They tell me that the Ikki Tousen series ("Dragon Destiny" being the second of four seasons, plus some OVAs) is inspired by (or "loosely based on") the 14th century Chinese romance / historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". If so, the inspiration didn't go much further than "let's have a few groups fighting against each other". Instead of broad-sweeping social unrest, political scheming, and epic military campaigns, we get high-school girls with some magical powers fighting for (I think) the supremacy of their school.
There may be a plot somewhere, or character development, but if so, they were completely lost on me. The whole point of the series seems to be to expose as much of the girls' skin as possible, and to subject them to random violence.
This edition includes 6 short OVAs called "Big Battle At Red Cliffs Hot Spring", where the various female characters frolic at a hot spring resort without a shred of clothing on.
Character design and animation direction are in the hands of Rin Sin (りんしん), who's made some of a name for himself in hentai animation: his "talent" is in full display here, in the excessively sexed-up bodies of what should be teen-aged high school students, and in the minimalist animation to avoid distracting the viewer from the charms of those same students.
The director is OOHATA Kouichi (大畑 晃一), whose well deserved claim to fame is as mecha designer in well known and well loved works like Gunbuster (both the '88 and the '06 OVAs), Gundam ("Char's counterattack" of '88), and Macross (the second movie from '92). Apparently, though, as a director he prefers the H-side of anime: Burst Angel and all the Ikki Tousen but the first season.
If you want to watch buxom girls with shredded clothes punch each other, this series is definitely for you. If, on the other hand, you like anime that engages your brain, it's safe to say that you'd be better off looking somewhere else.
