Tenchi Muyo The Movie 1: Tenchi Muyo In Love 9/10

After the original OAV series and TV series the Tenchi universe hits it's peak with it's first theatrical release. I've always liked the Tenchi shows and this movie demonstrates how good harem anime can be.

Released back in 1996 this is one of the few Pioneer LDC theatrical films and since I'm very familiar with their OAVs I had high expectations (back in about 1997). This film doesn't disappoint in any area. Old school hand-drawn and coloured goodness, high cel count, and detailed backgrounds combine into a fantastic looking movie. Very limited use of CG doesn't jar the viewer as it blends very well with the rest of the animation. The creators decided to stick with the character designs from the earlier works and it's odd seeing OAV type character designs in a theatrical film but I prefer the originals over the later ones. The music is amazing, some may complain that this film moved away from the traditional Tenchi "sound" but I feel if you're going to play it on the big screen you have to go with a fully orchestrated score. I highly recommend picking up the OST for this as it's that good. The VAs remain the same from the earlier efforts and I can't complain there and the new voices for Kain and Achika were great.

This movie assumes you're familiar with the cast of the earlier works. I'll do a quick recap here. The main male is Tenchi. He's a high school student who lives with his father and grandfather. Their house is out in the boonies near a shrine the grandfather tends. His grandfather is actually a member of the Jurai royal family, another planet whose royal family wields immense power both politically and as a kind of magic and Tenchi has inherited this power. Alot of girls have taken up residence in the household or nearby and they mostly have fallen for Tenchi though some less than others. The main rivals for his affections are Ryoko, a space pirate, and Ayeka, a princess of the Jurai royal family. Ayeka has a younger sister Sasami and she cares for Ryo-Ohki who is a little cat-rabbit that gets WAY too much airtime in the other series. There are two Galaxy Police detectives, Mihoshi the uber-ditz and Kiyone her long suffering partner. The last of the crew is Washu, super-genius and though she looks and acts about 12 she's actually much older. Keep in mind that in each incarnation of Tenchi the characters and relationships change slightly and I've already written enough.

In the first few minutes we see the Class A criminal Kain escape the GP headquarters and destroy it. After this the movie cuts to 1970 where the gang seems to be at a high school watching a girl with long hair. I have to note here that the music in this montage is incredible and sets the tone for the rest of the show.

Now back to the present where we're told that the girl being watched is Tenchi's dead mother when she was in school. After she disappears from the home movie the gang is watching and Tenchi nearly disappears himself Washu explains that something has happened to Achika in the past and they must protect her. Off to 1970 they go and the story picks up where the opening montage left off. There's alot of the gang living the high school life and getting to know Achika and they ultimately figure out who Kain is and develop a plan to stop him. It's interesting to note that the title for this movie stems from how Tenchi can't meet his mom for fear of causing a time paradox but as he watches her he kinda falls for her.

Tenchi ends up fighting Kain alone to protect his mother and at the last moment Achika and Tenchi's father are sucked into an alternate dimension with Kain. Tenchi, Ryoko, and Ayeka rush to the rescue and the trick they use to find the missing couple allows Achika to discover her future involving her son and early death. Achika ultimately ends up using her Jurai power to help defeat Kain and everyone makes it back to 1970.

The end of this movie is truly sad as Achika asks the girls to take care of her son since she won't be there when he needs her most. Achika and Tenchi's dad have their memories erased and the gang returns to their own time. In the final narration Tenchi explains that his mother's use of her power to save him caused her to die prematurely but without regrets.

After this film the Tenchi franchise has been going downhill and I'm hoping the new OAV series gets it right as this film did. Highly recommended.