Anime: Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki

While I'm biased since I don't like harem anime, I thought this was a formulaic series with nothing much special going for it. There's little to be interested at here besides Ryo-ohki, who is a sweet and cute cat-rabbit animal with a personality and the first episode when compared to the rest of the episodes in the series was okay. This also had some good music, though I disliked the dub, the actors sounded like they were just reading their lines and Ayeka's voice sounded too old for her physical age. It started off great and interesting until Ryoko came along. I was interested in what will happen next but once that grouch Ryoko came up, the series started dropping the ball more and more. There is not much of a plot here and all it focuses on is silly comedy and melodrama.

Why is everyone all gaga for Tenchi? He's a bland average Joe character, he's not that cute or handsome, he is whiny, dense, and an all-around forgettable character. Sure he had an interesting story in the first episode but character-wise, he's iffy.

The animation and designs show their age. Tenchi is supposed to be the guy the girls are hot for, yet he's not even that hot, he just looks like a boring everyman character. A lot of the animation is excessively goofy and there is a lot of exaggerated facial expressions for the sake of comedy, which I blame the decade it came out in for. I know that it fits the style of the show but I've seen some anime that came out around that time that had less stupidly poor goofy animation.

Aside from the space element, action, and a little mystery, it's not much different from your average harem anime. It's disappointing because there could've been more plot and for a series revolving around a bunch of quirky girls living with a guy, I was appalled by how much drama and crying there is in this show. It can jump from being a romantic sitcom to a space opera melodrama and it just didn't mix well. It's almost like it didn't know what it wanted to be.

Back to the characters, most of them are just busy fighting over Tenchi and therefore, aren't that interesting. All of them are either crybabies, dense, bratty or all of the above. Sasami is the nicest one out of the whole cast but even she turned out to be a Mary-Sue with her overly friendly attitude she has towards everyone. There was even one episode where she was crying over Mihoshi leaving but from what I've seen, they don't interact that much, they're not that close so why is she having such strong feelings about her leaving? She's like what, 6-9? And she cries too often in the series!

This series is so overrated and I don't get the appeal of it. Watch something better like Wreck it Ralph or Road to Avonlea.

3.6/10

(Writers note: If you read this review, RATE this review. Authors thrive on feedback, whether it be a simple happy face, or an in-depth critique.)[br][br]Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is the definition of a good harem anime. If you’re one of those people who doubts the existence of “good” harem anime, think again. With no annoying characters, a main character that isn’t a spineless wimp, and a rock solid comedic story, Ryo-Ohki is great fun for fans of harem anime, as well as its detractors.[br][br]The animation, while dated, is fluidly drawn and animated, with no still frames I can think of. Characters constantly move around the screen while conversing, and not in repeated frames, but in constant, variable motion. For instance, when Tenchi is walking down the hall, Ryoko continually flies around him, casually caressing his arm or neck. Each pass she makes is not a repeated series of frames, but an entirely different set of animation. This kind of thoroughness is not often seen outside of anime movies. The characters, from the adorable cabbit Ryo-Ohki, to the demonic seductress Ryoko, are drawn pleasantly, and in the case of Ryoko, very attractively. I must admit, I still have a bit of a crush on Ryoko.[br][br]The music is another strong point of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. The opening song is an instrumental soft rock melody that sets the tone beautifully at the start of each episode. The ending music is accompanied by the cutest ending credits you will ever see as long as you live, with the entire screen, from the house, to the flowers, to the clouds, to the sun, to… everything, dancing to the music. The music during each episode heightens the emotional weight of each scene, whether it be for laughs or drama, without drawing attention to itself. The sound effects are spot-on; from water splashes to ship crashes, it never rings false.[br][br]It’s harem anime! The story doesn’t matter, right? True, but that doesn’t mean Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki does not have a rock solid storyline.[br][br]Tenchi is your average high school student who works and trains at his grandfather’s shrine during his free time. Behind the temple is a forbidden cave that his grandfather tells him is the resting place of a 700-year-old demon. Tenchi unwittingly releases the demon, which looks like a dried up mummy. When the mummy attacks him at school a week later, it is no longer a mummy, but a beautiful woman named Ryoko. Their first encounter, while a violent one, is filled with humorous moments, as the evil demon Ryoko showcases her blissful ignorance and vanity.[br][br]The series sounds a bit cliché so far, doesn’t it? We have the hero, the bad guy, and the violent first encounter. What I didn’t expect was the villain to not only stop fighting Tenchi, but also become his friend. Ryoko not only becomes his friend, but she spends the rest of the series trying desperately (and hilariously) to get Tenchi into the sack! Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is not cliché free, but the cliché’s never detract from the enjoyment of the series.[br][br]Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki never gets too serious. There are a small handful of moments in the last two episodes that can pull at your heartstrings. However, these scenes never pull your strings very hard. Just when you think a scene is going to fall into sentimentality, we’re pulled out of it with another sidesplitting visual gag. Even when the true villain, Kagato, shows up in his giant ship and plans for universal domination, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki never takes itself too seriously, with the tenses of moments being quickly broken by sudden, roll-on-the-floor humor.[br][br]The characters are the high point of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. I loved them all. Ryoko is the most fascinating female lead I have seen in an anime. She is a 2,000-year-old demon, who is able to fly, walk through walls, throw fire bolts, command a giant battle ship which doubles as her pet cabbit, and has many other magical abilities. However, she is given more than enough human characteristics for the audience to relate to her. She is seductive, smart (though ignorant of most things human), kind (at least to Tenchi), and passionate. One of the great things about Ryoko is her magical abilities. She doesn’t save them for battle, but uses them casually, in every day situations. We often see her flying beside Tenchi, or floating through walls. Ryoko plays out in a way that makes it easy to put yourself in her shoes, thinking, “Gee, I wish I could fly through walls!” Ryoko has an undeniable voyeuristic appeal, making every moment she is on screen magical and interesting.[br][br]Ryoko isn’t the only interesting character. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki does something most harem anime deftly avoids: It develops the male lead. Tenchi has a unique personality, combining some of the clichés of the genre with original characteristics. [br][br]Ayeka, the princess from the planet Jurai who is both looking for her brother Yoshi and hunting Ryoko, crash lands on Earth after a brief altercation with Ryoko. With no hope of rescue, she, along with her adorable little sister Sasami, joins the female cast that surrounds Tenchi. Joining the cast at different times in the series are Mihoshi, the bumbling detective with the cute high-pitched Japanese voice. Mihoshi is an adorable and goofy side character, spending most of her time getting flustered, getting a lot of laughs simply by appearing on screen, kind of like Kramer in Seinfeld. Sasami is the flighty kid sister who rarely thinks before she acts. Then there is Washu, the 20,000-year-old scientist who looks like a high schooler. With tons of beautiful red flowing hair and attractive features and personality, it’s hard not to find her attractive. Like the rest of the female cast, she has several adorable traits, not least of which is her insistence that everyone refer to her with the suffix “-chan”, which is often used to refer to someone young.[br][br]Ah, but how can I forget Ryo-Ohki? I know I’ve used the terms adorable and cute about a dozen times by now, but I’m going to use it again. Ryo-Ohki, the cabbit that turns into a spaceship, is the most cute and adorable harem anime pet I have seen. To see him is to have your heart melt. He is that cute.[br][br]There is some nudity and ecchi, mostly involving the unashamed Ryoko, but it is tastefully done, used for laughter rather than arousal. Like in all harem anime, the entire female cast is in love with Tenchi, and through a series of contrivances, end up living under the same roof with him. Tenchi, for reasons known only to the creators of harem animes, turns down every advance by the women to woo him/marry him/get him in bed. Harem anime need only evoke one emotion: Laughter. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki achieves this in spades, and I would place it above any other harem anime, including Love Hina. I’ve seen it a half dozen times, and I could see it every week.