is asking Miko to explain. They tell her that they were the ones who organized the entire Martial Hearts tournament as a way to take revenge on Aya's family. Before Aya was born her father and her mother set up the original Martial Hearts tournament and sold all the women who lost into slavery. Two of those women were Natsume's mother as well as Miko's. Miko's mother was given to Aya's father as a mistress and on her fourth birthday she witnessed him kill her mother. Natsume's mother had her throat slashed, effectively muting her, and was sold to a man overseas. Years later she was able to escape and tell her children her story. When Natsume and Miko met they realized that all their suffering came from Aya's family and chose to hold another tournament so they could destroy Aya. They shoot her a number of times but before they can kill her explosives go off throughout the building and it catches on fire. Aya's mother appears, having set off the explosives, and tells them they are all caught in a web of vengeance. Aya's parents started the Martial Hearts tournament to seek revenge on Natsume and Miko's mothers, their fathers being the evil men who killed their families, and now their daughters are caught in the web of revenge as well. The girls attack her and Aya's mother kills them. She bandages up Aya and tells her she will atone for Aya's sins, staying in the burning building as a wounded Aya makes her escape. Later we see Natsume's mother at home, carving up pictures of Aya, when the doorbell rings. When she answers it her eyes go wide in terror and she lets out a silent scream before the scene immediately cuts to black.

References

1. ^ "Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~ Video Anime Green-Lit". Anime News Network. 2008-07-07. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-07-07/zettai-shougeki-platonic-heart-video-anime-green-lit. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 
2. ^ "Funimation Entertainment Acquires Master of Martial Hearts From Shochiku". Anime News Network. 2010-01-07. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2010-01-07/funimation-entertainment-acquires-master-of-martial-hearts-from-shochiku. 

External links

• Official Zettai Shougeki: Platonic Heart website (Japanese)
• Master of Martial Hearts (OVA) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• FUNimation's Master of Martial Hearts teaser page
• Master of Martial Hearts on the MangaUK Blog