Tenchi Muyo In Love (天地無用 IN LOVE!) is the first theatrical release for the Tenchi Muyo sci-fi romantic harem comedy series. The movie originally came out in 1996 and is based on the original works of Hayashi Hiroki and Kajishima Masaki.
For an overview of the Tenchi series' check out this post otherwise this review will assume a basic understanding of the background of the franchise. Tenchi Muyo in Love follows the story line established in the Tenchi Universe TV series. The story begins with the Galaxy Police headquarters being 'erased' by an escaped prisoner known as Kain. Kain's escape and disappearance is somehow affecting the past, causing Tenchi to begin disappearing from reality. Washu determines that the cause of the problems deal with Tenchi's mother, Achika during the year 1970. In order to pinpoint the problem and to protect Achika, Washu sends everyone into the past to pose as students and faculty at the school.
With everyone in the past, Tenchi is able to once again see his deceased mother, even though she is in high school and the two should not meet for fear of a time paradox. Ayeka and Ryoko pose as transfer students in Achika's class as well as finagle their way into boarded at her home. Kiyone gets a job as a school janitor and Mihoshi, surprisingly, gets a job as a literature teacher. Tenchi stays in the shadows along with Sasami as everyone works to determine the nature of the threat to Achika. On a school trip to Tokyo they discover an agent from the Galaxy Police has also come back in time to track down the escaped criminal Kain. It doesn't take too much to connect the escapee with the treat to Achika. Now it's up to everyone to protect her to prevent Tenchi from never being born.
Like a lot of people in my anime generation the TV broadcast of Tenchi Muyo in Love was perhaps the first introduction to this franchise. Even without all of the prior background information of the original OAV or the first TV series it isn't difficult for the viewer to understand the the required background information for the movie. The intricacies of the characters relationships with each other or how they came into Tenchi's lives do not greatly impact the story of the movie. Nor are the events of the prior series' vital to the self contained story in the movie. Though, it doesn't hurt to know those details either. The idea that the movie can be enjoyed without prior viewing of the 38 preceding episodes should be enough to show the quality of the story.
That said, I did greatly enjoy this movie when I first saw it and it has remained a favorite of mine in the decades since. The movie profoundly moved me and the story telling has shaped how I approach anime that fall into the romance category. Unfortunately it conceals the fan service laden harem structure of the greater Tenchi world. While Tenchi isn't the original harem anime it really did set a precedence and helped to cement the genre's formula. The movie on the other hand and even more so the follow up, set apart from the other iterations of the franchise in being well rounded stories of self sacrifice for those you love.
The movie doesn't stand up to today's standards of animation by a long shot but the original character designs have a comforting, soft quality to them, if the hair is a little out of control and unrealistic. The Tenchi world has always had incredibly enjoyable aspects of it, that sadly become marred by the unneeded harem and fan service aspects. But the first movie and the follow up Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 are excellent pieces of story telling from the 90's.
For an overview of the Tenchi series' check out this post otherwise this review will assume a basic understanding of the background of the franchise. Tenchi Muyo in Love follows the story line established in the Tenchi Universe TV series. The story begins with the Galaxy Police headquarters being 'erased' by an escaped prisoner known as Kain. Kain's escape and disappearance is somehow affecting the past, causing Tenchi to begin disappearing from reality. Washu determines that the cause of the problems deal with Tenchi's mother, Achika during the year 1970. In order to pinpoint the problem and to protect Achika, Washu sends everyone into the past to pose as students and faculty at the school.
With everyone in the past, Tenchi is able to once again see his deceased mother, even though she is in high school and the two should not meet for fear of a time paradox. Ayeka and Ryoko pose as transfer students in Achika's class as well as finagle their way into boarded at her home. Kiyone gets a job as a school janitor and Mihoshi, surprisingly, gets a job as a literature teacher. Tenchi stays in the shadows along with Sasami as everyone works to determine the nature of the threat to Achika. On a school trip to Tokyo they discover an agent from the Galaxy Police has also come back in time to track down the escaped criminal Kain. It doesn't take too much to connect the escapee with the treat to Achika. Now it's up to everyone to protect her to prevent Tenchi from never being born.
Like a lot of people in my anime generation the TV broadcast of Tenchi Muyo in Love was perhaps the first introduction to this franchise. Even without all of the prior background information of the original OAV or the first TV series it isn't difficult for the viewer to understand the the required background information for the movie. The intricacies of the characters relationships with each other or how they came into Tenchi's lives do not greatly impact the story of the movie. Nor are the events of the prior series' vital to the self contained story in the movie. Though, it doesn't hurt to know those details either. The idea that the movie can be enjoyed without prior viewing of the 38 preceding episodes should be enough to show the quality of the story.
That said, I did greatly enjoy this movie when I first saw it and it has remained a favorite of mine in the decades since. The movie profoundly moved me and the story telling has shaped how I approach anime that fall into the romance category. Unfortunately it conceals the fan service laden harem structure of the greater Tenchi world. While Tenchi isn't the original harem anime it really did set a precedence and helped to cement the genre's formula. The movie on the other hand and even more so the follow up, set apart from the other iterations of the franchise in being well rounded stories of self sacrifice for those you love.
The movie doesn't stand up to today's standards of animation by a long shot but the original character designs have a comforting, soft quality to them, if the hair is a little out of control and unrealistic. The Tenchi world has always had incredibly enjoyable aspects of it, that sadly become marred by the unneeded harem and fan service aspects. But the first movie and the follow up Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 are excellent pieces of story telling from the 90's.
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