Tokyo Tribe 2

Ah, Inoue Santa you tagger manga-ka you!

This anime's story starts off about four episodes in, so the first few episodes are passable but it's still great to watch them. The story begins where the boss of Buppa's , the big gang boss above all of Tokyo's Tribes, son dies during a betrayal by Mera. The story originally revolves around Kai, the somewhat-not-really leader of the Saru's when his friend Tera is decapitated by Mera, another old friend of Kai's. The story from here sets off into the deepness of Tokyo's underground. From here on it turns into a somewhat WW2-esque story, I'd tell ... you the rest but I'd be spoling the story. The story for this anime isn't exactly novel, since it sounds somewhat like an old school Yakuza flick, but it's pretty new for the world of anime. The story kept me caputured for quite a long time and is definitely worth marathoning it. The only problem I could find is I couldn't really get into the characters. The only characters that get a big backstory are Skunk, Kai, and Mera.

The art for this anime is quite great, including great tones and shades. Madhouse did a great job of capturing Santa's artwork on the pages. The backgrounds seem like an urban wall and tend to stick out quite well. The big problem is they captured Santa's art TOO well. The lips tend to look awkward and the faces tend to look smashed at times. Still, this is a passable offense and doesn't interfere with the enjoyment. It's amazing how well they designed the clothes and how well they kept up with the trends...even if everyone wore the same clothes for the whole series.

The sound is EPIC. The hip hop in this anime is amazing, including songs by the Illmatic Buddha MC's. I seriously was digging the music and finding an OST for this anime is well worth it. There is a bad part. They recycle the music too much. It seems that I heard some of the songs more than 20 times throughout this anime. Not that recycling is bad, it's just that variety could have been better.

The characters are really vibrant and it doesn't look like there are any stereotypes in this anime. My personal favorites were Haseem and Secretary, but the problem is they didn't get face time. Hell, hardly anyone but Kai, Mera, Buppa, and Skunk got any face time. Tera is supposed to be very important in this series but he hardly shows up at all. The great part about this anime is that you will love or hate every character. This IS a good thing.

I really enjoyed this anime and marathoned the last 5 episodes today and this has officially gone into "MY Favorites". This review was completely unbiased and was based on a normal perspective. Let's wrap this up shall we?

Pros:
- Great music that really stands out from all the other anime.
- Amazing backgrounds with amazing shading and tones.

Cons:
- Faces look awkward.

This anime gets 9 "MERAS!" out of 9.

Please don't be hard on me i usually don't write reviews. ;)


I saw Tokyo Tribe 2 in one shot...i was searching an anime that mixes hiphop culture and street violence and certainly I found exactly what I asked for.This anime is the closest on to the GTA series (you will find it out on the first seconds why :P ) and (maybe better) the Sleeping Dogs.If you are in the hip-hop culture then the anime is made for you.Nice beats produced by DJ MURO and extra songs from Wu-Tang.Many suspense,subversive end,great battles many funny scenes.
*Disclaimer-Spoil Alert*
It contains images that resembles Hitler thats because the creators ... want to parody him.Don't misunderstand it.

I would defenatly read the manga but it has one bad thing...i cannot listen to that sugoi soundtrack.

I hope anime like these come out more freequently....

I'm not into rap and I can't say I care much for the whole "gangsta" style/ lifestyle. Neither am I a connoisseur of exaggerated character designs. Needless to say, I went into Tokyo Tribe 2 with a certain amount of trepidation.

IT PUT ME OFF AND PULLED ME IN AT THE SAME TIME. The first four eps were weak but intriguing enough to keep me going. It is grim, gruesome, and exaggerated, but with a grain of gritty reality too. The back story and character development is good. Plus there are a couple disgusting characters, both visually and ... psychologically, that make you love to hate them and shout, "Oh, just kill him!" at the screen. When I start talking to the screen, you know they've got me. (Part of me wants to know how Buppa got to be, well, Buppa . . . . and part of me doesn't. Shudder.)

There are no pretty people in this show. As stated, the character designs are stylized and exaggerated and all the women, with one possible exception, are trashy. Could it be that Tokyo Tribe 2 is more of a caricature of the "gangsta" style/lifestyle than it is a celebration? Hmmm . . . Ultimately, I'd say it is a bit of both.

There is enough testosterone driven machismo to power Las Vegas and its surrounds for at least a year - You got your territoriality, your colors, your honor codes, guns, baseball bats and katanas, cars, and essentially disposable females. Death, with a couple exceptions, is highly trivialized You also have young men maturing the hard way and friendships that somehow manage to endure.

The last four eps go way, way over the top with gangs wearing nazi uniforms and a guy driving a tank through downtown Tokyo and wearing a samurai helmet. Made me think of Sengoku Basara for a split second or two and in a good way.

If you are into rap you are going to love the sound track. I found it well engineered and very effective. There were a couple non rap cuts I'd like to get my hands on, one being a percussion piece featuring what I think was bongos.

Voice work was excellent. I'm not sure but I think Inoue, Kazuhiko, the voice of Natsume Yuujinchou's cat, Madara, aka Sensei, Nyanko, is the same as that of the slimy little character I kept talking to the screen about.

The backgrounds were wonderfully detailed and motion flowed well even in the most frenzied action scenes. I could have done without the cyborg-golem-thingy though. Seemed a little out of place but no big deal.

From the music to bloody action to women whose sole role is that of sex slave or servant, this show is definitely targeted at a young male audience . . . of which I am neither . . . and I liked it anyway.

If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, this is it. Go in open minded and be prepared to be appalled and enchanted all at the same time.

WARNING!!!
THis is NOT A KIDS SHOW!! Volence and Sexual content ABOUND!

Initial D meets Samurai Champloo with Classic gang idealism. (I specify gang instead of just yakuza because there is a broader element to the group in this show than just that notorious sub culture.) PRepare for a tale of brotherhood that is modern, manly and ust playing Muy Bueno!

Its style is very dated in terms of the peopls features in the show and coloring, which im sure is for added effect as it is obviously intended to add that 'ol school' feel. The sound and feel of the show is no doubt inspired ... by the years when the lines between hip hop and what would become rap began to be clearly defined by music in America (late 1980s). That being said, it does have a 'rap/hiphop' element that some may find offputting, but nuts to those people.

Like the yakuza that have always adhered to a seemingly skewed samurai idealism, there are such groups in place in the show as well as other social clubs in this show that fight for survival in a dog eat dog world. Its a good show so feel free to watch, but again be warned: IT CAN GET REAL; watch at your own peril (some scenes get pretty obcene lol).

This gets a 8.5 easy. Its all about life nd hppinessand the thngs that world throws our war. Stuff happens but forgive and forget and forge ahead! BANZAI!!

Extremely under-rated Anime. I found this by accident, decided to give it a try, that was a great decision.

The characters, the animation style, the music, the action, everything about this anime is charming. I would honestly pay for another Tokyo Tribe anime. The development of the characters is also incredible, the plot-twist left me without words, and finally, the ending was 10/10.

Don't mind the bad reviews, honestly this Anime deserves a chance. It was definitely one of the best Animes I have ever watched.
I just couldn't stop watching it, I was so curious to see what would happen next.

Everyone should give this one a ... try. It will not disappoint. Especially if you like Gang-Drama-Action etc.