Heru Dr. Tenma (6 Apr. 2004)

Writers:

Donald Roman Lopez (English adaptation), René Veilleux (English adaptation)

Stars:

David Earnest, Kyle Hebert, Megan Hollingshead

Cast

Episode credited cast:
David Earnest	...	Head Police Officer (voice) (as David Vincent)
Kyle Hebert	...	Police Officer (voice)
Megan Hollingshead	...	Reporter (voice)
Chris Kent	...	Dr. Becker (voice)
Steve Kramer	...	Director Heinemann (voice)
Michael McConnohie	...	Dr. Boyer (voice)
Liam O'Brien	...	Kenzou Tenma (voice)
Tara Platt	...	Eva Heinemann (voice)
Michelle Ruff	...	Turkish Woman (voice)
Masayuki Tanaka	...	Dr. Boyer (voice)
Kirk Thornton	...	Dr. Oppenheim / TV Reporter (voice)

Storyline

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Genres:

Animation | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Release Date:

6 April 2004 (Japan)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

25 min

User Reviews

A brilliant (if slightly strangely scripted) start to a superb aeries!

This episode, and the series, begins in a most mysterious manner, with a quote from the biblical book of Revelations (13, #1-4, for all you bible fans), instantly giving a Gothic, supernatural tone to the piece, not helped by the following fade into a dark, dingy hospital, with deep bells chiming in the background; this is an effective introduction, pulling the audience in deeply, due mainly to the fact that such a large proportion of the show is realistic. The show then proceeds to introduce the series protagonist, a brilliant neurosurgeon from Japan, now living and working in Düsseldorf, Germany, named Kenzo Tenma, but before the credits, you will be treated to yet another sorrow filled sight. He seems to have the perfect life; a beautiful fiancé named Eva (the daughter of the hospital's director), a great job (apparently with enough skill to one day be head of the surgical department), and the ability to really help people in need. However, when he operates on a famous person instead of the man he who came in first, on his future father-in-law's orders, and the poor person dies, he becomes emotionally scarred, and disillusioned with the political and power hungry ways of his colleagues; so when he soon after finds himself in the same situation, when a small boy with a gunshot to the head is brought in before a powerful politician, he opts to do what he thinks is the right thing. The basic foundations of many of the main characters are laid down well in this episode, and it should be commended for the way it explains the reasons for Tenma's first main action, but there are far too many overly emotive pieces in this episode, none of which are truly believable (such as Eva's chat with Tenma in the café or her father's description of why he became a doctor, both blatant attempts to vilify them beyond humanity) and Tenma has far too many flashbacks for my personal liking (unfortunately a recurring trait of the show). There is also an overuse of dramatic techniques (slow motion and tense music for a woman cutting her steak in a restaurant? Repetition of a woman's cries, which blend together into one?) and a misuse of the admittedly excellent musical score (an action packed score for a man driving to work?). Much of this episode is left a mystery, and it has a good cliff-hanger ending, making you wonder what will happen to Tenma. The episode is a good beginning, due to it's introduction of the major characters and it's way of drawing the audience into it's plot, though when I see the quality of the later episodes, I can but wonder why this was not of better quality.