Tenjho Tenge Review

Hopefully the start of a few reviews taking place over the remaining days of December.

Souichiro and Bob have always gone from school to school beating up anyone and everyone along the way, however upon reaching Toudou Academy, they get a rude awakening when they inevitably end up in the Juken Club after a display of strength from Maya Natsume drags Souichiro into their grudge against the Executive Council as well as unwanted affection from Maya's sister Aya. Brought back to Earth by such a battle hardened school, Souichiro joins Maya's personal war with the Executive Council after hearing Maya's backstory and the origins of the Natsume Family's more violent tendencies.
At the beginning I enjoyed the fact that I could watch a more mature fighting series that scratched the itch that just enjoyed good battles but the more the series dived into the backstory of Shin Natsume, the more disappointed I got as the backstory took up way too much of the anime runtime leaving nothing for a resolution as it never really went beyond said flashback.
It's a pity as the series has good characters and the feeling that it isn't held back from reaching it's potential by censors really helps give it a unique aesthetic. But it's need to spoon feed exposition really detracts from the well animated fight scenes and ultimately leaves the whole thing stale.
I never enjoyed the dub especially with Maya being horribly miscast, it isn't terrible but all I can hear from memory is Wendee Lee's distinctive tone.
Final Verdict: It hits it's themes of fighting well but is undermined by the need to tell us the whole backstory that sadly eats up most of the running time before it even got a chance to resolve the story. To put it simply I don't have the patience to finish the Manga when the anime couldn't even be bothered.

End