Tenchi Muyo! Episode Ten: I Love Tenchi!

I think it’s time I let you guys in on the process of how I do these reviews. You see, when I write these openings, I typically have no idea how the review will turn out. 

 

For example, when I reviewed Episode Four, I was initially wary of tackling it. It primarily took place in the hot springs and outside of Nobuyuki’s peeping (which itself is a bit tasteless depending on how you want to look at it), I was expecting it to be the worst reviewed episode of OVA 1. Along the same lines, I always enjoyed Episode Two, despite the incest, and expected it to rank higher. As you know, Episode Four ranked far higher than Episode Two.

I then watch the episode and take multiple screencaps as I go. Odds are I will repeat portions several times in order to get the quotes exactly as they are recited in the English Dub. However, my “jokes” and comments are typically written as I watch the episode. Occasionally, I may go back and add something in, but for the most part, these reviews are written as I go along.

What I’m getting at is this is my least favorite episode of OVA 2 and I am curious as to how it fares.

You see, this has less to do with the episode itself but the implications brought about BY this episode. What do I mean? Keep reading and you will see.

Our episode opens with Ryoko fishing. However, she isn’t using any ordinary bait…

…she is using Ryo-Ohki!

Ain’t that just precious! However….

 DERP!

“No carrots unless you catch a fish.”

Now what I want to know is why Ryoko just doesn’t walk under water to catch the fish. We have established that she could do that in Ryo-Ohki’s cabbit introductory episode. 

Of course, all of this is just for laughs. However, Mihoshi seems to be the only one who calls Ryoko out on her unethical treatment of animals that turn into living spaceships.

“Um, excuse me Ryoko but I think you are asking too much!”

If there is one thing I have taken from these reviews it is that OVA Mihoshi is criminally underrated. She seems to be the only one who HASN’T been tainted by the humor of poor taste.

Speaking of tainting, Tenchi is in his room, looking for some clothes and finds some shirts that are still good looking.

“Oh, I didn’t know this shirt was here…oh that’s right I left it at Grandpa’s last vacation.”

Ah, the famous closet cleaning scene. This is right up there with Ryoko blowing up the school, the hot springs, and the fight between Kagato and Yosho as being the most memorable moment in this show’s history.

However, something catches our hero’s eye:

“Huh?”

“What’s this?”

Tenchi then has a moment to himself. Look at him:

 He is deeply moved by this. Whatever we are about to see is something of great importance to Tenchi. What is it?

A kimono. A light purple kimono. 

“Do YOU know who it belongs to?”

Think back to Episode Five. We have seen this once before…

“Mommy?”

That’s right: it is Kiyone Masaki’s kimono. Kiyone, as you may recall, is Tenchi’s dead mother. We do not know HOW she died. All we know is that Tenchi could not have been older than three. You also may recall that the dub for Episode Five called her “Grandma” and she was voiced by Petrea Burchard. This error was corrected for this episode. 

The title of “Grandma” I mean. She goes unvoiced in this episode and if she did, nobody would be complaining if Petrea was voicing her.

The Kiyone of Tenchi’s memories smiles at her son, which takes Tenchi back.

This is followed by his eyes watering up as he returns the smile to the last piece of clothing that he owns of hers.

A stirring harp piece, titled fittingly “I Love Tenchi” plays. It sets the tone for the scene and is rather moving. This is a nice character moment for Tenchi. We haven’t had a chance to see him reflect on his mother. It makes you think if all of the girls around fills the void left by his mother’s death. I have my resident psychologist on hold, what do you think Doctor Lecter?

“Each of the girls represent a bit of Tenchi’s mother. Ayeka’s compassion, Sasami’s cheerfulness, Mihoshi’s loyalty, Ryoko’s strength, and Washu’s intelligence.”

You can tell all of that from a smile and a small, practically wordless flashback?

“Yes. They don’t call me the Chesapeake Ripper for nothing.”

…I’m sorry, WHAT do they call you?

“A renowned psychologist.” 

…I’m thinking that I’m going to have to change psychologists. Rong is starting to sound pretty good right about now.

“If you insist.”

Later on, Tenchi returns from presumably a hard day of work and sees an amazing sight:

This...there is going to be some Oedipal issues that result from this isn’t there?

“You gave me up as your psychologist, don’t ask me.”

Tenchi is practically speechless as he takes in the fact that Ryoko is wearing his mother’s kimono.

 

This is not lost on Ryoko, who delivers a smile practically identical to Kiyone’s.  

  

Ryoko twirls around and asks Tenchi if she looks good. 

“Well? Yes or no?”

He nods his head in amazement. He clearly finds this to be attractive.

 “Uh…yeah.”

Ryoko is positively thrilled to hear this.

“REALLY?!”

She does a victory dance which goes great until…

“Oops.”

Boner: gone.

“Well, I wouldn’t call it well balanced…”

Just look at Tenchi.

This young man barely shows any emotions now a days. You know this is serious. However, Ryoko has done something unforgivable and she does not seem to realize it.

“But now, see? It’s nice and light and balanced!”

Finally, she senses a change in her man:

“Uh…Tenchi?”

At this exact moment, Ryo-Ohki jumps into Tenchi’s door to say hello.

 “Meow!”

How does Tenchi respond to both of these children of Washu?

“Oh…you…I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!”

“Use your aggressive feelings boy! Let the hate flow through you!”

This punches both Ryo-Ohki and Ryoko in the heart with lightning.

“Now Ryo-Ohki…you will die!”

Ryo-Ohki clutches her heart and finds that it is broken. If you watch closely, you can pin point the exact moment her heart breaks.

 Right there.

Tenchi, realizing that Ryoko was not the only one he was yelling at, tries to set things right with Ryo-Ohki, but she runs away.

“Waiiiiiit! You misunderstood me! Ryo-Ohki!”

As for Ryoko…well…

*Insert Gorgon joke here*

Our cabbit, however, begins to cry her eyes out in front of Washu’s closet door.

See where this is going?

After seeing Tenchi and Sasami look around the house, we cut to Washu’s lab, which has grown since the last time we saw it.

It’s like the Fortress of Solitude in here now.

As she cries to herself, we see what looks like a Ditto creep behind her.

However, this is promptly ignored as Washu finds her by her lonesome. Ryo-Ohki promptly bolts, leaving Washu perplexed.

“She’s acting so strange.”

Cutting back to Sasami, Tenchi, and now Mihoshi, we learn that it is almost tea time and the search for Ryo-Ohki must be put on hold. Finally, Tenchi gets the idea to look in the place you would obviously expect her to be.

You would think that this would be the FIRST place they would look. I mean, they would have been wrong, but still.

Sneaking up behind her, Tenchi picks her up and apologizes to her:

“I’m sorry Ryo-Ohki!”

Our resident cabbit, however, is not easily forgivable. 

“I apologize. See, I’m sorry. It wasn’t you I was yelling at…really! See…I couldn’t possibly hate you Ryo-Ohki!”

Still not budging, Tenchi worms his way into her heart with some good old fashioned bribery.

So who did it first:Okuda or Kajishima?

Ryo-Ohki notices something wrong: Tenchi is straining himself.

This is easily rectified: 

“I think I’d seen about everything when I see a cabbit fly!”

 

Though Tenchi is happy and appreciative at first, we get a bit of conflict: a car is approaching!

Wow, this is an interesting twist! To see an outsider’s perspective on things would be fantastic. How would a passerby react to a flying cat/ rabbit hybrid? Would the secret get out? Would…

Aw screw you!

The only person in the car, in typical fashion, is a little girl:

Again, a reoccurring theme of OVA 2 is becoming more and more obvious: there are great ideas here, but are never followed through! It is frustrating to say the least.

“Phew! We almost had something interesting happen!”

As the duo returns to the house, we see Ryoko standing and waiting for them to arrive:

“Ryoko!”

“Um…”

If you look closely, you can see that Ryoko attempted to fix the damage she made to Kiyone's kimono. That...is actually a nice bit. This is one of the first times in the OVA that she has gone back and did something to fix one of her own mistakes without being prompted. She knew it was the right thing. 

Tenchi, for his part, acts accordingly.

“I’m not angry anymore!”

“Oh frabjous day, callooh callay!”

At this point, Ryoko takes the carrots inside, gives Tenchi his Mother’s kimono back, and leaves us all wondering when something meaningful will happen.

"Meow?"

Upon her arrival, Sasami puts Ryo-Ohki on her head.

“Where you belong!”

“Don’t make me go with her!”

Later on, Ryo-Ohki returns to Washu’s lab. Our resident scientist is doing some work while giant animals are floating behind her.

Seriously, where did all of these come from? Did Washu do experiments on Sasami’s pets? Actually…that is in line with her character…

Ryo-Ohki is shooed away until Washu is finished with her writings, and…oh look we are back here.

Yes, back with the Dittos. Now, I know the other scene was supposed to “foreshadow” them, but it served no other purpose. Ryo-Ohki literally went into Washu’s lab for no other reason beyond our benefit to preview these things. 

Here’s the thing: this scene does the EXACT SAME THING. I appreciate the effort, but it just comes across as forced padding.

But enough about that, what are these mysterious things Professor Washu?

“They are aquatic creatures found on a planet twenty three thousand light years away from Earth. Their name is Mass. You know what their name means? Mass means the original element of all things. They are used as your life base. How about that, huh? No wonder you are interested in them!”

Okay, I have a minor point of contention with this. I understand the reasons why “Mass” was chosen as the name in both the English and Japanese languages, but what are the odds that this scientific term was utilized in space? 

 “Repeat to yourself…”

I know! I said it was a MINOR point! This issue will be brought back up in a certain scientist’s karaoke song later on in Universe.

 So what’s going on now?

“Hello Miss Washu! I’ve come to tell you it’s almost tea time!”

This is going to be one of those episodes, isn’t it? What are the stakes? Why should we care?

Hey, what’s going on in the Mass tank? It looks like they are combining…

Wheezing or Magneton?

Then things get weird.

“We must…put an end to our relationship.”

“WHAT?! But I love you! I love you! I love you!”

We see that all of the girls are watching what seems to be an intergalactic soap opera. 

 

How do we know it’s a soap opera? Well, listen to this dialogue:

 “I have a wife and children. Please try to understand.”

“So you were never serious about me?!”

“OH! Yes! Of course I was!”

See what I mean? It’s hilariously over the top. Oh, that’s Ellen Gertsell doing the voice of Poboko, in HER second voice.

As this is going on, we see the Masses are forming a woman of some kind.

It kind of looks like Kagato…hmm…

We then hear the girl’s, Poboko, name being spoken rather seductively. This, of course, causes Sasami to cover Ryo-Ohki’s eyes and Ayeka covers Sasami’s.

The old comedic standard.

Back in the lab, a Ryo-Ohki alarm goes out. It seems that our Mass woman has escaped the tank.

Seriously, how do Washu’s machines work with stuffed animals inside of them?

“IT’S NOT LOGICAL!”

Jumping a bit forward, we see that Poboko and the Chief are about to get it on.

The girls are pleased.

But since this is supposed to be a comedy…

 “HEY! Sorry to interrupt but we have news to report!”

“Aww!”

However, I know a thing or two about important information being thrown around innocuously. Let’s listen to what our newscaster has to say:

“The Galaxy Police battleship Shunga has been robbed! No statement or demand has been made by the unknown culprit yet and no sign of progress has been made in the investigation since the robbery was discovered!”

Interesting. Shunga. I’ll do well to remember that. Mihoshi, did you follow that?

“Oh. My God!”

The girls go about their separate ways and we see that Tenchi is working the fields…but he is not alone…

I wonder where this will go. Could we have...CONFLICT?!

Meanwhile, Washu realized what happened and rushes out of her lab in a frenzy.

“Avengers Assemble!”

 

"..what?"

We then…

HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK?!

“Now we have a problem.”

No shit.

Ryoko asks what the Masses are, and we get a simple response:

“Your Father Ryoko!”

“NOOOO! NOOOOOO!”

“What do you mean?!”

“I mean I created you using this creature with my egg cells! Ryo-Ohki was made the same way, except it was with the mineral life in her case!”

 I’m so glad we cleared this up. This was such an important question. I can rest easier now that we know that Ryoko is the product of Washu and a Ditto.

“The Masses are very gentle creatures by nature and they wouldn’t do anything like this…unless some very specific factor interfered.”

Then Ayeka does the stupidest thing she could possibly do:

“Please Maam…just what is a Mass anyway?”

“Really? You…you are asking me to give exposition? Well…since you insisted!”

Thus, this happens:

 “What the hell was that?!”

“WHAT?! WHAT’S THIS ALL ABOUT?!”

Thank you Ryoko!

“Quiet! Quiet thank you!”

And thus begins a long lecture on Masses:

“Hello there! Welcome to the world of Tenchi Muyo! My name is Washu! Some people call me the Greatest Scientific Genius in the Universe. I do not correct them. This tank is inhabited by creatures called Mass. They act as a group and it is the will of the leader, known as the brain that decides the behavior of the group. However, when the leader senses a will stronger than their own, it will accept it as their brain and act accordingly. Now girls! Your very own Tenchi Muyo! legend is about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with the Masses awaits! Let’s go!”

I may have exaggerated that a bit, but I assure you, that is the gist of her lecture.  Washu as a teacher, filler as it may be, is actually pretty funny. Of course, the girls in question are not as focused as Washu might have hoped.

“So that is Ryoko’s Honorable Father, is that right?”

“I’ve always thought of her as a monster, but now I know for a fact she really IS a monster!”

“What’d you say?!”

“Ow!”

Once her lecture is over, she asks if everybody understands…and they react accordingly:

 “Uh…”

“I…guess you don’t. So ask me some questions, okay?”

Ayeka starts to talk but Washu is in full teacher mode, so she refuses to hear from her unless she raises her hand. 

 “Is she shitting us?”

“Question: will it cause any problems if the creatures move around on their own?”

Washu further explains that, when threatened, Masses will shoot out parts of their body to defend themselves. This could lead to terrible things, like death and destruction. 

As this is going on, Ryoko cuts up her eraser and flicks it at Ayeka.

…the length this show is going through to pad the run time is to be commended.

We see Tenchi in the fields and the Masses are watching him.

Masses: Arkham Asylum.

Cut back to the classroom and we see Washu’s punishments for Ayeka and Ryoko: 

DERP!

Finally, Washu reveals her theory as to why the Masses are moving around: they found a new brain and are acting on its will. And wouldn’t you know it, the brain is Ryo-Ohki!

“If anyone communicated with the Masses, it must have been her! She was the only one right there in front of the tank!”

Washu is going to hook up Ryo-Ohki to a similar device of the one that Tenchi was strapped into during the “Nurse Washu” scene of Episode Seven. You know…the attempted rape? However, since there are people around, someone actually calls Washu out on her ethical missteps, and this time it is NOT Mihoshi (who is sleeping)!

“NO! You can’t! You can’t check her memory without her permission! You just can’t do that! The poor thing!”

That would be called consent ladies, something 3/5ths of you really need to comprehend.

However, because Ryo-Ohki is our resident #1 Super Gal, she does not mind and is all ready to let her mind be explored. 

Even I have to admit this is cute.

So what goes on in a cabbit’s mind? 

Awww….that’s how she views the world. Also, apparently she does not give a damn about Ryu-Oh, Azaka, Kamidake, Yosho, or Nobuyuki.

We then see Ryo-Ohki’s current desire: to help Tenchi garden and go on adventures while playing The Neverending Story!

Whelp, this sounds like it needs some psychological explanations. So Rong, I’ve got to admit, I’ve never had a Cybertronian psychologist before.

“Actually, it is Rung.”

My bad. So, want to describe what this says about Ryo-Ohki and those around her?

“Well looking at it, it shows that she views Ayeka and Ryoko in a negative light, probably due Ryoko’s recent attempts to use her as bait and for all the times that Ayeka yells at her for being near Ryu-Oh. As for her thoughts on Tenchi, he provides her with the carrots she loves and treats her very well. If anything, this newfound attention is probably due to her trying to make up for worrying Tenchi earlier in the day.”

Thanks Ring, that sounds pretty accurate.

“It’s Rung…”

Whatever. So the girls realize that if Ryo-Ohki wanted to be with Tenchi, then the Masses are with Tenchi! Being impulsive as ever, Ryoko tries to teleport out of the room. Washu calls out for her.

“Ryoko!”

“AHHHH!”

“You will pay the price for your lack of vision!”

“Well, all I wanted to do was warn you…”

“…about the shield up there.”

Is this an episode of Tenchi Muyo! or is this an episode of Loony Tunes?

By now, Tenchi has encountered the Masses and reacts as anyone would when a naked, vaguely humanoid woman approaches them.

“Not another woman! Dad will kill me if I bring another one home!”

Tenchi hides his head further as the Mass woman picks up Tenchi’s tools and starts getting back to work making carrots that I am sure he receives no money for.

Seriously, I know in the manga Mihoshi, Sasami, and Nobuyuki are the only ones who pay the bills, but does this constitute as an actual job for Tenchi? Does he sell some of his crops?

 “I…I wonder if that’s an experiment of Washu’s.”

Tenchi goes to talk to it, but it/she gets scared and backs up defensively.

“Don’t censor me Toonami!”

“Don’t tempt them!”

The girls arrive and tell our hero that the creature is dangerous. Tenchi runs for cover but is told that his movements will only anger it. Of course, being in mid movement and this basically being an episode of Looney Tunes, Tenchi is forced to stay still while balancing on one foot.

“You’ll only entice it if you move!”

“You could have told me that a little sooner!”

Then…

“Please, stop it Honorable Father! Your daughter Ryoko grieves for you! Please stop!”

Damn it Mihoshi. You’ve been doing so well the past few episodes. Don’t ditz out on me!

“…but Mihoshi…that looks like that’s a woman!”

At this point, Washu explains that the Masses are in control here and if anyone moves or yells, things could get bad. And if all else fails, her decoy is on the way. Who is the decoy?

The one and only.

So, of course, Tenchi moves.

 

I would say “DERP” but we all knew it was coming.

The Masses, seeing Tenchi as a threat, decide to neutralize it.

But wait! The decoy has arrived!

 Hey kids: it's Ryoko! *Applause!*

“Ah…so this is it?”

“POWER!!!! UNLIMITED POWERRRRRRR!”

As the Masses shoot at Ryoko, Ryo-Ohki breaks free and starts to do something!

Unlike half of the people in this episode.

However, all of this, from Ryoko flying impulsively to the ceiling to this moment are all part of Washu’s Batman Gambit. What is the next step in this master plan?

“It’s morphin’ time!”

“GO GO POWER RANGERS!”

We see that the two have merged and…

…what is that?

Is that…a cabbit-humanoid…I…

We missed you Neal Adams' Batman!

This is wrong. This is so wrong. Now, I know what you might be thinking: “Okay, so she can do more than just “Meow” and turn into a spaceship. That is progress!” And normally, I’d agree with you. Ryo-Ohki is the trickiest character to portray as it is so easy to use her as just a prop.

The problem is Kajishima and his desired outcome of the series.

As mentioned all the way back in my first ever post, there are a few ways this kind of series can end. Kajishima’s ending is known as the “Harem Ending,” or “Everybody Gets Married Ending.” If the series were to end with this episode and Tenchi was going to marry everybody, he would have six brides.

Now, I may be an English Teacher, but I know that there are only five girls. So who would the sixth…

No.

No. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Yes, Tenchi would marry Ryo-Ohki too, because why the hell not? THAT is my biggest problem with this development: not the development itself, but the implications that arise from it.

Look at her. She looks so…violated.

Ryo-Ohki tries to walk on two legs, but trips. Ryoko then sums up the episode rather nicely:

“Ugh…what a day.”

We then cut to the next day where we see Sasami showing Ryo-Ohki, now in a child’s body, how to walk.

“You put one foot in front of the other, and soon you’ll be walking cross the floor!”

Tenchi picks up his carrot hoard and starts to trip backwards, but Ryo-Ohki is there to catch him!

Look, if there is one thing I can’t fault, it is that Ryo-Ohki had a character arc in this episode. That is more than I can say about half of the characters, let alone the side characters. 

However, she falls over and reverts back to the cabbit form, showing us that she is still the child friendly animal sidekick she was at the beginning of the episode.

And that’s the end…

…minus the giant spaceship woman that appears at the episode’s end out of nowhere without explanation.

“What the hell was that?”

REVIEW

I’ve made a lot of Emperor Palpatine jokes in this review and there is a reason for it: this episode is basically the Endor bits of Return of the Jedi.

This episode doesn’t really serve any purpose in the overall narrative beyond explaining more of the process behind Ryoko’s and Ryo-Ohki’s creation. But was this a story that needed to be told? Not really. The key purpose of this episode seems to be to pander to the “cutesy” audience.

Ryo-Ohki is the most child friendly character in the entire series, beyond even Sasami. She’s cute, she’s an animal, and now she turns into a little girl. Again, there is nothing wrong with that, but it can be misconstrued easily when the author’s desired ending is made clear.

It cheapens Ryo-Ohki a bit, which is depressing, as she actually has a full fledged story in this episode. We learn about her wants and her desires. It is everything I have been asking for.

The rest of the episode was basically the Tenchi and Washu show. Washu’s overwhelming presence in OVA 2 will only grow, but it pushes back the other girls a lot, reducing them to punchlines. Last episode gave us a bit of a balanced look at Sasami, Ayeka, Washu, Tenchi, and Tsunami. However, even Ryoko and Mihoshi were there doing things. This episode, while the girls are all there, only Ryoko really gets a minor focus outside of Ryo-Ohki, Washu, and Tenchi. 

Finally, that final shot was just a cheap reuse of the ending of Episode Four, where we are introduced to Kagato and Soja. However, that episode built up to it and hinted at it. This episode had no build up or foreshadowing beyond one throwaway line. It makes no sense. It serves no purpose beyond sloppily setting up the next episode.

Now, I have been hard on this episode but there are a few good points. The beginning of the episode was incredibly promising and critical for Tenchi’s character. We have yet to really get a grasp of Tenchi’s view on his mother. We have observed it from Ryoko’s POV, but not his. It is nice and refreshing. We will see this plot continued as the OVA progresses.

The other highlight of the episode was the soap opera. It is just so over the top and hilarious.

It's okay to have a purely comedic episode every now and then and that is what this episode was. Not every episode needs to be super serious. This is a breather episode. Unlike Episode Seven, this wasn't unbearable. I like Washu as a teacher, but the girls as students were a bit much. I just wish there was something more. 

Animation: This was an okay episode, but not as good as it could be: 16/20

Main Characters: Well, Ryo-Ohki and Tenchi get some good moments, but Tenchi, again, becomes a prop for most of this episode. It hurts him and, as such, our perception of him: 16/20

Supporting Characters: Ryoko is the saving grace for this category. Even Sasami, who should have a strong connection to Ryo-Ohki, is barely used. I hope this is not a trend that will continue in the future: 13/20

Music: About on par for this series, which means it is well done: 17/20

Story: *Yawn*: 08/20

Overall Tenchi Rating: 70!

Ayeka and Ryoko Verbal Sparring: 4!

Whelp, join us next time when we will discover just what the hell that spaceship was. Up next is “The Advent of the Goddess.” Hmm...that's an interesting title...