Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Episode 1
Rating: 9.8/10
Impressions:
Genres: Action, fantasy/sci-fi(?)
Studio: Majin Production Team
Official Site: http://www.majin.tv/
Oh fuck this is goddamn godly in terms of action, quality and overall awesomeness. It looks like I’ll have ANOTHER anime to blog now, unless the next episode turns out completely crap. I also need subs to blog this, and it looks like Shinsen and Static Subs might be doing it. Also, Kanon 16 will be up in a few hours. Mahora also released for episodes of Negima!? so I need to catch up on that tomorrow orz. Anyway, back to Tokyo Majin. I can assure you, if you are after quality, you will be amazed. The artists sure know how to draw a good zombie, and there is quite a bit of gory limbs-being-sliced, organs-spilling-everywhere and lots of kickass action scenes. Story-wise, it’s er…well, I didn’t really understand anything, so I’ll leave it for now. It seems pretty complicated from the looks of things, but then again, it could be pretty straightforward. The thing that really worries me now is the next episode, which I hope will not be crap after this amazing first episode, which tends to happen a lot.
The premise is pretty suiting for me, as I love high-school students coupled with an extra genre, whether it be mecha, fantasy or sci-fi etc. This anime is essentially about a bunch of zombie-killing high-school kids with super powers. Before you start thinking about how I said ’superpowers’, rest assured, it’s not your average Superman laser-eye super power or Goku-kamehameha-wave. All you need to know is that they create big explosions and lots of wicked zombie-blowing-to-pieces scenes. The fighting animation is awesomely sweet as well. I especially love the arrow dispersing into hundreds of arrows with extra special effects. Most of the episode is dedicated to fighting eye-candy with blood and guts flying everywhere as well. You could even call it fanservice if you’re into it that much. I think this is going to be my favourite show this season (and if the greatness keeps up, better than Code Geass, Death Note and Kanon even). It goes to show how much I like my gory action! And no, this is not a Bleach or Naruto shounen, it’s like Blood+ only much better!
As far as characters go, the designs are pretty good, with a variety (of perhaps overused) stereotypes; not that that’s bad though. We have a somewhat reserved student with superior fighting abilities as your main shounen hero; a sword(?) wielding student with a bad attitude and typical spiky hair; a happy-go-lucky female student council president; an angry, bitchy girl who’s also a skilled archer; a big, muscular guy who goes soft for the girl he likes (bitchy archery girl); a meganekko student news reporter, and the list goes on. As far as other characters go, there’s a ninja grandpa monk, a little(?) girl who changes from cute to Higurashi-style-USODA-mode in less than a second, and a big ugly thing that controls zombies via strings, and its core is comprised of a doll with a spider inside…And speaking of this big ugly thing, I’m sure the snout-like thing that converts humans into zombies is meant to be a mouth, but it seems more like a penis to me (eg, spreading its seeds everywhere to reproduce or something like that lol).
Short Summary:
Well, there really isn’t much to tell since it’s practically all mindless killing. We start off with some intro scenes, possibly depicting the past when zombies started attacking and one of the main characters is born. In the present, a girl getting chased around a brutal city filled with zombies. Eventually, she is captured and turned into a zombie herself by a large insectoid (made-up word). She appears to be dead and is found by some researchers, who go ahead and examine her. And this part I didn’t get at all, though I can speculate how they were discussing how the girl died.
In the school where all our protagonists reside, we get a few scenes showing the main characters together in class. This is before the two main male leads pick a fight with some deformed gang outside. Fast forward through the asskicking action and we get to some talk involving a monk and his subordinates. Unfortunately, the guy is attacked and killed by zombies. More discussion (god I need a sub) until the zombie girl from before appears before her boyfriend with some zombie friends and attack him. He is saved by the archery club captain, who is part of those with superpowers.
This is where the fighting really escalates, and the student council president gets her chance to show off her powers as well, though from what I could see, she has some sort of explosive ability, as well as healing and memory wipe perhaps. The meganekko reporter gets in trouble as well, but is saved by the council president and the big muscular dude. Anyway, it’s time for the insectoid zombie controlling monster to show up for a final time, as the two male leads confront it and beat it to death. The music at this time is pretty sad too, as it represents the losing battle that the zombie creature was having.
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19 Comments so far
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Looking good, animation and action wise.
Might give this baby a whirl come subs.
I’m glad I picked this one up because it surprised me quite a bit. Besides the “being completely lost” part of this episode, I was amazed at everything else. You’re right though, lots of stereotypes but I don’t see it as much of a problem.
hey .. pretty awesome!
ill get this after it being subs ….
high-schoolers bust undead? Buffy anyone?
Man, I was supposed to have had my entry out this morning around the same time but unfortunately my PC is kinda dead at the moment…..=(
Ah, is the RAW out? I think this may be the only series I’m gonna pick up this Winter season, other than Naruto. Kyoshiro’s frist episode was sorta odd for me but I still have to try out the second episode.
Darkshaunz: wow, Tokyo Majin a possible *Darkshaunz’s Special Over 9000 Anime Pick* of the season? xD You absolutely MUST watch and blog this since Retsgip doesn’t seem to be doing it!
retsgip: I’m glad this was in my winter previews, since the only shows I’ve checked out so far are from their…I really should check out Nodame, maybe when you put up your post about it…
naga_jahat: I’m waiting for the subs too, since I’ll most likely be following them, (the raws are impossible)
ewok: Buffy heh, this is way cooler!
Leon: aww bad luck, that’s happened to me quite a few times
Whispered.Hope: yes, the raw is out, and heh, you seem to like shounen/action series a lot. Almost everything you’re blogging fits into those categories! xD
this looks soo awsomeee =))
hmm it looks pretty good from the screens maybe I’ll check it out if some group subs it but I doubt it’ll be my favorite show I’m not into slaughter and guts and prefer things like Kanon/Air =)
Haha, seriously, all these shounen series makes me like a tomboy or something, eh? xDD I really to love shoujo series, but I don’t any n_n.
I forgot all about this anime and I haven’t watched it yet, but it looks sweet judging by your screen caps. Looks like something I’d like to blog about too… but I think I’ve got too much on my weekend plate.
Stephanie: sure is! i was completely blown away with how awesome it looks!
flamestrike: hmm, so you’re the drama type of person ‘ey? but if a show like this captures your attention even though you don’t necessarily like this genre must mean something good no?
whispered.hope: hehe, not really. I’m a guy and I love shoujo too!
wrex: i’ll definitely need subs to comment on the story, as otherwise there’d be nothing for me to blog about xD
wow this looks really good
can i ask you where you dl this? i’ve been searching for all the bittorrent sites but i can’t find any that has this anime =/
“muscular guy who goes soft for the girl he likes”
Maybe he should invest in some viagra then! Bwahaha…sigh. Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
Anyway, this episode was all kinds of awesome. For me, Winter is playing out to be a weak season in terms of anime premieres, so I’m glad I’ve finally found a new series to keep track of. Hopefully, a story will present itself and/or the characters will flesh out (a lot of potential there, it seems)…but even still, if they can keep the animation and action choreography the way they presented it in ep 01, I’ll follow it regardlessly.
A great first chapter!! I think (and hope) this is gonna be a great anime
It is awesome !
There are fights, zombies, magic…
hiyuuu is soo cutee!!:]
haha
this animes tooo cool!!:]
Wow, I’ve been looking for excellent new animes to watch lately, and it looks like I’ve hit the jackpot with this one. ^_^
My God this anime is mind blowing, Just watched the first episode and i have to say i am truly impressed , Although i ended up downloading a poor quality torrent but it still was worth it . Both the OP And ED songs are excellent. Looks to me like an action/Drama anime . The charecter design is quite unique too . If your thinking about downloading this anime i say go for it . I know it was released a year ago lol , But still had to thank you for blogging about it .