Review - Tenjho Tenge Round 2
Reviewed by Richard Brownell on 9.13.2007.
Score: 8/10
Tenjho Tenge is a violent and sexual anime. In my review of the first volume, I said it started off weak partially because of no strong lead characters (and not many likable ones). But now that we are into the second volume, we no longer have that problem.
After some difficult training in the first part of Golden Week, Maya decides that they all need to relax and go bowling. So ignoring Souichiro's protests, they go and bring along Bob's girlfriend, Chiaki, as well. It turns out that the Juken club isn't only good at fighting, but also bowling. Things don't stay so friendly though.
After the mishaps made by the first executioner, the Executive Council is mighty pissed off. The vice president has decided to send her best men along with herself to take out the Juken club. The vice president herself is a martial artist that specializes in weapons. She's yet another hot girl in the show, though she has some pretty bizarre hair. Her weapons are of the hidden variety so it's hard to tell how and when she'll strike next.
The pro wrestler from the first volume is also part of the attack. He's got huge muscles and his own unique fighting style when compared with the faster martial artists in the show. But he also has less anger inside him and his own motivations for fighting for the executive council.
A new executioner is also introduced, a samurai. Though he looks more like the type of guy you'd find in a scummy bar in a bad neighborhood, he's also one of the few samurai left in the world. He can sense the power of the Dragon Eye that Aya has and he does not think a power such as that should be allowed to develop.
But three executioners against the five members isn't overkill at all, so they bring in dozens of students working directly under the executive council to make sure that they can take them all out. And towards the end of the DVD, and strange new man and the President himself show up to make sure the attack is going smoothly.
That's right, I did say the end of the DVD. The three episodes of this volume are all the same fight. Just like in the first volume, the show can be rather jumpy between the fights, flashbacks, and talking scenes. It feels rather like it's following the typical chapter-long chunks that manga is published in rather than having the fight scenes optimized for watching animation.
Nonetheless, it's an exciting fight. There are many different styles of combat at play and the entire Juken Club is now fighting together, even if Souichiro and Bob still have a lot to learn. It's hard to believe that they are already fighting against some of the best fighters of the school considering there are many more episodes to go. But it doesn't seem like the writers are about to run out of ideas any time soon. Especially since neither Aya or Maya are fighting at their peak, what with Aya being suspicious that Maya may have been doing some rather naughty things with Souichiro. We'll have to wait and see in the next volume what happens at the end of this fight.
Special Features
DVD Features
· Contains Episodes #5-7 (Approx. 75 minutes)
· 2.0 Dolby Digital English & Japanese Audio
· Two English Subtitle Streams (Dialogue translation & Signs Only translation)
DVD Bonus
· Non-Credit Ending
