Born on July 29, 1960 in Asahikawa, Kamikawa, Hokkaido, the same exact town both Kazuhiro Fujita & Buichi Terasawa were both born in, Takeshi Maekawa would graduate from Daito Bunka University (where he was a member of the Manga Research Club OB) before making his debut in manga in late 1983. Said debut was with Tekken/Ironfist Chinmi (sometimes also referred to as Kung Fu Boy) in the pages of Monthly Shonen Magazine, which showed the rise of the titular Chinmi as he went from a mere martial arts student to a hero of the people when in need. While he also made other manga, like billiards series Break Shot (his other major work, at 16 volumes), soccer series The Striker, sumo series Hakkeyoi, & even a fellow martial arts series with Kung Fu Tao, Tekken Chinmi is the one that continues to run to this day... technically. You see, the original Tekken Chinmi ran until early 1997 & totaled 35 volumes, but the very next issue of Monthly Magazine saw the debut of New Tekken Chinmi, due to Chinmi now being a master in his own right, which ran until late 2004 for an additional 20 volumes. Then, after a two-year break, Maekawa returned to his iconic series in late 2006 with Tekken Chinmi Legends, still within the pages of the Monthly Magazine, which is still running to this day & currently at 28 volumes (making 83 volumes, in total), but has been on hiatus since 2021 due in part to circumstances following the COVID-19 pandemic; there is also Tekken Chinmi Gaiden, which collects various side-story one-shots & remains at four volumes since 2015. However, it was announced on May 8 that Tekken Chinmi Legends would finally be returning in the October 2025 issue of Monthly Shonen Magazine, marking the return of the magazine's longest-running manga series (by age) after a near five-year hiatus; Monthly Magazine's longest-running manga series (by length) is Dear Boys by Hiroki Yagami, at a current total of 95 volumes. I should also note that Tekken Chinmi did actually see English release (only in the UK) between 1995 & 1996 as Ironfist Chinmi, by way of Bloomsbury with a translation by the legendary Jonathan Clements, but only made it 12 volumes in before stopping; this looks to be the only manga Bloomsbury ever released. Still, it was published in right-to-left fashion, predating TokyoPop's industry standardizing move to that orientation in the US & Canada by around five years!
Naturally, with a manga as long-running & iconic for Monthly Shonen Magazine as this, as well as having won the Kodansha Manga Award for Shonen manga in 1987, it's understandable that an anime adaptation of Tekken Chinmi had to have happened at some point. That came to be throughout the second half of 1988 with a 20-episode TV anime produced by Ashi Pro & Toho, though it's not quite an exact 1:1 adaptation of the manga, complete with a couple of anime-only characters. However, despite having been re-aired since then & even being made available via streaming in Japan at points, the Tekken Chinmi anime has never received a proper home video release, whether that be via VHS, DVD, or Blu-Ray. The only exception would be Tekken Chinmi: Kenpo Daizukan/The Great Illustrated Guide to Kenpo, a VHS tape that came out sometime in 1989, but at just 32 minutes it's obviously nowhere near a "complete" representation of the anime. Obviously, I can't even guess as to why the Tekken Chinmi anime has never been available for purchase physically, outside of a single VHS tape that likely is just a themed recap, despite the manga being readily available in Japan digitally, both via individual volumes & even bundles. Personally, though, I do have a bit of a soft spot for Takeshi Maekawa, as when I was first really getting into manga in the mid-00s, shortly after really getting into anime, I actually came across old fan translations of some of Maekawa's works, namely the first couple volumes of Break Shot & his one-volume historical drama Hoshi no Ken. I quickly found out about Tekken Chinmi, but even back then its length made me hesitate to get into it (hell, the fan translation for the OG run apparently only finished up last year!), but I have always been curious about the anime, even if it has no English translation whatsoever; there's word of an English dub having been made, but I can't find any proof of its existence.
Is the Tekken Chinmi anime without a (proper) home video release "for good reason", or is it simply just a victim of factors beyond its control preventing an otherwise enjoyable anime from being traditionally purchasable? Time to check it out for myself & see if the Tekken Chinmi anime is more Marshall Law or Forest Law.
On a mission from the High Priest of the legendary Dairin Temple in China, "Old Master" Loh is searching for someone with the "Fist Spirit" within them so that he can bring them to the Temple itself & become a master of Kenpo. During his travel Loh stops off at a small soup shop run a young woman named Mei Ling & her little brother Chinmi, the latter of which is inherently talented at Kenpo & looks to be self-trained, despite Mei Ling's wish that he not engage in fights. However, after proving himself to Loh & rescuing Mei Ling from a group of ruffians, Chinmi is invited to come to the Dairin Temple & properly learn Kenpo, much to his excitement. Alongside his little monkey buddy Goku, Chinmi arrives at the Temple & quickly finds friends in his dream of becoming a Kenpo master, namely his upperclassmen Kintan & Liaojiu, as well as the wannabe kunoichi Lychee who frequently visits the Temple.
Tekken Chinmi is an interesting take on a martial arts anime, as despite being about Kenpo (of which the Shorinji variant generally is the most well known) the focus isn't on fighting in & of itself, though they certainly still happen at points. In actuality it's about training & learning how to utilize the various aspects of martial arts in ways both in & out of fighting. For example, Episode 1 sees Chinmi needing to figure out how to defeat someone who has mastered Tetsuzanken/Iron Cutting Fist without actually fighting him, so as to keep the promise he made with Mei Ling, while Episode 2 requires Chinmi to figure out how to "cut the moon" so as to gain proper admittance into the Dairin Temple, but obviously that doesn't mean to literally cut the actual moon... sort of. This is a series where it's as imperative for one to master something like meditation (so as to sense weak points in your surroundings, or to blend in with the environment) before learning how to actually fight, and it's admittedly an aspect of martial arts training that isn't always focused on quite as much in other series like this that are based heavily on combat. There's also plenty of training from people outside of the Dairin Temple, as well, with Chinmi, Kintan, & Liaojiu learning skills & concepts from other masters, like that of Meikyo Shisui from Zen Master Tendou, Qi & the value of a good kiai from Ryukai, how to treat a life-threatening situation like a non-lethal one when all other things are equal (jumping a river vs. a canyon, or deflecting a bokken vs. a real sword) from Loh, Zen Master Yong Seng enforcing the idea that in a real fight there isn't always a sense of "fair & square", etc. Hell, there's even a bit where Kintan teaches Chinmi about keeping balance against a strong force, like a giant wave, while on small or unsure footing.
As mentioned, the Tekken Chinmi anime isn't exactly a 1:1 adaptation of Maekawa's manga, though it's by no means wholly it's own thing. I actually managed to get a hold of Bloomsbury's release of the manga to be able to compare & see what Junki Takegami (Naruto Shippuden, Gunslinger Girl) & his team of writers (Yukiyoshi Ohashi, Nobuaki Kishima, & Akihiko Kakizaki) did in the process. For example, Episode 1 is a fusion of the first two chapters, telling the overall story of Chapter 1, but turning the Tetsuzanken user from Chapter 2 into the leader of the twin ruffians that harass Mei Ling, while also turning Mei Ling into the kidnapping victim in place of a little girl in Chapter 2. In essence, that's how the Chinmi anime works as an adaptation, as it technically is still accurate to the overall events of the manga (up to a point, at least, since it's only 20 episodes & the manga was already around 15 volumes long by the time Episode 1 debuted), but some chapters might be mixed together with others, resulting in characters appearing in places & events that they originally didn't. The end result of this is a bit of an accelerated adaptation, & in total the anime adapts about 1/3 into Volume 11 of the manga; in other words, Bloomsbury's release only goes a little bit further than what the anime covers. Then there are Liaojiu & Lychee, who as indicated before are 100% anime-exclusive characters, so their involvement in the plot occasionally leads to some of the aforementioned alterations from the manga.
However, I can understand why these changes were made, and it really comes down to one major thing: Chinmi is essentially the sole focus in the manga, at least for what the anime adapts. While Jintan (the OG name for Kintan, changed in the anime due to him being named after the Jintan candy, which is trademarked) is in the manga he plays little major role once the training expands out to the other masters and soon enough barely appears in the story, though he does look to become more of a recurring character much later on, & in the sequels. Therefore, I think it's fair to conclude that Takegami wanted to give viewers of the anime a proper group of characters for Chinmi to bounce off of during his training, resulting in "Kintan" being given much more screen time now, as well as the creation of Liaojiu & Lychee (keeping with the theme of naming some characters after food) to help round things out. In essence, Chinmi is the one brimming with an insatiable need to learn & become better (not "stronger", per se, but simply improving his skills), Kintan is the impetuous one who loves to showcase his skills (resulting in him being an easy comedic foil, at points), Liaojiu is the one who looks serious & a bit suave but tends to break his facade easily with Kintan (& has his own weaknesses, like being afraid of heights), & Lychee being the one who tends to play pranks on the others for her own amusement, while also holding an immense crush on Chinmi that's not really hidden in any way. However, even without any knowledge of how this anime differs from the manga it's very easy to see that Kintan, Liaojiu, & Lychee are added to the mix for one simple reason: None of them do anything truly major, and it's always Chinmi doing anything noteworthy for the climax of each episode.
In fact, Episode 12 completely changes the circumstances behind a story in the manga by having it be based around the gang visiting Kintan's family, rather than a simple mission given to Chinmi by the High Priest, so that Chinmi's consistent group has a reason to be involved. Not just that, but after Episode 12 Kintan, Liaojiu, & Lychee become more or less afterthoughts until the final episode, especially once Chinmi heads off for special training with Yong Seng, a old drunken master who fights dirty, which in turn is also a mini-arc (Episodes 15 to 18) where Chinmi has to deal with some rowdy British sailors who know how to box, climaxing with Chinmi fighting a sailor named Dick Steiner in an actual boxing ring. In comparison, Chinmi's buds are seen throughout these episodes, but they contribute little more than either comic relief or set up for the anime-original final episode, which sees Chinmi, Liaojiu, & Kintan established as the legendary crane, dragon, & tiger that act as the lifeblood of the Dairin Temple. Unfortunately, it's a little weird to see Liaojiu & Kintan treated as full equals with Chinmi by this final episode, since they actively contributed little overall; it's not a bad finale by any means, but it does feel slightly forced.
Regardless, though, the end result is an anime that, despite being about martial arts & features the occasional fight, isn't really about fighting, in & of itself. Ask anybody who's trained in any form of martial art & they'll more than likely tell you that the primary goal of training is simply for personal growth over pure strength & the goal of being able to defeat foes, and Tekken Chinmi absolutely follows that same ethos. Chinmi isn't obsessed with Kenpo because he has a rival he wishes to defeat, and the Dairin Temple doesn't teach Kenpo to be "the best". Instead, Chinmi simply wishes to continue learning as he goes on, always ready & willing to discover something new, and he gets defeated more than a few times throughout the show. Those losses, in turn, drive Chinmi to think about what his immediate foe had as an advantage, and what he can do to figure out how to win the next time. Chinmi is also someone who's more than willing to sit himself down, meditate (once he learns the how to properly do so), & calmly come to a proper conclusion... even if said conclusion can be rather harsh & strenuous training to improve himself. That does result in the anime having, at times, a bit of a "martial arts of the week" feel, as while it's not happening literally every episode after the other there are a bunch of various martial arts showcased for Chinmi to take on throughout. There are realistic styles like stick fighting (with Chinmi finding a friendly rival in the form of the similarly young Xifang), sasumata fighting, boxing, & tongbeiquan, all of which are naturally embellished for dramatic effect, like Xifang being able to cut through a rock with a staff or Yong Seng being able to attack foes through solid rock without damaging the rock itself. There are also more fictionalized styles, like the previously mentioned Tetsuzanken, Resshiken/Furious Finger Fist (based around pressure points, a la a non-exploding Hokuto Shinken), Dokushuuken/Poison Hand Fist (the iconic style where one purposefully makes their hand to be poisonous to the touch), & Kousha Kidouken/Hard Shot Duct Fist (based on palm strikes that forcibly messes with a foe's Qi, leaving them helpless).
Returning back to the staff, the Tekken Chinmi anime was directed by Jutaro Oba (God Bless Dancouga, Powered Armor Dorvack), a man with overall few actual credits to his name but the end result here is honestly pretty good for its time. The animation throughout is well done and everything looked more or less consistent throughout, so even with the lower quality "raws" I had to rely on it never looked poorly animated or distracted me in any way. It may not be one of Ashi Pro's best works for the time, but it's definitely one that I think would honestly look rather nice via an HD remaster. Part of that would be due, in some way, to animation director & character designer Kenichi Onuki (Tokyo Revengers, Golden Kamuy), who definitely has a long, long catalog of work as of 2025, and this anime was only his fourth title, so Onuki definitely showed his talents this early on with both good animation overall & a rather close adaptation of Takeshi Maekawa's style for the characters; even Liaojiu & Lychee feel like they don't clash in any way. Another highlight would have to be the music by Kei Wakakusa (Romeo's Blue Skies, Hikaru no Go), which is filled with a variety of catchy little tracks that can easily stick in your head for a little bit after watching a few episodes & matches the era of the time the show ran in perfectly, delivering mostly lighthearted beats but with the occasional more serious & moody track for when things require them. Then there's the OP theme, "Kung Fu Boy" by Saori Yagi, which is absolutely an ear worm that simply won't leave your memories once you hear it, while ED "Gin-Iro no Serenade" by Saori Yagi is more or less just fine; slightly catchy, but nowhere near as memorable as the OP. Another musical high point, though, would be "Kung Fu Fighting" by Yu Mizushima, an insert song heard in Episode 12 that (while sadly not a cover of the 1974 Carl Douglass classic) is also instantly memorable & a fun listen in isolation. Episode 18 also features its own insert song, "Heart ni Yuuki!" by Chika Sakamoto, which is also good but I'm admittedly just biased more towards "Kung Fu Fighting".
Finally, we have the voice cast, which is also very solid. Chinmi is voiced by Chika Sakamoto (Agumon in Digimon, Ai Kisugi in Cat's Eye), and she does a very good job at giving the lead character a constant good natured & happy attitude, while also delivering the more serious moments extremely well. Kintan is performed by Shigeru Nakahara (Show & Shion in Dunbine, Android 17 in Dragon Ball), who absolutely gets his chance to be very hot-blooded & impetuous in this show, with only the occasional scene where he could be more introspective. Liaojiu is voiced by Yu Mizushima (Mars from God Mars, Ryo Asuka in Devilman OVA) & is very fitting for a more "traditional" Chinese martial artist, while his more comedic moments allow him to shine nicely. In comparison to the prior three, Lyche was given more of a special attraction voice, in this case via Toshie Sakaue (now Nonomura), a TV personality & former idol singer who would later go on to be known as the wife of actor Makoto Nonomura, with Sakaue apparently becoming the originator of Japan's "Oniyome/Wife from Hell" trope via her various performances with her husband. In Tekken Chinmi, though, Sakaue was seemingly more in her idol phase & she honestly does a great job with her role, with absolutely none of the usual cadence you'd hear from non-seiyuu when it comes to anime performances; she absolutely could have continued doing anime voice work, in my opinion. They're joined by Hiroshi Masuoka (Todd in Sherlock Hound) & Kenichi Ogata (Kaku Kaioh in Baki & Baki Hanma) as Loh & the High Priest, respectively, who both do fine jobs but overall aren't anything major. Beyond them are the likes of Keiichi Nanba (Ryukai), Yuzuru Fujimoto (Tendou), Yuji Mikimoto (Dick Steiner), Yuko Sakaki (Mei Ling), Ryuji Nakagi (Yong Seng), Masako Ezawa (Goku), & Tadashi Nakamura (Narration), as well as single-episodes "appearances" by the likes of Kazuhiko Inoue, Norio Wakamoto, & some others.
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| The themed VHS cover, but it's the same as the key art. |
Overall, Tekken Chinmi is a fun series that showcases a slightly different execution when it comes to martial arts-focused manga by emphasizing the training & self-improvement aspect over purely the action-focused fighting aspect. Sure, Chinmi does get into fights throughout the anime, but there are also episodes where there's no truly noteworthy fight at all, instead putting the attention towards simply teaching something to the characters & putting them in a scenario where they have to utilize what they've been taught to get out of it, sometimes even non-violently. Watching this I can see why the Tekken Chinmi manga has managed to continue on to this day in Monthly Shonen Magazine, because Takeshi Maekawa was able to take his time & showcase Chinmi's early days as a young student, continually learning new skills, techniques, & styles, all while showcasing a proper mindset & dedication towards how to learn martial arts, with only the occasional "traditional" fight happening now & then for spice early on. Then, once Chinmi has become more experienced a martial artist, the manga could become a bit more standard as an action series, but readers have come to grow with Chinmi themselves. It's a concept that really sounds as though it could be adapted to anime today, and with modern times' focus on seasonal productions I think Tekken Chinmi could maybe work well, in that regard.
As for the Tekken Chinmi anime that actually did get made, while I only spot checked Bloomsbury's release as I watched the anime I can say that it still looked to really nail the look & feel of Maekawa's manga, and even with its fast adaptation pacing (~2 episodes/volume) it seemingly doesn't cut too much out. As for the inclusion of making Kintan a more notable character & the addition of the anime-only Liaojiu & Lychee, I think I can see why that happened, as an almost exclusively single-character focused TV anime probably wouldn't have flied back in 1988. And, despite their inclusions sometimes feeling like they were ancillary due to Chinmi still needing to be the focal point above all else, I honestly felt that Kintan, Liaojiu, & Lychee didn't detract from the anime at all, so they're an addition that overall works. In the end I'm glad to have finally watched this anime, because it is a really good one & I can't comprehend as to why it's never received a proper home video release, especially when it's seemingly been streamed at times in Japan. Still, if you ever manage to come across the Tekken Chinmi anime in some way one day then I definitely say to check it out, especially if you like martial arts series & appreciate the training aspect of it all.
Anime © Takeshi Maekawa·Kodansha/Toho·Ashi Productions
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