December 22nd, 2016 
AstroNerdBoy A First Look at Tenchi Muyo! OVA 4 Episode 1
Hey gang! I won’t do a full review of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki OVA 4 episode 1 until I get some English subtitles. That said, I have watched the first episode. I have a few brief thoughts to do.
***SPOILERS***
The first episode does two things. First, it re-establishes Tenchi and his harem and does some “day in the life of” stuff. The other half of the episode is dedicated to Tenchi’s aunt, Minaho, the older sister of Kiyone. The episode is set during the time of Tenchi Muyo! GXP, but before Nobuyuki’s and Rea’s wedding in OVA 3 +1.
Here are some things I liked about the episode.
- Mihoshi’s apparent relationship with chibi Tokimi-sama.
- Another flashback to Kiyone’s funeral when Tenchi fled to Ryoko’s cave. This time we got to see Ryoko’s astral form watching over the sleeping Tenchi, which is cool.
- Apparently learning a ton more about Minaho.
- Aeka’s and Ryoko’s friendship growing.
- Ryoko is still Ryoko, but she’s matured as witnessed when she initially started getting irritated at Minaho hugging Tenchi, then let it go and accepted the situation for what it is. 🙂
- Funaho-sama.
- Chibi Tokimi-sama.
- Tennyo in a raspberry beret.
- Airi-sama! 😉
Things I’m not sure about.
- Mikami having her appearance reduced to a young woman, all because she apparently wants a piece of Seina (Tenchi Muyo! GXP). I’ve long known that Mikami could do this, but for me, she’s not the respectable, older, authority figure in charge of Galaxy Police Academy.
- Nobuyuki’s new seiyuu’s performance.
- Tenchi’s blushing reactions to Minaho. (I need to know what all is being said.)
- Minaho’s staff.
Here are some things I’m disappointed in.
- Ryoko, Washu, Aeka, and the other girls are still wearing the same clothing from OVA 3. Remember how in OVA 2, Ryoko was allowed to actually have a wardrobe? Good times.
I’m looking forward to getting to properly watch and review the episode. Sadly, because of the “limited edition” nature of this OVA, I’m guessing any licensing announcements won’t happen until the final episode is released in Japan.
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I didn’t know Minami could turn himself into a hot younger woman? 😉
Overall my reaction to this OAV is slightly more positive since it seems to be more “balanced” than OAV 3 and their seems to be a greater intent to include/retcon the GXP elements into the OAV continuity. I actually like how both Ayeka and Ryoko are far more chill here and Ryoko seems to be regaining some of the integrity to her character that diminished around OAV 2/3.
From what I read on the Useless Tenchi forums the general translation is it seems Minaho wants some Tenchi-lovin’. Not surprised since it seems standard for the main continuity to put as MANY women into Tenchi’s life as possible.
Ha!ha! Learn something new every day. 😀 I’ve fixed that.
Based on the -If- doujinshi, I had been expecting more GXP elements. Considering all of the volumes Kajishima-sensei wrote for GXP, it is clear that series is very dear to him. I’d love for that to get remade with a new anime based on his light novels.
She’s under great pressure from her parents and such to get married. Everyone in her circle is going for Seina, so I guess she’s going for Tenchi. 😛 Either that or she’s just having some fun. She is Airi’s daughter. 😉
Nobuyuki and Katsuhito don’t share a seiyuu anymore, as they used to do with the original actor?
Also, what did you think of Mihoshi’s new voice?
I’m not sure if Nobuyuki and Katsuhito will have the same seiyuu. I would tend to suspect that they won’t do that this time, but I could be wrong.
I thought TOMIZAWA Michie did a great job as Mihoshi.
Another PV for Tenchi Muyo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITbEocURHI4
I don’t know if there are any scenes from episode 2-4 or just from the first.
There are a few new moments. Thanks for the share!
As someone who started Anime with Tenchi and the like, I better get this one started too. From the sound of it, the first OVA is a start.
On a related topic, we have no idea on when we might get an English adaptation. 🙁
The BD is out on Nyaa. Both just the movie and a BD rip, ready to be burned on disk.
Thanks!
I do think that Mikami has the same ability to change her appearance like Washu. Since Mikami is the Headmistress of the Galaxy Police Academy, it makes a lot of sense for Mikami to have her elder image. In Japan, the elderly continue to receive a lot of respect from the younger people. Mikami’s elderly image is a sign of authority. Oddly, Mikami’s younger image is likely her normal image. Mikami looks like she is her early thirties.
Mikami will change into her elderly image when she has to. For being a woman over ten thousand years old, Mikami looks like she is in her early thirties. She is aware of Washu being her grandmother and one of the three Chouisn Goddesses.
I don’t think Mikami is 10,000 years old. Or if she is (and that can be sourced), I was unaware of it. Even Juraians with a Royal Tree only live 2000 years max, I think.
That said, Mikami does have the ability to change her appearance ’cause Kajishima-sensei established that via the GXP novels. That also means that Minami has the same ability.
I don’t know Mikami’s age, but Seto is over 5000. She was found as a kid, after the pirate raid, on the planet where Akara Naja disappeared. And 4500 when Utsusumi(9) fell over her sleeping in a bush 😀
So the 2000 is definitaly wrong. Maybe 8-10K is more likely,
I think the GXP novels confirm that Seto is Naja, only the Naja memories are sealed away. So she’s not a Juraian by birth, only by marriage. Not that this matters, but Seto is probably a lot older than Azusa and company. Azusa was born in 1239 (Earth year) according to a Japanese timeline. The Japanese timeline also states that it was over 20,000 years ago that Naja was born.
http://tenchi.astronerdboy.com/section-3-1-2-additional-tenchi-muyo-items/
That said, this is what was given to me years ago for the FAQ. I wish I could remember where I read the stuff about Asuza or the like living 2000 years. But my memory may be playing tricks on me after all these years.
What is the average lifespan of a Juraian?
A member of the Royal Family can live thousands of years. With Washu’s technology, this can be much higher. For example: Misaki and Tenchi will still be around for hundreds of thousands of years. A normal Juraian has the same lifespan as a human, though the superior medical technology ensures a healthy and long life. Naturally, life extensions and body reinforcement will prolong this and is available to members of Jurai’s military as well as those that attend the Galaxy Academy, particularly the Galaxy Police Academy.
Long lifespans is not that uncommon in the galaxy, but it depends upon the race’s technology level and the individual’s power and wealth. Living over 10,000 years is not impossible for someone with the means to get the necessary treatments.
Naja, really? I sadly know almost nothing about the GXP novels, couldn’t find any translation or synopsis. I still have the old true tenchi novel short summaries, but even that was a long time ago.
To tell the truth, the whole Naja-Seto mystery is one that I still wan’t to know more about, there was a lot of hints dropped here and there, and of course there are no coincidences in the tenchiverse 😀 But a real confirmation would be nice.
Yes, Naja was academy friend of Washu, and they were aproximately the same age, so ~20000. But when Seto was found, she was a few yeras old kid, so officially she’s around “only” 5000 😀
The long life is not universal, that’s for sure. I mean Funaho or Misaki still looks young after being ~800 (didn’t count just the fact that 700years ago, when Ryoko attacked Jurai, Yosho was already an adult), also Minaho, Yosho’s first daughter, yet Kiyone died from old age at 248 (tho still being physically strong and looking quite young).
Oh. I didn’T want to sound like I’m arguing or something just wanted to clear the “Even Juraians with a Royal Tree only live 2000 years max, I think.” a little ^^
But sometime the tenchi-nerd come out full throttle. Sorry ^^°
Heh! You are cool. The problem with getting older for me is that my memory isn’t what it used to be. I figure that if God lets me live to be an old man, I won’t remember anything. ^_^;;;
I know the Useless Tenchi forum is trying to do summaries of the GXP novels, or something to that effect.
http://www.uselesstenchi.org/Forum/index.php?board=2.0
A relatively short synopsis of the first 12 GXP novels: http://skr.chikouyore.com/gxp.html (usually skips or just glances the parts that were animated and focuses more on the differences). Good enough to give you an idea.
The synopsis in UselessTenchi are much, much longer: http://www.uselesstenchi.org/Forum/index.php?topic=1155.0
(The Public Library section: http://www.uselesstenchi.org/Forum/index.php?board=47.0)
Keep in mind that sadly both versions are hard to read and in a dire need of editing. The texts are probably just a little better than Google Translate. So in some cases it is very difficult to understand the meaning of some portion of it.
About Seto-Naja:
In the short summaries it was said that there are two Seto’s: Seto and Kagami-Seto (Kagami = mirror). But I have no idea whether those are two entirely different people or they are just different personalities that share the same body; it’s unclear in the text.
Here’s the excerpt:
Kagami-seto is a double, but two Seto has same memory and same ability, Seto is Naja, so Kagami-seto is not Naja.
(Volume 9: http://skr.chikouyore.com/gxp.html)
Anyway, huge thanks for the translation and summaries, but I really wish they were in a better state. The short summaries took me about 2 months to read. And they were really short. I won’t even bother to read the UselessTenchi’s version until it is edited like Jurai’s novel summary (http://www.uselesstenchi.org/Forum/index.php?topic=1149.0).
Thanks for all of the info! ^_^
The subs for Ep. 1 are out: https://www.nyaa.se/?page=view&tid=901851
It’s still half a year for me before I watch it, since I want all episodes to be out and nicely translated before I start.
Thanks for the tip. Now to make time to watch.
GAH! Westernized subtitles! *_*
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