I'm not into rap and I can't say I care much for the whole "gangsta" style/ lifestyle. Neither am I a connoisseur of exaggerated character designs. Needless to say, I went into Tokyo Tribe 2 with a certain amount of trepidation. IT PUT ME OFF AND PULLED ME IN AT THE SAME TIME. The first four eps were weak but intriguing enough to keep me going. It is grim, gruesome, and exaggerated, but with a grain of gritty reality too. The back story and character development is good. Plus there are a couple disgusting characters, both visually andpsychologically, that make you love to hate them and shout, "Oh, just kill him!" at the screen. When I start talking to the screen, you know they've got me. (Part of me wants to know how Buppa got to be, well, Buppa . . . . and part of me doesn't. Shudder.)

There are no pretty people in this show. As stated, the character designs are stylized and exaggerated and all the women, with one possible exception, are trashy. Could it be that Tokyo Tribe 2 is more of a caricature of the "gangsta" style/lifestyle than it is a celebration? Hmmm . . . Ultimately, I'd say it is a bit of both.

There is enough testosterone driven machismo to power Las Vegas and its surrounds for at least a year - You got your territoriality, your colors, your honor codes, guns, baseball bats and katanas, cars, and essentially disposable females. Death, with a couple exceptions, is highly trivialized You also have young men maturing the hard way and friendships that somehow manage to endure.

The last four eps go way, way over the top with gangs wearing nazi uniforms and a guy driving a tank through downtown Tokyo and wearing a samurai helmet. Made me think of Sengoku Basara for a split second or two and in a good way.

If you are into rap you are going to love the sound track. I found it well engineered and very effective. There were a couple non rap cuts I'd like to get my hands on, one being a percussion piece featuring what I think was bongos.

Voice work was excellent. I'm not sure but I think Inoue, Kazuhiko, the voice of Natsume Yuujinchou's cat, Madara, aka Sensei, Nyanko, is the same as that of the slimy little character I kept talking to the screen about.

The backgrounds were wonderfully detailed and motion flowed well even in the most frenzied action scenes. I could have done without the cyborg-golem-thingy though. Seemed a little out of place but no big deal.

From the music to bloody action to women whose sole role is that of sex slave or servant, this show is definitely targeted at a young male audience . . . of which I am neither . . . and I liked it anyway.

If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, this is it. Go in open minded and be prepared to be appalled and enchanted all at the same time.