• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Chicken Dynasty

  • Home
  • Web Series
    • Safety First
    • Scientific Method
    • Redeemers
  • Blog

Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Episode 1: Let the Magic Begin!

May 2, 2016 Leave a Comment

Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic was produced by Saban Entertainment (of Power Rangers fame) and aired in 1995, lasting a single, 13 episode season. The show was based on Princess Tenko, a famous stage magician, who appears in a live action segment at the end of every episode to demonstrate a magic trick.

Tenko logo

Series logo

Episode Summary

The episode begins with Tenko performing a magic trick for an audience. She’s strapped to a rocket, then covered in fireworks; the rocket goes up and all the fireworks go off, but a magic box on stage opens and Tenko steps out.

magic trick

Tenko performs a magic trick

I’d like to take a moment to talk about this box because it’s important to the plot. It’s called the Tenko Box, and the opening on the front looks…like a vagina. There, I said it! I don’t want to be lewd or anything, but that’s exactly what it looks like. Now back to the show.

Tenko box

Right? Right?!

In a house somewhere, Tenko hangs out with her mentor, Hikita, who tells her how great she is and that her training is almost complete. She picks up an old framed photo of herself and we get a flashback showing how the two of them first met…

Hikita and Tenko

Hikita and Tenko reminisce

Tenko’s Backstory

At some magic show, we see an act involving a tiger go awry and start a fire. The audience evacuates, but a little girl gets separated from her mother. The tiger heads for the girl, but Tenko shows up to save her, then reunites her with her mother outside.

returning girl to mother

Tenko saves a girl from a tiger

Tenko runs back inside the burning building for no reason and finds Hikita using a spell to suck all the fire into a gem. He says he saw her selfless act of saving the little girl and it was really cool and that she should be his magic student.

Hikita teleports himself and Tenko to his house, where she meets his other students: Jason and Jana (twin siblings) plus Hawk, Steel, and Bolt. We get a training montage then cut to when Tenko’s gotten so good that Hikita shows her the Tenko Box. Inside the vaginal opening are the Starfire Gems – each has a different power, as Hikita demonstrates by using one to make a ghost firebird.

Hikita holding Starfire gem

Hikita shows Tenko a Starfire Gem

Scattering the Gems

I think the flashback is over now but it’s unclear. Hikita tells Tenko that she is his prized student, and that in time, she will take his place as guardian of the Starfire Gems. Jason and Jana, who watched this entire exchange, reveal themselves. Their grandfather was the guardian before Hikita and they (especially Jana) believe that becoming the next guardian is their birthright.

Hikita argues with twins

Jason tries to keep Jana under control

That night, as Hikita sleeps, Jana and Jason sneak downstairs to the Tenko Box and steal a couple Starfire Gems: Amber for Jana, Ruby for Jason.

Hikita senses a disturbance in the Force and teleports to the Box. He tries to fight the twins but gets overpowered, and to prevent Jana from obtaining the remaining Starfire Gems, scatters them across time and space.

Hikita loses fight

Hikita loses his fight with the twins

Establishing the Guardians

Tenko shows up and Hikita gives her a Starfire Gem he hid in his shirt sleeve, the Topaz Gem; we get a Sailor Moon-esque transformation scene as Tenko calls upon the gem’s power, and her clothes become fancy schmancy. She fights the twins, who combine their stones to briefly become a two-headed dragon, but they get in an argument and leave to find the other gems.

Twins as two-headed dragon

Getting some Dragon Tales flashbacks here

Hawk, Steel, and Bolt show up and Hikita gives them some more gems he hid in his sleeve (it’s a really big sleeve): Turquoise, Quartz, and Garnet. These three guys and Tenko are now known as “Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic.” Hikita then steps inside the Tenko Box and pretty much dies.

Tenko and Tenko Box

Tenko says goodbye to Hikita

Later, Bolt and the others bring Hikita a pet snow leopard named Ninjara to cheer her up.

meeting Ninjara

Tenko meets Ninjara

Magic Trick

At the end of every episode, we get a live action scene showing the real life Tenko demonstrating a magic trick. It begins with a voiceover disclaimer: “Remember kids, I’ve trained many years to perform this magical trick. Please do not try this at home.” She gets in a box and some saws gets shoved in and the middle section slides off. The added “audience gasp” sound effects are both charming and cheesy.

live action Tenko

Live action Tenko performs a trick

Thoughts

I actually remember catching a few episodes of Tenko when it aired. Its Asian female lead (which is something still rare today in American cartoons) and the live action segment at the end helped make the show unique. I’d even go as far as to say it felt cool to watch this show because of this uniqueness.

It’s no wonder Tenko only lasted 13 episodes, though. It was incredibly obscure and I feel like I was the only person who had even heard of this show. Years later, when I thought back on this show, there were times that I doubted its existence. Did I dream it all? I’m relieved to know I didn’t, but watching it now, maybe it should have stayed a dream.

series cast

Bolt, Steel, Tenko, and Hawk

It was a typical action/toy commercial show that was so prevalent in the 80s and 90s, especially the mid-90s, where there were a lot of “one season wonder” action shows (most likely trying to copy the success of X-Men the Animated Series).

One thing I totally missed when I first watched this show was the fact that it was aimed for girls. It’s not exactly obvious, considering most of the cast was male, but looking at the toyline confirms this fact.

The story was pretty plain, and the characters were incredibly bland, especially Bolt and the other two guys. The only character vaguely interesting was Jason. He wasn’t particularly villainous and actually seemed to be attracted to Tenko, but had to go along with his twin sister Jana and join the “bad” side .

Rating

1 out of 5 eggs rating

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Series: Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Decade: 1990s Filed Under: TV Show Reviews Tagged: action, animated, fantasy

Related Posts

  • Jana using Opal Gem
    Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Episode 2: Through the City Darkly
  • Tenko 3 - Travis Cage
    Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Episode 3: Diamond in the Rough
  • Tenko and Pearl Rider
    Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Episode 4: Strong Medicine, Strong Magic
  • Jana with mummy
    Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic Episode 5: The Stone of Destiny

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe

Sign up to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Connect

Find me on RSSFind me on TwitterFind me on YouTubeFind me on IMDbFind me on Newgrounds

Reviews by Category

  • TV Shows
  • Movies
  • Comics

Reviews by Series

  • Andromeda
  • Doctor Who
  • Dragon Ball
  • Gatchaman
  • Gundam
  • Metal Hero
  • NFL SuperPro
  • Power Rangers
  • Saint Seiya
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Star Trek
  • Tales from the Darkside
  • TekWar
  • Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic
  • Twilight Zone
  • X-Men

Recent TV Show Reviews

  • The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot
  • Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest
  • Doctor Who Story 18: Galaxy 4

Rating Key

5 Egg

Above and beyond, a true pleasure; re-watchable.

4 Egg

Very good, quality work.

3 Egg

Average, nothing special but inoffensive.

2 Egg

Weak, but may have one or two redeeming qualities.

1 Egg

Horrible, causes pain. Get it away from me!

Spoiler Alert

I spoil (near) everything in my reviews. If you want to remain spoiler-free, I advise you to close your eyes. But did you know that spoilers are actually good for you?

RSS iconTwitter iconYouTube iconIMDb iconFind me on Newgrounds
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact Me

Copyright © 2021 Chicken Dynasty | Site Design by Spica Creative

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.