wwwwhhhhoooo

I also appreciate, in addition to the installments/posts themselves, the natural “breaks” which allow for unhurried consumption.

No doubt this is partially because we’re currently in the middle of the currently-airing series, but I got a sort of Ai vibe in this first section: not so much stylistically (Ai is goofy, fast-paced, conducive to what it’s trying to be and to its runtime; your read, as I said, is a slow, relaxing draw of coffee), but what I mean is even without knowing the author quite well personally behind this, it’s evident a real Tenchi fan wrote this: implications that Miho/Kiyo have obviously been promoted over the years (an explanation, official or otherwise, or why Kiyone might remain absent in Ai: bigger and better things…until Washu “broke” time, but anyway), and the back-and-forth between Ryoko and Washu, culminating to Ryoko literally griping “what are you, my mother?” and call it a hunch, a stretch, or both, but a waiter named Hiroaki? I (think I) see what you did, there.

A pleasure to hear words spoken between people who are now old friends and have some years behind them: Kiyone seems to have calmed down a bit, and grown more fond of Mihoshi than in her career-chasing youth (if a bit aged as well, inevitably), and Ryoko sitting in one place casually conversing with a cup of coffee…well, color me impressed! I LOVE how all of this disseminated at Mihoshi’s entrance: it was perfect! I could just see Ryoko’s reaction, hear Mihoshi’s apologetic voice, and feel Kiyone’s embarrassment.

Carrying on as old friends do, catching up, inevitably lead to questions about meeting someone “special” and…first of all, Mihoshi having a boyfriend is as cute as it is plausible (I breezed over the novel tie-in, but don’t let that discourage you, a touch of the esoteric is fun, and if you do revise to hint a little stronger, don’t do it by much), as is Ryoko ribbing Kiyone in front of the unsuspecting waiter. And, as much as I love Tenchi as a character and the dynamic of his interactions with the girls and the family etc., I hope folk don’t get the wrong idea, but I am LOVING this character building without him around: again, no offense to the star of the show, but all the characters of the show have so much potential, and no matter how swell a person or a particular setting is, you can’t reach your full potential if you’re around the same factors all the time. Kudos on getting the girls away from the house and away from Tenchi for a while: I can already tell it has, and can lead to, golden opportunities.

But speaking of our main man…a conversation between old friends, ten years gone by during what appears to be, sadly, an all-too-rare occurrence (welcome to adulthood, right?): Ryoko just ups and asks the question, “why no interest in Tenchi?” and kudos once again on how you handled the situation: Miho and Kiyo’s answers are attuned to their characters, and I greatly enjoyed Ryoko’s mature outlook, post “happily ever after” about how in life, we always have to give up something to get what we want. But Ryoko doesn’t seem regretful, just wisely aware of it: a slightly stoic Ryoko? Never thought I’d see the day, but I’m buying wholesale what you’re selling.

Such a short and sweet edition, but even I felt sad to part from it as our trio of Tenchi gals did the same after their ‘once in a blue moon’ meetup (man, I’m getting some Chibi Pa feels all over again). I’m very impressed with, almost perhaps envious of, how your work, Nil, as true to Tenchi (particularly Universe universe, of course) as your writing is, and as clearly as I can see it in my head, it truly does befit the medium of the written word (as opposed to my writing the last few years, screenwriting, which is literally written with the screen in mind; a good blueprint, but no better than what you create, and there’s so much you can’t do with a TV-formated script). I can only hope the process of writing this was somewhere as close to how enjoyable it was for me reading it. ^^

(If I may offer my two cents: though the conversations/interactions in the bar don’t “need” this, when I heard about Ryo-Ohki being “docked” I felt it was a tiny bit odd as we all know she can slim down to a travel-sized cabbit on the spot: having her accompany Ryoko would not only alleviate this in my opinion, but would also give a fun moment or two of Kiyone and Mihoshi getting to say ‘hi’ to another member of the family.)

And is that…GP Headquarters? WANT1 Oh. Mai. A-GAAAWWD!!