chucklocker

Did it go a little something like THIS? 😆

Lol, anyway, I don’t know where you got those points in the previous posts, but they certainly are NOT what I had in mind when I was talking about a reboot, and are definitely not all things that that I would be keen on having in a reboot.

-A one choice ending (heavily pro-Ryoko from the sound of it)

-Less fan service/sexy antics

-More focus on humor, possibly fourth wall breaking

-Inclusion of lesser known/non-OVA characters

The first point is not something that is all-important for me, although I do very much prefer a one choice ending, and I do lean on the side of it being Ryoko. As I said in a previous post, I would be fine with having the choice be one of the other girls if it were well written, and JG even listed at least three other possible endings that don’t involve a single choice which I would be perfectly satisfied with if done correctly. My only real demand in this regard is that whatever ending it would end up having be compelling, well written, and not only make sense plot-wise, but character-wise and quality-wise as well, which the harem ending simply has never been for me.

I don’t agree with the second point at all. Sexiness has always been one of Tenchi Muyo!’s greatest features, from Tenchi running headlong into Ryoko’s bazoombas in episode 1 to the legendary Nurse Washu scene. For the most part I’m actually ok with how the sex appeal/fanservice is in the OVA currently. It’s not overbearing, and it certainly is much tamer than a lot of other shows these days. My only wish would be that Kajishima, or whoever would helm this hypothetical remake, look back to the subtler, more creative (and in my opinion sexier) fanservice of the first two OVAs, and not just rely on big breasted women and bath scenes.

I’m not for the third point either. Again, I think this is something the modern OVA continuity has decently well together, but I think there is plenty of room to improve. Instead of wanting more humor, what I really want is for Tenchi to get back to its roots and be a grand space fantasy/adventure story again. For me, Tenchi was never better than in OVA 1, which certainly had great comedic moments, but really dazzled when it came to telling an exciting story about aliens, deities, and a regular boy’s coming to terms with his destiny. Tenchi Universe took this concept and tweaked it for the TV medium (to great effect in my opinion), but for a hypothetical straight remake of OVA, I would absolutely prefer the classic, purer high fantasy over a more comedic show. As for fourth wall breaking, I assume you’re referring to the manga series, which I think is fantastic, but I think that is something better suited to its own medium and wouldn’t transfer well to an anime.

As for the last point, this one I agree a bit more with, but with qualifications. It would undoubtedly tickle me greatly to have Kiyone Makibi and a few other characters from other continuities, and I’m positive the writers would have no trouble at all working them in in a compelling and sensible way. However, it’s not a deal breaker for me if they choose to stick with established OVA characters only in this hypothetical remake. In fact, I would be perfectly happy if they included all of the much maligned new additions of OVA 3, all I would ask is that this time they be properly introduced instead of just appearing, and that most importantly they give me a reason to care about them and get invested in them this time. All I’m really trying to say is that outside of the main cast, they can add or remove whatever characters they want as long as those characters we get are well written, dynamic, and growing.

tl;dr – I think you’ve seriously misread at least my conception of a hypothetical remake. I don’t want to change the DNA of the OVA continuity or turn it into something else entirely, I just want it to get back to what made it so damn good in the first place. The little details are nothing to me as long as the writing and direction tracks with that goal.

I think everyone agrees with you about this. I mean, the number one thing which has kept so many people excited about Tenchi is probably the fact that we still haven’t got the end of the story after all these years. I don’t think that wanting to finally get that ending and liking the idea of a reboot are mutually exclusive things. What makes me think a reboot might be a good idea at some point is the way in which we’re getting, or more often than not, NOT getting that ending. By revealing that most of the cast are essentially gods, and by setting the “they all go to Jurai and rule the universe forever” ending in stone I fear that Kajishima has severely hampered his ability to make the final journey to that conclusion compelling or meaningful in any significant way. As I said a few posts back I could be totally wrong about this, but I think the fact that we’ve seen almost nothing in the way of conflict or growth in the main cast from the doujins is very telling. This latest doujin is certainly a big improvement, but it still hasn’t done anything to address the larger problem facing the main cast story, which boils down to a simple question: Where can they go from here? With the ultimate ending already known, and with the household so powerful that nothing can touch them, the conclusion that we’re all yearning for is likely to be nothing more than a “Then Tenchi did such and such. Then his second child was born. Then Ryo-Ohki did something cute, etc., etc.” type of ending, and for me, personally, that just doesn’t cut the mustard. If there’s no way for Kajishima to escape this, and again I don’t know for sure that there isn’t, then I see no reason why starting from scratch in order to get it right would be a bad idea.

All this being said, neither I nor anyone else is advocating totally getting rid of the current continuity. There’s plenty of really exciting things outside of the landlocked main cast story left to explore. Like ANB mentioned above, the Shin Novels would make excellent “prequel” animations, and as I talked about in a previous post there’s great potential in the story of Tenchi’s extended family like Kenshi and now these new children.

tl;dr – I think we’re all on the same page with wanting the conclusion to the story, the difference simply lies in how we’d like to get there.

Let me ask you though; if they did reboot TM!R, what is to say they wouldn’t mix around the characters designs and personalities? They might just turn Ryoko into something you hate, and change Ayeka into your favorite character. Always be aware of this when you go asking for such drastic measures.

You’re absolutely right, and this is something that should definitely be weighed when considering a reboot. It’s always a crap shoot in the remake game, and you never know what you’re going to come up with. Sometimes the changes they make ruin a beloved story, but other times they end up being strokes of genius that breathe new life into moribund concepts. I reference the 00’s remake of Battlestar Galactica and all the other classic franchises which have seen renewals after being remade. Remaking a legend is never an easy task, and it would be bound to turn off some older fans, but I think the infusion of fresh ideas would do Tenchi a world of good, and I’d be willing to accept the risk of them screwing it up if it meant “righting the ship.”

I’d like to know who said this, because most people I speak with found this fascinating and exciting, even if it was just a glimpse of a possible future.

I’ll own up to liking the idea of a reboot, but for the record I also find this latest material as fascinating and exciting as most people. It’s exciting in that it’s the first significant main cast material Kajishima (or anybody else for that matter) has put out in almost a decade, and that it offers a glimpse further into the future than we have ever seen before. Plus, nobody can deny those babies are adorable. The best thing about this material though is that it’s probably the first and best way so far for Kajishima to write himself out of the box he’s been in since OVA 3. Now that we know for a fact that Tenchi is/will be a god, and that eventually the whole family will move to Jurai and rule the universe, it pretty much limits the storytelling potential to the slice of life happenings of the infinitely powerful Masaki household. Interesting, sure, but hardly the stuff of OVA 1, 2, and heck even OVA 3 excitement. I could be completely wrong of course, and Kajishima might have a dozen plans for future galactic life and death conflicts for the main cast, but in all of his many doujins he hasn’t once suggested anything of the sort. War on Geminar/ISM was proof he can still tell a reasonably exciting story outside the bounds of the Masaki house, and I hope that by showing Tenchi’s kids he is laying the groundwork for more such stories. We already know at least one of his kids runs away from the house to make his way in the universe, so I see no reason why we can’t expect others to do the same. It’s that potential to get out of the overpowered Masaki house and back into compelling storytelling that I find so exciting about this new doujin, because without it Tenchi’s story is as finished as it was ten years ago, and that would be very sad.

Tl;dr – I’m excited by the potential this material brings, but if Kajishima continues to focus nearly all of his effort on the already pre-determined plot of the main cast Tenchi will continue to be an exclusively conflict free, slice of life show instead of the grand romantic space opera it once was.