wwwwhhhhoooo

I’ll always remember Ai fondly for a number of reasons. Regardless of whether one liked it or not, those who are excited for OVA 4 have Ai to thank for testing the waters and garnering interest in a TM! property all over again. After Geminar and before Ai (which Negishi practically begged to have green-lit), Toru Miura himself said it was a dead franchise. There would not be an OVA 4 were it not for Ai Tenchi Muyo! existing. It should therefore be regarded as venerable, in some form or another, by all of TM! fandom.

One of the reasons I’ll remember it fondly is because it will forever stand testament to what this franchise could (and should) have been. Considering it was a mini-series (we have Toru Miura primarily to thank for that, due to not having faith in the franchise anymore), and the plot was repurposed from a would-be third movie, and the funds for the film were raised largely by Takahashi (you have old man Kaji to partially thank for bankrupting AIC in the first place), it’s nothing short of a miracle that it was produced at all (and at an acceptable level of production quality, unlike many reboots out there). If you would have told me before Ai that Negishi would effectively come out of retirement to helm a Tenchi project in 2014, I’d have called you crazy. It’s a shame that, once again, AIC (i.e. Miura) can’t fathom one iota of the potential they had in their hands with a talented director (who is more qualified than any other human being alive today to direct TM! in this day and age) like that back in the wheelhouse, and Negishi basically had to depart broken-hearted once more. At least, yet again, we’ll likely have Ai to thank for getting Negishi back in the saddle and ready to take on more personal (non-Tenchi) projects which he (and many fans) will find fulfilling.

And, of course, despite all the difficulties associated with it (a Herculean task, let me assure you all), I’ll remember the fan-subbing of Ai as the latest and greatest achievement in a long list of amazing fan-fueled endeavors in which I was able to revel with my Tenchiforum crew. It lead to amazing installments of Tenchicast, hosting a panel at a convention, and interacting with Matt and Petrea and much of the rest of the fandom. I’ll carry those memories with me forever.

Whether Ai is a taste of more to come in the far-flung future, or (more likely) it’s destined to be remembered as a last holdout for a TM!, AIC, and anime-viewing climate of yesteryear, I’ll always be grateful to everyone involved (including your own Dagon123, Nil Admirari, Crazed, and TITANOFCHAOS) for bringing Ai Tenchi Muyo!–a true blast from the past that struck all the right chords–to fans around the world for one last hurrah.

Only on the roller coaster that is TM! fandom can one experience the kinds of ups and downs–with both triumphs and tragedies, mountain-top highs and soul-crushing lows–that this franchise and its various fandoms have seen come and go. All I can say for now is “What a ride!” and get my bearings (you know, make everything stop spinning) before even considering getting back in line again. That’s the thing about carnivals…they can be both exciting and terrifying, and it all depends on which jaded, underpaid carny’s overworked hands are at the controls. I hope everyone has fun on this next ride…be sure and let me know how it goes. I’ll be waiting by the concession stand (you know, not puking my guts out).

So, yes, excellent question! Is this the end of Tenchicast? Well…I’d like to think “no.” But, I guess time will tell. Perhaps the best way to put it is “yes, for now.” It was a difficult decision we all had to wrestle with, trying to come to a consensus, but basically here’s our logic:

What’s the big news in Tenchi Muyo! right now? OVA 4, of course. So, some people excited for that…by all means, get hyped (if you like cabbit-patch kids).

So, since that’s what’s going on in Tenchi fandom right now, and Tenchicast reports on whatever’s “the buzz” in the fandom…we figured people would have found it odd if, right after OVA 4 was announced (“announced” used in its broadest definition), we did podcast episodes that weren’t about OVA 4. But wait…Qu’est-ce que c’est? Why wouldn’t you just do a podcast episode about OVA 4? What’s the problem? Well, valid point, but…remember that whole “consensus” thing I mentioned above? About us, as a crew? Well, we decided, more or less…

[BBvideo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I71cY9Ysy5U[/BBvideo]

Neither I nor anyone else of the regular crew really have anything positive to say about OVA 4 as it stands now: we’ve spent some five years demonstrably explaining why this would literally be the worst business/artistic integrity move you could possibly make, and yet here we are…AIC (or, more accurately, Miura) is making it and anyone attempting to explain why would just be throwing the bones at best (if you’d like, see my YouTube comment on the Best of Tenchicast episode).

I’ll just steal this from Dagon because I can’t think of a better way to sum it up: we don’t want to be “cheerleaders” for something we don’t genuinely believe in anymore. It’d be a choice between insincerity/sugarcoating the damage versus a one-hour continuous session of “here’s reason number [32] for why I hate what’s happening now” lol.

So, in the end, as Dagon mentioned, we may not be able to leave Tenchi Muyo! on a good note, but we sure as heck can with Tenchicast! And in the end, if it has to “end” (as all things inevitably do), we want it to be on a happy note remembering good times instead of dreading the future and repeating what we’ve been saying all these years spanning so many separate podcast installments….

But you know what they say about carnivals and all that. There may very well be more to come…someday. Ol’ Who might have one final trick up his sleeve. 😉

But until that day–when Tenchi Muyo! and, by extension, Tenchicast come back proper–just do what Dagon’s recommended all these years: stay gold!

aquateencarl1

Once again, thank you Ai Tenchi Muyo! for reviving interest in the franchise in a big way.

Seeing as how not only is the acronym intentionally “A-I-C” and has a nearly identical aesthetic, only two options reasonably exist at this point: either AIC–as in Anime International Company–has delegated this AIC, “anime innovation content” with the tack-on “project” at the end to distinguish a new entity for brand expansion purposes while also giving Negishi (unquestionably an asset) more control over other specific resurrection attempts…

OR

President Hiroshi Negishi essentially said “screw it, I’ll make my own AIC” and brought on talent he’s worked with before to build up his own company and fund other projects (it’s not like it’s a thing unheard of). The kicker with this theory is that Negishi would be deliberately saying “SUCK IT” reeeeally loud to AIC because that is straight-up their trademark look if you compare the two sites; that, and it would be very uncharacteristically impetuous of Negishi (but again, not impossible).

[BBvideo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGi6Q1pNbS0[/BBvideo]

Since AIC probably wouldn’t give away the presidency out of the blue, Negishi’s title would have to be either of his own making or, as previously stated, quite plausibly was appointed over this project/subsidiary company by AIC.

Interesting at any rate. Is Negishi still planning on attempting anything with Tekkaman Blade? Would Marionette just be one more title on his list of titles deserving a reboot? I eagerly await more news.