Review of Tenjho Tenge: Vol. 7

Introduction

Fighting anime, a genre that would normally have me heading for the hills. Characters facing each other, building up their stats and unleashing special effect laden finishing moves, it all seems barely one step above the console games that inspire them. While the younger audiences are catered for with card swapping mayhem like Pokemon, older viewers need something a little more adult with their combat. As well as adding some bone-crunching violence and free flowing blood, there is a fair bit of sex as well, with mini-skirted vixens with ample breasts that would be excessive in a Russ Meyer movie, getting into the fist fighting fun. Tenjho Tenge, which has all of this, has been somewhat hit and miss thus far, at its best enthralling, but on occasion quite leaden. It does have an interesting story, characters that go beyond the usual anime clichés, and a sense of irreverence that occasionally borders on the parody. It`s fun and moreish, but not the best choice if you are looking for a little mental sustenance from your anime. But in between all the relationship angst and the copious flashback sequences, we appear to have lost track of time and wound up at the final volume. We now have just two episodes of the series left in which to wind up the last flashback, as well as bring the present day storyline to conclusion, and with any luck, the two bonus episodes will redeem the whole experience in the space of 45 minutes.

Souichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara have built a reputation of ruling the roost of whichever school they are transferred to. They do this through relentlessly using their fists against whoever stands up to them. This has been going on for some time now, but the 100th school they attend is a wholly different prospect. Todo Academy`s mission statement since its founding has been to resurrect and promote the Martial Arts. The students there are a completely different prospect, and Souichiro and Bob will not wind up at the top of the pile as they so casually assume, quite the reverse in fact. They are taken under the wing of Maya Natsume, who sees promise in their abilities, and she trains them as part of her Juken Club. The problem is that the Juken Club stands for everything that is anathema to the school`s Student Executive Council.

Volume 6 had left us in the middle of a flashback, as we finally learned of the rift that occurred in the original Juken club, the events that pitted Mitsuomi against Maya, and led to the death of her brother Shin. Now we see that tragedy unfold in the final volume of Tenjho Tenge, as well as resolve the present day situation, with Aya in possession of the cursed katana. Volume 7 completes the series with two episodes, and then has two bonus OVA episodes that continue the mayhem.

23. Curse
The Takanayagi plan to create the ultimate martial artist has come to a head, with a battle between Shin Natsumi and Mitsuomi Takanayagi inevitable. With the two friends pitted against each other, no matter who wins, it will be Maya who loses.

24. Vicissitudes
While not everything has gone exactly to plan, the Takanayagi clan have their ultimate warrior. Not for long however, as Mitsuomi has plans of his own, and he soon takes his place as Executive Council President to enact his vision. Back in the present day, Mitsuomi and Maya are tracking down Aya, who with the cursed katana seems to be following the same tragic path as her late brother. She isn`t willing to part with it though, and fortunately she has a chivalrous knight to defend her when Souichiro shows up to challenge Mitsuomi.

25. Ultimate Fight: Dragon`s Fist
The Imperial Match Preliminaries are in a month, and Mitsuomi and Maya agree to delay their confrontation until then. There`s going to be some special training required to get Souichiro up to scratch, but his new tutors turn out to be his mother and Dougen Takanayagi, Mitsuomi`s estranged father. Souichiro isn`t too pleased to be taught by these two, but what lessons they have to impart are remarkable and empowering.

26. Ultimate Fight: Germination
Aya thought she could live with Souichiro falling for her elder sister, but tensions come to a head and she challenges Maya to a rooftop battle. Meanwhile, Mitsuomi knows he`s on borrowed time, and rather than wait for the tournament, he challenges Souichiro there and then.

Video

Tenjho Tenge gets a clear, sharp and exceedingly colourful 4:3 transfer. By and large the transfer is excellent, with few if any artefacts or colour banding. The animation is something of a mixed bag. The character designs are excellent, but the dynamic opening sequence isn`t mirrored by the show. This is one of those static animations where everything remains static except the lips in dialogue scenes. It also lacks visual depth, it`s very obviously a CG 2D animation, and it feels very much like an animated comic book. That is except for the action sequences, which are dynamically realised, with the fights accomplished with flair and impact.

Audio

You get a choice between DD 2.0 English and Japanese, with a further choice of translated English subtitles, signs or nothing at all. The dialogue is clear throughout, and while as usual I prefer the Japanese track, I spot checked the English track and found little to complain about.

Features

This time around, you get the screenshot gallery with 15 images (useful if your pause button breaks), trailers for Ah My Goddess and Ergo Proxy, and the final creditless ending for the series, as well as the creditless ending for the bonus episodes.

Conclusion

Tenjho Tenge is a prime example of the dangers of adapting an ongoing manga. There inevitably comes a point, given the more intense television schedules, when the animators will run out of material to adapt before the author finishes the story. In long running series like Naruto, this inevitably leads to countless episodes of filler; inconsequential stories that amount to the series spinning its wheels. But with series of finite length, it becomes impossible to stall. Gantz solved this by creating a different ending altogether, diverging from the manga. Tenjho Tenge on the other hand just fades away at the end, not having achieved very much at all, and with no closure for any of the main characters.

No closure that is, except for the flashback sequence. While Tenjho Tenge introduced a set of interesting characters that hopefully should have been developed over the length of the series, it had several diversions while it went about filling the background to the story. That story, taking place two years prior, took the characters of Maya, her brother Shin, Mitsuomi and Bunshichi and developed them through a fully realised story, and it`s no surprise that this turned out to be the most satisfying part of the series. It`s also no surprise that this flashback sequence has been taken out of the series, re-edited, and released in Japan as the movie, Tenjho Tenge: The Past Chapter.

The main characters of Souichiro, Bob Makihara, present day Maya and Mitsuomi, Aya and Masataka all fade into irrelevance as the story concludes. The series has done absolutely nothing with Bob and Masataka, and what little development has occurred with the rest of the characters has fizzled out in a disappointing ending. It fails to conclude the story, and manages to leave every plot thread hanging.

The flashback sequence got pretty dark at the end, and it`s left until the second episode on this disc to wrap that up in a satisfying manner. That leaves barely half an episode to finish off the television series, and it only managed to finish the cursed katana arc off, and it does so with as simple a method as possible. Aya just gives it back. That`s after an epic battle between Mitsuomi and Souichiro of course. The return of the present day sequence also means a return of a lighter, more comedic feel, but just ten minutes worth isn`t enough to balance the earlier darkness, and the series concludes pointing to the OVA episodes as real conclusion of the story.

Yet the two OVA episodes also fail in giving a suitable conclusion. We are presented with the Imperial Match Preliminaries as the venue for the final clash between Juken and The Executive Council, and Souichiro goes into serious training for them, unlocking even more impressive abilities. But then relationship angst intrudes once more, and we spend most of the second OVA episode in a comedy chase between sisters Aya and Maya, as well as a preliminary match up between Souichiro and Mitsuomi. We never even get to the Imperial Match Preliminaries, and we`re left hanging as the end credits roll.

So the story isn`t concluded in Tenjho Tenge, and most of the main characters get short shrift. You may be wondering what the point of the series is. Well, as I mentioned the flashback sequence manages to get its story told with a degree of satisfaction, and the episodes are remarkably easy to watch. It`s no effort to just put a disc in, switch off and enjoy the action and eye candy. I would suppose that the series would act as a curious companion to the manga, but at seven volumes and 26 episodes, it`s really just a glorified prologue. Nothing special, unless one day a second series appears.