Tenjho Tenge Volume 2

Following the gruelling training and all the other trouble they’ve had to put up with from the Student Council, the members of the Juuken Club decide to unwind at the local bowling alley. Unfortunately the Student Council has other ideas and decides to take them out there and then.

This volume is a bit more of a mixed bag that the first: the fight scenes lack the spark that the earlier ones did, sometimes consisting of series of still frames with the appropriate sound effects; fortunately the colours and character designs are still up to scratch. After all the introductions this instalment is almost solid fighting from start to finish: there are interesting insights into the characters and one or two surprising revelations but the main focus is on the individual combat scenes.

This could have made the entire volume boring and repetitive had it not been for the originality that has gone into the opponents and their techniques. Aya is up against a thin, wiry fellow with an extendable wooden staff; Maya has a bust-up with the deputy of the Council and her improbable stash of throwing knives; Souichiro runs into Sagara on his way to rescue Aya; and Masataka and Bob protect Chiaki by taking on a very large crowd of fighters as well as the President himself. There isn’t much plot to speak of here but you can’t say it doesn’t deliver on the action side of things.

In between the fighting there are tidbits of much-needed characterisation scattered about: a surprising detail concerning Masataka is revealed and we see Aya use her Dragon’s Eye ability to make sense of her suspicions regarding Souichiro and her sister. It goes without saying that some sibling rivalry is on the cards now”¦meanwhile it’s becoming obvious that Souichiro is a cut above the ordinary – while he seemed to be little more than a good natured street thug like Bob there are some flashback scenes that explain a little about his background.

By the end of this volume there’s a decent cliff hanger and the Juuken club give the Student Council a run for their money, without the overall winners of the confrontations being particularly clear even by the end. If the series continues in this fashion however it will run the risk of falling into mediocrity; on the other hand this is a good time to take a slightly different direction in order to break from the usual “martial arts series’ structure and expectations. This volume was entertaining enough but the series has yet to realise its potential.

In Summary

Volume 2 of Tenjho Tenge delivers plenty of action and even a little character development, if not much in the way of plot progression. It is slightly above-average high school fighting anime but just manages to keep the viewer’s interest throughout with the inventive and appealing characters and combat set-ups. By the end of this disc I had a distinct feeling that, if the series continues to progress as much as I hope it will, the main story is yet to come and that this is all merely a prelude to more significant events.