For a while now we've been talking about FUNimation's new wave of releases from the ADV and Geneon catalogues. Digging back into licenses that were released a couple of years ago and fell into obscurity may seem kind of silly, but in all honesty several of these would-be-popular shows were never really given a chance to get off the ground before they disappeared from store shelves. Check out our review section for a multitude of such releases, but for today's review we're looking at the first "part" of Tokyo Majin.

Originally airing in Japan during the early part of 2007, Tokyo Majin made its way to the States later that same year. Sadly the 26 episode series, which was split between two seasons, never fully made it to see the light of day. Due to FUNimation's licensing efforts though, the first season of 14 episodes has been collected onto a two disc boxed set. If you missed it the first time around or you simply felt cheated when ADV went the way of the dodo, this is an action series to consider checking out.

Directed by Shinji Ishihara, Tokyo Majin the animated series is a continuation of sorts for the original PlayStation 1 which was released in the 90's. It's worth noting that the game was never released here in America and as such this anime is a newish property that not a lot of people may know anything about. As it stands, the concept may feel somewhat tired and its plot a little cliché, but at its core Tokyo Majin is a ruckus action affair with a dark theme as its driving force and some fun characters to back it up.

Taking place in Tokyo, the story here revolves around a string of mysterious incidences that defy explanation to the masses. Several unexplained deaths have been popping up all over the place and monsters are appearing frequently as well. When the show starts with a school girl being drained of all fluid in her body you simply know things are going to go south rather quickly. Things only get worse when the recently deceased begin turning into zombies and just when all hope seems lost, five high school students step forward to save their beloved city and perhaps the world.

For all intents and purposes Tokyo Majin isn't extremely original and it doesn't push the boundaries of the action, horror, or fantasy genres. In typical anime fashion this group of teenagers forms a team possessed by supernatural powers. Tatsuma is the mysterious and quiet transfer student, Kyouichi is the brash ready to fight kind of kid, Yuuya is the big strong guy, Komaki likes to fight almost as much as Kyouichi does, and Aoi is the sensitive quiet type. Each of them fits a stereotype of some variety and when they team up you'll get the sensation that you're watching one of a dozen shows which depict teenagers fighting to save the world. Thankfully Captain Planet stayed home for this one.

After the first episode the series kind of transitions back in time to reveal how the kids all met and how they got their powers. Rather than bore you with the details let's just say they all wound up in the same place together, fought something, and met a guy named Kisaragi who becomes their mentor of sorts. The old man's antique shop becomes their base of operations in a way and once they are together they travel around Tokyo and use their powers to stop evil wherever it rises up. It is revealed as the show progresses that there people out there with powers similar to those of our heroes. They use these abilities for evil and set out on a plot to destroy the world essentially. Naturally it's up to the good guys to stop them.

I'm not going to go into much more than that for a summary about the series because in all honesty it has a great amount of continuity. That means a simple plot spans multiple episodes and before you know it the fourteenth episode will be looming just around the corner. That's really something that works in Tokyo Majin's favor; it's very fluid and fast paced. With that in mind I must admit that there's really nothing special about this show. The set up is unoriginal, the characters fit stereotypes, and the plot is somewhat cliché. Somehow the show still turns out to be a lot of fun though and it stands out much more than it should. Despite its flaws I'm going to recommend it because there's just something about it that feels refreshing for the action genre.

Tokyo Majin is presented with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio. ADV's original transfer looked pretty good and by comparison FUNimation's squashing of seven episodes on each disc didn't hurt it too much. The picture is particularly clean with only a few occasions where grain and compression artifacts are noticeable, but other than that the image is pretty solid. The show is vibrant looking with some nice designs, though the animation isn't quite as good as one would hope. There are places where it looks like AIC was attempting to save on the budget and because of that portions of the series just don't look as smooth as they should have.

Tokyo Majin comes with a 2.0 Japanese language track as well as a 5.1 English. The dubbing quality for both was good overall though I must admit that I felt the Japanese dub felt the most natural. I didn't fully appreciate some of the attempts made by members of the English voice cast. Technically speaking the quality is good as a whole and the 5.1 does offer a slightly better sense of immersion than the Japanese selection. Even so the differences weren't enough to sway my opinion on the dub but I must say that the English choice does present some nice use of the rear channels.

Clean animations and trailers are all you're going to find here.

If you're looking for a fun supernatural show Tokyo Majin is definitely the way to go. It may be painfully cliché and generic in parts, but the series has a nice energy to it that definitely works in its favor. This is the kind of show where you're either going to like what they were trying to do with it or you won't. I enjoyed it quite a bit though I can't really say that I'm in love. Sure it has its flaws, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. Consider it recommended.

Check out more of my reviews here. Head on over to my anime blog as well for random musings and reviews of anime, manga, and stuff from Japan!