Reply To: Just A Hypothetical

Lol, at least we know that this is the real JG posting, and not an Android Yosho JG. sawthatplz

imhappylaplz lmao

I love ‘what if’s’ because it runs along similar lines of one of my favorite movifs in movies, tv series and/or books.*

But first my scenario: what if Tenchi had been a totally obedient, well-behaved kid (not that he isn’t, but every kid gets into a bit of mischief now and then) and listened to his grandfather when he told him not to go into Ryoko’s cave, and told him to stay away and merely tend to the shrine? Well, of course right off the bat Ryoko fans wince at the thought of Tenchi never finding that sword or those gems, and never wandering into Ryoko’s tomb, and never awakening–thus never meeting–Ryoko! But on a much grander scale (much like Kiyoka demonstrated with Universe) the events of Tenchi Muyo would arguably never have come about at all. Ryoko awakening=gems signaling Yosho’s tree Funaho sending signal into space, alerting Ayeka (and soon after Kagato) to Earth, which leads to their quarrel, which leads to Ryoko summoning a demon, which alerts Mihoshi’s ship and sends her crashing down to Earth. Kagato arriving by way of Ryoko leads to Washu being introduced to Tenchi and well, the rest is history.

This is my personal view, I’m not asserting that it was Kajishima’s intentions (how could I know that) heck I’m not even asserting it’s correct, but Ryoko was not only the first girl that Tenchi interacts with, but really is the harbinger of the rest of the cast of characters and the overall plot of Tenchi Muyo. I believe the series being written that way was no accident, and I believe it has some specific connotations to it (what those are, of course, can be debated).

*back to my first train of thought: the motif I like in stories and find most captivating (and I also have a hunch is true in real life for all of us, but that’s just my opinion) is things are meant to happen; everything has a reason; there are no accidents, etc. etc. etc. Simply put: why did Tenchi wander into that cave? He was meant to. Why did Bilbo and Frodo end up with the One Ring? As Gandalf says to the younger Baggins, he was meant to. Diegetically it is implied within some works such as LOTR that there are external forces at work (stated rather explicitly ex: gods/spirits what have you) whereas others with Tenchi are more ambiguous, intentionally, but even outside the diegesis (outside the world/context of the story) we obviously know that the creators of these works meant to place their characters in these situations. Authors–such as Kajishima or Tolkien or whoever–write with intent, and I for one happen to think the same applies to what we consider ‘real life’ and beyond in ways we can’t even imagine (my dear Horatios). Why do I think this? Do I have empirical proof of any kind? Nay nay, but rather simply for the same reason characters of any story are put in precarious predicaments and have obstacles to overcome: because it makes for a better story. 😉

forgive me for getting a bit off-topic, I just felt like expressing a bit, ya’ know?