Monday, August 15, 2022

Tenchi Universe Part 2 Episodes 6-10

In the blink of an eye, Tenchi Masaki now finds several beautiful alien women living under his roof.  And each one has brought their own problems with them: Kiyone and Mihoshi must adjust to their new roles as Protectors of Earth while balancing part time jobs; Washu’s wish to get back into the invention game results in a blissfully unaware super robot; and Ryoko’s past catches up with her when a powerful bounty hunter comes calling.  All the while, Tenchi’s just trying to stay alive throughout the madness that has come into his home.  But Tenchi’s gotta admit also…it may not be quiet, but life certainly isn’t boring anymore.

If for whatever a reason you weren’t a fan of the more light hearted, slice of life direction Tenchi Universe seemed to be taking the franchise last week, then Part 2 probably isn’t your cup of tea and that’s a shame.  While we haven’t gotten a build up to an overarching plot, just hanging out with Team Tenchi is reward enough and the stand alones have done a great job expanding on everyones characters, even Ryo-Ohki to a degree.  Thankfully, for the most part, all of this is done without relegating Tenchi to a titular bystander as he’s right in the middle of most of this weeks stories.  That includes one that actually tugs on the heartstrings and makes me look forward to a future Tenchi title we’ll be reviewing later this year.  But first, this weeks set of episodes.
 
As I said, these latest episodes were entirely stand alones without a lot of connective tissue and each offered a very different experience with different characters at the forefront.  Kiyone and Mihoshi’s new status as Resident Officers protecting the Earth showcased the hectic lives of the unlucky pair.  And yet for all the chaos Mihoshi brings the beautiful Kiyone (God she is gorgeous), you can see Kiyone has a softer side with Mihoshi at times.  Kiyone probably wishes she were as carefree as the well meaning but bumbling menace that is her partner.  I’m glad that Kiyone got a second episode right after her intro since she’s the newest member of Team Tenchi and could use a boost of exposure.  The carnival episode was a lot of fun as, again, everyone had something to do from running gun ranges featuring dolls of their rivals (Ryoko and Ayeka) to food stands (Mihoshi and Kiyone) and the Haunted House straight out of Event Horizon (Washu).  Meanwhile, Sasami got to enjoy it all with Tenchi as her guardian.  Some of the best moments in both Tenchi Universe and Tenchi Muyo have been where Sasami ends up being the girl to seek awaiting comfort from Tenchi while Ryoko and Ayeka are left to stew in their rivaly.
 
We got more good action this week with a pair of episodes, one more serious than the other.  Mecha Washu was everything you’d expect from a Mad Scientist who openly admitted she wanted to conquer the galaxy with her.  Sticking Washu’s prized project with Mihoshi’s personality was great and Washu’s English Voice Actress probably had a blast emulating Mihoshi in every way we love.  We even got to see Washu’s backstory at the beginning, showing her getting exiled to Earth for destroying planets with her inventions, intentional or not.  Washu’s definitely less wise and more megalomaniacal in this iteration of Tenchi and it’s great.  The more serious stuff came from the intro of Ryoko’s rival for the series (battle wise, not romantically like Ayeka).  Nagi’s shrouded form oozed definite danger and I’m eager to see more of what she can do in general, not just against Ryoko.  The brief bit of backstory we got about the pair was chilling, probably the most serious Tenchi Universe has been thus far.  But there was comedy to offset the mood with the introduction of Ken-Ohki, a Male Cabbit (yes that’s the species name-Cat+Rabbit) who Nagi’s spaceship and a romantic interest for Ryo Ohki.  I guess Nagi and Ryoko obtained these two after their first duels, otherwise why would Ryo-Ohki and Ken-Ohki act like strangers when they meet at Tenchi’s house?
 
Maybe the most unexpected episode came from a beautiful snow covered story that showed us some of the Masaki family backstory.  It was so weird seeing Tenchi’s father in a more focused and mature mood compared to his lecherous self but we had a reason for this.  While it was fun to see Sasami and Ryo-Ohki enjoy the snow of Earth, the best moments of this story came from Nobuyuki and Katsuhito sharing sake while reminiscing about better times…that we wouldn’t learn til the end were before the passing of Tenchi’s mother.  While I feel like we’ll get some more stories down the line, I do know that a certain Tenchi movie has the Misaki Momma as a prominent character and I cannot wait to get to her (and the movie in general, if I remember it’s a freaking awesome flick). 
 
Tenchi Universe hasn’t really missed a step in its first two weeks and I’m looking forward to what comes next.  Apparently, this set concludes the “Opening Arc” of the series and the next one looks to be one of the craziest adventures Tenchi and the gang have ever been on (maybe it could have been a movie itself if they didn’t need to fill out 26 episodes).  See ya next week for Arc 2 of Tenchi Universe, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.

No comments:

Post a Comment