Sunday, July 28, 2019

Tenchi Muyo OVA 4 & 5. (MM #109)


Yeah, but don't get excited...


So, every couple of years or so, I get curious as to whether there's new Tenchi stuff, or if the franchise is still in hibernation.

Apparently, a 4th OVA season came out 2 years ago, starting right after I walked away from "AI TenchI Muyo", with a dissatisfied eye roll.
And a 5th is on its way.

So, I Googled to see if it's out on disc yet, and it popped right up that it's for free on Youtube.
So, I watched the first episode....and gave up.

It's not horrible, it's still decently produced animation wise.
It's better than "Ai Tenchi Muyo", or "Shin Tenchi Muyo".

It's got the same problem as OVA 3 did, it keeps adding these new characters ret-con style with no seeds planted in the old stuff that they ever existed, and their existence changes the whole backstory all around, and character assassinates other characters, and...ugh.

This time, they've ret-conned that Tenchi has a great aunt out of nowhere (who wants to fuck him!) and a sister from I have no idea where, who they only talk about, but we don't meet yet in episode 1.

Also, they make it so you have to have watched "Tenchi GXP", in between OVA 3 and 4 to know what's going on. They refer to it heavily.
I have it, I could watch it again to refresh myself.
But I'm not gonna.

I gave up not because the show is bad, but I just don't care anymore.

The very existence of a 5th OVA coming out means they're not going to resolve anything with this 4th one.
I was right in my review of "AI Tenchi Muyo", when I said.

....for me, Tenchi ended at "Tenchi Forever".

It would take something incredible for me to get back into it as the full-blown fan I used to be, and they're never going to do an incredible show.
They can't.
The formula is handcuffs.
The characters will never grow, Tenchi will never fuck Ryoko, their space babies will never conquer the galaxy, it's just going to be slapstick, anomaly plugged up by Washu, slapstick, villain shows up, repeat into infinity.
All the while, cock teasing us with the Tenchi/Ryoko relationship.

Yawn.
So over it.

Yeah, they're just gonna keep milking it.
"AI Tenci", was pretty much a parody of what they're actually doing with the OVA.

Tenchi for me is the first OVA season (episodes 1-6), the "Time And Space Adventures", in the middle of the TV series, and the three movies.

I used to count all 13 original episodes, but in hindsight, they spend too much time setting up OVA 3.
Nope, 7-13 have to fall to the axe now.

1-6 told a complete story.
It was done there.

And "Time And Space", were adapted from an audio drama set in the the OVA universe, so they're really lost OVAs, and they're really good.

And things actually happen to move the characters along in the movies.
And "Tenchi Forever", the third one, fucking ends it.

Next time I have a marathon, that's what I'm watching.

What it really boils down to, is Tenchi was a moment in time you can't get back.
American movies and TV hadn't had the superhero revolution we have now.
Anime had to take up the slack.

Tenchi is a superhero soap opera Japanese style.
It's Japanese X-Men when you really dissect it.
We have X-Men on TV now as "The Gifted".

We've got the MCU.
Tenchi's arc is basically Thor's arc.
Except Thor didn't get tortured with blue balls.

We've got the DC-CW shows.
Hell, Flash even teamed up with his adult future daughter like Tenchi.

For raunchy comedy, we've even got Deadpool.
And Deadpool gets to actually fuck his girlfriend.

For teen angst, we've got "Runaways".
And hell, the romantic couple on that team got to fuck too.

And as shown above with Tenchi's great aunt, there's always this specter of incest they keep dangling in that universe.
Well, if that's your kink, watch "Game Of Thrones".
They don't just hint at it, they deliver the goods complete with kids produced by the union.

American media caught up to and passed Tenchi.
And lapped it like Captain America racing Falcon.

Nope, Tenchi lives only in my nostalgia now.
It ended in 1999.
Along with the 90's themselves.
(20 years! Holy shit!)

Maybe if they did a continuation like "Star Trek: Picard", that picked up after "Tenchi Forever", and contended with the established continuity and the growth of the characters.
That I'd be on board for.
Have Ryoko and Tenchi finally fucked, and married, and had kids, and they're grown up now, and mega powerful, and the Jurai Empire wants them for their powers, and a villain gets in the way, and...it writes itself.

Continue it that way, and sign me up.
Take all my money.

Milking the "a new girl shows up to seduce Tenchi. And another, and another, and another, and another...", formula into infinity, fuck off.

I've got superhero shows that don't insult their audience to watch.


Previously with Tenchi-

Previously with MM-


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