Tenchi Muyo! Episode One: Ryoko Ressurected

Here we are! The first ever Tenchi Muyo! episode.

It would be unwise to start this recap before at least acknowledging the main people behind the show, or at least the original OVA.  Masaki Kajishima, Naoko Hasegawa, and Hiroki Hayashi are the three people responsible for bringing Tenchi to life. Hayashi was the director, Kajishimia was the character designer, and Hasegawa was a story board artist and a screen writer. By their powers combined, we got the first six episodes of Tenchi Muyo, which can be considered the definitive Tenchi story.

Or, more accurately, the mold which every Tenchi series following this would start from. 

In addition to them, another important name must be mentioned: Seikou Nagaoka. Nagaoka was responsible for creating the music for both the first two OVAs and Tenchi Universe. To be fair, most of the music in Universe WAS just the music from the OVA, but I don’t care because it is great. I consider this music to be basically the Japanese equivalent to a Mark Mothersbaugh score, mainly due to the synth nature and the overall “pop” it brings. This is a positive thing. I plan on highlighting specific songs as they appear, so Nagaoka, you did well.

Admit it, now when you think of Tenchi music you will think of the Rugrats score. Don’t lie to me

.

I would also like to preface this review by saying that I have utilized AstroNerdBoy’s Tenchi FAQ for a few questions. As of right now, there is nothing in particular to note, but I will acknowledge this great asset to the Tenchi Community every time I make use of it and I advise anyone who is interested in the OVA to visit the website and read his work. It is not perfect, but there is a lot of good information about material that might not have made it to America.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s take a look, shall we?

 

We begin our tale to the sound of cicadas. 

 Always a good start.

An old man is walking up a long flight of stairs. We do not know it yet, nor is it mentioned in the episode, but we will find out his name is Katsuhito Masaki, grandfather of our hero and the head priest of the Masaki Shinto Shrine. The shrine is actually the setting of our first part of the episode. After calling for his grandson, the old man realizes Tenchi is abandoning his chores to raid his house.

Damn it, where’d you hide the Vicodin Grandpa?

Let us pause here to examine this first interaction between Grandfather and Grandson.

"It was curiosity that killed the cat Tenchi."

We see Katsuhito as a proper man, who clearly must be in good enough shape to walk up those stairs every day to do his job. That is a minor point that I am sure will have no repercussions throughout the entire series. We also see that, while he initially seems very stern, there is a humorous side to him when he sneaks up on Tenchi. This shows that there are some kind of hidden depths to the man.

Tenchi, on the other hand, is curious. We have no idea what he is looking for and why he is searching so intently for it, but we as viewers are now intrigued. This episode is, by my recollection, the only time that Tenchi really acts his age. He is a teenager. He is bored with his life and wants some kind of adventure. The keys to adventure are literally just out of reach.

"You weren't trying to sneak in there against my orders, were you?"

I do literally mean keys, as it turns out that the object of Tenchi’s desire is not prescription pills at all, but a set of keys. Katsuhito makes some vague conversation about how Tenchi has several times in the past wanted to go in “there.” The old man tells Tenchi that if he really wants them to come and get them. It is here that we get our first true idea of the relationship between the two.

Just going by the sheer fact Tenchi attempted to strike his Grandfather and the sheer ease in which his punch is deflected, we can see that Tenchi is being trained in some kind of martial arts. A training that involves doing the chores. 

Just like Bruce Wayne!

But look! Even though it looked like Tenchi got his ass handed to him, it turns out he managed to steal the keys with his mouth! This raises several questions.

A)     Did Tenchi manage to accidentally outwit his Grandfather?

B)     Did his Grandfather allow him to take the keys?

C)     If the above answer is true, what is so special about today? Would he have given him the keys today if he were doing his chores like he was supposed to?

I’m not nitpicking this, I am legitimately curious about it.

So Tenchi runs straight to Pride Rock...

...and immediately starts having a flashback to when he was a kid. And it is here that we get our much needed EXPOSITION!

 I'm not even a real fan of Spongebob, but trust me, this works in a classroom

Before we get into the EXPOSITION!, let us address which version of the show I am watching. While I have seen the original Japanese version of the show and do love the voices, I will always hold the English dub close to my heart. It is nearly perfect and the acting is typically up to par.

This episode though…there are some things that need to be brought up.

This is the first ever episode that Geneon dubbed and it shows. The cast, for the most part, is still trying to find their roles. Matt K. Miller is our Tenchi and he is still a bit shaky here, but it is understandable. According to an interview with Tenchiforum on their excellent Tenchicast (posted above), this was the first ever character voice Matt developed. After a few episodes, the man perfects the role and creates the iconic Japanese boy we all know and love. Jay Hooper is almost there as Katsuhito, but he is a little more high pitched than the voice he will later adopt even two episodes in. Petrea Burchard…I will talk about her when her character is actually on screen. Finally, we have Mark Tracey who will play a one off character named... 

 Oh god, not yet! I’m not ready!

 

The main reason I bring this up right now is Young Tenchi. 

I know for a fact this was only done because we have yet to be graced with the greatness that is Sherry Lynn, but this young version of Tenchi is voiced by Matt raising his voice up an octave. It’s really noticeable and always takes me out a little bit. But this is the nature of dubbing and voice over work in general. 

This was the only episode to be recorded like a traditional voice over session. What I mean is, they brought at least two the four actors who were working that day together (Matt K. Miller and Petrea Burchard. I am honestly not sure about Jay Hooper or Mark Tracey) and they recorded the episode together so they could play off each other. Certain shows do that, like Batman the Animated Series, but more often than not the actors would record their voices separately and play off a vocal coach. This style of recording works best if you are starting out with the recording and then animating it later.

I still hate that they got Paul William's name wrong.

The problem with doing this on Tenchi is that they are not merely doing voiceover work, they are DUBBING. The animation is already there and it is up to the actors to match the lipflaps perfectly. It is one thing to act with another person, but add on to that the skill and precision needed to hit those time marks perfectly, it slowly becomes apparent that it is next to impossible.

 But enough about that, we have...

 So Katsuhito begins like any good fairy tale or legend should: with a fantastic hook to draw the listeners in:

“Now listen carefully for what I am about to tell you really happened…”

Still gives me chills man.

Katsuhito tells us about how a demon came from the sky hundreds of years ago and killed several people until it was stopped by Tenchi’s ancestor: Yosho, a mighty samurai. The man imprisoned the demon deep under Pride Rock and left his celestial sword there to keep watch over the slumbering demon. It is here that the English dub tells us what Tenchi’s name translates to: Heaven and Earth. Katsuhito tells young Tenchi to respect his ancestor’s wishes as we cut to Tenchi doing the exact opposite of that.

Let’s talk about Joseph Campbell. 

The hell is this? We want the Ryoko!

You will get your wish in time. This is important…at least to me.

Joseph Campbell is a writer and educator of mythology who is an incredibly influential figure in several literary circles. He is most known for writing a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces. That book is most known for its discussion about a Monomyth, which is most commonly known as “The Hero’s Journey.” According to Campbell, as one reads various stories about a hero going on a quest or an adventure of some kind, you may discover a pattern beginning to emerge. This pattern showcases how a hero reacts and grows on his quest. Enough from me, let’s read the quote Wikipedia decided to use to explain it!

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

Thank you Wikipedia for saving me the trouble to rent the book out for the sixth time!

 Buy the book you lazy bastard. You literally wrote a 52 page dissertation on Campbell and his Monomyth yet you have no problem dropping $20 on Transformers More than Meets the Eye comics.

 

Hey, you leave The Lost Light out of this…but damn. I really do need to buy that book.

That you do.

Getting back to the matter at hand, "The Hero’s Journey" can be broken down into several steps that can be seen in several literary works and even in your own everyday life. Here are the basics:

The Ordinary World: This is where the initial setting takes place. Nothing crazy going on, just typical day to day life.

The Call to Adventure: The hero, usually of some kind of special birth, gets started on a quest of some kind, usually in the most unlikely of places.

Refusal of the Call: Sometimes, the hero will not want to leave home and will ignore the journey. However, something will inevitably happen to force the hero to get moving and start his quest.

Meeting the Mentor: At this point, the hero will meet an older person who is experienced in the type of quest the hero will undergo. He or she will give the hero a tool to aid in their journey.

Crossing the Threshold: This is the moment when the quest truly begins. Our hero leaves the ordinary world and enters a “Dark World.”

 No, not you Vanaheim…well technically it could be depending on the story, but that is not what I am talking about.

 

Entering the Belly of the Whale: The hero is now fully in the “Dark World” and is prepared to do what is necessary to complete the quest. This is typically linked to a stage of rebirth and resurrection as a whole new, stronger person.

The Trials: A series of tests the hero will undergo in the “Dark World” that will test him/her and allow them to grow.

Gaining Allies: The hero will typically meet friends on this journey that will join him/her throughout the quest. There is even a chance to find a love interest.

The Ordeal: This is what your journey has been leading to. Perhaps it is a confrontation with a family member. Maybe you need to slay a dragon. You may even lose a limb or gain a scar. Regardless, this is the climax of your quest.

Meeting the Goddess: The hero may gain supernatural aid on their quest to bring them one step closer to mastering the Dark World they are now in. Typically this comes in the form of an all powerful woman.

Death and Resurrection: There is a possibility that the hero may die, either literally or metaphorically. If this is the case, the hero will return as a better person, fully transforming themselves from the person they were before into the hero they were destined to be.

 The Ultimate Boon: The hero gains a reward for his/her time on the quest. Perhaps it is gold, perhaps it is friends, but more often than not it is knowledge.

The Road Back: The hero has vanquished his enemy and must now return home to the Ordinary World. There may be final challenges along the way, but the hero can usually overcome them with little problem.

Master of Two Worlds: When the quest is over, the hero is now a changed person. He/she can use the knowledge gained on the quest in the “Dark World” to better himself/herself in the Ordinary World.

When I taught this to my students, I used this nice graphic. I think they understood it...I hope they understood it.

There are several different versions of the Monomyth and even more sections that I have left out, but this gives you a complete look at what a Monomyth basically is. Now, after reading all of that, what does this remind you of?

That’s right: STAR WARS!

I told you I would be pointing out any similarities to Star Wars! However, this particular comparison is not really fair to make as both Tenchi and Luke are both what is known as an “archetypal heroes.” This simply means that they both possess the stereotypical traits you would associate with heroes. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is important to note that both Luke and Tenchi follow along “The Hero’s Journey” rather nicely. 

*See also Vladimir Propp’s Fairy Tale Functions*

What I’m getting at is that I am going to point out every time Tenchi does something an archetypal hero would do. Get your pencils ready kids!

Tenchi at this point has accepted THE CALL TO ADVENTURE by entering the cave when he was not supposed to. There is a 99.9% chance that this call was given to him by Katsuhito (THE MENTOR), but let us assume for now that Tenchi did this all on his own. Inside the cave, he finds a little shrine and inside the shrine we see a rusty sword, namely the sword of legend. Tenchi calls it a “rusty piece of junk.”

 She might not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts kid.

 

I know this was probably unintentional, but damn it I’m counting it.

Tenchi is annoyed that the sword of legend can’t even cut through rock. He smashes it on a nearby rock which HAPPENS to split perfectly while breaking off the blade from the hilt. This causes the cave to break apart and, in our first instance of the show’s fascination with trees, branches move away to reveal a new entrance in the rock wall.

Being a teenager in a cartoon, Tenchi immediately checks it out. He steps into some water while still holding on to the sword hilt and immediately slides down this well…thing. I have no idea how this well could have been made and I don’t know its purpose besides providing a nice set piece. Regardless, let’s just say that Tenchi has CROSSED THE THRESHOLD by going down the rabbit hole.

 I swear I am not doing this purposely. Thank you Tenchi Muyo. You write my jokes for me. That’s probably why my jokes are crap.

 

He hits the ground and discovers a glowing pool. Tenchi is not troubled by this.

“Oh, it’s just a giant glowing light. No problem.”

Oh Tenchi, I will miss this overly sarcastic you later on. 

So inside of the pool of water, Tenchi discovers a mummy. Unbeknownst to him, the three red gems in the sword hilt have started glowing. He drops the hilt and Tenchi’s face starts to get REALLY cartoony.

Seriously, I do not remember this level of “face faults” at all. I know they existed in the OAV, but this is a bit comical. I suppose this was toned down after the first episode, but it is worth mentioning. Another thing worth mentioning is the colors of the cave. The rocks are illuminated in magenta, purple lime green, and aquamarine. It makes for a nice image.

It’s also the colors of Zur En Arrh. The highest compliment I can give.

Suddenly, a decrepit hand reaches up from the pool and reaches out to Tenchi. The mummy leans into Tenchi but is repelled back by the gems in the sword. 

It only took me until this viewing that the weird tendrils coming from the back of the mummy are probably trees that have bound the mummy down. Tenchi manages to escape from the cave and seals it back shut, all while still holding on to the hilt. His face says it all.

"It would be far easier to consider this a dream…but how could I? For in my hand I hold the Bat Radia."

Okay, I’ll promise to try to stop with the Batman jokes for THIS review…I said TRY. It’s in my nature.

After Tenchi sits down and we see a shot of the gems glowing again, we cut to a giant tree surrounded by a lake. We have no idea where the tree is but all of a sudden lights start flashing out of the leaves, which bounce off of the lake and are projected into the sky. This is set up for Episode Three, but for right now, this makes absolutely no sense. 

May I point out we are only at the 10 minute mark in this episode.

An unknown amount of time has passed and Tenchi is back at school. I am unsure if it has been a week or a month, but this is clearly the first day of school. Our intrepid young hero is playing around with the broken hilt, which he managed to hide from his Grandfather AND BROUGHT TO SCHOOL, and his lost in thought until…

Oh. My. God.

This design. Kajishima…what have you created? This character design is just so fantastic that it literally had a TV Tropes page named after him for a while and caused him to appear at least four more times in the series: the credits of the Mihoshi Special, the Okuda manga (which was technically his identical son, but I’m counting it), the first episode of OVA 3, and as an ACTUAL CHARACTER in Tenchi in Tokyo. I will say, that is something I am looking forward to when I inevitably get to Tokyo.

Anyway, this beautiful creature asks Tenchi if he met any girls over the summer. Tenchi points out that he was at the shrine over the summer, to which the thing says “You were so hard up that you slept with a mummy!” Tenchi does the sensible thing and punches him into the lockers. 

Good man Tenchi. You did the right thing. 

Of note, this was one of the first things Toonami cut from their version. They also redubbed *his* voice for reasons which are unknown to me. He is one of two characters to be redubbed for the Absolution to present. The other one…well we will get to that stereotype when we finish OVA 2.

Tenchi then goes up to the roof of the school to contemplate his life and manages to fall asleep long enough for the school to completely let out. This raises three questions:

1)      How long was Tenchi sleeping?

2)      Why did nobody come looking for Tenchi?

3)      How did Tenchi get to the roof?

Eh, who cares, we have a CHALLENGER APPROACHING!

Tenchi awakens to the sound of a bell and turns around to see his cat Chibi, who promptly disappears. We are not told what this means, but I will bring it up when we get to Episode Three. The sound of the bell is coming from above Tenchi. It is here we meet a girl with cyan colored spiky hair. She cuddles up with the bell and throws it to Tenchi. Finally, the girl tells us her name:

“Ryoko…that’s my name.”

With that, her eyes start to glow and Tenchi makes the obvious connection: this is the demon from the cave! What the hell happened to get her from this:

To This:

I don’t know, and honestly I don’t care. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Ryoko, who many people consider to be the most interesting character in the series.

As mentioned earlier, Ryoko is voiced by Petrea Burchard. Though I am aware some people thought she sounded too old for the role, I think the majority of Tenchi fans can single her performance out as THE performance in the Tenchi franchise. 

Petrea IS Ryoko.

Here is a Tenchicast interview with the legend herself.  Listen to it and enjoy. 

She gets into the character immediately. Petrea has roughly three different Ryoko voices: normal, sad, and pissed. Her normal voice is a bit lower and can either be grumpy or just calm. Her sad voice is a lot higher. Here’s the thing though, unless it is for comedy she never whines. Her higher register always denotes pain and sadness. Wait until Tenchi Universe for the ultimate sad Ryoko line reading. Finally, the pissed Ryoko is her yelling. It is scratchy and full of emotion. We get some of that in this episode, but it really comes out in Episodes Five and Six. 

What I’m trying to say is this: Burchard really only did one animated role, but she made it COUNT.

I really don’t want to get into Ryoko’s character yet, but we will as the show progresses. As of right now, all we know is that she is a demon who just revealed she was trapped in the cave for 700 years and has a lot of frustration to let off.

Who is she going to take all of this out on? Our hero.

This is the first TRIAL Tenchi will have to face. Ryoko creates a red energy sword.

Hmmm…intentional? Intentional. 

She attacks our hero and we also discover that she can fly and shoot energy blasts. She also calls Tenchi by his first name despite it never being told to her and the English dub has her call him an Earthling. One would think these would be dubbing mistakes, but really, they aren’t. You aren’t even supposed to pick up on that. It’s kind of genius.

What do I mean by this? You’ll find out by Episode Five.

It is very clear Ryoko is playing along with Tenchi as she lets him take a few swings at her. The animation here is really gorgeous and small things like the explosions are really well done. Still, while I am talking about the art, it is interesting to note that the characters do not QUITE look like themselves yet. Look at the two image below. Note that our hero is still quite a bit rounded then what he will become later on.

Art shift! But I honestly think the original looks a hell of a lot better, probably due to budget.

So by this point, the school is getting destroyed left and right. Tenchi takes the opportunity to hide in a classroom. This shows us that Tenchi is actually rather cunning. Unfortunately, Ryoko can walk through walls. Things do not bode well for Tenchi as it also turns out there is gas leaking into the room. Ryoko, coming from 700 years ago, has no idea that gas is flammable and Tenchi expects to die a horrific death.

“If I knew I was going to die today, I wouldn’t have done all of that work over vacation!”

A pretty funny line, that leads into one of the more memorable bits from the episode. Tenchi plays on Ryoko’s naivety and pulls the old “Look over there!” trick. Amazingly, it works. Tenchi runs away again and Ryoko is pissed. Her anger causes an explosion, which Tenchi thinks killed her. This causes Tenchi to comment that she was kind of cute. This is one of the only times that Tenchi verbally makes a comment about a girl’s appearance. 

 

I am sure there are Ryoko fans out there who justify that line as the definitive proof they need that Tenchi and Ryoko are meant to be.

But since there is still six minutes left in the episode, it naturally turns out Ryoko isn’t dead. She lunges toward Tenchi, only to stop when she comes across a mirror. She is so horrified by her appearance that she has to stop and make herself look pretty again. Tenchi, meanwhile praises God for this seemingly sexist joke. 

However, I would argue that it isn’t as sexist as one might think. This is the first time Ryoko got to look at herself in 700 years. I am sure she is concerned about how she looks. Hell, put any man or woman in that exact same situation and I am sure they might stop for a hot second to check themselves out.

This is also the first scene which we are treated to the beautiful instrumental piece known simply as “Ryoko’s Theme.” Hope you like it as much as I do folks, because you’ll be hearing it a lot.

Yes, like in Star Wars, nearly every character gets their own theme or leitmotif. Ryoko’s shows us her energy. It is a rather upbeat pop song that is no doubt a favorite of Tenchi fans to use as a cell phone ring tone. 

Tenchi gets away safely to another classroom and gets another good one liner:

“So she’s got incredibly superpowers and I don’t. So far, so good.”

Why can't we have more snarky Tenchi? He’s a great character.

Tenchi suddenly gets a genius idea: if he can remove the gem on Ryoko’s wrist, he may be able to lessen her power. He claims this was part of the legend, but at no point in time did Katsuhito bring that up in the retelling of the legend we, the audience, were privy too. I know Katsuhito probably recited it one was one time and another way another time, but it would not have been hard to correct that oversight scriptwriters! 

What is notable about this is that Tenchi does not want to kill Ryoko at this point; rather he wants to return her to the cave. After figuring out Ryoko’s weakness, he loudly pats himself on the back, which alerts our beautiful demon to his presence. This leads to the final confrontation between the two, which could be argued as THE ORDEAL. 

Ryoko tries to “kill” (!) Tenchi, but is repelled by Tenchi’s bag. It turns out that the hilt has some kind of hidden power and manages to activate into a lightsaber.

Do I really need to spell out the reference here?

Now a notable thing about this episode is that it does not, unlike future episodes, use the Lucasfilm sound archive, so the igniting sounds of the weapons are actually different.

The sword controls Tenchi’s actions, but not his mouth as he calls Ryoko a “monster,” which causes her to straight up punch him for that. She then proceeds to yell at Tenchi to give a good reason why he would call her a monster. Tenchi gives her a list of every supernatural thing that she has done in this fight. Ryoko’s response?

“Very good reasons, but not good enough!”

Burchard’s delivery NAILS the line. Perfection. 

Ryoko lets down her guard and the sword guides Tenchi into cutting off her hand…

Add it to the list.

…but unlike anyone in Star Wars, she magically grows back her hand and disappears. Tenchi is standing there clapping like an idiot when the school explodes. He then does the smartest thing yet and bolts out of there before any of the damage is pinned on him.

He RETURNS TO THE ORDINARY WORLD and discovers that his bed is feeling a bit different than usual. He rips off his sheets to discover Ryoko, with her shirt very much open in a shot that was censored for Toonami, asleep in his bed. Tenchi does what any respectable man would do and pray to the heavens, thanking him for this ULTIMATE BOON.

Okay, I kid on that last one, but really this does say something: Tenchi hits nearly every main point on “The Hero’s Journey” in this episode. That…is pretty interesting. In the larger scheme of things, we are really only up to the CROSSING OF THE THRESHOLD portion of our journey, but one thing is clear: Tenchi has taken his first step into a larger world.

"We must be cautious."

REVIEW

This episode is the single most important Tenchi episode ever made.

This is it. This is primal Tenchi. Everything the franchise is based on begins right here, and it is amazing just how different this episode is from the rest of the franchise. Tenchi makes a lot of quips, which makes sense as there are no other girls to overpower his screen time. Ryoko is the only threat as opposed to some major overarching villain and she is really only attacking for little to no motivation besides REVENGE! The voice acting is not completely up to par yet as our actors are still getting into their roles. 

But most importantly: outside of a single line from Ryoko, we have no way of knowing this show has anything to do with aliens. 

 "You're gonna have to run a lot faster than that Earthling!"

 

Seriously, I am not sure if the “Earthling” line was in the original script, but I suspect it was something that was added by the translator. I don’t know if Ryoko was actually supposed to be a demon or an alien, but outside of that one word, we the audience would have no idea that we are about to begin a miniature space opera. 

All being said, that is pretty interesting. 

This is a great, pivotal episode that I would recommend to any person wishing to get into Tenchi. I can find enjoyment in Tenchi’s humor and his character in this episode. He is just a schoolboy who ends up fighting a demon in a school with a lightsaber. That is every boy’s dream right there. I know I had daydreams during boring assemblies where the school was attacked by, like the Decepticons or Cobra and the students help save the school by beating the shit out of some bad guys. I can think of another show that understood this same concept and applied it to their Big Damn Movie:

Did I just make this reference? I can honestly say I have not seen this movie in years nor was I intending to reference it as I was writing this out. This just kind of happened organically.

There is one major problem with the episode: though it is clear from later episodes that Ryoko is just “playing around,” she straight up tried to KILL Tenchi in this episode! I don’t know if that is just a plot hole for later on down the line, or there is some kind of excuse that “she didn’t know the limit of her power.” Either way, it is going to affect the score.

Animation: Top notch. The visuals and the character movements are just fantastic. Still, the designs are still a work in progress and the “face faults” are far more prevalent than in any other episode of the OVA: 19/20

Main Characters: Tenchi is probably the most enjoyable he will ever be in this franchise in this episode. Ryoko is great to see too. It helps that the two have great actors portraying them: 20/20

Supporting Characters: Katsuhito is rather mysterious, but there is a lot to like about him, abet in a reduced role. As for…him…well, he got punched in the face. These are positive things: 15/20

Music: Some good memorable tracks here, most notably Ryoko’s Theme: 19/20

Story: This is a classic set up and I really have nothing negative to say about it. Good writing, good characters, good story…except for Ryoko trying to kill Tenchi. Told you it was gonna affect the score: 18/20

Overall Tenchi Rating: 91!

Star Wars References: 4!

Monomyth Progress: Crossing the Threshold!

Join us next time as we get introduced to four new characters for the price of one…and incest. Coming up next is “Here Comes Ayeka!”