"The first half of the TV anime adaptation of Kinnikuman II-Sei does admittedly have a bit of a slow start to it, but recovers well with the last 10 episodes covered here, at least in terms of pacing...While the animation isn't anything amazing, which I'll bring up in more detail next time, the voice work & music definitely more than make up for things so far, but there's still another 25 episodes left to watch for this original 2002 run..."
As mentioned at the start of the prior review, the 2002 TV anime adaptation of the next-gen sequel to Shonen Jump classic Kinnikuman would only run for 51 episodes on TV Tokyo, before being replaced the following year. I've generally heard that it was likely due to slumping ratings in the latter half of the year, and to be fair it does have some realistic logic behind it, as it really wouldn't have been due to catching up to the manga; that said, there could have been other factors. Regardless, by the time the anime debuted on TV, the Kinnikuman II-Sei manga was about to start entering the final match of one of its longest story arcs, which would end right around where we are in this two-part review. Therefore, the anime could have easily continued on for a bit longer beyond what was done in 2002, and luckily that would indeed happen once the anime saw success abroad. However, we aren't quite at the point just yet, so let's return to the original TV anime & see how things play out in the second half. This time around I'll be relying on Japanese DVD rips, as this half never received any English subtitle translation, even via bootlegs (so far, at least).
Also, just a few days before this review, Discotek Media announced that it would be releasing Ultimate Muscle on SD-BD sometime in 2023. However, this is only for the 4Kids dub at the moment, a release for Kinnikuman II-Sei will depend on how well UM performs, so this news affects nothing for me here, as I'm covering the original Japanese version.
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| It was either Terry the Kid or Seiuchin for the eyecatch, and though Seiuchin is cool I can't disrespect the Terry Family. |
Mantaro Kinniku has just defeated Clioneman in his semi-final match of the New Generation Replacement Tournament between his "Team AHO" & the "Generation Ex" team made up of the Hercules Factory's second year graduating class. Now all Mantaro can do is wait & see who from Generation Ex he'll face in the final match: The noble Jade or the ruthless & still somewhat mysterious Scarface, a.k.a. Mars. Even after all of that, though, Mantaro's battles are nowhere near over, as he'll have to take on a trio of vile convicts known as "No Respect" in order to fully attain an inner strength he's only tapped into subconsciously in the past, before seeing if he can qualify for the Chojin World Grand Prix (Chojin Crown), the revival of the legendary tournaments that the Legends had competed in decades prior... and that's only if a sextet of Evil Chojin don't ruin things by a sudden intrusion.
The second half of the 2002 Kinnikuman II-Sei anime adapts Chapters 56-73 & 79-140 of the manga (i.e. from the end of Volume 6 to just past the start of Volume 15; Chapters 74-78 were previously abridged into Episode 17) & cover (at least in part) three story arcs: The final two fights of the Generation Ex Arc (Episodes 27-32), i.e. Jade vs. Scarface & Mantaro vs. Scarface/Mars; the No Respect Arc (33-40), where Mantaro is challenged by his uncle Ataru Kinniku, the former Kinnikuman Soldier (Sergeant Muscle), to fight three notorious convicts so as to properly learn "The Fire of Inner Strength" (Ultimate Muscle), which is something that his father was able to tap into back in the day to help win his fights; the qualifying rounds of the Chojin World Grand Prix Arc (41-44), which is revived after decades by Harabote Muscle's son Ikemen Muscle (Ikemen McMadd) in an attempt to not only embarrass Mantaro & the entire Kinniku Family, but also become stinking rich in the process; & the Poison Six Pack Arc (45-51), in which six Evil Chojin kidnap Rinko, Keiko, & Tamaki right before the tournament portion of the CWGP begins & challenge Mantaro, Terry the Kid, Seiuchin, Gazelleman, Jade, & Kevin Mask to four matches in order to rescue them. Even though I mentioned "three story arcs", I listed four just now, and that's because the Poison Six Pack Arc is actually 100% original to the anime, and we'll get to that later on. Also, the name I'm using for this group is a 4Kids creation, but it's only because the original Japanese doesn't really give a name to them, outside of generic stuff like "The Strongest Evil Chojin" or "The Fake Mantaro Corps", since they hide their identities behind greyscale Mantaro outfits before fighting.
In terms of the story being told in the second half of this 2002 run, the majority of them do follow a straightforward overall theme: Mantaro learning to become his own type of Justice Chojin. In the first half Mantaro was almost exclusively considered & treated as the son of the legendary Kinnikuman (even literally called "Kinnikuman the Second" a few times early on), and likewise nearly every fight he was in ended with him delivering the legendary Kinniku Buster that his father used back in the day. However, simply relying on what worked in the past can only go so far, as seen when Scarface manages to not only steal some of his foes' iconic finishers but also improve them, most notably his take on the Kinniku Buster, the Ultimate Scar Buster. Therefore, and pretty much on last minute in his fight with Scarface, Mantaro has to figure out a finisher that's unique to him, one that his father never did, which in turn helps start to give Mantaro his own identity. Said finisher is the Muscle Millennium, where Mantaro uses the ring ropes to shoot himself at his opponent's back headfirst, like an arrow, and use the ropes on the opposite side to add on the damage by applying force to their face & legs, alongside the damage to the back & arms Mantaro is doing himself. It is admittedly a bit of a convoluted move when compared to the simple brilliance of the Kinniku Buster, which has since become an actual move in pro wrestling (modified to be safer, of course, but still dangerous enough that it's retired at least one wrestler), but the Muscle Millennium is still a cool looking move with the ability to be used in some alternate ways.
However, "Mantaro finding his own identity" isn't all there is to the plot, as both the fights with No Respect & the start of the CWGP also showcase Mantaro needing to learn how he can live up to the expectations of his family lineage. The entire purpose in fighting No Respect is so that Mantaro can properly access "The Fire" at will, instead of having it ignite within him like a strong but short-lived spark, and that means having to accept that there will be Chojin who will hold grudges against him for his entire life (i.e. defeat does not always equal friendship), truly understanding what it feels like to be on the verge of death during an intense fight (& managing to come back from that razor's edge), & learning how to rely on the help of others beyond Meat, since he won't always be there to give him advice. However, most of all, it's also learning to show forgiveness to even your most vindictive foe, instead of giving them the same vitriol that they'll show you. As for the CWGP, which was originally called the Chojin Olympics in the manga (though the anime does use the word "Olympics" to initially describe it), Mantaro's pride is put at stake, as he winds up having to represent Japan as its superpowered icon, much like his father did decades ago. He initially has no interest as it's 100% voluntary, but after seeing his best buds ditch him to qualify for their respective home countries, & some semi-covert convincing by Meat, Rinko, & Mari, Mantaro realizes that he should fight for the pride & glory, because it's not always just about saving the day from evil.
As for the various Chojin we see in these episodes, they are at least a mostly memorable bunch. We start off with a rare fight that Mantaro has absolutely no involvement in with Jade vs. Scarface, who we've gone over last time, though it is worth mentioning that Scarface's true identity of Mars does play a factor in the finale of the Generation Ex Arc. After that we have No Respect, a trio of absolutely unflinching convicts who take pleasure in harming or even killing their foes. First there's Fork the Giant (Forkollossus), a giant forklift Chojin whose legs can transform into tank treads; he's admittedly the least interesting of the three. Then there's Hanzo, a dangerous ninja who has a habit of taking the faces of his foes, though before Mantaro fights him Hanzo first takes on The Ninja (Ninja Ned), a Legend-turned-headhunter who has a personal vendetta against the convict. Finally, there's (Lone) Bone Cold, a professional hitman who only goes after people who have bounties put on them by Evil Chojin, like Mantaro... and Lord Mince (Minch), one of the heads of the Chojin Council on Planet Kinniku who personally attends all of Mantaro's fights against No Respect & quickly befriends Meat; Bone Cold also has a personal past with Kinkotsuman (Skullduggery), an old recurring villain of Kinnikuman's. As I brought up in the previous review, one major aspect of Kinnikuman II-Sei that will affect how much one enjoys it is how much of a focus Mantaro himself gets, to the point where he becomes the only character of note who actually gets important matches, and this is even more relevant to the No Respect Arc. Because of "The Fire Challenge" being focused around Mantaro, only he can actually fight Fork, Hanzo, & Bone, and while his friends do appear on the sidelines during the matches, they can only play so much importance in the grand scheme of things. Even Check Mate, who returns for this arc & winds up befriending Mantaro, kind of becomes just another of Mantaro's buddies by the end of this arc, though he & Terry the Kid needing to learn how to assist Mantaro in unison is a nice touch for the Bone Cold fight. It's also nice to see Meat be given some extra character development during that same final Challenge fight, though it is easy to figure out how it relates to Mince.
Then there's the Chojin World Grand Prix, which introduces a bunch of new characters, while also giving moments to some of the recurring cast; at least the anime actually bothers to show Gazelleman being eliminated early. That being said, the major ones of note get their time to really shine after this initial 2002 TV run, so the only one of note who shines in this early part would be The Nousonman/Ruralman (El Niño), a country boy Chojin who never had the chance to enter the Hercules Factory, due to him needing to care for his family, but wants to enter the CWGP to help give them a better life; he & Mantaro fight to determine who will represent Japan. Beyond Nousonman would be Ikemen Muscle, who has a face that only a mother could love (seriously, even Harabote is shocked by the sight of his son at first) & really only cares about two things when it comes to the CWGP: Making tons of money from it & seeing Mantaro utterly fail. In terms of what we do see from the manga for this little bit of the story arc adapted here, it's mainly just Mantaro vs. Nosonman, followed by the three elimination rounds: A quick game of "Look Over There!", a series of Beach Flag races to save a falling civilian, & then a three-legged race where each Chojin has to race with a normal person & fighting is encouraged between the remaining Chojin, as only 12 will advance on to the actual tournament itself. The manga had a fourth game played in the second spot involving giant stone Daruma Dolls, but was excised, partially due to Mantaro literally using his gigantic boner to successfully advance.
That just leaves the Poison Six Pack, who technically weren't created just for this anime-only final arc. Instead, the staff simply repurpose the villains from the two theatrical movies for Kinnikuman II-Sei that had been made prior to these last seven episodes. Particularly, we see The Saiborg (Jagg-Ed) from Movie 1, as well as Dazzle (Dazz-Ling), El Kaerun (Mister French), The Protector, & head honcho Baron Maximilian from Movie 2; Maximilian even keeps all three forms. The only exception would be Puripuriman (Monsieur Cheeks), who is literally a giant butt & first made cameo appearances way back in the original Kinnikuman. At the very least, the format of the fights with this group (two tags & two singles), does allow for Terry the Kid, Seiuchin, & Kevin Mask to actually fight in this latter half of the show, and even win! That being said, Gazelleman is also given time to shine here, & is even made to look cool, which feels like blasphemy.
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| Puripuriman may very well be the greatest villain design... ever. |
In my review of the first half, I brought up the show's pacing, and it's also worth bringing up in this half, as we essentially see the inverse this time around. This is best showcased by comparing how many chapters are adapted with each story arc, on average. Episodes 1-4 (the Hercules Factory Arc) adapt the original 5-chapter short-run, or roughly 1.25 chapters/episode. Episodes 5-16 (the dMp Arc) adapt Chapters 1-27 of the actual serialized run or just shy of 1.7 ch/ep; Episode 17 is an outlier, as it's a abridged adaptation of Chapters 74-78. Episodes 18-32 (the Generation Ex Arc) adapt Chapters 28-73, or roughly 3 ch/ep. As I said in that first review, it did feel like the pace sped up once the dMp Arc was finished, and looking at things like this it shows that it did indeed pick up; that said, the Mantaro/Scarface fight that ends the arc still takes 4 episodes to fully adapt. However, it's after this point that the anime truly starts going into a bit of an overdrive, as the entire No Respect Arc, which took 40 chapters to tell in the manga, is adapted in just 8 episodes, or 5 ch/ep! Meanwhile, the start of the CWGP's four episodes have to adapt 22 chapters, or 5.5 ch/ep, before we move into the anime-original story arc that ends things for this run. Without a doubt, it does feel like the anime staff erred a little too much on the side of caution early on, resulting in a slower start, before course correcting in the middle, only to then arguably over-correct for the last third or so. There is some belief that Kinnikuman II-Sei ended at 51 episodes due to low ratings, though it could have also just been a length restriction enforced by TV Tokyo, as nothing would run for more than a year in that time slot until the latter half of the 00s, anyway. However, ending things with an anime-original story allows for some feeling of "major fights with stakes" to happen, rather than simply end with a three-legged race, and I can respect that.
That being said, I still think that the writing staff of Hiro Masaki, Akatsuki Yamatoya, & Hiroyuki Kawasaki managed to still accurately adapt enough of the entire No Respect & early Chojin Olympics Arcs for this anime, though they both still feature various cuts & the like to them. After all, by this point in the anime we're averaging 2 episodes/volume of manga, though the fights themselves with No Respect are generally given proper time to breathe & work, with only things like some extra attacks & the like being excused. Really, the cuts come more from simply skipping over some establishing moments, especially ones that focus more on tertiary characters that otherwise made more appearances in the manga during certain sections. The staff also make sure to give Mantaro's friends some more moments, like Gazelleman, who effectively becomes a non-factor for most of the manga during these portions but is featured more often in the anime, like being added to the peanut gallery during Mantaro's fight with Hanzo. In fact, Gazelleman being featured more in the anime even raised his popularity with manga fans in Japan, surpassing even Mantaro (though this isn't anything special, as Mantaro tended to always rank lower on popularity polls, as though readers were in on the joke). As for the Poison Six Pack, I don't mind it at all, since the tag matches are a nice change of pace (& the manga wouldn't feature any until the last few volumes), and it is great to see the movie-original villains be given more time to show their stuff, especially anyone not named Baron Maximilian from Movie 2. I will fully admit that things certainly could have been handled better when it comes to the pacing, and it is disappointing to see the No Respect Arc kind of treated as a less important story in the grand scheme of things (the OP animation doesn't even change in this half to reflect the new villains!), but overall I can't really say that the 2002 Kinnikuman II-Sei anime is a bad adaptation of the manga in this second half; slightly disappointing, sure, but not bad. Really, if they had simply gone with ~3 ch/ep from the start, they could have adapted all 145 total chapters covered in this show within the same number of episodes (44), only with fewer omissions & better pacing all throughout; but, hey, hindsight is 20/20.
While getting his start in the anime industry with 1991's Genshin Tsushin Agedama as a storyboarder & episodes director, two roles that he continues to do to this day, Kinnikuman II-Sei marks the TV directorial debut for Toshiaki Komura, who would go on to direct Ring ni Kakero 1 (Seasons 1 & 3), three consecutive entries of Pretty Cure from 2006-2009 (Splash Star, Yes! 5, & Yes! GoGo!), Marvel Disk Wars: Avengers, & finally (as of this review) Tiger Mask W, as well as the second Buddha movie; his directorial debut, in general, was the mid-90s hentai OVA Magical Twilight. Overall, while the first half of the show did arguably feel like a case of learning what works & what doesn't work, especially in terms of pacing, the second half does generally feel like Komura had grown into being a more-than-capable director, though I should point out that this won't go down as an all-time great, visually. While on the whole the show looks & animates well, there is the occasional shot where characters can look slightly wonky, and when you are shown shots where there's a gigantic crowd it's extremely easy to see where simple 3D models were used in place of hand drawing everyone; this is something that Toei would continue to do as time went on, like in later seasons of RnK1. Also, Toei's DVDs do state that they are the "Original TV Edition", so nothing got improved or fixed in terms of the animation, which is sad to see. That being said, though the show isn't terrible looking or anything (I think it still holds up well enough, personally), you will notice these things more in DVD quality than you likely would have noticed on a CRT TV back in the early 00s via FoxBox.
As for the music we have Cher Watanabe (Maken-ki!, Kamen Rider Ryuki), and overall it's a very solid semi-orchestral score. While there are some songs that are obviously done using synth, there are also some songs done via orchestra, and overall the focus is on upbeat & fun tracks to help keep the mood up, though there are obviously also some slightly darker tracks for the villains. I also especially enjoy the orchestral take on OP theme "Hustle Muscle" used for when Mantaro's on the verge of a comeback; what can I say... I really like the sound of brass instruments. While it's not exactly a soundtrack that I'd be willing to hunt down an actual OST release for, Cher Watanabe did compose a fun & enjoyable little score for this series, and I believe it is a wholly different score from what 4Kids made for Ultimate Muscle, except for one song. That exception would be "Karubi-don Ondo", which is the fun little ditty that Mantaro sings whenever he's about to chow down on his favorite food, the "beef bowl"; without a doubt, it's the second-best song in the entire show, after "Hustle Muscle". Interestingly enough, this song doesn't actually appear much in this half of the show from an actual in-story perspective, only being seen 3 or 4 times throughout until it gets a small surge in use for the last few episodes, but it is technically also seen in every episode covered in this review. You see, each episode of this half actually starts with "'Karubi-don Ondo' no Corner/'The Beef Bowl Toast' Corner", where Mantaro, Meat, Terry, or Seiuchin perform variants of the song with lyrics sent in by viewers of the show, with the ages of the young lyricists ranging from 8 to 17; the last episode gives Gazelleman the mic, and obviously it's just to poke fun at him. It's an amusing & quick little way to start each episode, and also carries on the tradition of fans contributing something to the Kinnikuman franchise, like how readers of the various manga contribute ideas for new Chojin, which Yudetamago then take influence from when new creating new characters & outfits. As for the OP & ED, we still get "Hustle Muscle" for the OP, which I'm perfectly fine with, while these episodes see a new ED, "Koi no My Chop" by Yumena Yokosuka, an enjoyable & catchy song that acts as a nice counterpart to "Ai no Muscle" from last time, i.e. it's essentially Rinko's feelings towards Mantaro by way of muscle analogies.
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| That being said, Rinko has every reason to beat up Mantaro, because the guy is often an idiot. |
Finally, we have the cast that shine most during this half of the series, and there are some cool & good performances to highlight. I didn't bring him up in the first review, as his character does return for this half, but Check Mate is voiced by Kouichi Toochika, who delivers an appropriately regal sounding performance for the King/Knight/Rook, and fittingly matches well with the more comical bits he has in this half. No Respect is voiced by the trio of Toshiyuki Morikawa (Fork the Giant), Kazuya Nakai (Hanzo), & Nobuyuki Hiyama (Bone Cold), and while Morikawa's performance is fine enough, Nakai & Hiyama deliver excellent performances. Hiyama goes for a more subdued performance than he's usually known for which works really well, though during some screams he does hit his iconic hot-blooded pitch, while Nakai amusingly enough has Hiroaki Hirata to work with as The Ninja, so it's essentially like hearing One Piece's Zoro & Sanji go at it, which is amusing. Tetsu Inada (MAXman, Dead Signal) also returns from the first half, though now he's the voice of Ikemen Muscle, which is honestly just pitch perfect casting, as Inada is an expert at playing cocky & egotistical muscular men who are often foiled in comedic ways, and he matches well with Masaharu Sato's Harabote Muscle. Also worth noting is Fumiko Orikasa as Rinko, who does a good & fun job at being both concerned over Mantaro's wellbeing during fights, while also having no problem being harsh & curt to him when he's being silly. Finally, I should also give credit to the pair of Mahito Oba & Naoki Tatsuta as announcers Yoshigai & Nakano, as they do sound like people you'd hear during a fight, and the banter between them for comedy is enjoyable; Tatsuta also voices Mince, and he does well there, too. The rest of the notable cast I haven't covered is rounded out the likes of Ai Nonaka (Keiko), Reiko Kiuchi (Tamaki), Hideyuki Hori (Kinkotsuman), Kozo Shioya (Mayumi Kinniku), Takashi Nagasako (The Nousonman), & Ryotaro Okiayu (Kevin Mask). Yes, I'm not focusing on Okiayu's Kevin right now, because he'll get much more importance next time.
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| The DVD covers for this show in Japan were just outstanding. |
I fully admit that I have gone into this entire restrospective with a bit of nostalgia, as I absolutely loved watching Ultimate Muscle back in the day when it aired Saturday mornings on the FoxBox. However, I also fully admit that I never actually saw every single episode back then, especially from this entire second half of the original 2002 run, & it had been well over a decade since I had first watched those bootleg DVDs for the first half of the original Japanese version. Therefore, I did essentially go into this second half of Kinnikuman II-Sei more or less with fresh eyes, though with the benefit of a recent re-read of the manga. With all of that taken into consideration, Episodes 27-51 of this series are overall solid & enjoyable when taken in isolation, with an interesting focus on Mantaro needing to realize his own potential as a Justice Chojin, while also being able to properly carry on the legacy of not just his father, but his entire clan; Mantaro still isn't your usual "hero", but he does show his better side more often in this half. However, it's when you start comparing to the manga that this second half does falter, though it's never to an extent where I'd call it a "failure". It's just that the initial slow start in the first half results in the stories told in this half, especially after the Generation Ex Arc, being adapted in an accelerated fashion, resulting in various bits & pieces either changed or outright removed in order for them to be adapted before hitting what looks to have been a set endpoint; I doubt the anime was "cancelled" due to low ratings, but I can certainly see the logic there. As for the "Poison Six Pack Arc" that's original to this show & finishes things off, it's a solid enough way to brings things to an end, and at least Mantaro vs. Baron Maximilian is a much better fight here than in Movie 2.
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| I can at least guarantee that Ultimate Muscle didn't include Kinnikuman II-Sei's final post-credits scene & farewell. |
When it came to Japan, though, this 51-episode series from 2002 looked as though it was the end of the Kinnikuman II-Sei anime. However, an "ultimate" success overseas would eventually bring the anime back to Japan two more times over the next four years, so join me on Niku Day in November for the end of this 20th Anniversary retrospective as we take a look at Kinnikuman II-Sei: Ultimate Muscle 1 & 2.
Anime © 2002 Yudetamago・Toei Animation
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