Tenchi Muyo OVA3

[Saucer]

I know I'm going to piss alot of people off with this post, but I couldn't really give a damn. I'm usually not this hard on sequels. But I've never been so disappointed with AIC as I have with the recent exhumation of the corpse known as Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA3. And I just know the slavering dogs who prostrate themselves before this series are soiling themselves with delight over the first two episodes. Go on! Sit up and beg so AIC can throw you another bone! As if the first two OVAs weren't a cobbled together mess (albeit, an interesting one at least), this latest installment would appear to be a story about playing house. This is an OVA, is it not? Can we pick up the pace just a little, instead of pointlessly dropping one bomb on the viewer after another? A little character development is good. But let's not lose track of the story in the process. After I got over my disappointment at the first episode, I was hoping to get more out of the second. Suffice to say, I don't have my hopes up as to being satisfied with the rest of the series. Thumbs down, way down.

[js_morris]

Hmmm. I've seen the first two eps (fansubbed) and honestly, I'm enjoying it tremendously. A number of questions are slowly being answered, and the one that hasn't been yet keeps getting more and more intriguing.

If you want all-out warfare, though, stick around for the next one.

JSM

[Wayne]

Spoilers! :]



It's... different. Like GXP, the writers seem to be buying into the modern anime conventions/cliches more and more... and one of the big reasons the original OAVs were so unique and funny was because it was different from all that.

The best example is the villain (Kagato). Sure, he was a bishounen superpower with a cool voice; but there was a lot more to him than that. He didn't care about Tenchi (or any of them, besides the Juraians; which could get him to Tsunami). He was a scientist who played the organ. Kagato laughed at most of the anime villain cliches of the time and that still exist now; he was different, and he owned (and he remains the only person in the Tenchi continuities to overpower Tsunami).

Z, on the other hand; is cliche incarnate. He needs to prove his badness, so he lays waste to a fleet of ships-- without a ship of his own! (lol?) He's better than Tenchi... because he has five Lighthawk Wings! (ooh :|) And he has a "cool" one-letter name, and works for a mysterious being of cosmic power! (I quit.)

In #2, they bring back Airi from GXP (which was cool) and reference Seto (which was not). She was funny there-- she was the "battleaxe" female character to contrast to Airi and Misaki/Funaho. She had some cool moments, and her "fighting" wasn't too over-the-top.

Now all of a sudden "even Kagato is afraid of her?" Eh? This was before he attacked Jurai and plunded 3000-some-odd planets of their artifacts, right? And how even the GXP are afraid of facing him? Heck; Kagato thought so little of Jurai he sent his henchman (Ryoko) to deal with it.

I'm not harping on this because it involves Kagato (my favorite Tenchi character, and among my favorite villains); but because it's the most obvious example of history revisionism (which I was expecting, heh; but that-- and "Tennyo" or whatever her name is-- really stretch what little credibility the writers have left).

So far there's only been two episodes of the new OAV series, and I'm giving it time. But.... :[

[js_morris]

Z, on the other hand; is cliche incarnate. He needs to prove his badness, so he lays waste to a fleet of ships-- without a ship of his own! (lol?) He's better than Tenchi... because he has five Lighthawk Wings! (ooh :|) And he has a "cool" one-letter name, and works for a mysterious being of cosmic power! (I quit.)

This has been alluded to since "Night Before the Carnival", so it shouldn't be a big surprise. We know very little about Z and his motivations. Too soon to tell.

In #2, they bring back Airi from GXP (which was cool) and reference Seto (which was not). She was funny there-- she was the "battleaxe" female character to contrast to Airi and Misaki/Funaho. She had some cool moments, and her "fighting" wasn't too over-the-top.

Airi and Seto have been around long before this. You just have to reference the True Tenchi Novels to get the backstory.

Now all of a sudden "even Kagato is afraid of her?" Eh? This was before he attacked Jurai and plunded 3000-some-odd planets of their artifacts, right? And how even the GXP are afraid of facing him? Heck; Kagato thought so little of Jurai he sent his henchman (Ryoko) to deal with it.

Again, if you go out to the True Tenchi Novels, you learn that Kagato picked that moment in time to send Ryoko specifically because Seto wasn't there at the time. If you've seen GXP, you know what Seto is capable of doing. Damn right Kagato was wary of her. And if certain little clues are true, there other reasons why Kagato did not desire a meeting.

I'm not harping on this because it involves Kagato (my favorite Tenchi character, and among my favorite villains); but because it's the most obvious example of history revisionism (which I was expecting, heh; but that-- and "Tennyo" or whatever her name is-- really stretch what little credibility the writers have left).

Why does this surprise you? Tenchi has other relatives he hasn't met--his aunt Minaho, for example. I concede the sudden arrival of an older sister surprised me, but I suspect there's a reason for it, and I'm willing to wait and see how the story unfolds.

One thing you have to keep in mind--we were able to see the first two OAVs pretty much one after the other. That spoiled us. Now we expect the entire story spelled out for us RIGHT AWAY DAMMIT! or we're disapointed.

Now we're stuck waiting along with our overseas brethren.

JSM

[Wayne]

I've never heard of any Tenchi novelizations. Have a link or any summaries for me?

I don't put much stock in the Tenchi storyline-- they're all pretty muddled (even the ones like STM and TU that only had one anime each, plus a movie in TU's case); the OAV particularly so. It might help a bit to learn there was some attempt at clearing the mess up, heh.

[js_morris]

I've never heard of any Tenchi novelizations. Have a link or any summaries for me?

Here's a good FAQ for the series courtesy of AstroNerdBoy:

http://www.astronerdboy.com/tenchi/

Kaz Tatsumingo has a rough partial translation of the True Tenchi novels on his site:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/tatsumingo/world/world_e.html

And for easier reading, try Kryo's version of the novels (in progress):

http://www.geocities.com/kryotmida/novels/ttn.htm

JSM

[Wayne]

I read through the first site's first two synopses-- the second one (Yosho's-- or "Yoshyo's," heh) was pretty interesting. I also much preferred Kryo's chapters of "Jurai" that are done (I'm glad there's some people willing to translate, heh; I couldn't puzzle through Japanese to save my life).

Seto just irks me more, though. She was bad enough in GXP; but the novelization just paints her even more as a cliched superbeing-- the big difference being that she's female. If I were Kagato, I'd be afraid of the woman who can beat hundreds of pirates in seconds (and without a kamehameha ), get anyone to do what she wants, lord it over the Juraian Royal Family, and teach Sasami how to cook! :[ Blech. These guys can do better than that.

I guess what just irks me is that rather than expand on the OAV continuity-- which they do to some degree, granted-- most of it seems to be so much new material it borders (or crosses, in several cases) on revisionism. Was it necessary that everyone [besides Seto, who is apparently older than God] be teenagers (or younger) when they originally met-- especially for Juraians (who by the canon tend to look like kids even into the hundreds of years of age)? Or that conflict issues must automatically become personal (instead of Ayeka going after Ryoko for taking Yosho away-- as the OAVs indicate-- it's now personal, since Ryoko attacked her in her garden, and Ryo-ohki and Ryuoh actually fought for awhile)?

You might not have a problem with all that (a trend continuing into OAV #3)-- and that's fine, it's all a matter of taste-- but the Tenchi series was cool and unique for its time because [like El Hazard] it went against the cliches of its genre with a good mix of humor thrown in. Now it just seems like another harem anime-- and not even a particularly creative one anymore (although the books help a lot in that regard, although I can't really count them; not being able to speak Japanese and all).

[js_morris]

For myself, I've found that if you just consider it to be the anime equivilent of a Shakespeare comedy, Tenchi works just fine.

JSM

[Wayne]

That is quite possibly the first time I've ever heard Tenchi compared to Shakespeare. *laughs*

Don't get me wrong, I still like it and all (especially the OAVs and Magical Project S)... the new stuff just feels a bit wrong. Like finding out the old grandfather you've always looked up to was really a terrorist or something.

[Saucer]

Which continuity was GXP based off of? I only saw like one episode.

[Wayne]

Which continuity was GXP based off of? I only saw like one episode.

You didn't miss much.

The original OAV series, actually; although a few years afterward (yes, even after OAV #3, heh; which amuses me to no end). Like Jeff pointed out it tossed in some characters from the novelizations (namely Seto and Airi), and in one episode (#17, if I recall right) Seina catches up with Tenchi and the girls (all of them, actually, including Noike; although Mihoshi shows up late). There's a few reminders in that episode (for one, Washu talks about designing Ryo-ohki and "Fuku," the new cabbit; which didn't happen in the other continuities).

[Tsukasa]

I've not seen episode 2 yet only one  I hope the story does move along to be honest though the first episode was good it was more "if you have not seen Tenchi before this happaned" Flashback episode that really shouldn't of been done.   It could of done without the flashbacks and more focus on the there and now


Hoep episode 2 is better

[js_morris]

I've not seen episode 2 yet only one  I hope the story does move along to be honest though the first episode was good it was more "if you have not seen Tenchi before this happaned" Flashback episode that really shouldn't of been done.   It could of done without the flashbacks and more focus on the there and now.Hoep episode 2 is better

Well, you have to remember, it's been 10 years since the last OAV and there may actually be some people coming into the series cold.

Episode 2 definitely progresses things. You find out who the mysterious woman is at the end of episode 1, you meet Tenchi's grandmother Airi as well as his new fiancee Noike (and who arranged that union--a name GXP viewers will instantly recognize), and you see Tenchi drop a load when Yosho drops his disguise and tells him some of the truths of the Masaki family.

And Episode 3 promises to be even wilder.

JSM

[shaylashaylaflame1]

W-wait! There's another Tenchi Muyo OAV?And I just finished watching the TV Series...

[Saucer]

W-wait! There's another Tenchi Muyo OAV?And I just finished watching the TV Series...

You can read more about it. Or better yet, download it and see for yourself.