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 8, 1997 Home Video March 31, 1998 (VHS, DVD, LaserDisc) |
| 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! Midsummer's Eve | Official 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
Long ago, a young Prince Yosho met a young demon girl, named Yuzuha. Attracted to Yosho, two agreed to meet to play together during the annual Startica celebration on Jurai; she was driven away by the palace guards and she hated Yosho for it. 700 years later, Yuzuha wakes up within the underworld and discovers that Yosho is alive and on Earth, celebrating Christmas with the family and the ladies that had gathered around Tenchi. She believes Tenchi Masaki is a charmer due to the fact he is surrounded by so many girls; she decides to send Tenchi a present. She obtains a lock of Tenchi's hair and takes a piece of her own to a created a girl that's part human, Juraian, and demon to entertain her mischievous nature.
Six months later during summer, while walking down the steps of the shrine, Tenchi meets a teenage girl named Mayuka, who calls him daddy. Tenchi takes the girl back to the house where she introduces herself as Tenchi's daughter, shocking everyone within the household. Ryoko felt threatened by Mayuka and denied her paternity to Tenchi. She attacks Mayuka and demands real answers by threatening her with an energy sword, but Mayuka defends herself by summoning a faux-Lighthawk Sword; the situation was stopped by Katsuhito. In the midst of the confusion, Washu took a sample of her hair to confirm half her DNA belongs to Tenchi; Mayuka is genetically Tenchi's daughter.
The Masaki household tries to make sense of how Mayuka came to be and the most popular theory is that she's from the future. Unknown to the rest of group, Mayuka was secretly being manipulated by Yuzuha for her own enjoyment. Whenever the crew was too preoccupied to notice Tenchi or Mayuka, Yuzuha uses those moments to control Mayuka and have her do things that makes her questionable. At one point, Mayuka takes Tenchi away from the gang and tries to transport him to Yuzuha. Before she is able to, Ryoko breaks the trance and carries Mayuka away. Katsuhito finds Mayuka and brings her back to the house, where she once again tries to bring Tenchi to Yuzuha; Katsuhito and Washu interfered and Mayuka runs off into the forest.
Taking Mayuka back to the underworld, Yuzuha erases Mayuka's memories and takes Sasami hostage, which leads Tenchi and Ryoko enter Yuzuha's world to save them; Tenchi was warned he can't use his Juraian powers there, giving Yuzuha the advantage. Losing all sense of who she was and turned into a monster, Mayuka attacks Ryoko and injures her; she then attacks Tenchi but after hearing Sasami telling her that the whole group loves her, she breaks free of Yuzuha's control and assaults her. Yuzuha kills Mayuka for her betrayal and transforms into a giant dark creature, but Ayeka appears and gives Tenchi a branch from the Tree of Light to utilize his Juraian powers. He defeats Yuzuha and they returned home with the remains of Mayuka, a red crystal. Washu is able to resurrect Mayuka, but she wanted everyone's consent to forward the project. Although Ryoko was against Mayuka, she also welcomed the idea and promise to train her in her ways. It is seen at the ending of the story, Mayuka's crystal was used to bring her back and by next Christmas, Mayuka is returned to the crew as an infant and to be raised by the Masaki family.
Cast
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."