Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love

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Tenchi the Movie:
Tenchi Muyo in Love

Pioneer's North American DVD box cover.
For alternate cover art, see the release's gallery.
Japanese 天地無用! in LOVE
Romanization Tenchi Muyo! in Love
Directed by Hiroshi Negishi
Screenplay by Ryoe Tsukimura
Hiroshi Negishi
Starring Masami Kikuchi
Ai Orikasa
Yumi Takada
Chisa Yokoyama
Yuko Mizutani
Yuri Amano
Yuko Kobayashi
Megumi Hayashibara
Toshiyuki Morikawa
Ryuzaburo Ohtomo
Edited by Jay Film
Yasue Funami
Music by Christopher Franke
Production AIC
Pioneer LDC
Tenchi Muyo Theatrical Version Producers Committee
Distributed by Theatrical
Japan GAGA communications inc.
Home Video
USA Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P.
(1996 - 2003)
USA Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.
(2004 - 2007)
USA FUNimation Entertainment
(2012 - Current)
Release date Theatrical
Japan April 20, 1996
Home Video
Japan August 25, 1996
(VHS, LaserDisc)
USA August 20, 1996
(VHS)
USA August 27, 1996
(LaserDisc)
USA December 18, 2012
(Blu-ray)
Running time 95 minutes
Country Japan
United States
Language Japanese
English

Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love known in Japan as Tenchi Muyo! in Love (天地無用! in LOVE, phonetic: Tenchi Muyou! in Rabu) is the first of three films in the Tenchi Muyo! franchise, and was directed by Hiroshi Negishi. The film takes place after the events of the TV series Tenchi Universe. It was released theatrically in Japan on April 20, 1996.
The film was a co-production of Pioneer Japan and Pioneer America, with all sound production being done in the United States. As such, the film was released on home video first in the United States on VHS on August 20, 1996.

Titles

Title Language
TENCHI MUYO in LOVE Japan Official title
天地無用! in LOVE Japan Japanese
劇場版 天地無用! in LOVE Japan Japanese Release
MOVIE EDITION TENCHI MUYO! in LOVE Japan Official Japanese English Release Translation
Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love USA Official English Title
Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Germany German
Tenchi-Muyo! La película 1 - Tenchi-Muyo enamorado [1] Spain Spanish
Chi ha bisogno di Tenchi? Tenchi Muyo in Love Italy Italian
TENCHI MUYO! in Love South Korea Korean
天地無用! in LOVE 劇場 版後篇 HK Chinese

Plot Summary

The film opens with the Emperor of Jurai sacrificing himself to imprison Super A-1 class criminal Kain in subspace many centuries ago. With the help of the Galaxy Police, Kain is imprisoned in the GP's headquarters. Kain eventually escapes his bonds and destroys the GP headquarters, traveling through time to take his revenge on the Jurai royal family. Suddenly, in the present time of 1996,  Tenchi  and all things related to the Masaki family begin to fade out of existence. Washu theorizes that something is messing with the space-time continuum, and uses a special net to keep Tenchi from vanishing. Being only a temporary solution, Washu decides to send the rest of the group back to 1970 to prevent Kain from killing Tenchi's mother, Achika. Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, & Kiyone all assume roles at Nobuyuki and Achika's high school, while Tenchi himself stays hidden to prevent causing a time paradox. Tenchi and company must also deal with an undercover GP operative bent on seeking revenge on Kain.

After determining that Kain will strike at Tokyo tower, the group tries to defend Achika, only to have Kain escape into subspace taking Achika with him. Tenchi, Ayeka and Ryoko follow them into the other dimension, but even with help from Washu they are still outmatched. Washu sends a powerful weapon, the dimensional cannon, to them from the present. Kiyone is the one to helm the weapon to destroy Kain. After Tenchi is wounded, Achika unlocks her latent Jurai powers to power the sword and deal a near-fatal blow to Kain. Tenchi and company barely escape back through the portal before the dimensional cannon is fired, finally destroying Kain. Once back, Achika asks Ryoko and Ayeka to take care of Tenchi, since she will not be there for him in their present. The final moments of the film see Achika and Nobuyuki sitting together as Nobuyuki is sketching their future home, as well as Achika holding an infant Tenchi.


Cast

Main article: List of Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love cast members
Role Japan Japanese Actor
USA American Actor
Spain 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 Takeshi Aono Jay Hopper Alberto Trifol
Young Nobuyuki Toshiyuki Morikawa Andrew Philpot Jordi Pons
Achika Masaki Megumi Hayashibara Grace Zandarski Nuria Doménech
Kain Ryuzaburo Ohtomo Michael Scott Ryan Alfonso Vallés

Reception

Aggregate Scores
Source Rating
Rotten Tomatoes 86%[2] (500+)
MyAnimeList 7.42/10 [3] (11,000+)
Anime News Network 7.65/10 [4] (1,100+ / Mean Average)
Anime-Planet 3.78/5 [5] (3,900+)
IMDb 7.2/10 [6] (1,400+)


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 positive, noting "The storyline borrows a familiar time-travel concept[...]then serves up the usual humor, romance, and action that the series is known for." Though no individual grade was given to each film, Carlo noted in particular that Tenchi Muyo! In Love was "the pretty good" portion of the boxset. [7]

Music

Main article: Original soundtrack from "TENCHI THE MOVIE" Tenchi Muyo in Love

Koh Otani composed the music for the film. The main theme "Manatsu no Eve" was released as a single on July 9, 1997 [8] for ¥1,020.[9] The single was produced and arranged by Masato Nakamura with lyrics and vocals by Mariko Nagai.[10] The soundtrack released on July 23, 1997, roughly one week before the film's release for ¥3,059. [11]

References

  1. Pioneer Spanish Standup
  2. "TENCHI MUYO IN LOVE". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  3. "Tenchi Muyou! in Love". MyAnimeList. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  4. "Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  5. "Tenchi The Movie: Tenchi Muyo! In Love". anime-planet. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  6. "Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love". IMDb. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  7. Santos, Carlo (Jan 23, 2013). "Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Collection BD+DVD". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
  8. 真夏のイヴ Mariko Nagai Single Release Poster Front
  9. 真夏のイヴ Mariko Nagai Single Release Poster bottom right corner
  10. Pioneer NA Soundtrack CD Book
  11. Pioneer JP Soundtrack Release Poster