With its active imagination and bright coulors, its easy to see why tenchi muyo is a firm favourite to many fans of Japanese animation. However, just because the adventures of tenchi and co are appreciated by many, that doesn't make it the best series you'll see. This isn't to say that tenchi muyo is bad, but it is to say that there are a lot of things wrong with it. Wrong things such as it being unoriginal: tenchi muyo borrows.. in fact, no STEALS ideas from star wars, urusei yatsura and sailor moon just to name a few. Another one of the shows negative factors is that it constantly moves from being sci-fi to a slapstick comedy to a romantic drama to an action drama, all very quickly, making the show feel uneven. Oh, and speaking of uneven, tenchi muyo doesn't keep the same pace throughout, resulting in a show that can be heart stopping and exciting some times, and just plain boring the next. And while we are on the subject of the shows bad points, ive got to say that the thinly veiled sexism that creeps up in the show is something that we could have done with out.
Wow. With all these bad points, it sounds like I hate tenchi muyo, doesn't it? Well I don't, I think its very solid and its good qualities are very strong. One good quality is that from a visual stand point, tenchi muyo looks great - the animators and character designers manage to strike a good balance between cuteness and complex realism. Another strong point is that when the show is funny, it can get really funny, just like how it can get damn exciting when it puts its action gloves on, suggesting that being a straight action comedy would have definitely been the best way forward for tenchi muyo. But above everything the best thing about tenchi is easily its characters, something that any tenchi fan can agree with me on. From the destructive but sensitive Ryoko, to the eccentric Washu, the characters are developed and used well enough for you to care for them when any thing happens to them. And having characters that you can get behind and feel for is important in any story, anime or otherwise.
So in conclusion, it must be said that tenchi muyo has a lot flaws but still comes out as an intelligent and entertaining show that's definitely way above average. But if it focused entirely on action and comedy (its best assets) whilst still paying attention to character and plot then we'd be looking at a classic.
Knowledge gives this: 3(and a half ) out of 5
