Tenchi Universe Part 6 Episodes 22-26

Tenchi Masaki never thought the Carnival his life became would come to an end.  But when the greatest threat he’s ever faced injures his Grandfather and captures Ayeka, he’ll have to step up and accept the challenge before him.  The Armada of an entire planet stands in his way, along with the false Emperor Yosho and his most powerful warriors.  But Tenchi has Ryoko and the others watching his back, with a few extra allies coming in for back up.  The universe holds its breath as Tenchi races to his destiny.  But once the battle is over…is the carnival over as well, or is it just beginning?

We all knew it had to come to this eventually.  While it’s been fun hoping across the galaxy and getting into all sorts of crazy adventures, there was no way to avoid the finale and the drama that was gonna come with it.  And man did Tenchi Universe go all out, in its own way, to make sure its final episodes carried a good amount of tension and emotional weight.  This was the conclusion to an epic journey that began as light hearted fare on Earth and evolved into a trek across the stars to right a wrong.  It doesn’t deliver on all fronts and last minute add ons hamper a critical point.  But in the end, Tenchi Universe gets a pretty good finale overall.  Let’s break down the end of the second chapter of our Tenchi Toonami Saga.

Let’s just get this out of the way: the Tenchi Universe finale is all tons of Star Wars references.  Let’s be equally frank: the Tenchi franchise definitely draws a ton of inspiration from the legendary space opera (right down to an official pic that’s a riff on the poster for Return of the Jedi).  As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I don’t have a problem catching all the references.  In fact its kind of fun watching Yosho and Kagato duel a la Obi Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader and see Tenchi go through the combined ringer of Luke Skywalkers duels with Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi within the span of a few minutes.  Yeah, it does make events a little predictable.  However, let’s be honest, if the final outcome of Tenchi Universe surprises you, you haven’t been paying attention to this series in the slightest…but more on that in a little bit.
 
It was clear by the start of this final set that the laughs were gonna be in short supply, cause it was time to get serious.  I was waiting for Kagato to appear and while I missed his glasses sporting look from the OVA, he was still as menacing and powerful as ever.  Like others, his backstory was changed to suit this iteration of Tenchi, making him a lifelong friend of Katsuhito aka the Real Yosho (big shock there), who succumbed to the allure of the power of Jurai and got sent into a dark space exile.   It seems like Basic Villain Origins 101, which adds to a particular draw of Universe to Tenchi Muyo (again ill come back to this in final thoughts).  But Kagato was nonetheless dangerous, leaving Yosho and Ryoko at deaths door and giving Tenchi one helluva final challenge.  Was he really going to be able to finish a fight that almost ended the life of his Grandfather?
 
Ryoko stepped up like I knew she would when the chips were down.  I also anticipated she’d try to make a plea to Tenchi to run away with her…cause Ryoko would do that and it was one of the best scenes in the series.  It’s one of the reasons I love Ryoko as Tenchi’s main love interest compared to Ayeka.  There’s far more honesty and sincerity with Ryoko despite her roguish appearance.  Deep down, she’s 100% in love with Tenchi Masaki and would do anything for him, even help him rescue her romantic rival, Ayeka, from Kagato.  It was down right devastating to see Ryoko get more and more worn out to the point where, for one brief moment, it looked like she’d truly sacrificed her life for Tenchi even if it meant they couldn’t be together.  Damn Ryoko…stop making me cry.  Ryoko’s sticking to her guns even earned her some respect from Nagi, who proved a total boss in her own right running the gauntlet of the Jurai fleet and dealing serious damage to them all by herself. 
 
Where the finale stumbles is that while Tenchi and Ryoko get some great payoff to their arcs, everyone else might get their own happy endings…but Sasami, Kiyone, Mihoshi and Washu don’t get much to do in the final battle.  Yes, theyre in danger battling the Jurai fleet but after all they’ve been through, they could have been put to greater use in the events unfolding on Planet Jurai itself.  I think this could have been amended if they hadn’t given us “the real” Azaka and Kamadake.  Yeah, those two sentient hovering log bodyguards of Ayeka and Sasami were housing the consciousnesses of two Jurian Knights in long term stasis.  Yosho woke them up to help Tenchi…but really how cool would it be to see Kiyone and Mihoshi team up against one of Kagato’s last bodyguards or see Washu science her way around the other?  We even get both versions of Azaka and Kamadake (human and log) allowed to co exist separately at the very end…it just felt unnecessary and robbed most of my favorite characters (especially Kiyone and Washu) of time to shine in the final battle.
 
When all was said and done, Tenchi Universe gave us a beautiful final note to close on.  Even though everyones hailed a hero and gets their own reward out of it all…everyone just slowly finds their way back to Earth so the Carnival, as Ryoko calls it, can keep on going.  And how could you not want this ending?  As we see in the epilogue, Tenchi’s life is absolutely dull without these six alien beauties and that adorable Cabbit in his life.  His reunion with Ryoko, who heralded everyones return, was especially touching.  The beautiful pirate vowed to win Tenchi’s heart from Ayeka in an eventual dual and pretty much declared their fun was far from over.  Considering how much Ryoko put on the line for Tenchi, regardless of potential cost, it was only right that they share the shows final moments together, smiling and hugging.  These two should never be apart, nor should Tenchi be without these amazing girls…this is the way.
 
Final Thoughts: While it isn’t as deep or thematically complex as the Tenchi Muyo OVA, Tenchi Universe more than makes up for it by doubling down on the comedy, adding some fun and memorable new characters and nearly perfecting a balance of laugh out loud adventures with high stakes drama.   In my opinion, Tenchi Muyo has an epic feel thanks to its OVA production and sense of continuing build up to something truly grand.  But Tenchi Universe is a far more accessible and easier to follow tale and retains all the OVAs charm and the core cast of Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami and the others are still intact and just as fun as ever.  This was a fun little carnival and I cant wait to revisit this corner of the Tenchi multiverse later this year.  Tenchi Universe stands tall alongside Tenchi Muyo and scores an 8/10.
 
We’ll check back in with the Tenchi Universe Saga at the end of the year with Tenchi Muyo in Love.  But before then, Tenchi Masaki will return for the final chapter of The Tenchi Toonami Saga with Tenchi in Tokyo, coming this December to the Gundam Anime Corner.