SOS Anime Review: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA 1 Episode One "Ryoko Resurrected"

Warning: Numerous Spoilers Ahead!

Summary: We are introduced to a small Shinto shrine in a mountainous area. An old man is walking around looking for someone called "Tenchi", after calling for him the old man has a hunch as to where he might be. Inside the shrine office, we see a young man snooping around for something. He is startled by the door opening, but no-one is there. The old man shows up behind Tenchi and asks what he's up to. He figures that he's looking for a set of keys, and then tells Tenchi that he can have them, but only if he can take them from him. Tenchi tries, but gets his behind handed to him. He was somehow able to obtain the keys.

Tenchi runs up to a nearby cave, which is currently sealed and locked up. During this time, he remembers a legend that his grandfather (the old man from earlier) told him. The legend is of a demon that terrorized the land until a samurai on a dragon-shaped appeared and defeated the demon with a legendary sword. The demon was sealed in this same cave and the blade was placed in a pedestal there as well. Tenchi enters, and see the sword which had rusted away over the centuries. He scoffs and wonders if the blade really could cut through stone; he then swings it into a rock, breaking the rusty blade off in the process. Incidentally, the rock was cut in half, causing a chain reaction. We see an entrance inside the cave open up, a rock drop down, and something appearing to be tree roots moving out of the way of the entrance. Tenchi goes into this new entrance and sees a very steep incline, once he's inside, he slips and slides all the way to the bottom. He explores a little bit, notices a floating light moving about; after he makes his way to the center of the room, he notices a mummy, the demon that was sealed per the legend. The sword hilt slips out of his hand, and as Tenchi reaches for it, the mummy grabs his arm, and he freaks out. He freaks out further as the demon places it's hand on Tenchi's face and then attempts to get to second base with him. His sword's gems glow, shining a light that repels the demon, whose eyes then glow an eerie yellow. Tenchi then hightails it out of there, re-seals the cave, and is relieved the incident is over. 

Later, a tree, also apparently on shrine property, puts on a bit of a laser show, sending the rays up into space.

Even later still, at school now that summer vacation has ended, Tenchi is speaking with a classmate discussing summer and his work at a rural shrine, a place where no cute girls would show up, only elderly folk. He then remembers the mummy in the cave. The classmate then wonders if Tenchi was so desperate that he ended up dating a "mummy", he is then puched out by Tenchi. Later, Tenchi, on the school roof, contemplates that nothing has happened since the incident then. He then takes a nap, only to wake up later well after class has ended. He notices his pet cat (also seen at the shrine), who comes up to him, then disappears. He then notices a woman, who introduces herself as Ryoko. She opens her eyes to reveal an eerie yellow glow, effectively revealing that she is that same mummy. Ryoko then proceeds to attack Tenchi and damage the school in the process, he tries to fight back, but is no match for her. He then proceeds to hide in a classroom, Ryoko appears, energy sword ready, but Tenchi tells her that there is a gas leak. Ryoko doesn't care and doesn't know what gas is, either! He comes up with a distraction, but not a very good one, but it works! Tenchi leaves, Ryoko then realizes she's been had, causing sparks to come out her sword, causing an explosion. Tenchi thinks she died, but she survives, chases him a little more, but is distracted by a mirror, Tenchi escapes to his home classroom, and comes up with a plan to remove the gem in her wrist (her power source per the legend) and get her back in that cave. Before he can put that plan into action, Ryoko finds him, blows up the classroom. Tenchi jumps out the window to escape, runs away, but is blocked by Ryoko. She decides to finish him off, but the sword hilt activates from inside his school bag, blocking her attack and subsequent ones, also forming a bladed of energy in the process. The sword seems to have a mind of its own and proceeds to cut off Ryoko's wrist, destroying the gem in the process. Ryoko then regenerates her hand, and leaves. The school then explodes, and Tenchi flees.

Shortly thereafter, Tenchi arrives home, ready for bed after the days events. He lays down on the bed, noticing a lump. He removes the blanket and finds Ryoko. Tenchi begins the process for a prayer and the episode ends here.





Review/Analysis: Before I give my analysis and opinion on this episode, I will say the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (aka the OVA) is one of my favorite anime out there, but that will not stop me from asking questions and giving my opinion on it. It's been a couple of years since I have seen the OVA, so I will review this on the perspective of one who has seen this for the first time.

First, I'll give a broad opinion on the episode as a whole. Introductory episodes can make or break an anime (or any show for that matter), so a good first impression is very important. Tenchi Muyo does not disappoint in this area, the first episode flows very well, showing how one event directly leads into another, leaving almost no plot holes (Tenchi obtaining the keys from gramps notwithstanding, but more on that later), and appearing to set up future events, which leave viewers wondering what will happen in the next episode. I'll go into more detail later. Overall, we meet our main characters, or at least some of them; the settings for the story to take place (the shrine, Tenchi's school, and his house), and leaving us with a subtle hint of continuity. These are done very well here.

Let's look at the beginning of the episode, Tenchi's looking for the keys to the cave, his grandpa has them, and will only let Tenchi have them only if he can defeat him. It didn't work, but Tenchi got the keys anyway. How the hell did Tenchi get those keys? It is shown on screen that he doesn't even reach them, so did he use some awesome ninja skills to get them? Or did his grandpa do something? This does seem to be a bit of a plot hole, but that was explained after the end of the first OVA series from creator Kajishima Masaki in 101 Secrets of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. In it, he explains that Tenchi's grandfather gave him the keys at some point during their battle. It does seem like a retcon, but it works for now.

Tenchi receiving those keys sets up the event in the cave. A legend which sets up something of a backstory is told here in flashback form. We see the sword, rusted out, breaks upon cutting a rock. This is a subtle hint of the blade being an energy one. As mentioned this sets up a chain reaction where another entrance opens up, tree roots move on their own, setting up more questions for future episodes. 

The first meeting with Ryoko also lays a foundation. The sword reacts to her, providing further hints that the sword is indeed special. Their meeting at the school effectively removes the possibility of this becoming a high school-type anime, which automatically makes this interesting since, let's face it, high school based anime are a dime a dozen and cover virtually all genres. But, I digress. let's go on to my last few points of interest on the episode.

At the midpoint of the episode, we see a tree (apparently on shrine property) shoot of lasers, all of them going in one direction. What's the point of those lasers? What's going to happen with them? I would like to see the result of this in the next episode. My other point is at the end, where Tenchi finds Ryoko in his bed of all places. One (i.e. me) would wonder what would happen with these two. It has "To Be Continued" written all over it here for this to be the end of any particular storyline. I also would like to see Tenchi gain at least some modicum of control of the sword eventually as opposed to it having a mind of its own. I still wonder what is up with those tree roots. Perhaps we'll learn more as the story goes on. One last point, the gem in Ryoko's wrist is similar to the ones in the sword, I'd also like to see some explanation on this in perhaps a future episode, 101 Secrets maybe.

As for the characters, we have Tenchi, his grandfather, Ryoko, and Tenchi's classmate. Tenchi's a mischievous teenager who has wanted to enter the cave since he was a child. Ryoko is the demon mentioned in the legend, appearing as a mummy, and later at the school proving that she was the mummy to Tenchi, she does so in various ways (the eerie eyes, destroying the school, the gems). We don't know much about grandfather, but he seems to be more than a wise old man. Tenchi's classmate seems to be a one shot character and I do not expect further appearances; I'd feel differently if the school wasn't destroyed and the show ending up as one of those high school based shows. I'll go over each of the characters in far greater detail in individual posts in the future.

This was a very good opening episode. It sets the table for future events, gives us some depth to the characters here, but not much, but that's to be expected. I did not go over the opening and ending themes here, but I'll review those at a later time. I am interested in seeing what's next, so we'll see.

Until then, God bless.