Tenchi Muyo! Chikyuuhen
General comments and observations,
and basic summaries, episodes 1-4
by Richard Uyeyama (ruyeyama@best.com)
V1.1 1/21/96
Series title:
The full title of the Tenchi TV series is "Tenchi Muyo! Chikyuuhen"
(TMC or TM!C, for short), as opposed to "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-oh-ki" (TMR or
TM!R, for short), which is the full title of the OAV series. "Chikyuuhen"
means something to the effect of "the Earth Saga" or "Earth Stories" or...
dare I say it? "Earth Chapter". I'm currently tending towards "the Earth
Saga" for the English sub-title to the series...
[note: I wrote these comments and summaries up having seen only the first
four episodes, but as it turns out, the sub-title to the Tenchi TV series
actually changes later... so "Chikyuuhen" is just for the beginning of the
series, when our cast is still on Earth...]
TV story vs. OAV or manga story:
The story for the Tenchi TV series is completely different from
either the OAV story or the manga story. Though the characterizations
seem mostly the same, character and scenario histories have been
completely rewritten in places, so any facts you may know from the OAV or
manga stories won't necessarily remain true in the TV series...
Target age group:
The target age group for the Tenchi TV series seems to be slightly
younger than that for the OAV series, so far... Just thought I should
mention this, in case anybody was interested...
Art and animation quality:
It looks pretty good, so far. IMHO, it even looks slightly better
than the second OAV series, as far as the art (character designs) is
concerned...
OP comments:
I like the TV OP sequence better than the one for the second OAV
series. It has some pretty good visual choreography (matching movement to
music) in it. Though of course, I still like the first OAV OP better...
While the first OAV OP had the credits which slid onto the screen,
the TV OP has credits which are sort of "wiped" on, from left to right.
Oh, and at the end of the OP sequence, the scene ends up going into
Ryoko's (left) eye, instead of Tenchi's, like in the first OAV OP...
ED comments:
Done with stills. Doesn't center around Ryo-oh-ki, but rather Ryoko
and Aeka... and volleyball.
[note: The ED sequence also changes later on in the series. There are
three ED sequences used. The Ryoko/Aeka vollyball story, Ryo-oh-ki fishing
for a carrot, and Aeka in space... The ED song is actually a duet with
Ryoko and Aeka. IIRC, For the vollyball and fishing ED sequences, we hear
Ryoko's half of the duet, and for the space sequence, we hear Aeka's half...]
BGM comments:
There's been lots of BGM from the OAV series used in the TV series so
far. And there's even been a piece or two I recognized from one or the
other of the Tenchi CD Specials. And I think there's some original BGM as
well...
Omake stuff:
After each episode so far, there's been an omake ("extra") section
called a "Character File". Each character file covers one of the
characters in the series and tells you a little about that character. The
video clips used in these aren't limited to those from the TV series, btw,
as clips from some of the other Tenchi productions have already been
used...
Grampa's abilities:
Grampa has shown some abilities in the series so far, but I don't
know if that's not just his martial arts training showing... We really
haven't heard much about Yo:sho: yet (I think there was one passing
mention of him by Sasami), so I can't say yet whether Grampa has the same
history as he did in the OAV series...
Tenchi's story:
Something interesting that's being done with the Tenchi TV story...
the very first scene (the prologue scene, if you will) in episode 1 seems
to strongly imply that the entire series may merely be Tenchi's telling or
reminiscing of past events in his life... His looking back upon more...
interesting times. A perfectly valid literary technique, but not one that
I would have necessarily expected in a series like Tenchi... (shrug) Of
course, he didn't really look noticably older in the prologue scene, so
these events can't have happened *too* long ago for him, but...
Anyhow, that's about it as far as general stuff and comments. Now onto
the episode summaries...
Episode 1: Mondo: Muyo:! [No Need to Say Anything!]
(aired: April 2, 1995)
One ship in pursuit of another through space, both ships are damaged
in the battle. Tenchi witnesses both of them crashing on Earth and goes
to investigate.
Tenchi finds Ryoko unconscious (and slightly drunk). Ryoko wakes.
She tells Tenchi that she's being hunted by a space pirate, and asks him
to protect her. A figure in power armor appears and begins firing upon
them. They run, and it chases after. The power suit trips on a soda can
(of all things), falls over, and can't get up. Ryoko kicks it down a
cliff.
Ryoko follows Tenchi home and meets his father (Nobuyuki) and Grampa,
telling them her (spurious) story also. She says that the space pirate is
likely to come after her again.
Nightfall. Grampa goes back to the shrine. Nobuyuki falls asleep on
the couch. Ryoko's playing video games. Tenchi's trying to do homework.
Doorbell. The power suit is at the door. It chases Tenchi and Ryoko
through the house, then up to Grampa's shrine. Grampa defeats the power
suit with a single blow from his wooden blade. (Jicchan shibui!)
The smoke clears, revealing Mihoshi. (Ryo-oh-ki BGM used here, for
some reason...) Mihoshi explains that she's a Galaxy Police Officer in
pursuit of the Space Pirate Ryoko. She shows her G.P. badge and the
warrant for Ryoko's arrest.
Ryoko stops acting innocent, and after demonstrating that Mihoshi's
gun has no effect on her (Ryoko can call up an energy shield), she chases
Mihoshi and Tenchi back to and through Tenchi's house.
When Mihoshi falls and Tenchi turns and prepares to fight (he picks
up a hoe from the ground nearby), Ryoko stops her rampaging, perhaps
impressed by his bravery... or something.
Mihoshi and Ryoko end up staying at the Masaki household, Ryoko
because she feels like it, and Mihoshi because her ship has been damaged
beyond repair...
Omake! Character File 01: Ryoko
Characters that were introduced in this episode:
Tenchi, Nobuyuki, Grampa, Ryo:ko, Mihoshi.
Episode 2: Ohjo Muyo:! [No Need for a Princess!]
(aired: April 9, 1995)
Aeka is out looking for a husband on her own, since if she goes back
home, she'll just have to go out again for another "arranged meeting"
(omiai) anyway...
Back on Earth, Mihoshi, fiddling with her cube, sends out a distress
call, even if its range isn't all that great...
Aeka's ship (Ryu-oh) happens to be in range, and they head for Earth,
landing in the lake by Tenchi's house. Aeka and Ryoko apparently know
each other... enemies of sorts since childhood... though the details
aren't quite clear. Later, they each tell completely different versions
of their first meeting... Mihoshi manages to convince Aeka not to leave
immediately.
Grampa talks with Aeka. She tells him of Jurai, her home planet.
Grampa gets Tenchi to show Aeka around.
Tenchi takes her to the big tree. They talk about beauty and
happiness... They wander about some more, look at the (autumn) trees...
and eventually wander back to the Masaki household.
Ryoko, a bit jealous, gets Aeka mad at her, and the two of them fight
a duel in space (Ryu-oh vs. Ryo-oh-ki). Ryoko teases Aeka a bit too much,
and Aeka rams Ryo-oh-ki with Ryu-oh, and both ships fall back to Earth,
crashing in... yep, the lake by Tenchi's house.
Aeka, Azaka, and Kamidake (Azaka and Kamidake are Aeka's two
servants) end up also staying at the Masaki household...
Omake! Character File 02: Aeka
Characters that were introduced in this episode:
Aeka, Azaka, Kamidake.
Episode 3: Shimpai Muyo:! [No Need for Worry!]
(aired: April 16, 1995)
Ryoko hears a cry from Ryo-oh-ki, and retrieves its egg from the
lake...
Walking through the forest (on his way to Grampa's place), Tenchi
meets Sasami. Sasami's looking for her sister, she says. She's Aeka's
younger sister, come to pick her up, as it turns out.
Mihoshi and Aeka will be leaving with Sasami. Aeka is sad that she
won't see Tenchi again...
Ryoko tries fooling everyone into thinking the Ryo-oh-ki egg is her
child by Tenchi (similar to, but different from OAV). Ryo-oh-ki hatches.
(I personally liked the OAV hatching scene better, but... (shrug)) It is
discovered that the young Ryo-oh-ki *likes* carrots!
Sasami's ship (not Tsunami, btw) looks sort of fish-like, in a way...
Mihoshi, Sasami, and Aeka (and Azaka and Kamidake) leave in Sasami's ship.
Ryoko and Tenchi see them off in Ryo-oh-ki (transformed to shipform).
Aeka is still reluctant to leave Tenchi... but knows that she must. The
two of them say their goodbyes.
Sasami's ship is ready to go when Ryo-oh-ki spots the carrot Sasami
is holding, through the comm connection, which is still open. Ryo-oh-ki
rams Sasami's ship in pursuit of the carrot...
Sasami also ends up staying at the Masaki household...
Omake! Character File 03: Sasami
Characters that were introduced in this episode:
Sasami, Ryo-oh-ki.
Episode 4: Yo:kai Muyo:! [No Need for a Demon!]
(aired: April 23, 1995)
Grampa tells the newcomers to the household of the demon sealed away
beneath the Masaki Shrine, 700 years ago...
Nightfall. Tenchi, coming back from school, gets abducted by Ryoko,
then tied up and taken to the forbidden cave... a dark, solitary place.
When Tenchi fails to come home, Ryo-oh-ki leads Mihoshi, Aeka, and
Sasami to the cave by following his scent.
Ryoko and Tenchi find lots of traps along the way, but make it to the
very interior. Before Ryoko can do anything with (to) Tenchi, Aeka,
Sasami, and Mihoshi arrive. Aeka and Ryoko fight.
The seal gets broken in the battle, and a huge glowing sphere is
released. Since it appears to be immune to Ryoko's blasts, they run, and
it chases after them... They run back to Grampa's place. Grampa speaks a
few words to the glowing sphere, and Washu reveals herself.
Washu, a brilliant (and cute) mad scientist, was sealed away 700
years ago on Earth, apparently, to keep her from causing trouble...
Washu ends up staying at the Masaki household as well...
Next episode introduces Kiyone!
Omake! Character File 04: Washu
Characters that were introduced in this episode:
Washu:.