The story initially only involves the rivalry between the two schools, but quickly escalates into a darker plot as a threat to both schools looms. I found several places in menus or in the Dressing Room where the wrong voice was paired with a girl.
The plot is played out between fights in Mission Mode, through conversations between characters and through novel-style narrative. Each school boasts five main playable characters usable throughout the story (along with even more characters added as you progress), and who are interchangeable for training missions and other special challenges outside of the main story. Both good and evil shinobi have been fighting one another for as long as they can remember a trope that will be challenged fairly early in the game by members of both schools. Hebijo shinobi are “evil” and fight only for profit, no matter the client. Hanzo is the domain of “good” shinobi–those who fight for the government to protect the good of the people, rather than for personal gain. Senran Kagura takes place in Japan, in and around two rival ninja schools: Hanzo and Hebijo. You do, however, need to be prepared for some serious…well, exposure. Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is technically a sequel to the original Senran Kagura games, but you don’t need to know anything about the previous games to understand its story or mechanics.
The games have enjoyed some success in Japan, to the point of spawning a spin-off manga and anime.
The clothes-ripping brawler series localized (oddly) as a cooking/rhythm game ( Senran Kagura Bon Appétit!) for the PS Vita in 2014…but that’s about it.
You may not have heard of Senran Kagura–we haven’t seen many of the games in the west. Due to the nature of the game, some screenshots may include potentially NSFW content. (Warning: Senran Kagura 2: Deep Crimson is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.