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| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki |
Dear Internet,
I
remember when I had first seen a "Tenchi" show. It was back when Toonami was a respectable
programming block that ran during the week.
It was way back before I even had access to the channel at my home and
had to watch the odd episode when visiting relatives or friends. Since I could never watch it consistently and
that it was dissimilar to other shows which had no over arching plot, I paid
little attention to it at the time.
Years went on and I learned that there are at least three "Tenchi"
series, not counting spin-off series. On
top of that, the episodes I had only glimpsed were edited and cut apart for TV
format. With the recent conclusion of
"Tenchi Muyo! GXP," it seems fitting for me to go back and watch the
series that started the whole thing.
"Tenchi
Muyo! Ryo-Ohki!," which also doubles as a nice tounge twister, follows
around a boy named Tenchi Masaki who accidentally releases a demon, Ryoko
Hakubi, from her 700 year imprisonment. She in turn tries to kill him in effort to
fill out her vengeance. Well, actually that
is all wrong. Ryoko is not a demon, and
she does not want to kill Tenchi, despite nearly burning his high school to the
ground and trying to cut him in two. She
is in fact a space being that acted as a pirate and was sealed on Earth. Shortly after the start of the show, other
characters begin to appear from space looking for Ryoko. They are all women hailing from slightly
different backgrounds, but they all end up living at Tenchi's house. Thus the premise of one of anime's most
beloved harem genre animations begins.
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| Going clockwise from top left: Mihoshi Kuramitsu, Ryoko Hakubi, Tenchi Masaki, Ayeka Masaki Jurai, Ryo-Ohki, Sasami Masaki Jurai, and Washu Hakubi. |
To be
fair, the show does a good job for the most part in balancing all the
characters. Each one feels unique and
well made, even though it can take a few episodes to before they are discussed
or shown to have some sort of backstory.
From the universally known scientist to the princess of a space kingdom,
each one handles the current situations differently. After a while, the various jokes that the
show makes between the characters begin to feel repetitive. Anytime that the show steps aside of the plot
and takes a break, the show is certain to follow a set pattern. Tenchi goes on being Tenchi, working the
carrot fields or tending to his family's Shinto shrine. Meanwhile, Ryoko and Ayeka fight over who
gets to go after Tenchi or who has more right to him. The bit ends with neither of them getting
what they want and Tenchi never getting wind of what they are up to. To a certain extent, this is what all harem
shows are based upon, and it is a tired out collection of tropes and
backstabbing schemes to me. The only
reason that "Tenchi" stays out of this muddy pothole is the fact that
there really is a plot backing up the premise.
I do
not want to go too far into describing the plot more than I have, partially
because I was only able to get through 13 of the 20 episodes. There is also the fact that the plot can
range from being very subtle to a downright kidnapping arc. Most episodes, so far, can be divided into
two categories. There are the ones that
introduce new characters and then there are those that expound on those
characters. The ones that introduce new
characters are enjoyable and have the plot element to them. From outer space battles to galactic police
shenanigans, it all comes together to form a tight knit storyline. The ones that expound upon characters fall
very closely to the repetitive aspect I mentioned. Some episodes feel very close to one another
to the point that if the show did not give a glimpse into one of the
characters, it would be all very pointless.
When the show looks at its characters, it does a very good job of it.
I
realize that I am going in circles right now.
This show is made up of a lot of either-ors. The only thing that I can really criticize
right now is how the show is sometimes inconsistent or has a few holes in its
narrative. Ryoko desperately tries to
kill Tenchi in the first episode. There
is no way around this. She does
everything she can to make him the recipient of her 700 years worth of
captivity. A few episodes later, she is
shown to having been watching over Tenchi while he grew up through some sort of
astral projection method. On top of
that, she had been steadily growing fond of him before they met face to face. None of this correlates with how she acted in
the first episode. Then there is the
whole part of the plot that points Ryoko as having not only attacked capital of
Jurai, a planet, but also having destroyed numerous other places. Eventually, the story gets to a point where a
big shot space pirate is shown to take control of her completely, making her
attack Tenchi against her will. The show
implies that this is why she had attacked all those outposts and cities, which
also lines up with the fact that Ryoko's creator had been captured since before
Ryoko was made. The problem with this is
that it relies a bit heavy on implication instead of objective storytelling. This problem would not be so big if it was
not for the fact that Ryoko is such a troublemaker and destroyer of personal
property. So far, she has destroyed a
high school and a hot spring at least while clearly under no one's influence
besides her own. On top of that, she has
no apparent regret for her actions.
There is not even some sort of regret for the countless people that
suffered for her actions while being under the control of someone else. None of the characters call her out over her
apparent ennui with the bulk of the reason being that it was all so long
ago. One of the main characters of the
show, Sasami, is being shown to have nearly died in the attack against Jurai,
but it is all glossed over. Until it
gets addressed, which will probably never happen for the sake of keeping things
light and airy, it will remain as the elephant in the room for me.
Another
thing that pulls on my mental pant leg like a dog wanting to go for a walk is
the near inexhaustible powers that everyone seems to have. Ryoko at least has her magic gems that the whole
show admits to being too overpowered.
Everyone else seems to get similar treatment. Tenchi even gets larger powers than Ryoko at
one point. The story never sets a limit
to the various characters abilities.
This works just enough to create a visual spectacle to enjoy, but comes
at a price. Between Ryoko and Tenchi,
rabbits are pulled out of a hat constantly and rely on how willful the two are rather
than making a plan. Planning before
going into battle is not something that occurs here. When Washu tries to enter with a plan, it
does pan out well, but when things get worse, another rabbit gets pulled. Perhaps I am being too hard on this point
since the show does do a good job in building tension before the magic trick is
pulled.
Tomorrow
I will finish "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki" and get back to you.
Yours in digital,
BeepBoop
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