a***@bell.net
2020-07-08 19:11:30 UTC
One of the things that the Pandemic has caused me to do is to dig into my fairly extensive collection of anime on disc that stretches back into the mid-90s. While some of these Journeys into Memory have been rewarding, others have been eye-openers in not such a good way. One of these less-than-satisfying jaunts into the past is “Tenchi Muyo! TV”, aka “Tenchi Universe”.
This mid-90s remake of the original early-90s OAV series was at one time a series that “every” anime fan had to see, or at least had to know about. I was impressed enough when I first viewed it that I bought the US Pioneer laser discs. Well, those discs have been sitting on a shelf for over 20 years so I figured that it was time to check them out again and see how reality matched memory.
It wasn’t a pleasant experience. What struck me most upon this viewing was how the writing made the cast, who are supposed to be teens and adults, act like little kids playing cops and robbers. I remembered how upon my first viewing I came away feeling that Tenchi was a terribly wishy-washy protagonist, but now I feel he is written as a not-very-bright seven year old in a supposedly bright seventeen year old’s body.
A few years ago I was introducing my teenaged nephew to “classics” anime and as part of that I showed him the first episode of the original Tenchi OAV which I hadn’t re-watched since I first watched it in the late 90s on DVD. Neither of us was very impressed with what we saw and we didn’t watch more of it. Well, I was able to get through the first four Tenchi TV episodes but I don’t want to bother with more either. Oh well, the new Summer Season is starting (sort of) and I have hundreds of other old series on disc so I should be able to continue to get my anime fix one way or another.
Dave Baranyi
This mid-90s remake of the original early-90s OAV series was at one time a series that “every” anime fan had to see, or at least had to know about. I was impressed enough when I first viewed it that I bought the US Pioneer laser discs. Well, those discs have been sitting on a shelf for over 20 years so I figured that it was time to check them out again and see how reality matched memory.
It wasn’t a pleasant experience. What struck me most upon this viewing was how the writing made the cast, who are supposed to be teens and adults, act like little kids playing cops and robbers. I remembered how upon my first viewing I came away feeling that Tenchi was a terribly wishy-washy protagonist, but now I feel he is written as a not-very-bright seven year old in a supposedly bright seventeen year old’s body.
A few years ago I was introducing my teenaged nephew to “classics” anime and as part of that I showed him the first episode of the original Tenchi OAV which I hadn’t re-watched since I first watched it in the late 90s on DVD. Neither of us was very impressed with what we saw and we didn’t watch more of it. Well, I was able to get through the first four Tenchi TV episodes but I don’t want to bother with more either. Oh well, the new Summer Season is starting (sort of) and I have hundreds of other old series on disc so I should be able to continue to get my anime fix one way or another.
Dave Baranyi