Tenjho Tenge - A Dusty Shelf Review [Anime Review]

 I finished watching this a while ago, but something more pressing kept coming up in the review stack. But, finally, I will review Oh! Great's Tenjho Tenge.

The Juuken Club. I really can't say they are the main cast.

And yes, that is the original mangaka's pen name... 'Oh! Great.' You cannot make that up. 

3 out of 5 stars

I'm giving this anime only a three star rating because I was wavering between three and three and half. I gave it the lower because once again, it really does not have an end... it just trails off.

The busty younger sister - Aya.

Now, I know why. The original manga ran from 1998 to 2010. The anime only ran from Apr 2004 to Sept 2004. One season for a series that was obviously not over... and would eventually cover 22 volumes. Another problem was the original US manga release was unfaithful, and cut short. There is a new 'Full Contact Double Edition' line that I've yet to read. 

Ok...

Down to some plot...

The series opens with Soichiro Nagi and Bob Makihara. It's their first day of high school at Toudou Academy.

Soichiro Nagi. Just before getting his ass kicked.

Takayanagi Masataka - preparing to kick ass.

However Toudou is not a normal high school. Instead it is a school filled with powerful martial artists, some of who use mystical / magical arts. In fact the "Knuckle Bombers" (Nagi and Bob) begin their first day by trying to take over the Academy by force. They fail, hard, when they encounter Masataka Takayanagi and Maya Natsume. At the time Maya and Takayanagi are two of the three existing members of the Juuken club, and they kick Nagi and Bob's collective butts.

In the butt-kicking process, Nagi is sent flying out an upper story window. He plummets towards the roof of the Juuken Club's dojo, and crashes into the shower where the final member of the Juuken club is, well, showering. She is Maya's younger sister, Aya Natsume. Seeing her nude, results, oddly in her demanding Nagi marry her.

That's all in the first half of the first episode.

The series gets strange from then on out.

Maya Natsume, in her true form.

One of the more unusual aspects of the show, is the massive amount of flashback that will occur. I'd hazard a guess that at least 2/3rds of the series is told in flashback.

The bonus is that, despite it being a fan-service filled, martial arts romp, the series is actually character driven. The plot is the characters lives. There is a small background story, but it is almost insignificant compared to the story of the characters lives.

Fan-service and martial arts romp, all in one scene.

That is also the problem with the series. By the time we've come to really get to grips with the numerous characters, learned their raison d'etre, the series comes to an end. It ends just before a major tournament begins.

Why? Why just do one season? Why not go further, complete at least another season to close it off?

But no. It's over then and there. Just before a huge event begins.

That is irritating.
That is one of the biggest reasons I could not rate this series higher. It goes along, doing just fine, setting up everything. Then once everything is set... it ends. There are days where I think I need to grab those manga just to finish the story.

That just feels mean.

The Flashback Cast.