Review - Tenjho Tenge Round 3
Reviewed by Richard Brownell on 9.24.2007.
Score: 7/10
The bowling alley fight made up the entirety of the second volume of Tenjho Tenge. And believe it or not, it also makes up the first two episodes of the three episodes that are on volume 3 as well. The episode count wouldn't be so bad if Tenjho Tenge were a more episodic show, but the fights span several episodes leading to frustration between volumes. And just as this volume ends, we get a whole new arc just teasing us.
At the end of the last volume, the Juken club was actually doing a good job of dealing with the Executive Council. They each threw almost everything they had at each other. Only two fights remained. Aya had to finish dealing with Tegami on the rooftop and everybody down in the bowling area had to deal with Mitsuomi, the President of the Executive Council entering the scene.
Aya is now practically naked which should be some nice fan service for those out there looking for that. And she is not holding back. The Dragon Eye ability that she has recently discovered gives her an edge over her opponents. She can see their moves before they make them and turn the tide of the fight in whatever way she chooses. The only problem is that it can also make her go crazy with bloodlust. There's only a taste of this in this volume, but it seems like something we could see a lot of as the show goes on.
Down in the bowling alley, Mitsuomi has some tired fighters to deal with. Bob, Masataka, and Chiaki are only interested in leaving the scene at this point, but Mitsuomi is in the way. Masataka wants to take him on, but with one swipe his other brother tosses him aside and has one of his henchmen fight him. This leaves only Bob to take him on and Mitsuomi actually offers Bob a chance at working under him instead of Maya.
The fights that occur after this point continue the rampant brutality of the show, though they also reveal a potential weak spot with the storytelling. Souichiro, though he's mostly still just a brash street fighter, has already used his special ability to take down the pro wrestler and now even poses a major threat to Mitsuomi. It may be too early to tell, but he's being set up as a god character, not based on his winning fights, but why he wins them. If he can't be beaten and you know that watching his fights, there isn't any excitement for the viewer. Already it's more entertaining watching Bob, Masataka, and the girls fight than Souichiro because of his use of chi.
But the god character syndrome is made up for in the final episode where we learn some of what really happened between Maya and Mitsuomi in their past. Her brother pissed off Mitsuomi enough for them to fight to the death, but we still do not yet know what that something might be.
As fighting anime goes, Tenjho Tenge is sitting square in the good category without going out of its way to progress to greatness. Even though this is a volume 3, it's still early in the series, so it has a lot of room to grow. Hopefully there will be some real challenges posed to Souichiro in future fights.
Special Features
DVD Features
· Contains Episodes #8-10 (Approx. 75 minutes)
· 2.0 Dolby Digital English & Japanese Audio
· Two English Subtitle Streams (Dialogue translation & Signs Only translation)
