Anime Retrospect: Tenchi Muyo! Part One

 A look back to the first anime I ever watched, in the hopes of answering the age-old question: just how pimp is Tenchi Masaki?


Anime is a unique kind of medium, especially in this country. It really hasn't been around that long, and while it is continually spreading and is, somewhat disconcertingly, near to complete world domination in the field of cartoons, the time when the first few anime programs crossed over to the states can still be remembered by those of us who pay attention to that sort of thing. I couldn't tell you the first movie I ever saw, or the first book I ever read, but I dare say the majority of anime watchers in this country could tell you of their first experience with anime. I still remember mine. It wasn't Sailor Moon or Dragonball Z, or that damn Pokemon show. I was fortunate enough to get a look at a classic series before it even hit American TV. That series was Tenchi Muyo!

Tenchi Muyo! is, though I didn't realize it at the time, considered to be the series that created and defined the genre of "harem" anime. Harem anime is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: an anime about one guy surrounded by a multitude of hot chicks. This genre is overused, and it tends to be cheesy or sometimes downright insulting to the viewer. Some shows seem as if the show's creators are saying, "Hey, we know this show can't stand on its own, so here's some cute girls to ogle at, since clearly you're a hormone-addled chauvinist who cares only about fan-service and not about things like character depth, story coherence, and well-written dialogue."  I imagine that creators of bad harem anime like to talk in run-on sentences. Anyway, as is generally the case with genre launchers, Tenchi Muyo! actually had good intentions and set a much better example than the shows that copied it. The girls have personality, the story is very deep and engaging, and best of all the main character is likable enough that it makes sense for the girls to be attracted to him. This point may sound exceedingly obvious, but it's surprisingly lost on many writers, who seem to think that unapologetic perverts surrounded by hot chicks who want to sleep with him are completely believable characters. That or they believe that their audience is composed entirely of unapologetic perverts who want to live out fantasies of being surrounded by hot chicks, whether it's believable or not.

Now, Tenchi Muyo! could justifiably be viewed with a cynical eye with regards to the number of young, attractive women who just happen to show up and start hanging around Tenchi...

What, like this has never happened to you?

... but the thing is, it can be forgiven because the harem aspect of the show is actually not the major focus of the story. At its heart, Tenchi Muyo! (or, in its English translation, No Need for Tenchi!) is the story of a normal, everyday kid getting caught up in dangerous, galaxy-spanning events that have nothing to do with him. It's not simply a rom-com, but a blend of science fiction, comedy, and action that clicks on just about every level.

One thing about the plot is that it can be tricky to figure out. The narrative doesn’t necessarily spell everything out for the viewer, preferring instead to let them figure it out for themselves. It’s something like the philosophy behind Neon Genesis Evangelion or Lost in that regard, only thankfully not to the same extent. There’s no mystery to unravel in Tenchi Muyo! but there are a few polar bear moments nevertheless.

Interestingly, Tenchi Muyo! ran on Cartoon Network’s “Toonami” lineup for a while in the late 90s. Unlike shows like Dragonball Z, which have many episodes and make for a good slot in a cartoon lineup, Tenchi Muyo! is a mere 13 episodes long. However, two 26-episode follow-ups called Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo were also included to give it some longevity. Tenchi Universe was somewhat mediocre, but it had its moments and it features the popular characters Kiyone and Nagi (Kiyone is considered to be part of the main Tenchi cast, despite not appearing in the original series). Tenchi in Tokyo was… well, it was a god awful mess, from hideous artwork to uninspired music to a nonsensical plot to a boring villain, and I could go on. Plus it threw a wrench into the works by giving Tenchi a girlfriend named Sakuya, angering the approximate 100% of the fan base that already had a favorite girl to ship with him. As for the original series, Toonami could barely get around airing it, since the episodes were too long and the subject matter too mature. So edits were in order, and unfortunately in many places the coherence of the story suffered for it. Still, to take a series filled to the brim with full frontal nudity and edit it to the point where it’s approved for children's television… Bravo, Toonami. Do not think that I’m unimpressed.

The first opening theme is quite nice. It has no lyrics and it is very understated and simple. This series slightly predates Evangelion, which set the standard for all opening sequences that followed, so it did things in its own way, and it really worked. The music is early-90s synth with an ancient-Japan feel to it, which ties in nicely to the tone of the series. The flashing seizure lights in the background are a bit off-putting, but that’s about the only fault I have with it.

The series begins with an episode titled “Ryoko Resurrected”, which opens with our hero, Tenchi Masaki, staying at his grandfather’s Shinto shrine over the summer. He neglects his chores to search for a set of keys that his grandfather, Katsuhito, keeps, which open a gate into a cave. To enter the cave is forbidden, since the family legends say that a demon is sealed inside it by the power of a magic sword wielded by Tenchi’s ancestor Yosho. Showing a horrifying indifference to the possibility of awakening an ancient evil with the power to destroy the entire human race, Tenchi manages to get the keys away from his grandfather and runs straight to the sealed cave to satisfy his own curiosity. Inside, he finds the ancient sword, which is now eaten away by rust. Unimpressed, Tenchi breaks it against a rock. Yeah, because an ancient sword like that sure couldn’t be worth anything, and it sure has no sentimental value to the Masaki family. Way to be, Tenchi. Way to be. Anyway, the rock he hit with the sword also breaks in half… for some reason… and this causes a wall at the back of the cave to open up… somehow.

It's a little known fact that ancient demons are powerless against elaborate systems of pulleys and counterweights activated by breaking a rock in half with a rusty sword. Remember that, next time the situation arises.

Tenchi, having clearly never seen a scary movie in his life, goes to see what’s behind the wall that opened up. Inside is a mummy, and as he approaches it the gems in the hilt of the sword react with the mummy, causing it to awaken. Tenchi runs away and ties the broken rock back together with a vine. This causes the wall to close up again… somehow.

Then a tree shoots a bunch of lights into the sky. Yeah. This is one of those moments that’s almost impossible to understand the first time you watch the series. It gets clarified later, though. Oh, and get used to trees doing weird shit in this series, ‘cuz they ain’t stopping any time soon.

We next see Tenchi back at school after summer break. We see him looking at the broken sword hilt and… wait, he’s still carrying around the broken sword hilt? Why? What good’s it going to do him, especially at school? And why did he take it with him to begin with? Even if he didn’t want to ‘fess up to his grandfather about breaking it, he could have just put it back where he found it. It’s a forbidden cave, so no one would know, and considering that it was put there to hold back the very demon he just inadvertently set free, it just might have been a prudent move. 

"And why would I hold it up like this if I don't want anyone to see it? This is all so obvious in hindsight."

Tenchi takes a nap between classes and wakes up to find that he’s slept through the whole day. It’s now night time, and everyone has left the school, but he’s not alone. He encounters the demon from the cave, who calls herself Ryoko and is now a young, pretty woman.

Harem count: 1

Ryoko explains that she’s there to take her revenge for being imprisoned for 700 years, and is going to hold Tenchi responsible even though it wasn’t his fault. She flies around hurling energy beams at him as he runs away and tries to hide. Ryoko finds his hiding place using her ability to walk through walls (which she presumably used to escape the cave after Tenchi unsealed her). Tenchi literally pulls out the old “Hey, what’s that behind you?” tactic and runs away, and Ryoko accidentally ignites leaking gas, causing an explosion. Seeing that Ryoko survived the explosion unscathed, Tenchi rethinks his strategy. He remembers that the legends say that the jewel on her wrist is the source of her power, and realizes that he must somehow get it from her to beat her. Ryoko finds him again and corners him, but when she tries to land the finishing blow the sword hilt creates a magical shield to protect him. A magical energy blade appears where the old blade had been, and the sword acts on its own to cut off Ryoko’s hand and release the gem, which explodes. Ryoko nonchalantly accepts defeat, regenerates her lost hand (yeah, even without the gem she has whatever fuckin’ superpowers she wants), and disappears. Tenchi, showing a horrifying disregard for the fate of humanity, lets her go and runs away before anyone finds him and connects him to school catching fire. Our hero, ladies and gentlemen!

Tenchi returns home only to find that Ryoko is there waiting for him. In his bed. Because Tenchi Masaki is just that fucking pimp. So episode 1 ends, but episode 2, “Ayeka Arrives” picks up here. Ryoko tells Tenchi to return her gems to her so that she can summon Ryo-Ohki.  She tries to take the sword away from him, but finds that it won’t allow her to touch it. So instead she tells him that someone dangerous is approaching and she needs Ryo-Ohki to get them all to safety. The dangerous person she’s talking about is Ayeka, a princess of the planet Jurai.

Harem count: 2

 

Ayeka is on a search for Yosho, who is both her half-brother and her fiancé. I suppose I could make some kind of incest joke here, but this is royal family stuff that has really happened throughout history. Maybe if this was a bad series I would give in to the temptation, but Tenchi Muyo! respects its audience enough to expect us to take this seriously, and I for one am going to do that. Anyway, it seems that Ryoko is actually a notorious space pirate who was chased to Earth by Yosho for crimes committed on Jurai. Detecting Ryoko on the planet (possibly the signal sent out by the tree when she was released, I’m not really sure), she decides to capture and interrogate her for information about Yosho, even though all of her crimes have been erased by Jurai’s statute of limitations. The audience is at first led to believe that Ryoko is lying about Ayeka’s vicious nature, since she seems innocent and dignified, but we quickly learn that she’s a bit of a two-face.

Like the Batman villain, if that helps you.

 

Tenchi returns one gem to Ryoko, allowing her to summon Ryo-Ohki, which turns out to be a spaceship. Which makes cat noises for some reason. Aaaaanyway, Ryo-Ohki shrinks Tenchi’s entire house and picks it up as Ryoko tries to escape from Ayeka’s ship, Ryu-Oh. But Ayeka is able to put up a barrier that traps Ryo-Ohki, and takes the two of them hostage. Ayeka interrogates Ryoko, but is not able to get any information about Yosho from her. All the audience learns is that the magic sword is also named Tenchi, which I guess is supposed to be meaningful somehow, but I just found it to be a source of unnecessary confusion. The interrogation gets interrupted by the ship’s computer, who tells Ayeka that her mother has given her a strict bedtime. Now, I mention this not because it’s important to the plot, but because it’s a subtle setup to a punch line that pays off all the way in the last episode. Wait for it.

Tenchi wakes up imprisoned in a cage of malevolent vines. He finds that he can’t escape, but he is soon met by Ayeka’s younger sister Sasami.

Harem count: 3

 

Trying to be a troublemaker, Sasami releases Tenchi from his cage and promises to return him to his home if he steals Ayeka’s hair ornament. Tenchi sets out to do that while Ayeka is asleep, but gets distracted when he sees she has the sword. He takes it from her, but she wakes up and sics her guardians on him. Sasami leads him into a tunnel and they pop out (I mean literally, there’s a popping sound effect when they come out) next to Ryoko’s cage. He accidentally releases Ryoko using the sword and by hugging him she is able to use the sword to release Ryo-Ohki. After Tenchi informs Ayeka that Yosho is dead, he and Ryoko return to Ryo-Ohki and Ryoko forces the two ships to crash to Earth together. By the power of contrived coincidence they happen to land in the lake next to Katsuhito’s shrine, both ships being destroyed and sunk beneath the lake. With their ships destroyed the girls have no choice but to stay in Tenchi’s house.

Episode 3, “Hello, Ryo-Ohki”, takes place after a week has passed. It’s a bit of a breather episode, with no real action, but it does a nice job building the relationships between these numerous characters. Tenchi has given the sword to Ayeka, considering it to be rightly hers. Ayeka has shut herself off in her room, but Sasami finally convinces her to go outside and talk to Tenchi. Meanwhile Ryoko walks out onto the lake… holy crap, I don’t want to say anything blasphemous here, but I think Ryoko might be Jesus. She retrieves an egg from the bottom of the lake. She teases everyone by saying that the egg is the child of herself and Tenchi, but it really hatches to reveal a rabbit-like creature.

And thus was born Easter as we know it today.

 

Ryoko explains that this creature is the result of her ship, Ryo-Ohki, regenerating itself. Ayeka, believing that Tenchi and Ryoko are making fun of her together, gets angry and storms out of the house. Ryo-Ohki follows her, and Katsuhito tells Tenchi to prepare for swordsmanship practice. Ryoko begins searching for the sword in Ayeka’s room in an effort to get her other gems back. Ryo-Ohki catches up to Ayeka, and even though Ryo-Ohki is Ryoko’s spaceship she finds the creature too adorable to dislike. Which is admittedly the entire point of the Ryo-Ohki character. I should also point out that the English dub of this series unfortunately got Ryo-Ohki’s gender wrong for the first half of the series. She’s female, and that does come up later on, but the characters refer to her as a male. It’s a sad mistake, because otherwise the dub is very good.

Ayeka sees Tenchi and Katsuhito practice swordplay and realizes they’re using the same techniques taught on Jurai. When she approaches to ask them about this, she falls and hurts her ankle. Katsuhito tells Tenchi to help her back to the house, but it begins to rain, forcing the two of them to take shelter in a nearby storage shed. While they’re in there, they talk and Ayeka realizes that Tenchi isn’t really on Ryoko’s side, and she opens up to him a bit. When the rain stops, Tenchi takes her to the Holy Tree of the shrine, which she recognizes to be the core of Yosho’s spaceship, Funaho. Yep, like I said, trees do weird shit in this series. Get used to it. Since Funaho is alive, she deduces that Yosho must still be alive somewhere as well. She apologizes to Tenchi for being nasty to him and gives him the sword back, asking him to protect her with it until she finds her brother. Ryoko then arrives, and is happy to learn that Tenchi has the sword back. I like the character depth this episode gives us. We see that Ayeka can be a bitch, but she’s really a decent person at her core. Later in the series her bitchiness is amped up quite a bit, but she’s genuinely likable in this episode. Ryoko gets some time to be likable as well, now that she’s in a calm situation for the first time in the series. It’s both funny and sweet that she genuinely believes that she and Tenchi are partners, and expects him to act in her best interest. What makes Ryoko and Ayeka work as rivals is that they’re more alike than they admit. Ayeka has a harsh side, and Ryoko has a sweet side, and this episode is where we see the first signs of that.

Episode 4, “Mihoshi Falls to the Land of Stars” begins in space with a fleet of Galaxy Police spacecraft, led by a guy I call Eye Patch Spock, being totally annihilated by a giant battleship. This battleship is Souja, the ship of a most-wanted space pirate named Kagato. As Kagato is headed for the Solar System, the GP contacts the officer on patrol there, Detective Mihoshi.

Harem count: 4

 

Mihoshi has a reputation for being an excellent detective, but also for being a klutz and for piling up bills and misconduct reports. She’s given the command to find Kagato and report his location to headquarters, but she takes it upon herself to capture him single-handed, because the best detectives are the ones who are completely incapable of following directions. Meanwhile Tenchi and the gang head to the hot springs on vacation. Ryoko confronts Tenchi, questioning him about what happened with Ayeka in the shed, and proposing that he forget Ayeka and hook up with her instead. He refuses, and they head into the bath where… oh yeah, this is the episode that the Toonami edit couldn’t salvage, because Ryoko shows up to talk to Tenchi again, and this time she’s stark naked. Toonami edited a bikini onto her, but that rendered everything the characters say and do in these scenes utterly nonsensical. Omigod it's a girl in a swimsuit! This is so awkward and uncomfortable! I should look away! Well anyway, Ryoko shows up naked, and this is admittedly shameless fan service, but at least it’s somewhat justifiable because Ryoko is consistently portrayed as an exhibitionist, so this is really all in character for her. She drags Tenchi into the women’s side of the bath in order to hit on him some more, not realizing yet that Tenchi is far too pimp to actually settle for any one girl (or, more seriously, too smart to anger the other girls by making a definitive choice).

Sasami comes into the bath (fear not, she’s covered by a towel) and is not at all surprised to see Tenchi there. And why would she be? Where else would she expect to find Tenchi “Pimp-Lord” Masaki? Somewhere away from the hot chicks? Bitch, please. Ayeka comes in next and freaks out a bit. She and Tenchi share a look and she calms down, but Ryoko gets jealous and yanks Ayeka’s towel off to embarrass her. Ayeka challenges Ryoko to a fight in retaliation, which Tenchi is unable to prevent. Ryoko summons a water demon but immediately finds that she can’t control it without a gem on her right wrist. Now, this may seem like a stupid mistake on Ryoko’s part, but bear in mind the alternate theory that she did this specifically to coerce Tenchi to give her another one of her gems back, which would mean that she’s actually being kinda clever. Tenchi retrieves the sword but finds it powerless against the monster, who simply regenerates when harmed. However, the energy of the monster pulls Mihoshi’s ship down to Earth, causing a sub-space rift to open. The monster and Mihoshi’s ship are pulled inside, but Mihoshi apparently ejected or something and Tenchi is able to save her from being pulled in as well. After Mihoshi meets everyone, they go to bed and Sasami has a nightmare of being attacked, causing her to call out to someone named Tsunami for help. The episode ends with Kagato arriving at Earth, seeing that the Jurai royal family has been gathered together, and declaring that Ryoko has finally served her purpose.

Episode 5, “Kagato Attacks” actually starts out in a fairly lighthearted manner. The music playing over the title card is even a fun, cheery piece that was used in episode 3 to establish a domestic sitcom mood. And that leads into more naked Ryoko, as she and Ayeka take a bath and drink some sake… but I’ll admit some confusion here, since the bathhouse is inside some kind of floating glass dome whose origin is never explained. Washu hasn’t shown up yet, so I can’t say she’s behind it. Was this something on one of their ships? If so, how did it survive the crash, and why are we only just now seeing it? Why did they bother going to a hot springs resort last episode if they had this much, much nicer setup literally hovering right next to the house? Where’s the water coming from if it’s in midair? Argh, continuity headache.

Well, I guess we’ll just move on. Ryoko and Ayeka get drunk and fight over who should get Tenchi, Ayeka’s inner bitch finally coming completely into the open. In the process, we learn that this episode takes place two months after Ayeka got stranded on Earth, and a few days after the previous episode. We also learn that Ryoko was able to watch Tenchi throughout his life, any time he visited the sealed cave, and so feels like they’ve known each other for ages. She doesn’t explain why she attacked him in the first episode, the prevailing fan theory being that she saw it as something of a game and never really intended to hurt him. I’ll buy it. She tried to kiss him before he ran out of the cave, well before she attacked him, so it’s not really a continuity gaffe. Ayeka mocks Ryoko for being over 1000 years old, which seems a bit hypocritical since she logically has to be well over 700 herself, but then their bickering gets interrupted by Mihoshi, who admits that she likes Tenchi as well, and then finally by the sudden appearance of Kagato. Now, I said earlier that Tenchi Muyo! wasn’t a rom-com, but up until this point, there was definitely a strong romantic comedy presence in the series. That's not so much the case now that we've reached the first story arc's climax. For the next two episodes, there's less romance, less comedy, and a lot more balls-to-the-wall action. Let’s enjoy it.

Kagato captures Ryoko and vanishes. The others track him to the Holy Tree and confront him. Mihoshi’s blaster proves powerless against him, so Tenchi challenges him with the sword, which Kagato recognizes as a weapon said to contain the greatest energy in the universe. Tenchi is no match for Kagato, but before Kagato can take the sword from him, Katsuhito arrives and takes it. Kagato recognizes that Katsuhito is really Yosho, and challenges him for the sword, taking control of Ryoko and using her as a puppet. Katsuhito manages to release Ryoko from his control by cutting off her hand to remove the gem on her wrist. He then throws the sword away, but Kagato learns that, like Ryoko, he is unable to touch it. Understanding that Tenchi is Yosho’s successor, he takes Ryoko back to the Souja and challenges Tenchi to rescue her. Ayeka confronts her brother, and he admits that he had never intended to return to Jurai, and that he wishes to remain on Earth even though it means he will grow old and die. He then suggests she marry Tenchi instead of himself. But Tenchi’s mind is on rescuing Ryoko, so Katsuhito officially give the sword to him and Ryo-Ohki transforms back into a spaceship, merging with the wreckage of Ryu-Oh in the process.

Tenchi, Ayeka, and Mihoshi fly into space to challenge the Souja, but find that Ryo-Ohki is no match for it. Not only are they less powerful, but none of them have the experience to properly operate the controls and Kagato knows Ryo-Ohki too well to be fooled by their maneuvers. They are unable to avoid the Souja’s attacks until Mihoshi gives Ryo-Ohki’s main computer unit some sake, making it drunk. See, that's the kind of thinking that's made her the top-notch Galaxy Police detective she is today. The drunken Ryo-Ohki is able to avoid the Souja’s blasts, because drunkenness greatly enhances one's reflexes, as everyone knows. Tenchi decides to use Ryu-Oh to attack, and transports himself to the Ryu-Oh’s bridge. Ayeka instructs him on how to open the Light-Hawk wings, which are primarily a powerful shield but can be used to attack also. Seeing them employ this strategy, Kagato prepares a counterattack, charging his main gun for a concentrated blast. The two ships fire at each other, but Souja’s attack is stronger, and it completely destroys Ryu-Oh, while Tenchi is still inside it.

Holy crap.

When I first saw this scene, that was the last thing I expected to see. I mean, Tenchi’s the hero, right? He’s supposed to win, not get blown to smithereens. Now, obviously Tenchi survives this, because he’s the main character and there are still eight episodes left in the series, but this moment is still pretty gut-wrenching. In both the original and the dub, Ayeka has a moment here where she freaks out and screams, and both versions are just chilling. Ryoko hulks out and escapes from Kagato... with astonishing ease, all things considered. It might be argued that Kagato let her go, but... why? Even if he blew up Tenchi, he still doesn't have what he's after yet. Holding Ryoko hostage would still benefit him. I guess he does have Ayeka right where he wants her, and Yosho's successor was probably the only guy he thought of as a possible threat. Still, it's oddly short-sighted of him.

You might have noticed that I haven't yet commented on the closing theme song, and that's because I was waiting for this moment. We're at the most serious and suspenseful moment in the series right now, wouldn't you agree? A brutal space pirate in search of the ultimate power source has seemingly killed off our hero and has all of the remaining good guys right in his grasp. What would be the least appropriate follow up to this cliffhanger? If you said a bouncy, love-love pop song accompanied by a cartoon of Ryo-Ohki growing and eating a giant carrot, you are correct. And yet, that's exactly what we're subjected to. Now, outside of the context of this episode, that ending isn't so bad. The song is irritatingly sugary, but it's no worse than the million other anime closing songs that sound the same. And the visuals, childishly rendered though they are, actually give us more in terms of animation than the majority of anime closings. Plus, if cutesy is what you're looking for, it's kinda hard to beat this one; I'll admit that I smile whenever I see the army of dancing snowmen. But seriously guys, you just blew up Tenchi!! Can you maybe act like that's a bad thing?

The final episode of the first story arc is titled "We Need Tenchi" in stark contrast to the title of the series itself. I've always liked that touch. It doesn't have the usual opening sequence, instead opting for plain white-on-black credit screens and somber music. You know, like how the last episode should have ended. Ryoko makes her way to Ryo-Ohki and convinces Ayeka and Mihoshi to challenge Kagato with her. She takes a gem off of her earring and attaches it to her wrist. As for why she never did this earlier, it's because this isn't one of the "real" gems, it's a duplicate like the one she had in the first episode. Of course, nobody actually tells us this, we have to figure it out on our own. She flies Ryo-Ohki straight at Souja. Apparently the concentrated blast has left the Souja unable to attack for a while (this isn't stated either, I'm just conjecturing) and since Ryoko knows how to pilot Ryo-Ohki she is able to break through the Souja's defenses. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Sasami has somehow seen what happened to Ryu-Oh and races to the Holy Tree. She recites some sort of incantation and disappears into the tree. Kagato decides to play some creepy organ music while he waits for the women to reach him, and really, that's exactly why I love Kagato as a villain. The thought had to have gone through his head, "This moment calls for some creepy villain music. Well, fuck, there's my pipe organ, let's do this shit!"

As the music plays, the three women reach the door to Kagato's chapel, which he opens for them because he knows the badass villain playbook inside and out. Mihoshi accidentally activates her control cube and ends up in a mirror dimension. Ryoko and Ayeka don't notice that she's gone. Way to contribute to the team, Mihoshi. Meanwhile, back in space, we see that Tenchi isn't dead after all. Ayeka's guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, have created a bubble in which they are keeping Tenchi alive. An unknown blue-haired woman appears, then Tenchi and the guardians are absorbed by a bright, glowing light. It turns out that this light is actually Tsunami, the most powerful ship of Jurai. The blue-haired woman, who is the human personification of the ship, tells Tenchi that the ship belongs to Sasami. Wait, what? The most powerful battleship in the universe and it belongs to Sasami? Actually, this does get cleared up later, but for the time being it's a hugely bewildering plot point.

Ayeka attempts to attack Kagato, but he informs her that the chapel's force field protects him from all outside power sources. Ryoko attacks next, but Kagato captures her and turns her to stone. He then tries to read Ayeka's mind for information about how to access Tsunami's power, but is unable to because Tsunami is protecting her. Mihoshi, meanwhile comes across a girl in a tube and is attacked by two giant snakes. She uses her control cube to turn the snakes to stone, inadvertently freeing the sealed girl as well. The girl identifies herself as Washu, the greatest scientific mind in the universe and now Kagato's prisoner.

Harem count: 5

Washu is able to release Ryoko, while revealing herself to be Ryoko's mother, as well as the designer of both Ryo-Ohki and the Souja. But she is unable to free herself and Mihoshi from the mirror dimension, and has to trust in Ryoko to defeat Kagato. Ryoko battles Kagato, but is unable to fight at full power for fear of destroying Ayeka as well. Seeing this, Washu pulls Ayeka into the mirror dimension. Kagato, however, counters by causing the Souja to drain the power from all of the gems, which not only drains Ryoko's power but also allows the Souja to fire a blast powerful enough to destroy Earth. This forces Tsunami to show itself, protecting the Earth with ten Light-Hawk wings, then counterattacking the Souja. Tenchi then appears, in Juraian battle gear. He attacks Kagato, only to find that the sword is useless because the chapel is cut off from Tsunami's power, which is the sword's power source. In addition, Kagato finishes draining the power of the gems and uses the power to capture Tsunami.

Tenchi at first believes the situation to be hopeless because the sword doesn't work, but then he remembers that Tsunami told him not to put all of his trust in the sword because he has a power of his own. He challenges Kagato again, this time without the sword. Kagato tries to kill him with a single blast, but Tenchi is able to create three Light-Hawk wings to protect himself, even without Tsunami's power. Stunned, Kagato throws everything he has at Tenchi, but to no avail. Tenchi transfigures one of the wings into a sword and slices Kagato in half. With Kagato defeated, everyone is freed from the mirror dimension, but Tenchi's attack also cut the entire Souja in half and it explodes. While they're all still in it. And yet they all survive unharmed. Huh. The idea, I assume, was that they did the Star Trek thing where the transporter pulled them out at the very last second, but the explosion happened while they were shouting, "Let's get out of here!" When in the middle of that sentence did they get away?

So everyone returns to Earth and they live on happily, albeit with alien women bickering and hurling energy beams at each other every now and then. Azaka and Kamidake stand outside the house, since they have nothing better to do with their time. And so we cut to the closing credits, this time with some nifty watercolor pictures of scenes from the series in lieu of the usual Ryo-Ohki animation. Thus ends the first arc of Tenchi Muyo!

I was surprised, re-watching the series and writing this review, just how confusing the plot continues to be. So much of it is left for the viewer to figure out on their own, and even then there are some significant plot holes. So, maybe in terms of story, my love for this series is protected by the nostalgia filter. But there's a lot to this series: characters, love triangles, comedy, action... there's so much to be genuinely enjoyed in those regards. The characters have real depth, and none of them are quite what they appear to be at first. The harem aspect of the show actually works (and that can so rarely be said) because the male lead is likable and the girls interact well together. The series is an almost peerless match in terms of silly slapstick comedy, and there are genuine laughs in every episode, even from things as simple as facial expressions. And the action is fun to watch, and not bogged down by unnecessary stretches of dialogue like in many action animes. All in all, I still love this series. But I'm not done yet. There are still seven episodes left, including a special supersized episode. So be sure to join me for part two of Anime Retrospect: Tenchi Muyo!

Tenchi Muyo! and all related images and characters are property of Geneon Entertainment, Funimation Entertainment, Anime International, and Masaki Kajishima. Images used come from Tenchi Muyo! and Batman: The Animated Series