Friday, September 11, 2020

FIF#119-Tenjou Tenge


Having moved from High School to High School, conquering each one with their unrivaled might, delinquent partners Nagi and Bob have arrived at the next stop on their list: Toudou Academy.  They enter expecting another cakewalk of useless students with no fighting skill.  Theyre about to learn that Todou isn’t your average High School.  It’s a place where those you least expect will show the greatest fighting potential.  It’s a school where the head of the Kendo Club is a diminuitive sprite who is in reality a warrior Goddess.  And it’s where Nagi meets the beautiful Aya Natsume, who declares she will marry him.  Basically, Nagi and Bob might’ve bitten off more than they can chew picking a fight with this hidden gem of the world of combat.  Welcome to Toudou Academy boys.

When I was in High School, I always daydream of being in an Anime like setting.  Not the slice of life types like K-On but more the fantastical/hyper action types.  Being able to brawl with super powers in the middle of the hallways or battle supernatural threats as part of an after school club, that sort of thing.  No surprise, Japan had the same fantasies I had and from Full Metal Panic to Real Bout High School, there were plenty of Anime that made everyday high school life the ultimate adventure.  Tenjho Tenge was one of those titles…but it doesn’t look like the kind of fun id want to have, even with all the prerequisites it checks off: mostly cute girls, samurai swords and action.

Besides this series not looking the least bit pretty, at least 3.5 out of the 5 main cast members introduced bothered me, annoyed me or didn’t impress me in the least.  You have Nagi, the resident tough kid who thinks he’s unbeatable and is pretty much an unlikeable punk.  You have Takayanagi, a generic protagonist who is gifted but still generic and dull.  Then, ugh, there’s Aya.  She may look pretty and have a graceful intro.  But the moment she begins speaking, the problem of her basically being a well endowed 14-15 year old with the mind of a girl half that age becomes a problem.  I was only joking with myself when I got to the scene where Nagi crashes into Aya while she’s in the shower (cause why not), and I said “oh boy she’s gonna imprint on him isn’t she?”  The joke came true and Aya becomes a full blown manic stalker from the wrong side of Tenchi Muyo.  She was just so annoying and couple that with the other two characters I just talked about and that’s 3 reasons for me not to keep up with this one.  Probably the most entertaining part of Tenjho Tenge’s beginning was Aya’s older sister Maya, who transforms from tiny chibi bad ass to full grown adult bodied beauty thanks to special manipulation techniques.  Not only is she far more attractive than her sister, but she’s far more competent and capable than anyone else on this show.

So Nagi wants to become the guy who rules the school eh?  Well, if he’s the main character, I was kind of done with his storyline the second he and his big sidekick Bob showed up.  Actually, I have no idea who the main character of Tenjho Tenge is.  I guess because he’s the only one with an actual “quest” it’s Nagi.  Or it could be an ensemble piece.  Or I could just stop wasting brain power on this one cause im not continuing on with Tenjho Tenge…nope, not even.  It’s dumb, it’s ugly, it’s got an annoying cast…and I’ve had better high school daydreams in my head than this muddled mess of wannabe awesome.

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