Tenchi Muyô! In Love

I personally LOVE Tenchi Muyo! in Love. I just have one problem with it. It is the exact opposite of Tenchi Muyo! Manatsu No Eve. Where that movie should have been longer, this one could have been shorter. However, the animation absolutely upholds the wonderful tradition of the Tenchi Muyo! series and the story is just too great. I really like this movie. This is a movie for anyone who has an appreciation for good story telling.

I waited to see this movie for two years, and had almost given up hope... But it was more than worth the wait. The central storyline is quite tightly scripted, though using a few too many (and now inaccurate) time-travel cliches and occasionally tripping over itself with continuity. It's presented with a visual style that ranges from pulp SF to classical Japanese, and with character designs that are among the best ever used in a Japanese film. Christopher Franke's wonderful soundtrack alternates between dramatic, soft, and tearjerking. The excellently-cast voice acting is indicative of what Pioneer does best, with particular kudos to Grace Zandarski, whose voice does so much to emphasise her character's loveliness. The script, however, does have numerous problems, and tends to over-rely on certain characters arguing, which does get ludicrous after a while. Still, despite its flaws, this is a spectacular film.

I enjoyed this movie even though I was not familiar with the Tenchi Muyo show, it had a lot of colorful characters and was funny and had good action too. The story though was a bit hard to follow, it made a bit more sense when I had seen the Tenchi show, but it still has points that make very little sense. My guess is that this movie takes place in the realm of the show "Tenchi Universe" rather than the first show as this movie features both female galaxy officers that are in the "Universe" series while the original only featured the blond officer. Also, Ryoko is the space pirate she was in that series as well. The story is a bit of a time travel movie with a dangerous being escaping a galaxy police stronghold and going back in time to kill a member of a royal family that has the power to bind his almost limitless power. That person just happens to be the mother that Tenchi himself has never met. So off go he and all his little gang to try and stop this being from killing his mother. At times it is a bit tough to follow the plot, it was very hard when I had not seen the show, but it has such colorful characters that its story shortcomings can be forgiven. The action is good too, however, the movie is most certainly more comedy and such than action...most of the action comes at the tail end of this one. However, if you enjoyed the Tenchi Universe show you should enjoy this.

Tenchi Muyo! In Love adds fills a lot of holes in the original Tenchi story, cleverly adding some of the history of the Masaki family into the film as part of the main plot. In TMIL Tenchi's mother Achika is disappearing from the past, consequently dragging Tenchi out of the real world. Soon enough Washu convinces Tenchi and the girls to travel into the past to find the man trying to kill Achika. So, the film takes you into the past to Achika's life - and the thrilling hunt for her stalker. The plot has a few twists and turns, but a healthy amount of them so as it doesn't turn the film itself into an enigma that leaves you behind. Instead you are drawn even more into the mystery, and the closer you are to the end you wonder more how many more ways it could come to an end. Generally Tenchi has it's problems balancing comedy and serious story line - however TMIL will never leave you lost or confused. It's not like Tenchi in Tokyo where randomness ensues one episode after the next. TMIL is highly tolerable, consistent, and not sickeningly corny or unrealistic - leaving aside the whole idea of the magic of the Jurian family and sci-fi material. TMIL is a perfect mix of action, suspense and it's deep and fascinating enough to get you into the film and interested early on. It flows better than any of the other Tenchi films and even the 3 original series. You will not be disappointed, the film is well worth your time whether you're a Tenchi fan or not.

My wife never had any experience with anime before she was with me; over the years I've sent her scurrying out of the room with much of what I watch... Tenchi Muyo In Love, though, kept her interest piqued.

The animation: beautiful; the usual Tenchi OVAs and TV-series are great, but the movie is a real knock-out. Unlike the big-budget anime movies of late (and Disney films) the scenes have a consistent level of quality. There aren't nine scenes of good animation, and one scene of mind-blowing 3D computer-generated/cel combo stuff... all of the scenes are great quality, with little to cause distraction.

The storyline: good. It draws somewhat upon knowledge of previous events in the Tenchi realm, but is accessible for novices. I would have preferred the story to stick with the emotional aspect- as exciting as a big demon fight is, the characters are even more so... but then again, I guess that's why companies make stuff like Kimagure Orange Road or Maison Ikkoku.

The translation: good. Unlike how I prefer most of my anime, I'm both used to and accepting of the English translation job done by Pioneer. They're the voices I first heard when watching Tenchi, and they settle okay with me. (My wife can't stand Sasami's English voice, however.) I don't feel like I'm either missing parts of the original dialogue, nor do I feel like the story is too Americanized. If I were used to the Japanese version, my feelings might vary- but I have access to both versions, and the English one usually wins out.

The storyline is good... Tenchi as a whole is not supposed to be unique, but a comfortable, fun ride. It delivers entertainment in droves, and the characters are so well-rounded that it's hard not to come away without feeling affected, despite feeling like you've just watched a mish-mash of SF cliches. Rather than the tour-de-force movies like Akira or Ghost in the Shell, this is the movie I'd probably show new-comers- "This is what Japanese animation can be like." When they're more willing to work at comprehending a story, then move on...