released 05 jul 03 / last mod 01 jun 07 / greg goebel / public domain
* The TENCHI MUYO anime series is one of the most popular of all anime series. It involves the adventures of Tenchi Masaki, a seemingly normal Japanese high-school kid, who suddenly finds himself the center of attention of a flock of females from outer space, including space princess Ayeka and her sweet little sister Sasami, space pirate Ryoko, mad scientist Washu, and dumb-blonde Galaxy cop Mihoshi.
Fans of the "original anime video (OAV)" TENCHI MUYO set, which began the series, will recognize all these elements as familiar, but TENCHI UNIVERSE, the TV series that followed the OAV, reconstructs the entire story along somewhat different lines. TENCHI UNIVERSE also introduces another femme, Mihoshi's Galaxy-cop partner Kiyone, while dropping Tsumani, the goddesslike grown-up alter ego of Sasami.
What becomes obvious after watching the first few episodes of TENCHI UNIVERSE is that it's targeted for a juvenile audience, in contrast to the OAV, which is targeted at adolescents and older. One consequence of this is that while the OAV had some risque scenes, TENCHI UNIVERSE is basically sanitized. It is also, unfortunately, duller than the OAV. While the OAV tends to meander and is full of odd loose ends, TENCHI UNIVERSE in contrast tends to be structured and overly predictable, sometimes getting stilted enough to suggest bad acting by the cast -- which is odd considering they are cartoon characters.
OK, I have to be fair to TENCHI UNIVERSE. It is competently produced, and (as somebody else put it) it does have its moments. I did like Mihoshi and Kiyone striking a "Galaxy Cop Femmes With Guns" pose in the intro section of each episode, and the section of "alternate Universe" episodes -- TIME AND SPACE ADVENTURES -- definitely had its appealing bits.
In one, Sasami is recast as a SAILOR-MOON-like "magical girl" named "Pretty Sammy" while the rest of the cast is turned into high-school students and faculty. Sasami uses her magical powers to end the constant bickering between Ayeka (here school president) and Ryoko (school bad girl) and turn them into good friends ... but overdoes it a bit, making them into EXTREMELY good friends: "GASP! This is an INAPPROPRIATE relationship!"
TENCHI UNIVERSE is likely a better bet for juveniles. Older people might want to try the OAV first.
