Tenchi The Movie-
Tenchi Forever
(MVM Region 2 PAL DVD)
(1999)
review by Blackgloves

Over the course of several television series', numerous OAVs and the occasional movie, the world of Tenchi has become an anime synthesis of almost every conceivable genre. This third movie in the Tenchi series (titled "Tenchi Muyo 2: Tenchi in Love" in Japan - despite being the third Tenchi-based movie) is even more of a genre-bending exercise than the others, encompassing elements of romance, comedy, science-fiction and the supernatural. Director, Hiroshi Negishi, brings some bold cinematic values to his treatment of the material -- and the film's images are always compositionally interesting and often aesthetically very beautiful. The story is thoroughly odd, and since none of the characters are introduced afresh for those who have never watched any previous Tenchi product, can become slightly confusing for the Tenchi newbe! Nevertheless, the artistry and imagination of art director, Chitose Asakura and animation directors, Shinichi Yoshino & Masakumi Kaneko shines through -- compensating for any initial disorientation the Tenchi virgin may experience!

In previous films and television shows the character of Tenchi Masaki was introduced as a fairly ordinary boy who discovers one day that he is actually descended from the Royal family of an alien planet called Jurai and his Grandfather, Yosho is the crowned prince! The world that Tenchi inhabits is a curious blend of the traditional and the futuristic; Toyko looks much like it dose in the present day but there is interplanetary travel and a Galaxy police force! During the first tv series Tenchi befriends various female characters all of whom make an appearance in "Tenchi Forever": among them there is Ryoko the space pirate and two Jurai princesses, Aeka and Sasami. Aeka and Ryoko spend most of their time fighting over Tenchi -- which provided a lot of 'ecchi'-style humour in the tv series! Other characters include Galaxy police officers called Mihoshi & Kiyone, and the techno wizard Washu. Last but not least there is that anime staple, the cute pet animal! In Tenchi's world that role is filled by Ryo-ohki the rabbit!

This film develops a more serious tone and attempts to add some emotional depth to Aeka and Ryoko's characters. In fact, Tenchi almost disappears from the story for most of the film since it's primarily about how Aeka and Ryoko cope with his mysterious absence when previously their entire existence had been almost exclusively devoted to fighting over him!

The film starts with Tenchi, Aeka, Ryoko, Sasami and Tenchi's grandfather, Yosho visiting a Jurai shrine in a remote part of Japan. Tenchi takes a walk in the mountains to escape yet another of Aeka and Ryoko's squabbles over which of them he likes the most, but disappears into an exotic tree!? Six months later -- and Tenchi has still not reappeared. Sasami has gone back to Jurai for spiritual guidance; Aeka and Ryoko have taken part-time jobs as waitresses in Tokyo while they hunt for Tenchi; and Kiyone & Mihoshi break into police headquarters to help them track him down. Washu still pops up now and again with lots of techno-babble explanations for the bizarre sci-fi/ghost story hybrid plot! It seems Tenchi has been kidnapped by the restless spirit of a woman called Haruna who has created a parallel world and speeded up time to live with a grown-up, art student version of Tenchi in domestic bliss in an alternative reality version of Tokyo!(?)

Aeka and Ryoko have become very close since Tenchi's disappearance and now actually get along rather than constantly fight! Haruna's motives relate back to Tenchi's uncle Yosho's past love-life and the only way to get Tenchi back is for Washu to figure out a way to accumulate enough spiritual energy to merge the two worlds and enable Ryoko and Aeka to crossover and help him escape. The only problem is that Haruna has completely wiped out Tenchi's memory of his past life and he no longer even remembers Aeka and Ryoko!

"Tenchi Forever" adopts a somewhat muted tone despite the crazy plotline and the occasional whacky character like tWashu. In fact, many of the characters seem to have been designed with their initial comedy function in mind but here they are required to take on much more serious characteristics. This is mostly the case with Aeka and Ryoko who have the most screen time and are much less annoying than they can be in other Tenchi films. The grown-up version of Tenchi is a rather dour and wimpy young man in this film but he and Haruna do engage in a tasteful love scene in which Haruna appears topless! Trying to follow the opaque meandering of the plot soon becomes a rather thankless task but the animation is consistently very pleasing on they eye and fans of the long running series are sure to find plenty to enjoy in this latest addition to the Tenchi universe.

The DVD of "Tenchi Forever" from MVM is presented in a very pleasing 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer with English and Japanese 5.1 surround sound audio options. As is usually the case, the Japanese version is the better of the two. Extras are rather light with this release and consist of a couple of trailers and previews of forthcoming titles.