Tenchi Muyô! In Love (1996)

Tenchi Muyô! In Love: Directed by Hiroshi Negishi. With Matt K. Miller, Megumi Hayashibara, Yuri Amano, Takeshi Aono. Tenchi and co. find their existence unsettled by a time-travelling entity called Kain. Desiring revenge upon the Juraian emperor, Tenchi, Kain travels back in time to kill Tenchi’s mother. Trying to preserve the timestream, Tenchi and friends follow him back. Unfortunately, Tenchi must also deal with the pain that seeing his mother causes him. Since she died in the future, seeing her alive in the past reopens his old wounds.

“My wife never had any experience with anime before she was with me; over the years Iu0026#39;ve sent her scurrying out of the room with much of what I watch… Tenchi Muyo In Love, though, kept her interest piqued.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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 arenu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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 thatu0026#39;s why companies make stuff like Kimagure Orange Road or Maison Ikkoku.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe translation: good. Unlike how I prefer most of my anime, Iu0026#39;m both used to and accepting of the English translation job done by Pioneer. Theyu0026#39;re the voices I first heard when watching Tenchi, and they settle okay with me. (My wife canu0026#39;t stand Sasamiu0026#39;s English voice, however.) I donu0026#39;t feel like Iu0026#39;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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe 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 itu0026#39;s hard not to come away without feeling affected, despite feeling like youu0026#39;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 Iu0026#39;d probably show new-comers- u0026quot;This is what Japanese animation can be like.u0026quot; When theyu0026#39;re more willing to work at comprehending a story, then move on…”