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Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Episode 2

Rating: 9.8/10

Impressions:

OMG wow, the quality has not dropped at all! The show still looks like gold and is as entertaining as ever. There isn’t much action, but this is made up by a nice story. You can think of this as a sack of clichés, but it achieves two things which most other similar shows fail: quality, and not making the main character a justice freak. The quality is unquestionably very high, higher than most other shounen/seinen shows with lots of action. It’s like an action flick, as it has been compared to quite a few times before. The fluidity of the movements, and the lack of still shots with gay background effects is a definite plus. It’s as good as Samurai Champloo fighting!

The second aspect, which is about the main character, is often what puts me off from shows a lot. I don’t mind when I see one person with a justice complex, but when more and more appear, it gets very boring and corny. I disliked Shiro from Fate/Stay Night because of that; I hate Suzaku from Code Geass as well for the same reason. I also dislike Riku from Tokimeki for his overly ‘good’ personality. As for the main character in Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho, Tatsuma, he may be similar but it definitely hasn’t shown yet. He seems more like a Gin personality from Samurai Champloo. Kyouichi is a badass punk, which I always like, and the girls are just super hot. It all wins!

Basically, this episode is the real first episode, as it introduces the characters properly and shows how everyone meets Tatsuma, who I am pretty sure is the main character. After mastering everything his master can teach him, Tatsuma is sent to this particular school by his master. Like him, there are others in the school with supernatural abilities, and are all able to sense his arrival. When he ends up in the same class, he is attacked by Kyouchi as a test. After taking it outside and realising they are equally matched, they get acquainted and become friendly. Wow, what a convenient way to befriend someone, and it looks like they’re now best friends.

But that’s not the whole episode. A little later, Yuuya (the wrestling club captain) challenges Tatsuma to a fight causing Komaki and Aoi to come and stop the brawl. And conveniently as the super-teens are now gathered, the seals from in the building they are in are destroyed, and they are attacked by a demon. After fighting and losing to the demon, they are saved by Kisaragi. During the fight, their hidden powers are awakened, as indicated by the appearance of the unique red marks on their faces. I personally think the red marks are an awesome way to show who has powers and who doesn’t. And next episode we will continue from here (I know since I watched it already lol).

I’ve said last time that I have fallen in love with Aoi, but then it was because of her cuteness. This time though, we get to see her caring side, which is really sweet, how she looks out for everyone. It’s a shame that Kyouichi is such an ass to her, but we all know he really cares for her on the inside. Toono, the dai-sukuupu girl (big scoop news reporter) is becoming a favourite too, since she’s one of those playful and cheeky types that really liven up the show. I’m pretty sure she will never ascend the ranks to a full time main character, nor will she became truly involved in the story, though I could be wrong. This series may be full of clichés now, but that can change.

By the way, if you’re wondering, I will be blogging this series raw, because Shinsen is being really slow, and I’m afraid it might not even be finished subbed until months after the final episode airs. Speaking of the final episode, I wonder how many episodes this show will be. I hope it will be at least 26, but the quality is just so high it seems unlikely. If it means higher quality and better experience though, I would rather see this show as a 13 episoder. I also have no knowledge of the game, so I cannot make any assumptions based on that. But I won’t worry about that for now, and enjoy this series as much as I can. This show really is my favourite from the past three seasons.

Opening Sequence:

Download TV size mp3 – 2.06mb: Mirror 1

I really love both songs. Every shounen type show should have a song like this for an OP and ED. It’s why I love the Bleach OPs and EDs so much. The OP animation is also a marvel to look at it. It’s one of the better sequences I’ve seen for a while.

Opening Sequence:

Download TV size mp3 – 2.18mb: Mirror 1

Popularity: 12% [?]

6 comments

6 Comments so far

  1. boro ZZZ February 4th, 2007 11:46 pm Number of comments posted:

    it seems that the people with the powers may be spiritually connected or something, as when tatsuma gets hit, everyone becomes enraged and feels the impact…though this is probably only when they are attacked by oni (demons)

    im not sure though, thats just what i saw from this episode

  2. ewok February 5th, 2007 3:09 am Number of comments posted: (92)

    sadly I’m forced to rely on subs…

  3. ohphive February 5th, 2007 8:25 am Number of comments posted: (6)

    i was just thinking while watching this episode that Kyouchi reminded me a lot of Mugen, and then you made a reference to Samurai Champloo :)

    Is it just me or is this show really confusing? Maybe things will be explained later on, but so far with the minimal dialogue and lack of explanations, I can sort of guess what happened, but still feel pretty lost.

    Dispite the high quality of the episode and similarities between this and Samurai Champloo, i think SC will forever remain the better series for me, heheh

  4. Darkshaunz February 5th, 2007 11:15 am Number of comments posted: (39)

    Going to go with ewok here and say I’d be waiting for the subs as well.

    I speak Japanese as well as I speak Antartican. And the latter doesn’t even exist.

  5. Danny February 5th, 2007 5:55 pm Number of comments posted:

    boro ZZZ: it seems a bit strange though, as some of the enemies seem to have red markings as well (wait i think thats in the next episode…. >_>)

    ewok: i guess i have good guessing ability? i know a little jap and from the context, its easy to figure out the gist of whats going on

    ohphive: i liked samurai champloo but hated the story…because there hardly was any. i admit the fights are really good, but i guess im more attracted to tokyo majin because of the larger task force and involvement of kickass girls as well

    darkshaunz: yeah lol, even after watching anime for so long u never picked up any vocab? i guess maybe not, the only word i knew before starting to learn Jap was ‘nani’ which means ‘what’. Thats right, i didnt even know how to say hello (and dont even ask me about anime terms such as moe and tsundere….)

  6. CollegeAlgebra February 7th, 2007 5:22 am Number of comments posted: (1)

    This is the most promising thing I’ve seen so this year.
    I have to wait for a subbed version of this episode…I’m starting to dislike Shinsen-subs.

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