Review of Tenchi Muyo: Movie Box Set

Introduction

For my 500th review for this site, I eagerly pounced on the Tenchi Muyo OVA boxset when it came up in the reviewer free for all. My mania for all things anime certainly hasn`t diminished since then, quite the reverse in fact, and so 18 months and some 200 or so reviews down the line, when the Tenchi Muyo Movie boxset was released, I simply had to take a look. Once again, MVM collect the individual releases for the boxset, and just like the last time, they include an exclusive extra disc for those fans who have displayed suitable patience, or are willing to double dip.

The harem anime genre can be something of an acquired taste. A socially inept teenaged boy is put into a situation where he is surrounded by beautiful girls, all of whom fall for him in some way. Cue plenty of awkward moments, ribald humour, and saucy postcard clichés, as the teen blunders his way from one innuendo loaded scene to another. It`s a type of anime that people either love or hate, but few fall in between. That is with the exception of Tenchi Muyo, one of the earlier examples of the genre. Perhaps it has something to do with the story, the writing or the characters, but this is one harem anime that is more positively received than most. It has also been endlessly revisited. The earliest outing came in two OVA series that came to a total of 13 episodes. Then followed the inevitable movies, as well as spin-off series that took the same characters and inserted them into a new story and new universe. The Tenchi franchise is extensive, and most recently, animators have returned to the original OVA and continued the story.

Imagine if you will, being a teenaged boy and having beautiful girls throwing themselves at you. The basis of many an adolescent daydream, I can assure you. But for Tenchi Masaki this is no idle fantasy, especially after he unwittingly unleashes an attractive demon from a family shrine. Ryoko`s pursuit of him is merely the herald for increasingly strange events, as female visitors from space in the form of the Jurai princesses Ayeka and Sasami soon arrive, quickly followed by clumsy Galactic Police Officer Mihoshi, and galactic scientist Washu. If nothing else, he`s certainly kept on his toes. And this was the situation at the end of the OVA series. The story continues in the three theatrical features.


Tenchi Muyo In Love

The galactic arch-criminal Kain has escaped, and with it has erased the entire Galaxy Police HQ. He`s intent on vengeance against the Jurai family that imprisoned him, and his first destination is Earth. Back home, Tenchi is introducing his friends to the concept of the home movie, and reminiscing about his mother. Suddenly, as they watch, Achika vanishes from the film, and Tenchi is about to follow her into oblivion. Washu saves him just in time with one of her inventions, but the world around them is now unrecognisable. Washu determines that history has been changed, Achika has vanished, and with her the Masaki family. To set things to rights again, they will have to travel back in time to 1970 and save Tenchi`s mother from whatever misfortune awaits her. With Tenchi`s existence temporarily stabilised, the gang step into a convenient time machine and set forth, but they aren`t the only time travellers making the trip.


Daughter Of Darkness

The story begins one midsummer when a teenaged girl surprises Tenchi by claiming to be his daughter. The accompaniment of a space-time disturbance and a quick DNA test appears to confirm this strange development, and Tenchi`s daughter Mayuka, although suffering from amnesia obviously has strong feelings for him. The addition of this new female element to the household causes havoc among the residents, and no little jealousy. But former space-pirate Ryoko harbours an irrational dislike of the new guest that goes beyond her competing for Tenchi`s affection. Her suspicions appear to be confirmed when Mayuka starts behaving oddly, and inappropriately towards Tenchi.


Tenchi Forever

It`s springtime, and Ryoko and Ayeka are arguing again, over Tenchi naturally. Rather than get trapped in the middle, Tenchi escapes into the forest behind the shrine for a little peace. Distracted by a camellia blossom, he is led towards an ancient tree, from which the vision of a siren appears, beckoning to him. Tenchi walks towards the tree, and vanishes. Six months later, his friends and family are searching desperately for him, and Washu has narrowed his location down to the city. Ayeka and Ryoko are there trying to find him, but all they get are tantalising glimpses. When they try to chase him, he simply disappears. Tenchi meanwhile, has mysteriously aged several years, and is now a student at an art college. He`s happily living the domestic life, with his girlfriend Haruna, and has no memory of his past. He`s found his perfect world, and has no desire to leave, and it`s a world in which Ryoko and Ayeka literally don`t belong.

Video

Both the first two films get 1.85:1 letterbox transfers. It`s a sign of their age of course, while the second film was only released in the UK this January, they have been available in the US for near 10 years now, and anime is a niche product that rarely warrants re-mastering for each specific region. That aside, the image isn`t bad, it`s clear and colourful throughout and with only a hint of softness to proceedings. It`s also apparent from the off that the animation is larger scale than the OVA, with a lot more fluidity and scope.

Tenchi Forever gets a clear, colourful and sharp anamorphic transfer that brings out the most in the detailed and thoughtful animation. The character designs are more robust, and the world design has a degree of intricacy approaching Ghibli standards. You can definitely see the budget on the screen.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 soundtracks in both English and Japanese, as well as a DD 2.0 English track for Tenchi Muyo In Love, while Daughter of Darkness gets a Japanese DD 2.0 track as well. Tenchi Forever just gets DD 5.1 English and Japanese. They are fair surround tracks, with plenty of action to inhabit the soundstage.

The Tenchi dub isn`t one of my favourites, I don`t like the English voices for Ayeka and Ryoko one bit, so as usual I opt for Japanese with the translated subs. Unfortunately these subs aren`t at all zoom friendly on the first two films. (Daughter of Darkness does have a zoom friendly dubtitle track, but since the English dub is far removed from the Japanese dialogue, it really isn`t worth it. DoD also has a Japanese subtitle track.) These are films for good old-fashioned 4:3 sets, especially if you are an original language fan. Finally, a couple of the subtitle captions exceed the screen edges, resulting in missing text.

There are no problems with the HOH English, and translated English subtitle tracks on Tenchi Forever, and of course zooming isn`t an issue.

Features

The films get theatrical trailers and promo trailers/TV spots on the discs. There are trailers for other MVM products as well, while the first movie gets some text comments, as well as a brief interview with composer Christopher Franke. The third film gets a brief line-art slideshow gallery.

The big extra feature is the Tenchi Encyclopaedia. Think of the old Behind The Magic CD-ROM that accompanied the Star Wars series, it`s that sort of thing, although completely accessible through the humble DVD player.

It`s presented in 4:3, with DD 2.0 Japanese or English audio for the clips, although there are no subtitles. Since it is mostly a text-based product, this doesn`t really matter. Also as it is ported over from the American version, this is an NTSC disc that is showing its age. Made in 1999, it`s missing out on 8 years of Tenchi Muyo material, shows like GXP and the third OVA series. But what it does have is pretty comprehensive.

The front page offers a menu where you can choose where to go, and at the bottom is a handy Random Access button, which takes you to an alphabetical listing of all of the entries for easy access.

Personal files takes a look at the characters, with text, images and clips. Most interesting is the Special Data, which more often than not clarifies details of things just hinted at on screen.

Visual Records offer trailers and promos for the various Tenchi series, as of 1999. There is an interview with Mayune Iizuka, who played a character in Tenchi In Tokyo, accompanied by two of her music videos. There are image galleries with around a hundred images, and what would have been of greatest interest, 6 digital comics. Unfortunately the text for these comics is so small as to be illegible, rendering them an idle curiosity with no entertainment value.

Geographical Data offers a tour (via remote) of the various buildings and locations of the Tenchi OVA, you get to see detailed designs, screen grabs and video clips.

Secret Files offer a preview of the then new Tenchi movie, Tenchi Forever.

There are 36 pages of credits for the OVA episodes, and finally product info for other anime releases in the US from Pioneer (now Geneon), again circa 1999.

Conclusion

Tenchi Muyo In Love

Tenchi Muyo does Back To The Future, and it`s fine. With Tenchi`s mother having passed away by the time of the OVA series, there was no other way that the character could have been brought into the movie. To his credit, Tenchi is a whole lot more successful than Marty McFly in staying out of the way of history, and there is a villain behind all this to defeat. It`s just that before we get to the action filled climax, there is the fun of seeing all the familiar characters trying to fit in undercover at Achika`s high school.

The strength of this film is that it continues with that strong sense of humour from the OVA series, so we see ditzy Mihoshi as a school teacher, while the more level headed Kiyone (Mihoshi`s Galaxy Police partner who appeared Mihoshi special in the OVA boxset) is stuck sweeping floors as a janitor. At the same time, Ayeka and Ryoko are feuding students, inadvertently getting in the way of Tenchi`s parents` first falling in love. There are plenty of laughs to be had, but that focus on emotions is also tangible, with Tenchi getting to know his parents again, especially the mother he never really knew, albeit from a discreet distance.

Things get dramatic for the climax of course, when Kain makes his appearance, but the plot hangs together well, the fractured narrative of the typical time travel movie is compelling rather than confusing, and the film is just as entertaining as the series. Fun, epic, and sentimental, the first Tenchi movie is everything a movie spin-off should be.


Daughter Of Darkness

This film really rewards Tenchi fans best of all, those who have a familiarity with the characters and the back-story, although it stands well on its own. Unlike the average TV to movie adaptation, it doesn`t try and cater to those fans by ensuring that all the characters get sufficient screen time, instead it sets out to tell the story first and foremost. That does mean that characters like Ryo-Ohki, Mihoshi and Kiyone get relatively short shrift. The story concentrates more on Tenchi, Ryoko and Mayuka, while Sasami and Ayeka make significant contribution to the plot.

The story is a familiar one, especially if you have seen the second OVA series, where the nefarious Doctor Clay attempts to infiltrate the Masaki household with a clone of Ryoko. Here it is Yuzuha who wants to wreak vengeance on the Jurai, but her methods of infiltration strike a much more personal and emotional chord with Tenchi and the girls. The film is quite similar to the series though, in that it blends comedy and melodrama well, sustaining a light feel throughout, but giving enough of an emotional kick to connect with the viewer. What makes it work is that Yuzuha is no stock villain, and it`s possible to empathise with the reasons she is doing this. There is a reflective melancholy to the character that makes the ending feel bittersweet indeed, but fortunately the coda sends things off on the right note.

The second Tenchi movie is a gift for fans, more of the same blend of light-heartedness and emotion that made the OVA such a draw, although justifying the movie appellation, the story is larger and more personal than just a couple of episodes tacked together.


Tenchi Forever

Tenchi Muyo grows up, and it makes all the difference in this third film. The first two films were in many ways extensions of the OVA series, despite the fact that their stories were more epic, and the emotional stakes higher. There was no getting away from the madcap anarchy so typified by the series. The third movie is a more sombre, mature film that tones down the humour and explores the characters more deeply, and doesn`t allow the emotional honesty to be diluted. Of the three, Tenchi Forever feels most like a feature film, one that adds something new to the franchise. Of course that means that fans expecting more of the same Tenchi antics run the risk of being disappointed.

That isn`t to say that the humour has been totally eradicated. Instead the comic interludes remain confined to the supporting characters, who go about trying to locate Tenchi. Mihoshi and Kiyone try to infiltrate the Galactic Science Academy, and Washu is incapable of taking anything too seriously. But when it comes to the main story, which sees Tenchi `spirited away` to a world where he lives happily ever after with Haruna, the silliness takes a back seat. This Tenchi is older, more at ease with himself, and it appears that he has found his perfect idyll with Haruna. Of course it turns out that Haruna isn`t all that she appears to be, and her story is tinged with sadness. What really makes this film work is that we get to see how Ayeka, and Ryoko especially, actually feel about Tenchi, and we also get an inkling about how Tenchi feels as well. This is as far removed from the madcap harem antics as one can get. The character studies are what make this film so compelling, something new for Tenchi, and give it a considerable emotional core. While the first two films are enjoyable and entertaining, this third film actually invokes a strong sympathetic response, almost approaching tearjerker territory.

I found this third Tenchi film the strongest yet, although it`s not exactly typical Tenchi Muyo. The disc finally gets the transfer it deserves, with a decent anamorphic image. It may not be the laugh riot that some may expect, but as a theatrical story, it can`t be faulted. It`s well worth it if you`re feeling a little experimental.


Age is really telling with this boxset, the first two films get creaky letterbox transfers and zoom unfriendly subtitles, while the encyclopaedia is so out of date that it`s merely a curiosity now. But it does have some useful information to it, and it is fairly packed with data, so it certainly isn`t just an afterthought. The films themselves are entertaining and varied. The weakest is Daughter Of Darkness, although it still amuses. Tenchi Muyo In Love is a worthy sequel to the OVA series, while Tenchi Forever takes these characters in a new and intriguing direction. These films will charm Tenchi fans, if they don`t own them already. They`re also accessible for newcomers too, so if you are looking for a little retro anime fix, give them a try.