Retsgip’s Anime Blog

Darkshaunz goes back in Time

Score: 8.9/10

I was beginning to wonder when Shinsen was going to take a breather on their other 5,682 projects and finally sub Tokyo Majin, I was refreshed when Danny and Retsgip sent a reminder-mail-bomb to my residence to wake me up (I love you guys too). As one would expect from this season’s zombie basher, its full of visceral sometimes pointless fighting, evil spirits out to eat our firstborns, spooky abandoned schools and people going absolutely bananas for Aoi. Its also a very fortunate thing that the animation quality has sustained itself thus far, and here’s to hoping it continues. So come in, have some coke and let’s get crackin’ on some zombie skulls.

But Shaunz, Novastorm’s been covering the Raws!

Yeah I know, I dont know Moonspeak like he does (it may as well be an Alien language), so I don’t do RAWs, unless maybe its Evangelion or like Hentai (Where Dialogue matters…yeah right). Danny knows I will be hounding the subs, so look for him if you absolutely must have the latest updates on Tokyo Majin (I’ve been fighting the temptation, and succeeded…so far, I swear its those screenies he takes), but chill here with us if you’re a sub follower and don’t mind being delayed thanks to our non-moonspeaking skills. Not that it matters, Danny’s like a brother to us here and we’ll definitely give the thumbs up to his “express” coverage. Lets get on with the show.

“Who farted? I know it wasn’t me”

Like all anime portraying stillness, cool and rampant badassery, it must open with a dark and apparently “serious business” atmosphere. What better way to do this by having Tatsuma enjoy an evening chat with his martial arts master in an old dojo whilst experiencing a world-changing thunderstorm outside. I loved this part because the Master basically tells Tatsuma that he’s got nothing more to offer and that Tatsuma should stop procrastinating and get his ass back to school like all kids his age are meant to. Then, the audience is taken to a mansion which really doesn’t look suspicious at all, I mean if you ignore the fact its got protection seals plastered around the walls, the haunting presence and the wailing of a schoolgirl’s spirit. Nope, nothing suspicious about said mansion, at all.

I don’t see anything suspicious, do you?

The OP song is inherently enjoyable, with the obligatory montage of everyone looking sexy and ready to save the world from evil spirits and whatnot, its half-metal which is kinda cool. At this point, its important to note that this episode is actually a “Lets go back in time to see what the gang is up to” kind of affair. Naturally, we’re meeting everyone for the first time before they realize they all have that zombie-killing gene in common. Kisaragi is the first guy we see walking around town killing the living dead, or namely, a Pig-Dog-Demon with Red Eyes, I dont know whether that demon he killed is an actual reference to a mythical Japanese demon or whether it was conjured up by someone who watched too much “Babe” and “Freddy vs. Jason”. Kisaragi also says to the demon vehemently, “You do not belong in this world”.Orly?.

Pig-Dog-Demons existed in Ancient Japan, like Giant Enemy Crabs.

Ah, then the angel and eye of everyone’s love appears on screen. The Charismatic, Soothing and Auric presence of Aoi. Being the class president, she gets a lot of hi’s and “I loev youuu sempaiii” kind of crap in the morning and she’s best friends with my favourite girl in the show so far, Sakurai (Female Archers are just so very sexy). Kyouichi’s up to his usual self even before meeting up with the gang, wondering about Life’s intricacies and thinking about hawt girls atop a lonely tree. It’s obvious Kyouichi’s had a tough childhood, possibly from his rough and unforgiving demeanour. We saw his utter dislike for Aoi, and her assumed, self-righteous and “Holier than thou” attittude. Ultimately Kyouichi despises Aoi because he prosecutes her for being a rich, snotty hypocrite of a girl. What’s funny is, they are the two people most likely to fall in love in the anime. I’m taking bets, by the way.

Aoi love her. Did you see what I did th-*headshot*

Its time for the world of Magami High to be changed, yes, its time for Tatsuma to grace their halls with his Hooded Jacket and decidedly emo hairdo. In which case I should probrably point out that he looks as if he was going to go into the school to go berserk on everyone. He also goes as far as to make the wooden doors open with a graveful force, whilst being showered by petals, I mean if this isn’t a glorious or epic entry for a transfer student, then I don’t know what is. Kyouichi’s class eagerly await their “fresh meat”, and this allowed us to take a look at some of the boys and girls he’s going to get some edumacation with. There’s the sleepy-girl who partied too hard, Afroman with Sunnies and our very own Eyepatch-chan (thats one of my favourite fetishes), why couldn’t my high school homeroom class be filled with such awesome characters? With the formalities aside of introductions, it was time to say hello to a new student the Majin way, by shoving a wooden sword at the general direction of the freshie.

Tatsuma is in da haus.

Omg Eyepatch-chan! FAP FAP FAP

It was inevitable, because according to the badass rulebooks, the only way you can effectively gauge an opponent’s strength is by forcing him to fight with you, and it doesn’t help that Kyouichi’s got a raging ego problem either. But its an excellent way to both piss your teacher off, flunk a class and turn your local high school into a Street Fighter Stage. Blows are exchanged, Tatsuma elegantly dodges a few wooden sword swipes and lunges and his blows are parried by an equally skilled Kyouichi (who reminds me of Mugen from Champloo). As soon as it looks like the two are about to land critical strikes on each other as finishers, it seemed that it was just two gentlemen exchanging a friendly “bout”, kinda like Retsgip’s Manly bonding kinda shit. This is of course, at the cost of a week’s worth of detention, a broken class window and a blackboard which looks like a tiger just raped it.

Someone’s going to shop a “Sub” there aren’t they?

Xtreme!!! Dancing (Yeap, Rets and I have been keeping a list).

Kisaragi meets up with the creepy school teacher to exchange a really deep, meaningful and plot-moving storyline. By that i mean of course, the two men not even looking each other and going, “Good work”, “Ah, yeap”…*walks away coolly with cigar in mouth and hands in pocket*. The only way they could make these two guys even more soulless if they had puppet strings rising up from their clothes all the time. Kyouichi takes Tatsuma to eat Ramen, and this is where Tatsuma gets a bit “Freaky”, apparently he likes the “tone” of the place. I am assuming he means “Ambience” or “Atmosphere”, but I think he may have sensed like a Ramen Spirit hovering around or something (Ramen eaters, do you worship a God that the rest of the world knows nothing about?).Toono’s fast about the two’s major league fight, she is the scoop girl after all, and Kyouichi calls her a dick (awesome work).

A GAR conversation is almost like no-conversation.

At least he didn’t call her a Vagina.

This episode has a slight banking on Aoi’s character, we see a lot of her facial expression, her desires and her concerns for the dying and the missing around her area of residence. I for one, believe that it’s all genuine, its not something self-righteous or something that allays to hypocrisy if we can see that she’s willing to risk her life to save Toono in episode one. She’s played out to be the tragic “Daddy’s Rich Little Girl” kind of character, and I am sure there will be a point in the series where she gets to demolish that assumption and totally save Kyouichi from a Buttsecksing Demon Elephant (or at least to that effect). Kisaragi works for Aoi’s father, and I want to know what was in that box he delivered (mystery boxes are always bad news!). Viewers then get to see Aoi wear her house Kimono and I hear fanboys and girls squealing in “Kawaiiiiiiiii” delight. I should also probrably mention she’s got stocking action happening, like thighhighs. Did I just hear a “Zomg Zettai Ryouki?” (Immah charging mah anti-weeaboo cannonz).

So Aoi, I’m going to explode into Orange Tang.

It was time we got to the “Knuckling Down” to Zombie-mashing. Apparently Wrestler guy wants to challenge Tatsuma to a showdown, because thats what normal high schoolers do in an everyday setting. For such an important battle, where men’s pride and honour are at stake, a suitable backdrop must be provided, which would be provided by the evil mansion of infernal pain and suffering ™. Tatsuma wonders why there are so many talismans in the derelict classroom they were in. It seems, like in Scooby Doo, nobody knows what the fuck to do when its so obvious. If there are talismans plastered all over the walls in a clearly OFF-LIMITS Abandoned SchoolHouse, chances are, you aren’t supposed to have penis-enlarging battles in them. Speaking of dick, Wrestler-chan was quick to cover his assets when Sakurai came in with Aoi. I guess he was either a) Not proud of his mojo or b) He got an instant, raging boner the moment she came in.

Wrestler-chan shows off his “Crouching Tiger” stance.

“Quick! Lets run away from the Scary Retro Light!”

Then things started going shit for the party of high schoolers. The Talismen could no longer hold the dark powers manifesting within it, and they all burned in a glorious hellish spark (Damn, I should write a horror novel or some shit). The school also lit up in a spooky purplish-pink aura, what spooked me was not the aura itself, but the colour (Its like, totally Retro). Apparently the demon who broke free teleported our heroes using some Soviet Time Machine no jutsu back in time. The past was a very scary place, the boys were wearing police caps and sling bags (My God, the Horror!) and the girls were wearing those really really old school sailor outfits which actual sailors wore (Enjoy your nightmares). There was also a pointless scene where Tatsuma was standing in a blank background when suddenly….A SAKURA TREE APPEARED! I nearly had a heart attack. I mean fuck, this tree must be like a ninja-pine, because it totally appeared from nowhere. But Tatsuma didn’t move, because he has balls of steel.

Aoi can’t believe all the fashion laws those schoolkids are breaking.

Ninja Trees, they won’t leaf you alone.

It seems that the girl-demon who banished them to the realm, comitted suicide, probrably because she was an ugly zombie (she had no face, but a 360 degree fringe). There’s probrably a real reason which isn’t so funny, like she got pregnant or she has a really bad disease. Whatever the cause, she’s too pissed to forgive this world and decided to dark-web our heroes. Her demon form looked hilarious, I was literally laughing so hard when I saw it. Its like a Half Naked Woman, Half Snake with a Face and a 360 degree Emo Fringe (please note, Im assuming she has a face under there). She has this attack where Black Lines invade your skin, I mean damn, I’ve seen crooked lines and badly drawn lines, but not lines which actually kill you. She also has this attack where she macguyvers her own arm into a Powerdrill, this was pretty cool, not for Tatsuma though. Tatsuma was an angry man, “No bitch ain’t takin my heart!”, he said and went SSJ2.

Scarily Hilarious.

Never try to steal his heart.

Just when all of them were about to get their asses handed to them, Kisaragi comes in looking all heroic and stuff, and he is wearing a business suit. He then starts chanting some shit that even Shinsen Subs had no idea what they were. I am guessing this is because he was probrably speaking Russian or something, because if even the fansubbers dont know what the hell is going on, it must be a really hard language. They say signs surpass language barriers, I believe that, because I recognize his hand seal, its what Kakashi uses as a final stage jutsu seal to summon Pakkun. So I was thinking, “This is awesome, maybe he is going to summon a Spirit Eating Hound”. Alas, it wasn’t a summoning jutsu, but one which shot a spirit lazer (amidoinitrite?) at the She-Demon. The She-Demon exploded and there was a light aura which bathed the party in all their glory.

Naruto would like to have a word with you.

The gang look for Scooby and Shaggy.

All in all, it was a pretty cool episode. I mean, the novelty of seeing the non stop action has not worn off or anything, but I just felt that this would have been better as a First Episode as opposed to backtracking. The animation is at /orgasm level at the moment, and if they can maintain that, its a definitely a plus to the longevity of the series. On a more serious note, they definitely should patch up all of the characters, I liked what they did with Aoi and giving her a bit more depth, and the rest of the crew deserve the same treatment one way or another. I’ll be keeping tabs on Tokyo Majin for sure, its just pure seamless and brainless fun, and you guys know I just love shit like that.

Cheers,

Darkshaunz