Kengan Ashura Part 2

Cute girls doing cute things? NAH NAH! This is BIG MEN DOING MAN SHIT! Come on over and put some hair on your chest. If you thirst for a return for the bygone era of manly battle anime, this is one series for you. Punchfighting, martial arts and ridiculous techniques galore, Kengan Ashura is a must see.

(P.S. This review is for the whole season, not just this half. I refuse to conform to Netflix' stupid release schedule)

Right, have you seen or read Baki? Well, if you have, this is basically the guy that copied his homework from there. The overlap is significant and if you ... enjoyed one, there's no reason not to experience the other too. Thankfully though, Kengan Ashura is more than different enough to stand on its own muscular legs. Because you never skip legday, ya pansies! Here, the ridiculousness is much more subdued and it's more focused on straightforward martial arts. It's also centered around a singular lengthy tournament arc that takes up pretty much the whole season here. Also, unlike Baki, the female characters aren't just walking "woman moments" and are actually interesting and engaging. They're also really sexy and what is a good action series without some eyecandy, amirite? The setup and worldbuilding is alright, nothing to write home about, but then again this isn't trying to be anything deep. The main goal is to have amazing action every episode and that much is done wonderfully. Set a clear goal and motivation, establish some awesome fighters, give them a ring to fight in and let them have it. Pure awesomeness distilled to the core.

A good reason for the quality of action and one of the most recognizable things about this anime is the use of CGI. Normally anime fans recoil at the mention of this, but here I think it works great. Almost the entire anime is CGI, so it feels more like a stylistic choice than a budget cut. It makes sense, since Kengan is 90% action and by using these graphics, it allows the fights to be much more fluid and dynamic without burning money. Every hit is fast, fluid and impactful and it's very refreshing to see an anime where the attacks per minute is higher than the words per minute. Just straightforward brawls that are always a joy to behold. During flashbacks and other such moments, the artstyle also loves to shift into various artistic modes and this is really cool too, gives each flashback its own feel and adds great visual variety. Overall, I think only some snob would have an issue with how the CGI is used here. We've come a long long way from the Berserk abomination. Oh, and the music is really solid too, especially the wrestling style entrance themes for each character. The voice acting is super over the top and energetic too, makes every character stand out and become memorable.

Granted, the anime is not perfect. Firstly, it is just a straightforward tournament, so if you wanted something deeper go watch some artsy fartsy shit like Death Note or something, idk. This is a fighting story first and foremost. The other thing is the use of some characters. Tokita Ohma is a great protagonist imo and I find him very interesting, but because of the format of the series he gets sidelined for a vast majority of the season and that kinda sucks. He feels like a side character in his own show. The other thing is because these first brackets need to be gone through to get to the bigger meatier fights, some showdowns end way too quickly. It happened a couple of times where a character with a very interesting design, backstory and fighting style would show up, I'd get excited to see what he does and then he'd get demolished with just one or two attacks and are never seen or heard from again. Just feels disappointing. I get that the creators wanted to put some special sauce into every character, but please don't go through so much effort to make me care about somebody just to one shot them and dump them forever afterwards.

Overall, Kengan Ashura can best be described as a ton of fun! It's some oldschool action that doesn't pretend to be more than it is. The main goal is to get big muscular men to beat the crap out of each other for grand entertainment and boy does it work. A worthy entry into the BIG MEN DOING MAN SHIT genre and a must watch for any fan of good fighting. It really Kengans my Ashura.

Introduction

We are facing the continuous sequel of Kengan Ashura continuing this "Kengan Tournament" from where it was adapted in its first part and I have not obtained great changes in this regard but it will be worth noting some points that had slight changes compared to its prequel.

Story: 7

Well, as I already mentioned in the intro, the plot starts from the remaining fights of the first round of the tournament that I had pending and covers as much content as possible within the stipulations, without going to the point of omitting the battles of the other fighters. that leaves a good feeling, unlike his first ... installment where he cared more about advancing the plot without giving too much narrative development to it. We are also in what seems to be the "Main Event" of the program and there is not much outside of it to highlight and the combats are relatively well achieved, so without being outstanding I consider that it was a section that meets the premise without more .

Art: 8.25 / Sound: 7

Here there is really not much to note in both characteristics, because it continues to maintain the same level as in its prequel. Although yes, maybe I would have liked them to risk it to innovate with a new OP / ED to renew the show, but even so it fulfills its mission and above all I am very satisfied with the animation of the fights and the fluidity it presents when many used to complain about the rejection generated by CGI ended up being one of the great values ​​of Anime.

Characters: 4.5

This is a bit the point that continues to present problems in the program, since the characters openly say it outside of what they represent when fighting and their styles there is nothing else. Most of the cast are just doing their job of representing their company in their assigned battle and receiving a short development / flashback to let it be seen that they are not just for stuffing. However, it is not really that we felt that those participations outside the Arena were worth anything or led to a deepening of some key character for the plot, or at least for the moment that is what is seen in the series. Maybe in the future some of those who are still in the race for the title may become stronger in the plot sense for the title, but there really is not much to highlight. Not even Protagonist Ohma himself feels empathetic to the viewer, with those traits of being the strongest or being hungry like any average Shonen trope.

Enjoy: 7.5

Simply put, Kengan Ashura complies despite the aforementioned shortcomings, it is not an adaptation in general lines intended to make a masterpiece, but if at the end of the day you are looking for something about fighting with mixed martial arts it may be interesting, especially if you have been able to surpass it. related prior to the start of the Kengan championship (which is the most tedious), since then it becomes very entertaining to see how the fights will develop and the chapters will flow quickly

Overall: 6.85 / 10



----------------------------- EN ESPAÑOL -------------------------------------


Introduccion

Estamos ante la secuela continua de Kengan Ashura continuando esta el "Torneo Kengan" desde donde se lo alcanzo adaptar en su primera parte y no ah obtenido grandes cambios al respecto pero si valdrá la pena remarcar algunos puntos que tuvieron ligeros cambios respecto a su precuela.

Historia: 7

Pues, como ya mencione en la intro, la trama parte desde los combates restantes de la primera ronda del torneo que tenia pendientes y abarca el mayor contenido posible dentro de lo estipulado, sin llegar aun punto de omitir las batallas de los demás luchadores, lo que deja una buena sensación, a diferencia de su primer entrega donde se preocupo mas por avanzar en la trama sin dar demasiado desarrollo narrativo al mismo. Además estamos en la que parece ser el "Main Event" del programa y no hay demasiado por fuera del mismo a resaltar y los combates están relativamente bien logrados, por lo que sin ser sobresaliente considero que resulto un apartado que cumple con la premisa sin mas.

Arte: 8,25 / Sonido: 7

Aquí verdaderamente no hay mucho que remarcar en ambas características, por que sigue manteniendo el mismo nivel que en su precuela. Aunque si, tal vez me hubiese gustado que se la jugaran por innovar con un nuevo OP/ED para renovar el espectáculo, pero aun así cumple su cometido y sobre todo me quedo muy conforme con la animación de las peleas y la fluidez que presenta cuando muchos solían quejarse por el rechazo que les generaba el CGI termino siendo uno de los grandes valores del Anime.

Personajes: 4,5

Este es un poco el punto que sigue presentando problemas en el programa, ya que diciéndolo abiertamente los personajes fuera de lo que representan a la hora de luchar y sus estilos no hay nada mas. La mayoría del elenco solo cumple su función de representar su empresa en su batalla asignada y recibir un breve desarrollo / flashback para dejar en visto que no son solo para rellenar. Sin embargo en realidad tampoco es que sintiéramos que esas participaciones fuera de la Arena valieran de algo o desembocaran en una profundización de algún personaje clave para la trama, o al menos de momento es lo que deja en visto en la serie. Tal vez a futuro puede que algunos de los que sigan en carrera por el titulo se vayan volviendo mas fuertes en el sentido argumental para el titulo, pero realmente no hay demasiado que destacar. Ni siquiera el mismísimo Protagonista Ohma se siente empático para el espectador, con esos rasgos de ser el mas fuerte o pasársela teniendo hambre como cualquier tropo del Shonen promedio.

Disfrute: 7,5

Sencillamente Kengan Ashura cumple a pesar de las falencias mencionadas, no es una adaptación en líneas generales destinada hacer una obra maestra, pero si al final del día buscas algo respecto a lucha con artes marciales mixtas puede que interese, sobre todo si has podido sobrepasar lo relacionado previo al inicio del campeonato Kengan (que es lo mas tedioso), ya que luego se vuelve muy entretenido por ver como se desarrollaran los combates y los capítulos fluirán rápidamente

General: 6,85 / 10

Poor animation, poor use of CGi, overlong exposition, slideshow to describe past events, impossible twists for the sake of twisting, what else do you need?

The CGi is actually the best part of the show for me. There are sequences where the characters were hand drawn and the animation was very poor.

Now the combat itself was interesting, but some unworldly twists that were just impossible even in anime universe made me jump out of it. For example, a small character whose ribs have been broken, pounded, stabbed by the opponent's fingers, his head crushed against the wall 5 times till the wall cracked. Ok, this ... small guy suddenly reversed the situation by choking his opponent who's 100lbs heavier than him... Yeah no.

Or that Super Saiyan fight towards the end of the season, where both fighters "transform" and the combat itself is barely watchable because of all the power punches animation smoking the screen.

If I wanted to watch Dragon Ball I would watch DB. The story barely moves forward and it's very predictable.