Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic
Encyclopedia
Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic was an American cartoon
show produced by Saban
that centered around the fictional adventures of Japanese real-life magician Princess Tenko
, a.k.a. Mariko Itakura. After each episode, she would appear in a live-action segment to perform an illusion or do her "Teach-A-Trick," a segment that teaches the audience a simple magic trick they could perform at home. Unfortunately, the show failed to attract an audience and production was cancelled after a single season, which ran from 1995-1996.
. There are already several magicians there learning from Tenko. He introduces the young magician to the Tenko Box, which looks like a magic wardrobe and holds many magic gems called Starfire gems. Each one has its own magic properties. It is Tenko's job to protect the Starfire gems.
The new magician begins her training and quickly becomes the best magician at the school. Two of the most senior students, the twins Janna and Jason, become jealous of the newcomer when she is chosen to become the new Tenko just before the original dies. Janna and Jason then try to steal the Starfire gems. Jana steals the Amber Starfire gem and Jason gets the Ruby Starfire gem.
When they hold them up and say, "Starfire!" they are given flashy costumes and powers. Janna, very dominant over Jason, can control fire, while Jason has a magic shield with hypnotic
powers. Once the twins's treachery is discovered, each of the other students receives a Starfire gem to fight. The three males at the school each receive a Starfire gem that gives them a weapon: one gets a sword, another a shield, and the third gets a set of magic rings to throw at enemies. Finally, the newest magician of all, the new Tenko, receives her own Starfire gem, the Topaz.
When she says, "Starfire!" she, like the others, is given a flashy costume and new powers. She uses a magic wand with a crystal at the top. The crystal holds the spirit of a lion that she can summon to help her fight. During the battle at the school, Janna and Jason demonstrate their ultimate power: by combining their Starfire gems, they transform into a large, two-headed dragon. In the scuffle, the Tenko Box is damaged, and the remaining Starfire gems are scattered all over the world and some through time. Janna and Jason make a quick escape. It is now up to Tenko and the "Guardians of the Magic," as they come to be called, to retrieve all of the Starfire gems before Janna and Jason get them and use them for evil. All this happens in the first episode of the series.
. The dolls were slightly altered designs from the cancelled Wonder Woman and the Star Riders toy line. Some character designs for the Tenko cartoon were based on the Star Riders character designs.
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
show produced by Saban
Saban
Saban Entertainment , was a worldwide-served independent American television production company formed in 1984 by music and television producers Haim Saban and Shuki Levy as "Saban Productions", a U.S...
that centered around the fictional adventures of Japanese real-life magician Princess Tenko
Princess Tenko
Princess Tenko is the stage name of , a pop singer turned magician specialising in grand illusions. Her name is taken from , a male Japanese magician who was managed by the same person as Mariko and to whom Mariko was apprenticed in 1976. The older Tenko passed his mantle to her before he died at...
, a.k.a. Mariko Itakura. After each episode, she would appear in a live-action segment to perform an illusion or do her "Teach-A-Trick," a segment that teaches the audience a simple magic trick they could perform at home. Unfortunately, the show failed to attract an audience and production was cancelled after a single season, which ran from 1995-1996.
Plot summary
The story of Tenko and the Guardians of the Magic begins when a female magician, already an experienced performer, is chosen by an old man named Tenko to come to his school for magicians and learn real magicMagic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. There are already several magicians there learning from Tenko. He introduces the young magician to the Tenko Box, which looks like a magic wardrobe and holds many magic gems called Starfire gems. Each one has its own magic properties. It is Tenko's job to protect the Starfire gems.
The new magician begins her training and quickly becomes the best magician at the school. Two of the most senior students, the twins Janna and Jason, become jealous of the newcomer when she is chosen to become the new Tenko just before the original dies. Janna and Jason then try to steal the Starfire gems. Jana steals the Amber Starfire gem and Jason gets the Ruby Starfire gem.
When they hold them up and say, "Starfire!" they are given flashy costumes and powers. Janna, very dominant over Jason, can control fire, while Jason has a magic shield with hypnotic
Hypnotic
Hypnotic drugs are a class of psychoactives whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia...
powers. Once the twins's treachery is discovered, each of the other students receives a Starfire gem to fight. The three males at the school each receive a Starfire gem that gives them a weapon: one gets a sword, another a shield, and the third gets a set of magic rings to throw at enemies. Finally, the newest magician of all, the new Tenko, receives her own Starfire gem, the Topaz.
When she says, "Starfire!" she, like the others, is given a flashy costume and new powers. She uses a magic wand with a crystal at the top. The crystal holds the spirit of a lion that she can summon to help her fight. During the battle at the school, Janna and Jason demonstrate their ultimate power: by combining their Starfire gems, they transform into a large, two-headed dragon. In the scuffle, the Tenko Box is damaged, and the remaining Starfire gems are scattered all over the world and some through time. Janna and Jason make a quick escape. It is now up to Tenko and the "Guardians of the Magic," as they come to be called, to retrieve all of the Starfire gems before Janna and Jason get them and use them for evil. All this happens in the first episode of the series.
Characters
- Princess Tenko: The Master Guardian, she is the leader of the show's heroes. She performs a traveling magic show while searching for the displaced Starfire Gems. The ones she personally uses each allow her to summon a ghostly animal companion to help her battle.
- Bolt: Bolt is a caucasianCaucasian raceThe term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
Guardian who is the team's joker. His Starfire Gem uses the power to wield a magic sword.
- Hawk: Hawk is a Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
Guardian with a somewhat stereotypical connection to nature. His Starfire Gem uses the power to wield a magical shield (reputedly makes them impervious to the Ruby's powers, but never demonstrated).
- Steel (voiced by Michael SorichMichael SorichMichael John Sorich is an American voice actor who is also a screen actor, writer, director and voice director.- Biography :...
): Steel is an African-American Guardian who is a scholar of history. His Starfire Gem uses the power to fire magical rings which he can throw to capture enemies or create ladders.
- Ali: Ali is a hot-headed teenage girl who feels distant from everyone in her life. After helping Tenko in one adventure, she becomes her apprentice and trains constantly to be a Guardian. In the second to last episode she does become a Guardian and earns her own Starfire Gem, but we never see what her power is. Rumor has it that her own Starfire Gem has the power of super speed.
- Shonti: Shonti lives at the Guardians' mansion and is in charge of taking care of their animals, especially Tenko's pet snow leopard cub Ninjara.
- Janna: Granddaughter of the Master Guardian who came before Hikita, the short-tempered Janna tried to steal the Starfire Gems when Tenko became the new Master Guardian instead of her.
- Jason (voiced by Michael SorichMichael SorichMichael John Sorich is an American voice actor who is also a screen actor, writer, director and voice director.- Biography :...
): Janna's twin brother. He and Tenko have shown signs of being attracted to each other, but he is easily manipulated by his sister and so follows her orders.
- Hikita Tenko: The former leader of the Guardians. After he was injured by Janna and Jason he was placed in the Tenko Box and disappeared, but occasionally his spirit appears to Princess Tenko to give her advice.
- Travis Cage: An endangered-species poacherPoachingPoaching is the illegal taking of wild plants or animals contrary to local and international conservation and wildlife management laws. Violations of hunting laws and regulations are normally punishable by law and, collectively, such violations are known as poaching.It may be illegal and in...
who is interested in money with each endangered animal he captures and trades. He finds the diamond Starfire Gem after failing to bag a gorilla. With the help of Janna and Jason, he kidnaps Ninjara, seeing her as a rare prey, and sets traps for Tenko and the Guardians.
- Vell: An evil industrialist who was logging a rainforestRainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
to try to find the emerald Starfire Gem, which would allow him to free a demonic entity imprisoned long ago in another dimension. He is pulled into the demon's other realm for his failure and his ultimate fate is unknown.
Starfire Gems and Abilities
- TopazTopazTopaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...
Gem - summons a Golden Lion (Holder: Princess Tenko) - Rose Quartz Gem - summons the Rose Eagle (Holder: Princess Tenko)
- SapphireSapphireSapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
Gem - lets holder breathe underwater and summon the Sapphire Dolphin (Holder: Princess Tenko) - GarnetGarnetThe garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
Gem - lets the holder to wield a magic sword. (Holder: Bolt) - TurquoiseTurquoiseTurquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl648·4. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gem and ornamental stone for thousands of years owing to its unique hue...
Gem - gives holder a magical shield (reputedly makes them impervious to the Ruby's powers, but never demonstrated) (Holder: Hawk) - QuartzQuartzQuartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
Gem - gives the holder magical rings which he/she can throw to capture enemies or create ladders (Holder: Steel) - Morganite Gem - Unknown (possibly super speed). (Holder: Ali)
- AmberAmberAmber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
Gem - allows holder the power to shoot fireball projectiles (Holder: Janna)* - RubyRubyA ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
Gem - creates a mesmer-disk shield that lets holder hypnotize people (Holder: Jason)* - OpalOpalOpal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...
Gem - Can bring inanimate objects to life. (Holder: Princess Tenko) - AmethystAmethystAmethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...
Gem - Holds several animated suits of armor. (Holder: Princess Tenko) - DiamondDiamondIn mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
Gem - can enlarge a creature it is used on (Holder: Princess Tenko) - PearlPearlA pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
Gem - Has the power of flight, used by Tenko to turn her horse into a pegasus. (Holder: Princess Tenko) - OnyxOnyxOnyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...
Gem - Lets the holder create storms, but carries a curse that if it is not given freely, its power will eventually run out of control. (Holder: Princess Tenko) - Cat's EyeCat's EyeCat's Eye can refer to:* The visual organ of a cat* Cat's eye , a type of road marker using retroreflectors* A kind of Marble * Chatoyancy, the reflective property of certain gems, including Cymophane...
Gem - Lets the user see anywhere in the world and has limited power to see the future. (Holder: Janna)* - EmeraldEmeraldEmerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
Gem - the most dangerous Starfire Gem, allows the holder to free a demonic entity imprisoned long ago in another dimension (Holder: unknown)
- Note: Jacon and Janna can transform into a two-headed dragonDragonA dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
by touching their Starfire Gems together.
Episodes
NOTE: The first six episodes are available on 3 DVDs in the United Kingdom, released by Boulevard Entertainment.| # | Title | Airdate | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Let The Magic Begin! | Tenko saves a child from a burning building and for her bravery is selected by Hikita Tenko to become one of the Guardians of the Magic and his successor. Angered that she wasn't chosen, Janna coerces Jason into helping her steal the Starfire Gems, which Hikita hurls through time to keep them safe. | |
| 2 | Through the City Darkly | A thug has found a Starfire Gem, but his bag gets mixed up with Ali's, and Janna and Jason come after her to get it. The twins and the Guardians both appeal to Ali to let them help her, and she realizes the Guardians are the ones who really want to help. Ali becomes Tenko's apprentice. | |
| 3 | Diamond in the Rough | A big game hunter finds a Starfire Gem, and in exchange for it Janna promises to give him the chance to hunt a snow leopard; in particular, Tenko's snow leopard, Ninjara. The Guardians travel to Africa to try to bargain for the gem, and Bolt and Hawk get stuck at customs for the entire show. The hunter's son tells Tenko and Steel what's going on, and after a battle with Janna and Jason the hunter realizes that his son matters more to him than hunting, and gives the gem to Tenko. With the help of the diamond Gem, Ninjara breaks out of her captivity and saves Jason from a raging fire, and the Gem is put into the box for safekeeping. | |
| 4 | Strong Medicine, Strong Magic | Janna poisons Tenko's horse, Pearl-Rider, with a poisoned apple, and seeking a cure Hawk takes her to his tribe's reservation in search of his grandfather the medicine man. Janna and Jason have captured him, but Tenko and Hawk save him and teleport back to the mansion in time to save Pearl-Rider. | |
| 5 | The Stone of Destiny | Professor Doole, a teacher of Steel's, is buried in rock when excavating the tomb of King Hepsut, a pharaoh who owned the Star of Destiny (the dialogue calls it the Star, not Stone), which allowed him to see across time and space. Figuring it's another Starfire Gem, the Guardians and Janna and Jason descend on the tomb. Surviving traps and undead mummy guards, the Guardians get the Star of Destiny, but Jason kidnaps Ali, and Tenko is forced to trade them the gem for Ali's safety. The twins use it to the see what the future holds, and see Tenko's wedding. Janna snatches it away before Jason can see who the groom is, but he has a long brown ponytail, like Jason.... | |
| 6 | Trust and Betrayal | Janna and Jason find another Starfire Gem, but its energy is unstable and Jason is placed in a coma when he touches it. Janna goes to the Guardians for help saving her brother, and he's put inside the Tenko Box to be healed. Janna then reveals her other face and locks up the Guardians, but Ninjara and Kiddles the monkey manage to get the keys and free the Guardians. Tenko enters the box and brings out Jason who almost reforms, but Janna forces him to join her again and the twins are fought off. | |
| 7 | Night of the Dolphin | Tenko is performing at an aquatic theme park, and meets two of the occupants, a dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... named Delphy and a young orca Orca The killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas... named Kaylu who's been kidnapped from his pod. Janna and Jason conspire with the greedy owner of the park to ambush Tenko. During the attack most of the park's occupants are freed into the ocean, ruining the corrupt owner, and Tenko with them. Delphy leads her to a grotto where she finds the sapphire Starfire Gem and learns that Delphy is the dolphin it controls. |
|
| 8 | The Big Story | Bolt falls for Stacy Roberts, a reporter for a show called The Big Story, but Jason hypnotizes her into leading Bolt into a trap so they can steal his Starfire Gem. They also steal the Tenko Box and use it to summon a chimera, but the Guardians manage to drive it away, and Stacy's news camera breaks, so she doesn't get an exclusive of the battle. | |
| 9 | Troubled Waters | Tad Donovan, an old friend of Bolt's, is working with a scientist in a plan to bomb a California fault line Fault line In geology, fault line refers to the surface trace of a fault.Fault line, Fault Line, or faultline may also refer to:* "Faultline", a song from the 2008 studio album Versus by The Haunted... to prevent The Big One The Big One The Big One is a term often used in casual conversation by residents of California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia to describe the megathrust earthquake or other natural disaster anticipated as inevitably striking the West Coast of the United States... . Tenko senses another Starfire Gem in the vicinity so the Guardians find it while Janna and Jason try to take advantage of the bombs, because in truth they'll cause a devastating earthquake rather than prevent them. Tenko keeps the bombs from going off just in time. |
|
| 10 | Will the Real Tenko Please Stand Up? | A prince sends his advisors to hire Tenko to perform for him, and he promises to give her a Starfire Gem he owns. Hearing this, Janna pretends to be Tenko and the prince decides to have them compete against each other. When Janna destroys things and Tenko saves the spectators, the prince realizes she really deserves the gem and gives it to the real Tenko. | |
| 11 | The Forest Emerald | Tenko has a dream about being chased into a cave by a villain, and Hikita's spirit tells her to find a purple pouch. After discovering a secret passage in the mansion, they find the purple pouch, which has a map to the resting place of the emerald Starfire Gem. While Bolt, Steel and Ali lead Janna and Jason on a wild goose chase, Tenko and Hawk travel to a rain forest to look for the emerald. The map is stolen by an evil developer named Vell, and he finds the emerald first. Tenko manages to shatter it, but Vell steals half of the part which gives it its magic and escapes. | |
| 12 | The Magic Skates | Ali is tired of training as Tenko's apprentice and not being considered responsible enough to do advanced magic. She returns home and meets with an old friend who convinces her to buy a pair of skates. Little does Ali know, now that she has left Tenko's protection, Janna and Jason will do anything to get her skates, which each have half of the morganite Starfire gem. After proving herself to be responsible and capable of using the magic she has learned, Tenko presents Ali with the morganite gem and deems her worthy of becoming a Guardian. | |
| 13 | Cry Havoc | Vell joins forces with Janna to steal Tenko's piece of the emerald Starfire Gem, and takes it from her after trapping her in a volcano. Tenko follows them to the ruins of Atlantis, where Vell betrays Janna and uses her life-energy and the emerald to try to free an ancient demon. Janna combines her power with Tenko's to seal the demon away, but doesn't know when to stop and tries to take the emerald even when the cave starts to collapse, burying her. As Jason arrives at the mouth of the cave, an eerie green glow is seen coming from within. |
Cast
- Michele Alberts -
- Gloria Bell -
- Sofia Coleman -
- Webster King -
- Thomas LeeThomas LeeThomas Lee may refer to:*Hon. Thomas Lee , early Virginian colonist, and builder of "Stratford Hall Plantation*Thomas Lee , English neoclassical architect...
- - Robbie Matthews -
- Michael SorichMichael SorichMichael John Sorich is an American voice actor who is also a screen actor, writer, director and voice director.- Biography :...
- Jason, Steel - Pearl Sutton -
Toy Line Tie-In
A line of Tenko toys was produced by MattelMattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
. The dolls were slightly altered designs from the cancelled Wonder Woman and the Star Riders toy line. Some character designs for the Tenko cartoon were based on the Star Riders character designs.