Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
(TV Series #2: Episodes 1-26)

II'm giving this show both of it's names, because I've noticed that some people call it Tenchi in Tokyo, and others by it's Japanese name, Shin Tenchi Muyo. And it can be confusing - I know to begin with, I didn't realise they were the same thing until some kind soul told me so while I was tracking it down on DVD.

Tenchi In Tokyo is the second television series for Tenchi Muyo!, but it does not follow on in any way or means from the canon of the Tenchi Universe series - although it 'does' adopt Kiyone into it's ranks. In fact, it starts the whole ball rolling from scratch again - although the main difference is that, instead of us meeting Ryoko in the first episode as a new arrival like we do in Universe or the OVA, the introductory/explanatory episodes come at #7 and #8, with the 'anniversary' of Tenchi meeting them all. (Up till then, you kinda wander around in the dark and try and work out what the heck is going on here!)

Tenchi is definitively 17 or so in this series, studying away from home in the city of Tokyo where he has his own apartment and is in training to be a shinto priest. He's also developed a slight attitude problem, but then living with a house full of girls behaving in the way this lot do, I actually don't blame him. There are times I want to slap him silly, but then, at the end of the day, you can understand his frustration. Many of the characters have exaggerated negative character traits in this series - Ryoko's agression is heightened, getting her called a barbarian and a monster among other things, and allowing her to force Tenchi to take her out for the day. Ayeka has turned into - how can I put this nicely - a whiny, screaming, shallow little person with a flair for the romantic and...not much of a brain. She's also no longer Ryoko's competiton for Tenchi, although she's still obsessively in love with him. In this series, we have an even worse rival - the icky, MarySue-ish, Shadow-of-a-demon-girl Sakuya.

If you ever wanted to hire a stalker, this girl would be it. She shows up from nowhere, she sits around on her floor waiting for the phone to ring. She spends the day in the park waiting for him while he's out with Ryoko. She attempts to get him to marry her, and tries to get a Love Goddess to make them destined for one another. And she goes all the way to his house to tell him she loves him (again...) even when he'd told her he didn't want her to go. But in her defence, well, she's not actually real. (What is it with Tenchi and these imaginary women of his?)

Although Ayeka and Sasami are still from Jurai in this series, the show isn't really connected with Jurai's royal family at all. Ryoko has stolen a Juraian gemstone at the start, which is part of the reason she ends up on the Earth (and falling for Tenchi after he nurses her through her resultant injury) but that's about it. The villain of the piece is from Jurai, however - a very X-men-esque young girl called Yugi who has mutant psychic powers that she can't control, causing so much destruction she was exiled. Obviously, this is very traumatic for a girl of - I think - six or so when she's first sent away. And obviously, her magic has driven her a teensy bit over the edge. Along with her three rather dodgy associates - including a potential love interest for Ryoko, if he wasn't so interested in himself - she's determined to split up the Masaki 'family' as she calls them, because between them they each hold a part of Tenchi's magic sword, left to him by his dead mother.

Tenchi is not a Juraian prince in this series, but a guardian of the Earth who tames demons by reaching out his warm and gentle nature to them. Which obviously applies to alien women, also ;)

Okay, so the animation is rocky and there are some really cringeworthy moments when various of the characters lose their tempers. Sasami has become an impatient brat at times and she has entirely stolen Ryo Ohki, who is now her pet from Jurai and who can apparently transform into more than just a spacecraft. But even so, it's not a wholly bad series. And it does give the only real view of Ryoko in her role as a true Space Pirate - which is an interesting slant to have :)

Rating: 7.5/10 (Damn that Sakuya!)