Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness

Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness
Pioneer's North American DVD box cover. For alternate cover art, see the release's gallery.
Japanese	天地無用! 真夏のイヴ
Romanization	Tenchi Muyo! Manatsu no Eve
Directed by	Satoshi Kimura
Screenplay by	Naoko Hasegawa
Starring	Masami Kikuchi Ai Orikasa Yumi Takada Chisa Yokoyama Yuko Mizutani Yuri Amano Yuko Kobayashi Junko Iwao Yo Inoue
Edited by	Masashi Furukawa J.S.E.
Music by	Koh Otani
Production	AIC Pioneer LDC, Inc. "Tenchi Muyo Manatsu no Eve" Committee
Distributed by	Theatrical Toei Company, Ltd. Home Video Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P. (1998 - 2003) Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (2004 - 2007) FUNimation Entertainment (2012 - Current)
Release date	Theatrical August 2, 1997 Home Video December 10, 1997 (VHS, LaserDisc) March 31, 1998 (VHS, DVD, LaserDisc) December 18, 2012 (Blu-ray)
Running time	60 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness (stylized as Tenchi the Movie 2 The Daughter of Darkness and known in Japan as Tenchi Muyo! Manatsu no Eve (天地無用! 真夏のイヴ, phonetic: Tenchi Muyou! Manatsu no Ibu) is the second of three films in the Tenchi Muyo! franchise, directed by Satoshi Kimura and written by Naoko Hasegawa. The film was released theatrically in Japan on August 2, 1997 as a double feature, along with Slayers Great. The film was later released in North America on home video on March 31, 1998.

Titles

Title	Language
天地無用！真夏のイブ	Japanese
TENCHI MUYO! MANATSU no EVE	Official Japanese Romanization
TENCHI MUYO! Eve in Midsummer	Official Japanese English Translation
Tenchi Muyo! Midsummer's Eve	Official Western English Translation
Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness	First Official English Title
Tenchi Muyo! The Daughter of Darkness	Second Official English Title
Tenchi Muyo! the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness	German
Tenchi-Muyo! La película 2 - La hija de la oscuridad	Spanish
Chi ha bisogno di Tenchi? - The Movie - La vigilia dell'estate	Italian
천지무용 - 극장판 애니메이션 - 한여름의 이브	Korean

Plot Summary

In the distant past, a young prince by the name of Yosho met a young girl by the name of Yuzuha. Both agreed to meet during Jurai’s annual Startica celebration. As the two are playing it is revealed that Yuzuha is a demon, and is driven away by the palace guards. For being scorned, Yuzuha holds onto that grudge for 700 years. After that time Yuzuha wakes up within the underworld and discovers that Yosho is alive and on Earth, celebrating Christmas with his family and all of the new additions to the household over the years. Yuzuha zeroes in on Tenchi being the center of attention and decides to send him a present. Obtaining a lock of Tenchi's hair and taking a piece of her own, Yuzuha creates a a young girl and hatches her plan.

Some time later during the summer, while walking down the steps of the shrine, Tenchi meets a teenage girl named Mayuka, who thinks he is her daddy. Tenchi takes the girl back to the house where she introduces herself as Tenchi's daughter, which shocks everyone in the household. Ryoko immediately attacks Mayuka and demands real answers, but Mayuka defends herself by summoning an energy sword of her own. Katsuhito steps in to diffuse the situation. In the midst of the confusion, Washu took a sample of Mayuka’s hair to confirm if she is truly Tenchi’s daughter and surprisingly she is.

Mayuka now becomes the intrigue of the entire household, why was she here and where did she come from? The most popular theory is that she's somehow from the future. Unbeknownst to them, Mayuka was being manipulated by Yuzuha for her own enjoyment. Being able to watch from her crystal ball, Yuzuha would take advantage of the moments where the girls were preoccupied and away from everyone to play with him and eventually try and steal him away. Before she is able to, Ryoko breaks the trance and carries Mayuka above the lake. Mayuka is brought back to the house where she once again tries to bring Tenchi to Yuzuha. Katsuhito and Washu interfere and Mayuka disappears into the forest.

Finally seeing that the time is now, Yuzuha erases Mayuka's memories and takes Sasami hostage before heading back to the underworld, which leads Tenchi and Ryoko to enter Yuzuha's realm to save them. Tenchi is warned he can't use his powers there, giving Yuzuha the advantage. Now being just a hollow shell for Yuzuha’s amusement, Mayuka attacks Ryoko and injures her. Mayuka then attacks Tenchi, but after hearing Sasami telling her that the whole group loves her, Mayuka breaks free of Yuzuha's control. Yuzuha kills Mayuka for her betrayal and transforms into a gigantic, demonic form. Ayeka appears and gives Tenchi a branch from the Tree of Light to utilize his powers. He swiftly defeats Yuzuha and she laments on her past. Returned home with only her red crystal, Washu tells everyone she can resurrect Mayuka, but only as long as everyone agrees to it. Despite Ryoko being against Mayuka at first, she promises to train her as only she can. As the credits roll, scenes of the next Christmas appear and each of the members of the Masaki house preparing. The resurrection of Mayuka is shown, culminating in her becoming an infant.

Cast

Main article: List of Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness personnel

Role	Japanese Actor	American Actor	Spanish Actor
Tenchi Masaki	Masami Kikuchi	Matt K. Miller	Albert Trifol Segarra
Ryoko	Ai Orikasa	Petrea Burchard	Elisa Beuter
Ayeka	Yumi Takada	Jennifer Darling	Marta Barbará
Sasami	Chisa Yokoyama	Sherry Lynn	Núria Trifol
Mihoshi	Yūko Mizutani	Rebecca Forstadt	Montse Moreno
Kiyone	Yuri Amano	Wendee Lee	Maria Moscardó
Washu	Yuko Kobayashi	Kate T. Vogt	María Pilar Quesada
Katsuhito & Nobuyuki Masaki	Takeshi Aono	Bob Papenbrook	Alberto Trifol & Alex Meseguer
Mayuka	Junko Iwao	Julie Maddalena	Marta Ullod
Yuzuha	Yo Inoue	Barbara Goodson	Alicia Laorden

Reception

Contemporary Reviews (Within 5 years)

Aggregate Scores
Source	Rating
MyAnimeList	7.12/10 (7400+)
Anime News Network	7/10 (900+ / Mean Average)
Anime-Planet	3.64/5 (3100+)
IMDb	6.9/10 (700+)

Akio Nagatomi reviewed the film's Pioneer DVD release for The Anime Cafe on April 24, 1998, and gave it "three out of five stars". Akio's review was mostly neutral, with noted praise of the directing and editing, referring to it as "surprising[ly] engrossing" saying "I was most impressed with how the edits were done; the revelation of what really transpired during Ryoko and Mayuka's confrontation above the lake is no real surprise, but was very skillfully implemented. The movie was entertaining". Though, Akio also noted that "the plot line is fairly predictable, and I found that the characterisations were getting a little wearysome."

Jared Wietbrock reviewed the film's Pioneer DVD release for Mania on February 18, 2002, and gave it an overall score of "A". Jared's review of the film was positive, praising the film for being "just plain fun" and seemingly "following the pattern of the first six OVAs". Though, Jared did note that the film felt "a little too short. Portions of the film seem rushed to me, especially the beginning."

Retrospective Reviews (After 10+ years)

Carlo Santos reviewed the film for Anime News Network on Jan 23, 2013 as part of a general review for FUNimation's Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Collection release. Carlo's review of the film was mostly negative, noting "Here's a perfect example of what people dislike about Tenchi: too much mindless hanging-out with the girls". Though no individual grade was given to each film, Carlo noted at the end of the review that "It may be old-fashioned and simple, but Tenchi does prove that even the tale of 'an ordinary guy surrounded by cute girls' can, from time to time, be a whole lot more."

Music

Main article: Tenchi the Movie 2 The Daughter of Darkness: Original Movie Soundtrack

Koh Otani composed the music for the film. The main theme Midsummer's Eve was released as a single on July 9, 1997 for ¥1,020. The single was produced and arranged by Masato Nakamura with lyrics and vocals by Mariko Nagai. The soundtrack released on July 23, 1997, roughly one week before the film's release for ¥3,059.