Wow,  I know I said this show was bad, but I didn't realize it was THIS bad.
Firstly, the main character is an idiot. This is not something that is unique to her; Most main characters are morons, but that's not a good thing. Secondly, the whole premise of the show is insane.
There are two kinds of ninja; Good ninja, and bad ninja.
Simplistic, and even more stupid when you realize that no-one thinks of themselves as being "Evil".
Secondly, the thing that makes a ninja "Good" or "Bad" is equally insane. Basically, a "Bad" Ninja is one who sells their skills to the highest bidder: I.E. They are a mercenary. Usually but not always slimy, if not evil.
"Good" Ninja follow orders to the letter, no questions asked.
So, mercenaries, versus state assassins. Neither one is particularly "Just".
The crazy thing is, Senran Kagura just might be vicious social commentary on the nature of the Japanese being brought up to obey orders, but I doubt it.
I should also mention that I played the Hebijo side of Burst before the Hanzo side, and so I think of them as being the protagonists, so that plays merry hell with my suspension of disbelief.
Not that the show itself doesn't do a lot of that itself.
Really, the biggest wall for me is that the story refuses to acknowledge the concept of Lawful Evil. Anyone who obeys orders, no matter what they are, is good. Anyone who disobeys orders, no matter what they are, is evil.
This is somewhat remedied in Deep Crimson, but the main characters are too stupid to rebel against their rigid command structure until WAY late in that game. Even then, they don't so much rebel as "Compromise, kinda."
In fact, it is the characters severe lack of intelligence and will that really kills the series. And why I like the "Bad guys" more. Because THEY cleave their own path in the world, following no-one's orders.
And, seeing as the entire Hebijo squad placed in the top ten of the recent popularity poll, it appears that I am not alone in this opinion.
Wow. This show really is terrible. So much telling instead of showing, so many informed attributes, so little actual fighting. I mean, the good guys get jumped, and then have their butts handed to them in three strikes maximum.
Not to mention that it's just so unbelievably weird. It's difficult to explain just how weird it really is.
It's a spectacular failure of suspension of disbelief. The whole thing is a mangled, incomprehensible mess. It's difficult for me to even find it sexy because of how weird it is.
It was also made at a bizarre time for anime, when the nudity laws were stronger, meaning that for all of it's posturing as a trashy anime, SRT: The Inspector and Ranma 1/2 are both more explicit then it is.
In summation, it has a nonsensical and contradictory plot, a premise that is insane, barely tolerable characters, and to top it all off, it tries to have an ambiguous ending, despite the fact that it chronicles the events of the FIRST game in a FIVE game series.
Did I enjoy it? Kinda. Nowhere near as much as I enjoy VD: Mermaid, which I will watch again and again, but as trashy, awful, video game anime go, it's unbelievably terrible.
The animation is gorgeous, however.