Tenjho Tenge 8/10

The Japanese sure like the idea of a high school filled with martial artists constantly beating the crap out of each other. The more busty girls involved the better. I bet Tenjho Tenge was pretty popular in those circles in Japan. (I'm including the 2 OAV episodes in this review since they're nothing special)

The technical aspects of this show are pretty good overall. I like the art since it's pretty well done and rather detailed, of course the series mainly takes place in a high school so it's not hard to make a classroom look good. The character designs are above average but of course I'm going to have a better opinion of a show if every female has enormous mammaries. The animation is nice and smooth and the fight scenes and special move effects are all really great. If this wasn't the case this show would get a terrible score since if the fights don't look good in a show like this you've got nothing. The VAs were OK and there were a good number of tough male voices that were different enough to keep me from recognizing them from one character to the next. I liked the OP all right and the ED was skipped many a time. The in show score was OK as well.

Tenjho Tenge starts out as a pretty standard high school fighting show (yes, there is a standard high school fighting show). A couple of new guys, Souichirou and Bob, show up to attend their new high school which just so happens to be one of those oh so common high schools where everyone is always kicking everyone else's asses. They're tough and cocky and end up in the Juken Club led by a little purple haired girl, Maya, who is really a high school senior and her younger sister, Aya, who is also just starting at the school. Of the two new students, Souichirou is the guy who ends up with super powers and kicks everyone's ass. He also ends up with Aya after him since he sees her naked and she declares him her fiance.

Of course most of these characters end up on the back burner as nearly the entire series focuses on the events of 2 years prior. It seems Maya's older brother (the now deceased Shin) is the head of the Juken club along with his buddies. He's a psycho with a murderous superpower and previously killed his parents and seems to have unhealthy feelings towards his little sister Maya (Maya only looks little in the present since she's got some super move that makes her look little). Maya secretly kicks the crap out of the other members of the Juken Club and ends up as a member along with the newbie Mitsuomi. The rest of the show is a series of flashbacks showing the relationship that develops between Maya and Mitsuomi, Shin's mental breakdown, and how Mitsuomi is destined to battle Shin to the death.

This is a great show but it's annoying how they introduce a bunch of pretty interesting characters then basically dump them in favor of a bunch of other ones. The only saving grace for something that annoying is that the flashback story is pretty great. Everyone is sympathetic, the insane Shin, the bitchy Maya, and the rest. The characters actually change quite a bit over the course of the show and it's surprising that the writers managed to keep things interesting even though we know the ultimate outcome of the battle the whole series builds up to. If I have one other major complaint it's the lack of nudity. If you're going to have all these girls with big racks and skimpy outfits you HAVE to have some topless action in at least ONE episode. For shame. Recommended for style and substance.