Thursday, July 13, 2023

TenPuru - Episode 1 - Kiki Sleeps with Sake Bottle

Kiki, and her sake bottles, are some of the temptations for fleshly appetites at a Buddhist temple. Not so fair, right?

Akemitsu’s dad is a philanderer. Having many lovers is just like having many friends. Uh, maybe? Five-year-old Akemitsu didn’t know better at the time. There’s your prologue. The opening credits start with colorful brush strokes of 煩悩 (ぼんのう, bonnou — appetites of the flesh). Guess what TenPuru is about! The byline on the title says, “No one can live on loneliness.” Meditate on that while looking at cute girls. And underwear explosions. So nostalgic. I haven’t seen a show featuring panty shots since... five minutes ago? Goddess Café Terrace and Yuusha ga Shinda! recently ended in the spring anime season. Still, it feels like the second coming of Heaven’s Lost Property.

Straight out of the gate, TenPuru shows you what to expect from the Mikazuki Temple residents. I wish I were a bottle of sake right now. Akemitsu plans on being a civil servant after college. No time for earthly distractions! Mr. Akagami ruined his son’s life and reputation after he left the five-year-old. That’s a nice subtext to hang humor and character development on. Uh oh. Guys, never let a rolling rice bale hit you in the face and open your eyes to a strong, beautiful woman’s face. Instant love shot to the heart! Then you’ll start skipping classes, skipping work, then get fired and almost flunked out of college. Your mileage may vary.

Yes. TenPuru is simply the romaji spelling (テンプル, てんぷる, tenpuru) of “temple.” I’m curious about Akemitsu’s uncle. Why is he a “former” Buddhist priest? The Mikazuki Temple has a calming atmosphere. 三日月 (みかづき, mikazuki) means “crescent moon,” so we’ll see tons of imagery and references to crescents and moons during the season. What a coincidence! The girl Akemitsu fell in love with lives at the temple! It must be fate. Or it’s just a comedic device that layers errors and unrelated events into a spiraling confluence of chaotic energy. Bring on the slapsticks! And the accidental fanservice! Is Akemitsu cursed or blessed as a lucky lecher? To be decided! But first, a marriage proposal. That’s not funny!

Is Yuzuki attending an arranged marriage meeting or a vocation assessment? Why not both? Uh oh. Here’s when events start spiraling out of control. Did Akemitsu not make an appointment, or did his uncle do that? Aw. Look at the cute kitty. Its neckerchief spells out てら (tera), the hiragana for 寺 (Buddhist temple). Ack. Yuzuki just learned she let in a strange man on temple grounds. Slapsticks, at the ready! Ecchi accidents are a go! Let’s meet the girls of TenPuru as others shout their names! Kagura watches Mia writing words with the wrong kanji and the wrong ideas about pop culture. Nozawa Masako (野沢雅子is not how you spell Yamato Nadeshiko) is the voice of almost every character related to Goku in Dragon Ball. Mia wears red. Booby monster Akemitsu lies defeated.

Everyone had made mistakes. Kiki, the substitute priest, forgot to tell Yuzuki about Akemitsu’s visit. Yuzuki didn’t bother looking at the picture of her prospective partner. And Akemitsu’s uncle didn’t know that the Mikazuki Temple had become a convent! That “No Men Allowed” sign was not at the front gate. Hey! A man can do free labor if you take down that pesky sign. Problems solved! We need to hear more about this labor issue. But can Akemitsu handle his earthly desires surrounded by young women? And one flirty adult? Try again, TenPuru. Akemitsu declines the temple girls’ offer.

Hold on. If this temple is out in the country, how did Yuzuki run into Akemitsu in the university town? Was she selling bales of rice over there? Answers to come later. Aw. A love connection between Yuzuki Aoba and Akemitsu Akagami. Wait. That name! Akemitsu’s dad swindled the temple out of two hundred thousand dollars! Usually, the Mafia makes children pay their runaway parents’ debt. But a group of holy women will extract value from Akemitsu’s body! They mean labor. Such dirty minds over here on Joeschmo’s Gears and Grounds.

The end credits take us through the seasons of daily life at the Mikazuki Temple.

Next time, we’ll read things out of context and misconstrue them as pervy things. Again!

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