Reply To: Ai Tenchi Muyo! Manga Translation

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    evilpii
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    The first chapter adapts the story of Episode 1 of the 2014 anime, with a few story points from Episode 8.

    As with many manga with a fair-sized cast, the first two pages give portraits and brief descriptions of each of the main players. Tenchi fans will readily recognize the descriptions of Tenchi Masaki and his companions (Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Washu, and Mihoshi) from their previous incarnations. Notably, Tenchi himself is described as an “ordinary high school student”, who is now mysteriously a “girls-only high school teacher”. This main conceit is the impetus for the hilarity that ensues in the following pages. Likewise, observe that Ryoko’s description mentions that “Tenchi broke the seal that was placed on her”, which is a particular plot point only seen in the original OVA, as opposed to later reimaginings, including Negishi’s own TV series. Moreover, notice that Kiyone Makibi, a character first introduced in Hasegawa’s light novels and prevalent in later incarnations of Tenchi Muyo!, is absent entirely.

    The action opens with a space scene where a strange space vessel is being affected by a nearby spatial anomaly. The young pilot, whose eyes are silhouetted but is immediately identified as Beni Kinojyou from the introduction, is at a loss as to what to do. In a monitor, a passenger aboard the ship, a child very reminiscent of Momo Kawanagare also from the introduction, calls for Beni to come with her. Beni addresses her as “princess” and proceeds to jettison the girl toward the planet below, quickly recognized as Earth from the Japanese and Aleutian island chains pictured. Watching over all of this, Washu admits fault and that Tenchi will have to deal with the fallout.

    This opening scene is an abridged version of the opening segment of Episode 8 of the anime, though here it serves to implicate Washu’s culpability, as well as the need for someone to intervene. Moreover, this is more chronologically correct, as opposed to the anime, which often alternated between action in the present and action in a feudal time period. The ship’s design and the styles of dress for both child-Momo and Beni are consistent with the anime, as is the spatial anomaly.

    The next scene shows a residence in Okayama, notably not the Masaki household from any previous incarnation. Here, Tenchi is being seen off to work by his friends, each bestowing him some foodstuff for lunch. Naturally, Ryoko and Ayeka’s conflicting affections for the young man drive them to fight in trademark fashion, leaving Sasami finally to give him lunch and send him away. As an extra treat, Ayeka’s guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, support their mistress and even get a line of dialogue.

    This scene was not in the anime, but feels appropriate, giving the reader a snapshot of familiar characters and familiar actions. The character designs match those from the 2014 anime, which were updated by Suzuhito Yasuda, and the interactions are in tune with previous versions of the characters from the 1995 TV series or other earlier works.

    After leaving his friends, Tenchi travels to Junai Academy, becoming lost in the woods outside the school. He then encounters the teenaged Momo Kawanagare, who knocks him over as she escapes Yuki and Rui of the Science Club. They, in turn, are chased away by the rest of the Student Council (Hachiko, Hana, and Tori). At last, Tenchi arrives at work to meet his supervisor, Ukan, who escorts him to his homeroom class to introduce himself.

    The end of the chapter essentially mirrors Episode 1 of the 2014 anime, matching story beats and most lines of dialogue. However, unlike the anime, the space scene and house scene give more context into why Tenchi Masaki is present at Junai Academy early on, rather than waiting until Episode 3 to do so. An interesting point is that Ukan is pictured and interacts briefly with Tenchi and the class, but is not named in the story or the cast introduction. Likely, given her role in the anime, this is done to keep her true purpose obscure for the moment.

    The art of the book is quite nice and captures the new character designs well. Though I do prefer the moving images of the anime, seeing a slightly different interpretation of the art is appreciated.

    In summary, I rather enjoyed this adaptation of the Ai Tenchi Muyo! opening chapter. It remains consistent with the anime, while taking some liberty with the story. In particular, I think that the inclusion of the space scene and the house scene alleviate some common complaints with the anime. Some comments on the early episodes of the 2014 anime criticized not seeing Ryoko and the other original characters until Episode 7. Others wanted to know why Tenchi was at this girls-only school. Having child-Momo and Beni above Earth in the first few pages immediately address the latter issue, while the house scene between Tenchi and his friends sort the former complaint.

    Here’s to a good start to this manga adaptation, and to the next chapter.

    Rogue Thoughts