As an adult, I often step upon pieces of trivia that will engross my knowledge about stuff that probably won’t be useful ever, but as they say, knowledge is power and it can also save you from boring chit-chat or making you look like an interesting (yet insufferable) person who knows stuff. As I found this kind of chunks of trivia in some video games or anime I was wondering if I was ever going to watch an educational show of my own volition or if that was even possible, then by pure luck, Tenchisozo Design Bu appeared out of nowhere to shut my mouth.
The story of Tenchisozo Design Bu or Heaven’s Design Team as it was localized in the Western world, revolves around a high-end magical design team that is in charge of designing God’s (the Christian one) most ridiculous requests, like making an animal that is cute and ugly at the same time or one that can swim and walk on earth, just to make vague examples. Part of the fun of each episode is trying to discover beforehand what real animal the design member would come up with. Even if it’s a little formulaic, the show has some versatility like some episodes being a stand-off between two members or others being a full-team work.
The cast of characters is pretty good, you have some tropes to it but each one of them works pretty well for the needs of the show and is easy for any person to relate to them. Also, I don’t think it is mandatory to work in a place of similar nature but if you do, it certainly adds a new layer that will make you enjoy it more.
This show was a breath of fresh air as there are many things in the same package, on one hand, it is a wholesome slice-of-life comedy (getting aside the magical aspect of it), and on the other, it teaches you about animals, all kinds of animals and all kinds of trivia. I was surprised by how many things I didn’t know about common animals like penguins or whales and how they interpret their characteristics in a fun relatable way, like whales having laser beams, in a way it’s like having a cool teacher that wants you to know stuff not by forcing it into you but by presenting entertaining activities.
It has a somewhat insinuation of a story that is nice to have but it is pretty noticeable that this isn’t a high stakes show, as sometimes when the plot needs to get more serious in tone it fails to get you that engaged and you will mostly want to get back to the educational stuff.
Tenchisozo Design Bu is a pretty solid anime that will make you have a wholesome time while being educated, but don’t expect a great story to be accompanied with.
