wwwwhhhhoooo

Thanks for the chuckle, Chaud. ^^ v

Alas, sadly it’s precisely because I love Tenchi (or, rather, what it once was) that I gotta’ pull back for a while (or, indefinitely, I don’t know). I’ve “put in my time” so to speak for some five years, and though I don’t regret it and have had some amazing times, it’s also at times been a source of unnecessary headaches and heartbreak.

A part of me–of all of us–would love to keep translating these works, and perhaps someday we (or, heaven forbid, some others help out or pick up the torch) can return to them and they’ll get their due; but as it stands now, the burden of an entire franchise has long been on the shoulders of only a few hardworking, dedicated souls.

Normally a fandom could endure such trials…but when your only reward is seeing your favorite series bastardized beyond recognition (not to mention unintelligible criticism from people who denounce while simultaneously draw from your research, the fruit of your labors, in lieu of actually doing their own legwork), well…there comes a point when as a human with finite time on this earth you just end up asking yourself “what’s actually the point?”

I’ll put up with such grievances to a point for a good cause, but looking ahead I see it may in the end be a lost cause for Tenchi Muyo!: it seeks to be just another run-of-the-mill fetishistic harem romp for the purpose of squeezing a few nickels and dimes out of patronizing otaku, created by an anachronistic male chauvinist for anachronistic male chauvinists. The funny thing is, that’s what this franchise has been since 2002, and I was just too optimistic to, as The Beatles once said, “let it be.”

Anyone who ever really cared about it on the production side–the people who poured their souls into it–left long ago, and it seems even Negishi has realized that it’s a sinking ship that no amount of hard work or wishful thinking can restore. At least we’ll have Ai Tenchi Muyo! for the history books, because despite its minor changes brought on by modernity, it will prove in the end to be a blip in the long, mangled timeline of this franchise as a last holdout ember of a great flame that once burned very, very bright….

I think my favorite part of aforementioned link is as follows:

Entertainment companies, justifiably, don’t worry when the message boards fill up with declarations of, “I’ll never watch this again!” It’s the slow fade that kills them. As long as you’re mad, you’re still interested. I don’t know anyone who has broken off from a series they love because they’re mad. They break off when they’re tired of paying attention to it.

OVA 3, we were mad. OVA 4? We won’t even be around to be mad. There was a mass exodus in the early ’00s, and that was after a ‘surprise attack’ out of left field that no one (oh, I’m sorry, those of us who weren’t one of the scores of persons who bought exclusive doujins) saw coming. But in 2015, it won’t be a mass exodus because hardly anyone is left, and it won’t be a ‘surprise attack’ this time because that little trick can only work once. We can see it coming.

And the MINUTE the quality of the material doesn’t live up to the already overstimulated expectations of the unsuspecting casual fandom at large, combined with the internet-fostered overly cynical nature of the average viewer these days, that’ll be the end of it: viewers accustomed to instant gratification won’t want to wait around for months (again, OVA’s in 2015? Hilarious!) to see another addition of mediocrity. The fat lady will sing, and Tenchi Muyo! will finally be put to rest: it will truly be dead and buried, something that it has desperately needed for far too long (as much as it pains me tremendously to say it).

Enjoy that “slow fade” AIC! All in all, it was a pretty good run for a while.

I’m moving on, and as I’ve already said previously albeit more eloquently, it’s now become a simple “yes” or “no” question, one that you cannot ignore while still calling yourself a fan: you’re either for Tenchi Masaki fucking the beloved mascot, or you’re not. I choose the latter, and if you do too, some friendly advice from your friendly neighborhood Who: pack up the remaining good memories you have left and move on.

But the carnival always comes back to you, my friends…Kajishima won’t live forever.