Tenjho Tenge Vol-2: Round 2 (2004)
Animation Production: Madhouse Studios
Released by: Geneon Entertainment
Running Time: 75 Minutes
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Here at the Japan Hero anime labs we enjoyed the first set of episodes of Tenjho Tenge quite a bit. Despite having some cookie cutter elements the series did so much right in bringing everything together that it made for a “can’t put down” experience that entertained at many different levels.

With the second volume what we get is a continuation of where we left off in episode four as Souichiro continues his martial arts training under the careful eye of Maya, leader of the Juken Club and sister of Aya who’s decided to become Souichiro’s wife whether he likes it or not. Will he be able to go beyond being a street fighter and reach his destiny as a powerful master of the fighting arts?

Story

"Maya decides to break up the Juken Club's combat training camp with a recreational trip to the bowling alley. Unfortunately, the Executive council takes advantage of their relaxation by sending all of their main Executioners to attack! How will the Juken club handle the combined might of the Council's army and its elite members?! " -- DVD Box

Review

The second volume in Geneon’s release of Tenjho Tenge features episodes five through seven in the series, which include:

Episode 5
After training hard and continuously the Juken club takes the night off to go to a local bowling alley. Here they relax physically and mentally, except for Aya, who after using her Dragon Eye sees an image of her sister and Souichiro kissing, something that disturbs and angers her quite a bit. The time for a confrontation over this does not come to pass though as the Executive council sends in a large team of fighters and executioners to take out the Juken club in one quick strike! Will our heroes survive the ambush?

Episode 6
Surrounded by thugs sent in by the Executive Council of students our heroes have 3 major battles running parallel to each other! Can they stand up to the impossible odds that lie ahead of them? If not this will spend the end of the Juken Club and the Executive council will continue its campaign unopposed, but what exactly is it that they fear about this group? Is there someone here who is potentially so powerful that he or she needs to be taken out immediately?

Episode 7
The battles are quickly wearing out each of the Juken Club members! On top of it the President of the School Council has made his way to the bowling alley to personally take matters into his own hands! Things are going from bad to worse and if they don't hurry our heroes weill be quickly wiped out!

I enjoyed the first volume of this series quite a bit, but it took the story arch within these episodes to really hit home on what an awesome setup the story has with its premise, the characters and martial arts battles. With so many shows out there dealing with the same core ideas as Tenjho Tenge it’s difficult for any one of them to truly stand out unless they go out on a limb to make themselves different such as the marriage of raw violence and sexuality in Ikkitousen (another series being released by Geneon here in the U.S.). Here the differentiator I think is the combination of interesting characters and solid scripting mixed with a unique graphic style.

The story itself doesn’t win any awards and is quite predictable in spots, but this is not an are where the series is trying to be a cutting edge piece, rather they way I saw it the pacing and smoothness of the flow of events is where this one puts many of the other anime series in this genre to shame. From beginning to end not a single moment is wasted, every second feels like it counts and is crucial to the story which helps move things at a good speed. So instead of having a whole episode of special training we get the basics of the training, the work that was put behind it and then see it applied to real world conditions rather than making the mastery of an art or attack the central theme of an entire chapter. Not that I’m against episodes where characters train, but here tha lack of that really helps maintain the high energy feel of the series.

In terms of character development we begin seeing the foundations for character feelings and relationships being setup and tested ad they go through a number of battles. For example Aya who was so quick to fall in love with Souichiro in the first episode is now beginning to question her feelings as well as his after seeing Maya kiss him in their training grounds. Maya herself is also going through an internal conflict that is becoming more apparent as we see her engage Isuzu in battle and her thoughts drift to Souichiro and his hidden potential. For his part Souichiro begins a challenging mental process to figure out exactly what it is that he has been fighting for his whole life and how it fits into his current situation. A lot of loose threads now, but no question that they will come together as we move deeper into the main plot.

I also enjoyed the classic “fight the henchman leader” melees where the more exotic fighters take on each member of the Juken Club in one-on-one duels that result in dramatic fighting exchanges, speeches and upmanship (if you watch a lot of anime you know exactly that I’m talking about). Of these probably my favorites were the fighters that take on Aya and Souichiro as they bring to the table samurai like values of fair play, honor and strength. Additionally Isuzu proved herself to be quite the colorful fighter in her battle with Maya as she reveals her true expertise, hidden weapons, but ultimately doesn’t come across as interestingly as the other two executioners.

As with the first set of episodes production values are high with some rather impressive animation and visual effects. The frame rate is silky smooth and the color palette used heavy on the pastels with some incursions made into darker territory every so often. Visual effects are used mostly for special attacks and scenes (such as Souichiro running up the stairs from a first person perspective) and they merge seamlessly with the traditional two dimensional character artwork.

The soundtrack seemed better this time out because it was mor audible and seemed to be more coordinated with what was happening on-screen.. The opening theme continues to rock btw! The background music lacked any pieces that stood out or were memorable to any degree, but during the show it felt like a good fit. I found the voice acting was effective, especially on the original Japanese dubbed track.

On the DVD front this is a basic release with a small number of extras contained in the disc. These include a clean copy of the ending animation sequence and previews for other Geneon anime releases. There is also a small insert inside the box with more info on the release dates for the rest of the series as well. The video and audio transfers for this one were perfectly carried out with no noticeable issues. Subtitles were easy to read and well timed.

Final Thoughts

Tenjho Tenge may not have a plot that will win awards, but it definitely gets high marks when it comes to giving you a huge bang for your buck! Definitely a must-watch for fans of anime martial arts or tournament-style stories. Be forewarned though the cliffhanger will make you cry when you realize that volume 3 isn’t out yet.

This one gets our thumbs up.

Jeffrey Couto