Majin Bone
Episode 2 – Chosen Warrior
Kamen Riders, digital battlegrounds, alien invaders, yapping pooches, ancient prophecies, a horny teenager who is really bad at hiding his porn stash and baffling racial stereotypes. This anime has it all!
Just in case episode 1 of Majin Bone wasn’t ridiculous enough for you, episode 2 went and threw in the kitchen sink as well. Things has really stepped up a notch and Majin Bone is already beginning to take shape and forge an identity for itself. That identity just happens to be a ridiculously silly shonen romp that is more fun than it really should be.
This episode largely deals with the aftermath of last week’s alien invasion which destroyed Shougo’s alien-loving childhood friend/love interest’s home. Given that she is now technically homeless, Shougo wakes up to discover that she has moved in with his family and also went to the trouble of cleaning his room and neatly organizing his poorly hidden porn mags. Naturally Shougo freaks out like the goose he is.
It doesn’t take long for Shougo to come to discover the truth of what really happened, that being that he transformed into ‘Dragon Bone’ which is supposedly some ancient legendary armour that can only be worn by the supposed chosen one, you know the way these things go. One thing leads to another and he meets racial stereotype #1, Antonio the acrobatic Brazillian.
Antonio is a strange strange character. He spouts random lines of Engrish and does random acts of acrobatics almost as if he just rolled out of a Circus big top and into a shonen anime. He continues to harass Shougo into joining their cause, but is quickly distracted from that by Shougo’s attractive older sister who runs a cafe/bar. Antonio tries hilariously to impress her with his acrobatics and terrible attempts at English.”This is Japanese plate spin!” may very well be the best and worst line I have heard in anime all year.
Shougo eventually outruns Antonio but is then confronted by Tyrone the giant African. Tyrone inconspicuously introduces himself all the while reiterating he is not at all suspicious, multiple times. He is then joined by Antonio and the blue-haired Australian Luke, who going by the opening theme video enjoys hanging out at Ayres Rock in his spare time.
These three make up one hell of a ridiculous trio, all of whom are bad yet hilarious stereotypes. It makes you wonder if this is how the Japanese view the rest of the world. But then again, every country has an image of others out there, so it makes a little sense, it doesn’t change how terribly funny it is though.
The episode climaxes with Shougo being transported the digital battleground once again after being shown that he can transform into his ‘Dragon Bone’ form with a trading card which you can of course buy in the real world. Shougo once again does battle with an alien, this time with the help of Antonio. The battle itself was rather uneventful and the CG honestly looked a little bit clunky in these sequences. I hope that the CG will become better as the series progresses because thus far it has just felt very unnecessary.
From here one can only predict that Shougo will come to take on his role as the ‘chosen warrior’ and become part of the Bones Boys Brotherhood (as I have dubbed them). Whether or not thing will start getting more serious and this alien invasion storyline will take more prominence is anyone’s guess. But as long as Majin Bone continues to be a fun watch week in and week out, I’ll gladly follow the hilarious misadventures of the awkward red-haired goose Shougo and the strange characters he finds himself surrounded by. Majin Bone is fun, and that’s enough for me, for now.
Check out more Majin Bone impressions HERE.
