Tokyo Majin

It's Zombie TIME! Zombies are being controlled and forced to attack the diverse and dark city of Tokyo.  Oh, did I mention there are demons and ogres? Well, I am mentioning it now, and who do you think will challenge these threats? That's easy, five high school students will!  
 

Highlights

It's modern day Tokyo, and there have been some pretty crazy things occurring, especially amongst the high school students (because it's not high school unless something happens in Japan).  The energy, called the Dragon Stream, courses through the earth, and it has recently been disturbed.  This phenomenon awakens superhuman abilities in a select few who have the need.  Tatsuma Hiyuu, the mysterious transfer student, builds a force with Kyouichi Horaiji (the class delinquent with a good heart), Aoi Misato (the Student Council President and the savior of the world the first time), Komaki Sakurai (a tough girl with killer archery skills), and Yuuya Daigo (the ultimate wrestler and amazing cook).

There are two basic "chapters" in Tokyo Majin; "Darks Arts" and "Martial Fists".  The "Dark Arts" is first.  Tendo Kozunu has been wreaking  havoc to catch the eye of Aoi.  Nope, he doesn't think she's cute, but instead, he sees the ULTIMATE POWER OF RESURRECTION in her right eye.  It's revealed that Aoi's eye is the Budhisattva Eye, which can bend reality to cure the wounded and ill, as well as bring the dead back to life.  Tendo gets what he originally wants, but, by the time that happens, he's become a good guy.  Well, the one who gave him his power decides to take it back, and before he can be saved, he is swept away into the afterlife.

The Story doesn't stop there. In the "Dark Arts" chapter, the one who was basically controlling Tendo is taking a different approach to world destruction.  He actually tricks the Tatsuma and his friends into fulfilling his plan. There's just one more obstacle, Tatsuma is a more clever then anyone expected (or thought possible).  They are able to contain the protagonist and Tatsuma sacrifices his freedom and humanity to ensure that the world is safe for a very long time, if not forever.

Overall

There were a lot of confusing moments in Tokyo Majin, but they were explained just enough to satisfy the observer's curiosity.  At first, I thought it was going to be another bloody samurai series set in modern Tokyo.  I am pleased by the way it kept its distance from that, and remained its own series.  I really liked the plot, and the characters were well developed, with their key points revealed at just the right moments.

I really like the style of art it was animated in.  It was realistic and yet retained it's specific anime looks.  I honestly believe if it was done any other way it would be pretty dull, and the characters would look too much alike.  Each character was humanly different, and I could relate to several things, even their movements were something I've noticed my self doing.

There is so much depth to this series, but there is basically one theme, and it's a pretty common one.  "Just because they've done something bad, doesn't mean their heart is bad. They can change, and turn their life around."  I don't mind this theme/moral, but it was over emphasized, especially through dialogue.  By the end of the series, I was almost annoyed by it, but the ending was odd enough as it is, so my mind went elsewhere.  

I must talk about the ending, hopefully I don't ruin it for you.  I don't like the technically last episode.  The battle is moved to somewhere in China, thus Tokyo Majin ends. How can you have a series called Tokyo Majin, when it's not in Tokyo, or even Japan?  The ending is weak and has very little information about what happens to Tatsuma.  Yes, there were two after-ending filler episodes that shined light onto what was going on before they got their powers, and what the characters were doing when not fighting the enemy. I find these the  best closer episodes I've ever seen so far.  In general, the plot was lost a bit in the final stretch and I could feel the writers/creators running out of new ideas (without copying some other series).

Overall, I was pleased by the amazing first season, and disappointed by the lacking second season.  The series as a whole was pretty good.  I will say that someone under 15 should not watch this, for obvious reasons, and just for the fact that 14 and under probably won't understand what is going on, it's a rather fast moving plot.  If you like samurai, ninja, martial arts, underbelly society, genres, and/or, Last Exile, Samurai Champloo, Afro Samurai, Samurai 7, Beach, Gungrave, and Baccano! then you'll surely enjoy Tokyo Majin.

ComicsOnline gives Tokyo Majin: The Complete Series 4 out of 5 cups of Mom's Strawberry Milk.