wwwwhhhhoooo

Tenchi: Ryo-Ohki! Tell me what happened here!

Ryo-Ohki: Meeeow meow meow!

Tenchi: “Meow meow meoooww,” Ryo-Ohki?!

A WIP video would be mega cool, so we’ll definitely stay tuned. badass1

We’ve got MIB courtesy of Sasami

Sasami herself is referred to as an “idol” at one point, assuredly referring to Hatsune Miku

Several Indiana Jones nods

Stretching a teeny bit, but “it was I, Hana!” sounded very much like “it was I, Dio!” a la Jojo’s

Possible FLCL nod with Goriki-kun attempting to bat the celestial ‘ball’ outta the park

aaaand I’m sure not last, and certainly not least, an “in house” jab at Ayeka’s “Call me Princess!”

I agree very much with this sentiment, didn’t like the art style (if Kajishima’s art style changed unintentionally over the years, I can’t blame him there, but if voluntary, I don’t see the reasoning). One could easily say “but Who, you praised Ai for its updated character designs” to which I would say yes, but the reason Ai ‘gets away with it’ is simple (and why it can ‘get away with’ other stylistic changes): it’s not connected to the OVA, it’s yet another ‘fresh start’ like Tenchi in Tokyo. Tokyo is allowed to be comical and zany because it’s its own beast. If Tokyo-style, super-deformed animation were used in OVA or Universe, then I’d take issue.

2. Noike

Yup. Not only did she not need to be there (at least Sakuya was central to the plot, and there was reasoning behind her ‘blank slate’ personality), the way she (and others, particularly Lady Seto) was presented was too ostentatious to be redeemable (sure, fans will bite the head off any new girl, but in every other instance–Mayuka, Sakuya, Momo–the character is redeemed by the end, earning the right to be a ‘Tenchi girl’). Top that with her ‘oh gee, your mom died Tenchi? Well, if you think you have it bad, listen to my sob story’ attitude, combined with the uncharacteristically subservient demeanor of the classic girls towards the mail-order fiance, and you’ve got a target of fan ire for decades to come.

3. Character development

I think this was sadly another weak point for the OVA 3 (I’m sure it’s hard to try and emulate Hiroki Hayashi’s masterful pacing as per OVA 1). A lot of ‘new’ characters were thrown in for the sole purpose of unwanted GXP tie-in’s. Oh, and what’s this? Flashbacks of the first OVA? The main events, no less? Oh, thank you! Just what I needed! I had completely forgotten about that whole thing! (Said absolutely no one going in to view OVA 3 with bated breath.) Buildup? Further development? These are not words used to describe something of Kajishima’s vision: from the Emperor’s big reveal in Photon to Ryo-Ohki‘s “Counteractor” Kajishima’s style has consistently been ‘I’m going to throw something literally out of nowhere because you won’t see it coming because you couldn’t possibly ha ha ha I’m so clever.’ I like that you brought up “fun, action, adventure and romance” when describing what any incarnation of the franchise should be, and the overall reason OVA 3 received the response it did is it removed all of these in one fell swoop, plain and simple:

– There’s no way I’ll know what direction the plot is going, because Kajishima will just pull it out of the ether. What’s more, even after he does eventually show his hand, he might go back and change it years later to wiggle out of an inconvenience like plot continuity (he’s done it, people). So why would I invest my time in the work? Umm, gee, what fun? Nah.

– The fight with Z was action, as was the interaction with the Chousin, but it was extremely brief, and again ultimately meaningless when the Chousin can go into “God Mode” and undo literally anything that’s happened. Not much suspense knowing that, is there?

– The ‘adventure’ is dead when your protagonist finds out he’s God. Nothing can challenge you, nothing can hurt you, ever. The end. Tah Dah?

– Romance? A foreign concept to Mr. Kajishima. Tenchi grow up and pick a girl he’s had a relationship with for years? Screw that, Mama Seto swoops in and says ‘here’s your bride’ and ‘oh gee, well okay, I mean tradition and all.’ How you have a character be GOD and somehow not have a spine is beyond me.

4. Episode Length

I can’t relate too much to this one. If people want it, fine, but OVA’s (as they truly once were, I’m not talking about a one-off ‘throw the fans a bone between seasons’ stuff we have now) are a thing of the past. War on Geminar exemplifies this quite well: it lagged numerous times (I was literally checking my wristwatch at times…and I don’t wear a wristwatch) and it’d take a small miracle for its continuation (if it ever happens, which I’m not opposed to) to have a budget allocated for 40-something minute episodes. Glad I brought up Saint Knight’s Tale (sorry, couldn’t help myself), because it’s a perfect example for my view on the matter: it’s not that OVA 3 didn’t have enough time, it’s that it wasn’t used properly (as we’ve hashed out already). Look at Geminar: extra long run time for episodes, plenty of time to work with, and what do we get? Almost a whole episode devoted to Kenshi doing laundry, and then a rushed climax (the deus ex machina moment was, you guessed it, virtually out of nowhere, but at least there’s some precedence for it via Tenchi).

5. Ryoko’s Voice Actress (English)

Amen to that! Though not a fault of the Japanese production end, it’s a valid complaint for an English-speaking listener. Funimation really, really, really dropped the ball there, and I can only hope the lack of DVD sales made them realize that.

6. Pick a Girl!

Apart from the aforementioned sci-fi adventure and fantastic elements, what made Tenchi alluring to most people is quite simple: who’s he gonna’ choose? Who’s going to “win” Tenchi? If you look at other works of the original director (Hayashi), like El Hazard, it’s not hard to see that this was in fact his (and likely writer Naoko Hasegawa’s) vision. It’s simple but brilliant: people cheer for their ‘team’ the fans are in their little camps, and you’ve got an invested viewership, suspense, and rom-com gold without having to try that hard. You can have a vibrant cast of characters, even fun flirty moments, ecchi fan service, and real relationships all with an uneven boy-to-girl ratio: it doesn’t automatically make it a harem. It’s called life, interacting with other human(oid)s; doesn’t mean ‘oh gee, girl talked to me? I got some!’

The magic of Tenchi is they’re all after him, but you’re always kind of left wondering ‘who’s it going to be?’ I think that would probably be the best solution (what was once called ‘the Tenchi solution’), but in reality, if you continue with Tenchi and the Masaki household for a length of time, over the years the natural progression of things would lead him to be with one of the girls, and interactions with the others would, sadly, fade over time (think post-high school or your college buddies from back in the day…if you’re not there yet, you’ll get there). As Tenchi matures from being a teenager to an adult, he would have to “man up” so to speak and either take the relationship to the next level, or it halts altogether; all the while making your intentions known. If Tenchi in ANY of its incarnations continued, the natural progression would be something akin to Keiichi and Belldandy in Ah My Goddess! There’s other girls around, but it doesn’t mean Keiichi’s going to have children with them for goodness sake.

Kajishima’s vision was not this at all (this is largely what instigated the eventual split between Hayashi and himself before OVA 2) and one need look no further than GXP. Same dynamic: awkward teenage boy who wouldn’t normally get a second glance from girls is all of a sudden candy to a whole troupe of females. What’s different between it and most versions of Tenchi? Surprise! Seina doesn’t choose one, he marries them all! When things go ‘polygamy fest’ my reaction (and many others’) can unfortunately be little more than ‘cool story bro’ at best, because at the end of the day, you can’t help but ask yourself something that is a basic component to storytelling: why do I (the viewer, or reader) care? you have to make me care, and having characters as–or worse, turning well-established characters into–notches on a nonexistent belt of oppressive patriarchal stereotypes is not how you do it.

Ryoko is who Tenchi ‘ought to’ end up with imho, because that’s how it was structured initially, it’s how it was built up, and it’s how it was interpreted by the likes of director Hiroshi Negishi with his canon. But I can see why one could make a case for Ayeka (it’s fun to make cases for the others, but there’s no real candidates other than Ayeka and Ryoko; not bashing, it’s just how it is, the others don’t show romantic interest beyond a little bit of flirtatiousness). So I won’t even advocate I get ‘my way’ and he gets Ryoko (in OVA canon, at least, because in most of the others I get my OTP hehe). In El Hazard, I love the character Shayla Shayla, and my ‘favorite girl’ is Nanami…but the director made it clear that his heart isn’t set on either of them: Makoto’s heart is set on Ifurita. I’m not saying ‘never question sensei!’ but rather we have to see what’s actually there, and not try to fulfill our own fantasy at the source material’s expense (but playful ribbing is what fans do after all, I don’t want to eliminate that…heck, the more I think about it, Nanami and Makoto would be cute together! But oy, the bride’s family at the wedding…uh oh).

The ‘fulfill our own fantasy at the source material’s expense’ btw isn’t aimed at us as fans (fan fiction can be whatever you want) it’s aimed at those involved with the subject matter, like Kajishima: turning the Masaki household into a polygamist compound and saying ‘remember your mother? Yeah, you were wrong because I say so’ is not ‘seeing what’s actually there.’ I don’t care who you are. You’re shoehorning and it shows.

I got on a soapbox a bit at the end there, so sorry if I wandered here and there, but that’s my two cents. I can’t take part much in the ‘how to fix OVA 3’ part of this post, as imho it is beyond repair or recall.

Peace. ^^ v