Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Series 1 and 2: A Retrospective
When we first met Tenchi Masaki back in Ryo-Ohki OVA 1 he was just a regular Japanese schoolboy. He lived alone with his father Noboyuki, and would aid his grandfather at the Masaki family shine in his spare time. But since he was a child Tenchi had always been curious about a cave within the shine mountain his grandfather had forbidden him to ever enter, the very cave their great ancestor Yosho was said to have sealed away a terrible demon 700 years before.
  
Some of the characters Tenchi comes to meet on his adventures.
However, the temptation proves too much for Tenchi, and after stealing the cave keys he inadvertedly releases the demon Ryoko, triggering a sequence that eventually finds him sharing his home with a number of beautiful women:
Princess Ayeka of Jurai (an alien race) and her little sister Sasami, Ryoko the “demon”, a ditzy Galaxy Police officer called Mihoshi and last but not least, a young girl claiming to be the “greatest scientific genius in the entire universe!” who will only respond to those calling her by her preferential title of Little Washu.
Their adventures eventually come to the attention of an entity referred to as Lady Tokimi, who sends the nefarious Dr. Clay and his subordinate Zero to apprehend Washu for reasons at the time unknown. However, his attempts ultimately fail and Tokimi is alerted to Tenchi who, to great fascination, is able to manifest three legendary blades of light called the Light Hawk Wings in times of great need.
  
Lady Tokimi, Dr. Clay and Tenchi's Light Hawk Wings.
What is more special about these blades is they are capable of a phenomenon known as Material Conversion, a processs whereby a blade is converted into an incredibly powerful sword. This sword was used by Tenchi to defeat the criminal Kagato who threatened the group in an earlier adventure.
Tokimi invites a shadowy figure who can manifest five Light Hawk Wings to investigate Tenchi, but stresses he must not lay a finger upon him. As the figure vanishes, the second Ryo-Ohki OVA comes to a close.
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA 3 Review
Plot
Following on almost directly from the ending of the second series, Ryo-Ohki series 3 begins with the being that stood before Tokimi at the end of series 2, known as “Z”, being sent to Earth to survey Tenchi. However, it is suspected by Tokimi’s third dimensional supervisor D3 that Z plans to disobey Tokimi’s orders telling him to refrain from harming Tenchi to serve his own motives.
Back on Earth life is as always in the Masaki household. Ryoko is asleep atop the ceiling rafters and Sasami is at work preparing another fine breakfast in the kitchen. Mihoshi’s Galaxy Police spacecraft remains, amusingly, in the middle of the lake after a crash during the last episode of Ryo-Ohki 2 and a great sense of familiarity can’t help but be observed by veteran watchers.
One big shock Ryo-Ohki 3 provides viewers with is the introduction of a woman called Noike, who was once partnered with Mihoshi in the Galaxy Police. Most surprising about Noike is that she has been selected as Tenchi’s fiancé by Princess Seto of Jurai (a matchmaking fanatic and prominent character in the GXP series), much to the objection of Ryoko and Ayeka. Noike is actually one of the first in a very long line of characters to show up throughout this series - a very, very long line. Perhaps just a little too long…
With so many new characters appearing throughout Ryo-Ohki 3, I couldn’t help but feel my favourite characters from the first two series (especially Ayeka) have been shelved to allow development time for people I ultimately don’t care a lot about. Noike is a welcome addition to the main cast and very likeable, but I can’t say I feel the same about the others. Characters like Mihoshi’s brother Misao and countless Jurians who appear give it a very overcrowded feel despite their overall importance to aspects of the story.
Fortunately this shortcoming can ultimately be overlooked in favour of the overall piece which gives a very satisfying and, as anime fans have come to expect, over the top conclusion.
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki 3 answers most of the questions left lingering at the end of Ryo-Ohki 2. Well, all except the most important one that has plagued fans since the beginning – just who does Tenchi love? That’s right. If you’re putting these episodes on hoping to find out which girl Tenchi wants to be with, you’re going to be disappointed.
However, if you’ve been wondering about the relationship between Lady Tokimi, Washu, Tsunami, the power of the gems, what really happened to Tenchi’s mother and the mysterious Z’s true origin and motives – you will surely be entertained. I certainly was.
Art/Animation
Animation has progressed to the digital era in recent years, and therefore each episode is presented with a remarkably clean digital print. Backgrounds are painted with a greater detail than the first and second OVAs and characters are always expressive and fluid in movement. That isn’t to say it’s all good news.
What viewers can expect is a great deal of disappointment throughout this series in the art department. I have a real issue with the new character designs, particularly Ryoko, whose ears have grown to almost titanic proportions. Then there’s poor Tenchi who has lost almost all likeliness to his original, earlier design. Ayeka is another character who looks somewhat off, but in the end it is Tenchi who I struggled the most to get used to. Some scenes I could barely recognise our hero at all.
Then there’s the character art, which dips frequently throughout episodes, with some real stinker frames popping up out of nowhere. With a franchise this popular, and at OVA budget, you’d think they’d have taken a little more time getting everything to look right. You can honestly sit back and wonder how on earth they passed some of the frames in this series.
One other noteworthy detail about the new animation is that the spaceships are now done entirely with CGI. Ryo-Ohki’s ship form is entirely computer generated, as are several other key ships appearing in this series I won’t mention due to spoilers. The results are actually very nice, but underused in Ryo-Ohki 3. For a better demonstration of the impressive technique fans should check out Tenchi Muyo! GXP.
Music
The new Tenchi theme is very good. It’s on par with the original theme and far better than the cheesy second series opening song that my family still make fun of me for ever listening to. However, the same can’t be said for the rest of the background music used throughout Ryo-Ohki 3.
Where the original two series featured some truly memorable and catchy pieces of music you’d be whistling for weeks, most of the new soundtrack is merely adequate. I’m sitting here writing this and trying to remember one, just one, piece of music from the series and failing miserably. Hearing the newer, less likeable music over older scenes during flashbacks is quite unfitting and something I’d soon like to forget.
So you won’t be hearing any of the classic Tenchi jingles you remember so fondly here but whilst the new stuff isn’t as memorable, the music choices do suit the mood of scenes well and are nicely composed. The ending theme is quite catchy, and I guarantee it’ll get a whistle at least once after you hear it.
  
Ryoko looking horrified, somewhat irrirated and then a little confused.
Content
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki 3 features a number of scenes with nudity and blood, as well as some foul language that might offend. Viewers can also expect a number of explosions, scenes of distress and adult comedy with some sexual innuendo that they may deem unsuitable for young children. This is an animation for mature teenagers.
Overall
After a long wait, Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki 3 delivers most of the answers we’ve been waiting for in yet another entertaining set of episodes. It really is nice to see some of our favourite characters on screen again, but unfortunately that doesn’t change the fact they’re being sidelined by newer, less interesting ones.
 
A stunned harem, Ryoko's anger and Ryo-Ohki's getting dizzy.
There’s still no sign throughout this series that Tenchi will be making a choice between the girls anytime soon, although I’ve heard whispers that will be the focus of Ryo-Ohki 4. But taking into account the increasing time gap between each series, will I ever find out in my lifetime? And more importantly, will Tenchi’s character design become so much more ugly by then that none of the girls will even want him anymore?
See you for the next Ryo-Ohki instalment in oh, say… twenty years?
Sigh. |
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=link}