Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuuchou: Tou Dai Ni Maku

If you're reading this, then you've most likely already seen the first season so I won't talk about that. This may sound like a rant of nonsensical rambling, but this is how I give my review, or rather critique.

Although for the second season, they fill a lot of holes that were left from the first season, however brought about new ones until the bitter end. S2 fails in comparison to the first. I hate anime that end abruptly in the middle such as a character never being seen again, or they were last seen doing this but don't say what happened to them. This ... is one of those anime titles.

The story was okay, being that they incorporated fantasy, supernatural mythology, epic action, and some romance, but that's the only reason why I rated it up to 7 as I start from 10 and deduct what I don't like. With the last two episodes, they sort of explained more in depth of the characters backgrounds to accompany the main story's, but not the main story itself.

What I didn't like was for some eps, after each episode, they skip right into the middle of the next one, and go back to where they left off later. I can understand this form of story telling in short stories where they commonly start in the middle and tell onward, but with anime it gets complicated when you jump back and forth continuously, leaving the viewer not knowing what just happened and confused half the time.

I've no complaints about the art and sound as they were top-notch, but the characters of the story aren't expressed very well. The reason being they either don't go too in-depth for certain characters, or go too in-depth for other certain characters, and also the order of which they do that; they need to get their priorities straight.

With anime such as this that has graphic bloodshed, there are bound to be deaths. However continuously I've been seeing more and more series do this: killing off the characters that would have been better if they lived, and letting certain characters live that NEEDED TO BE KILLED & STAY DEAD!!

Although only a fragment of the whole story, at times I've thought the original romantic character relations that were supposedly canon were great, but they decided to put it all in a blender with new ingredients and see what comes out of that. It's like putting tomato in a fruit salad. So obviously I was left with a disgusted taste from seeing little progress, or too much, or misdirected characters portrayals and where the creators were going with this all.

On a side note: the series ends at episode 11. Episode 12 is more of an extra or OVA you'd normally see packed with DVD specials. Another fault I see is they should have directed their efforts or attention towards a more complete rounded ending in the last episode, instead of an extra that the main series could have done without.

My overall enjoyment is high because of my satisfaction for the art, sound, action, and favourite voice actors/actresses(seiyuu), but only average for my disappointment in their story telling and characters.

This is a great sequel, personally, I think that this is way better than the 1st season.

Unlike the first season, (with 1 main antagonist and him sending MINIONZ after the heroes), this season shows off TWISTS and more action!
The story was pretty original to me, even though most shounens are the same (High school kids fight evil!). I liked the overall story, even though in some parts I had a difficult time understanding what was going on.

The characters in this anime are great, and this season showed the audience more character development and origins. Although some characters are "common/typical", this anime managed to add ... more personalities to characters, showing more variety.

The art and sound are A+, I've never seen such great artwork and music before, and through Tokyo Majin I've gotten to listen to such a great band(ACID), and the OST. The fight scenes,(Thanks to the wonderful animation) were all action packed and kept me on my toes.

Although I really wanted more of Alan Claude in the story, this will stay in my favorite anime forever.
This needs more watchers though, seriously.

Well truth to be told, if you are reading this.. then you've probably watched season one and anxious to see what season two is about. Well season one is started out pretty good. Starting with a fighting scene on the very first episode really hooks you in. However that is how this entire franchise is going to be like.

I can see how it's very allure to watch this anime with all the suspense they give you and the mystery provided. Like how at the end of season one, many mystery has not yet been solve, which cause many more question. Season one was pretty ... good is the aspect of sequence of events and moments of suspense. This anime is very short anime with very very short arcs. Season one was the longest where we get to see every character and then near the end focused on one character which is "Misato Aoi" Season two however is full of confusion and just plain terrible. But at the very least the producer tried to fix it. Here's why....

I will say this season two contains a better story, more mystery and increased in suspense but the procedure or the events weren't executed to reach the satisfactory point. The first 5 episode arc was about this Justice assassination organization. If was an pretty good intro to the mastermind of the destruction and is gave us what should we expect to see in the next few eps. However it wasn't executed properly. The characters weren't properly introduced, the producer tried to deepen our knowledge of the character but not to the full therefore leaving us back to square one. A lot more characters true identity ore motives came to light but it had no connection to the story at all. Like the second arc, Stars of Fate, the four guardians were even given a reasonable amount of screen time for us to get to know them as the guardian. I know it's suppose to be unknown but they shouldn't at least gave us a hint that they have met before or at least encounter.(talking about the Alan Claude). The most terrible thing about this anime is that they completely ignore the strong point of the anime is the fluid fighting scenes. I actually looked forward to the fighting scenes but instead they made the enemy way to powerful and that somehow instead of close combat it's more like a one hit KO or a super powerful beam. The last episode of season two is even more despicable!!
The ending of 23 was awesome, very strong, very powerful but they complete ignore the fight and went back to the aftermath or the ending of the show instead of slowly guiding us through it. People want to see the fight but they didn't show us what we want. It's like trying to watch a movie but half way through at the FREAKEN CLIMAX they cut us off and show us the ending. The worst part is they realize what they've done and just added a small cut scene of it. The last two episode of season two is a sort of a bonus for us to get a better feel of the characters and a little more of the aftermath, but honestly disappoint me because I'm pretty sure it could've been inserted somewhere in the actual season as a part of an arc instead of a bonus, for more effect. It's like they are trying to fix things up.
The music and art i have no complaint about, they were both drawn and inserted very nicely, characters personality very much suit how the character are drawn.

Honestly if you were going to watch this season and hoping that the mysteries from the first season were going to be solved and unravel then you are looking at disappointment!! SERIOUSLY!! However if your just looking at anime just to kill some time and like action and suspense mainly appealing to shounen viewers then this may be the one for you but don't expect to much from this!

--Later

I found this second season to be a bit more coherent and powerful than the previous season. It opens up with a bang, with a mysterious organization, some very interesting build-up, and delectable fights (the choreography and animation for Tatsuma's fights are always so graceful to watch). Although the story seems to progress too quickly (especially with the anime's fondness for never really showing how -anything- ends except with a few flashbacks in the following episode), at least it tries to tie together the various plot strings from both seasons as it heads towards its climax.

We get new insights in characters' pasts as well ... as character development. The middle half of the series wades neck-high through angst and more angst, before closing out with a rather sudden and unfulfilling ending -- at first glance. Nevertheless, I think the ending did a great job in closing out this seemingly unfinished story and leaving the viewer (at least, me) with a sense of closure and fulfillment, simply by focusing on the characters rather than the plot.

"Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: 2nd act" is a very under watched and unknown sequel to "Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: Tou", and require that you have watched the first part . In many ways I think it was better then the prequel, but I still had some problems with it. Don´t get me wrong, in the action/shounen/super natural genres it´s actually quite good and I enjoyed very much of it. It contains classical components that always work, and deliver it in it´s own style. The thing for me is that it delivered some aspects so good, that the parts that was lacking stuck out the more. ... In my review I gonna take up what I thought was really great with the show, and the parts that took it down a couple of notches for me.

Story: 8/10
I can start to mention that 2007 (then the anime was produced), the manga was very new so not much source material was out. It is still ongoing so based on what they had to work with, I think they did a good job. You should know that the end is very open and begs for a continuation, but it was as well rounded as it could be. But enough of that, let´s get down to business.

The story hasn´t a very original base; senior high school kids is getting super natural powers, and teams up to fight evil (mostly demons and other power users) and protect Tokyo from harm. This not necessarily make it bad, but if you are looking for something totally new and can´t take another pretty typical setting - well, then "Tokyo Majin" is not for you. I personally quite enjoyed the story, it has a darker atmosphere then most action/shounen - less focus on comedy and more on how events and battles actually effects the characters emotionally. Credit for the fact that hard and life changing experiences the characters went through, actually had consequences. So emotional and heavy scenes became very believable, and contributed to the rest of the story - they never just happened and was never mentioned again, which can happen in a lot of anime. The story has minor arcs but the overall experience is that it all melts together nicely, with references to earlier events and so on. The main story builds up faster this time around - we are done with small fries and the enemies are of an another caliber. We get more action, and the fights are more evenly spread in "2nd act" compared to the prequel. Speaking of the action - for me it´s the best part of "Tokyo Majin". The action scenes are absolutely great (especially Tastuma´s fight scenes, his technique is really something)! They are often pretty short, but what it lack in length it makes up in intensity. Fluid, precis motions, nice angles, well showcased techniques, blood flying, and the scenes are speeden up and slowed down in just the right places. The action scenes it self is worth a 10! And often with some real suspense, most of the fights are not just "bash them down and then we go home" kind of fights. It´s often very serious fights, that some of the characters are emotionally invested in - brilliant, it highlights the darker atmosphere the show has (it sometimes border on horror). But great action alone can´t bare a show. The super natural theme is pretty great and has a good since of mystery to it. This part has a lot of potential, but suffers from the fact that this was planned out as a much longer story. You are left with many unanswered questions, and no real conclusion of the main event. But the end is as well rounded as it can be - "Tokyo Majin" is absolutely still is worth a watch.

Art: 8/10
For a almost 10 year old anime, the art and animation is pretty great. It definitely has it flaws, but most anime has them. The color panel really suites the show with is duller background colors, and brighter highlights in the use of the super natural theme. It give many of the scenes justice. For the main characters designs I think they are quite good - they actually look like 17-18 year olds, and not like overgrown kids. All characters has personal traits which makes them easy to recognize. The character designs are in most cases more to the edgy and harder kind of look, rather then to the pretty kind. Suites the show and the story very well in my opinion. Credit to the fight and super natural event scenes, they very enjoyable and well done.

Sound: 7/10
Here i´m having a bit a mixed feelings. Some of the OST was great, and suiting to the scenes atmosphere and the show it self. I personally really enjoyed the dramatic and intense classical music - the violins really made the suspense meter go sky high. I probably gonna listen to them for a long time a head. Much of the the OST also contained a lot of rock (the darker and rougher kind). Some I felt was well suited, others.. was just not that memorable and some almost mode breaking. Both OP´s was really good and fitting for the show. Both has darker rock themes, which really amplifies the horror/action tone of the show. The ED´s was more clam and emotional songs, they was pretty good but nothing I gonna remember for long. For VA (I watched the dubbed), I have some complains. The first is that in many cases it sounded as the VA´s was speaking through a metal can. It destroyed a pretty big part of the experience - it took away the feeling of the character really being "there". It made me feel leaser for them, and it´s a shame - they go through really though stuff. And I wasn´t a fan of Aoi´s voice actor - she made Aoi sound less determined then she are. If I gonna rewatch "Tokyo Majin" I will for shore go for the subbed, I can imagine that it´s a lot better.

Character: 6/10
Here I have a bit mixed feelings to. Some characters I thought was great and really grow to vote and feel for. And other I find a bit annoying and hold back by the creator(s) - they had so much potential to grow and shine, but are left a bit unchanged in the dust. Mostly the female cast to be honest, which is a shame. We have some archetypes in this show (it is an action/shounen/super natural show after all); the non to bright delinquent with anger issues, the kind savior with a mysterious past, the princess type with "save the world" complex, the jealous and over protective best friend, the big friendly guy with a hidden love, and the serious and handsome outsider. The main focus is on these six characters Kyouichi, Tatsuma, Aoi, Kemaki, Yuuya, and Hisui. We get backgrounds on all of them given time, and they all get to be the center of attention in certain events. But there´s a difference in how well their past and "in real time" events makes the character evolve. But overall I think they had a good balance in screen time between the characters - even if Tatsuma and Kyouichi are some what little more main then the others. That didn´t bother me, I really like them as characters and thought their stories was more interesting then others. Both of them has pretty good character development, personalities and are strong in mined. I thought the villains and such alike, was pretty believable and had reasons (delusional or not) for their actions - ok, maybe not the zombies. Most of the supporting characters have their own personalities, and place to contribute to the story. It´s definitely not a shallow and boring cast - some of them are almost as good as the main cast and some are very entertaining.

Some annoying withstanding traits and under development/explorations of some the characters, didn´t let me appreciate some of the them as much as I could of have and drag down the score quite a bit. But many interaction of the character was really good, and I really started to feel for them as a close bonded team. And I am gonna read the manga to see what happens, so what has bothered me may change.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I actually really enjoyed most of this show. The show has a neck of building up suspense and tense moments - which I enjoy very much. Some of the character drag the whole experience done a bit for me - they had so much potential but was hold back and came out annoying sometimes (Yes, Aoi and Kemaki - I´m looking at you). Aoi reminded me of Orihime from Bleach in so many ways, and I just can´t stand that type of personality when is used in that manor. What I mean is that you have a character with conviction and power, and they just are in the way, their desire to protect all souls (even super evil murders) is making her friends get hurt, and their great powers are not explored or developed that much. That´s a personal opinion, but I think the whole show would have been better if Aoi and Kemakis characters had been used in a slightly different manor. But over all I really enjoyed "Tokyo Majin" for what it is - a horror oriented action/shounen/super natural show, which in in many ways succeeded in.


Overall: 8/10
Even that I feel like some parts are lacking and some things could have been done better, I definitely think it was worth the watch and I will read the continuation in the manga. The action and fighting scenes was outstanding, the story was interesting and have a lot of potential. The dark themes was a very nice touch to story, and made you feel the seriousness of it. If you feel for something with some nice old school feeling and a lot of great action and gore, I can highly recommend "Tokyo Majin".

I personally think that this anime was undeniably epic in some moments and terribly boring at some other moments. The first season kept me clinging on because of the characters and the interesting build-up of suspense left for the second season to unfold.

However, this season didn't do such a great job filling up the gaps and answering questions, not only because it doesn't answer some questions, but also because some answers are not satisfactory, and some just confused me even more. But overall, it's not a big deal because our main focus still lies on what is going on.

The story is typical, action-packed, and has ... some interesting character developments and psychological matters (especially Kaosu's and Hiyuu's). Nevertheless, I find that the numerous flashbacks on the characters' past and backstory is being repeated too often, and sometimes it just pisses the viewers off because we already know and understand. On the other hand, some characters' past wasn't even shown much.
I didn't hate the fact that each episode started a bit more later than from where the previous one ended. But I disliked it for the last episode because they just completely cut off the "epic" part, making me think that the animators were probably too lazy to even end the main battle properly. No worries though, you'll still see some parts, but not in the best way.

These are the things I'd complain about anyways.
Otherwise, the characters have really interesting development (especially secondary characters) and I would have liked to see more about them.
We don't need to talk about the art, it's good enough, and the cast is too.
I enjoyed the action scenes, and I had moments where I felt like I had to know what was going on next. My overall will stay at 8 because I didn't feel too good with a 7.
If I could be more precise, I'd go for somewhere between 7.5 and 8.

CONTAINS SLIGHT SPOILERS
ASSUMES YOU'VE SEEN SEASON 1 AND TALKS ABOUT BOTH SEASONS HERE.

I’m starting this review with a shocking revelation of sorts. I had downloaded a show called ‘Arigatou Tokyo Majin’ from the site where I usually get my stuff. Hadn’t read the synopsis. I thought it was going to be some really sweet ‘Haiyore! Nyaruko-san’ type show.

Oh boy, was I wrong!

Arigatou Tokyo Majin was not a comedy slice-of-life. Hell, the reason why my expectations were so wrong in the first place because the uploader had (apparently) put the anime up under a wrong name. That’s right, people. It’s actually called Tokyo ‘Majin Gakuen Kenpucho: ... Tou’. And, it’s not a single season show. It’s got two seasons of 14 episodes – unlike what was falsely advertised by the uploader. The second season is called pretty much the same thing: just add ‘Dai Ni Maku’ after Tou. I’ll be writing about both of them here.

Now, I’m not here to rage at the uploader. Well, actually, I’m not mad at all. I have no reason to be. Tokyo Majin isn’t a bad show. It’s quite decent.

Tokyo Majin starts out with a bang and lots of blood. I’m not joking. People die in like the first 6 minutes of the show. The first episode casually and very quickly introduces most of the characters with whole bag of action sprinkled with a pinch of confusing directing. You’ll be blown away by all booms and ka-pows but, at the end of it all, you’ll be very confused as to what is going.

And that’s where most of the show’s faults lie. Sometimes it is too slow: sometimes too fast. A lot of things aren’t explained well and when explanations are given, they are done in such an uninteresting way that you’ll often question why they (the characters and writers) are even bothering in the first place. But, it’s too expected. Tokyo Majin is an adaptation of a manga based on a game that came out way back in 1998. Things like this are to be expected – especially when it comes to old games as sources.

Tokyo Majin is largely an action show with a rather large emphasis on Chinese mythology and non-black-and-white matters. To be perfectly honest, the black-and-white thing really kills a good chunk of an otherwise good show. Pretty much all of the characters are sad or have deep ISSUES. Oh wow. A free pass for discussions on justice and whether to save or kill people. Oh geez.

Almost all of the characters except for the main duo of Tatsuma and Kyouchi adhere to the whole ISSUES shtick. I mean, they have got their own problems too but at least they’re not whining all of the time. Seriously, the female characters cry so damn much. Daigo the wrestler also cries. A lot. Proper character development is almost non-existent for the non-duo characters. The few who do get it, develop so blandly that you’re left to ponder over matters like: ‘then why the fuck did he became an evil bitch in the first place?’ and ‘you were so happy and shit these last 18 episodes but one brief trip down memory lane later and now you’re acting like an old man gulping a bottle of Scotch mixed with your crush’s tears’.

For an action show, it does a decent job. The first few fighting scenes are pretty sight to behold but, after that, the fighting scene quality really goes down with each consecutive bout. As the heroes and the villains become stronger, so does the need for actual engaging combat scenes. Animation is thrown out and replaced with dramatic stills. That’s sorta sad for an action show, ya know. It’s a personal thing so I’m not going to let it come in between.

The overall animation is good for it’s time (2007). Smooth where it needs to be and detailed where it counts. An episode or two had rough animation so I guess there were release issues or something. No biggie.

The music didn’t do anything for me. The Opening and Ending songs and visuals were… boring, to say the least. None of them clicked with me. The background music is heavy on sad violins playing. It’s not bad, I guess. It just doesn’t suit the show. You’ve got an action show here and you’re giving it music you’re most likely to see in a Korean tragedy drama. Utterly off-putting.

Now, even though the characters are half-assed and the story requires one to be patient and be accepting of all the cliches in the cookbook of Japanese story-telling, the show is quite fun for what it is. An action show that is to be enjoyed at night when you’ve got nothing better or specific to enjoy your dinner with.

Tokyo Majin Blah Blah Blah gets a 5 out of 10.