Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love
| 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 GAGA communications inc. Home Video  Pioneer Entertainment (USA) L.P. (1996 - 2003) Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (2004 - 2007) FUNimation Entertainment (2012 - Current) |
| Release date | Theatrical April 20, 1996 Home Video August 25, 1996 (VHS, Laserdisc) August 20, 1996 (VHS) August 27, 1996 (LaserDisc) 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! 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 [1] as a double feature, along with Slayers Great. [2][3] The film was later released in North America on home video on March 31, 1998. [4][5]
Titles
| Title | Language |
|---|---|
| TENCHI MUYO in LOVE | Official title |
| 天地無用! in LOVE | Japanese |
| 劇場版 天地無用! in LOVE | Japanese Release |
| MOVIE EDITION TENCHI MUYO! in LOVE | Official Japanese English Release Translation |
| Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love | Official English Title |
| Tenchi Muyo! The Movie |  German |
| Tenchi-Muyo! La película 1 - Tenchi-Muyo enamorado [6] |  Spanish |
| Chi ha bisogno di Tenchi? Tenchi Muyo in Love |  Italian |
| TENCHI MUYO! in Love |  Korean |
| 天地無用! in LOVE 劇場 版後篇 |  Chinese |
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
Reception
| Aggregate Scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Rotten Tomatoes |  86%[7] (500+)
|
| MyAnimeList | 7.42/10 [8] (11,000+) |
| Anime News Network | 7.65/10 [9] (1,100+ / Mean Average) |
| Anime-Planet | 3.78/5 [10] (3,900+) |
| IMDb | 7.2/10 [11] (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. [12]
Music
Koh Otani composed the music for the film. The main theme "Manatsu no Eve" was released as a single on July 9, 1997 [13] for ¥1,020.[14] The single was produced and arranged by Masato Nakamura with lyrics and vocals by Mariko Nagai.[15] The soundtrack released on July 23, 1997, roughly one week before the film's release for ¥3,059. [1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pioneer JP Soundtrack Release Poster
- ↑ "角川アニメ フェスティバル '97". Toei.co.jp. Archived from the original. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ↑ Slayers Great & TM! Manatsu no Eve Ticket Stub
- ↑ "Tenchi the Movie 2 - The Daughter of Darkness". Amazon.com. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ↑ Animerica - February 1998 Daughter of Darkness Ad
- ↑ Pioneer Spanish Standup
- ↑ "TENCHI MUYO IN LOVE". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi Muyou! in Love". MyAnimeList. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi The Movie: Tenchi Muyo! In Love". anime-planet. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ↑ "Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love". IMDb. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ↑ Santos, Carlo (Jan 23, 2013). "Tenchi Muyo! The Movie Collection BD+DVD". Anime News Network. Retrieved January 16, 2022.
- ↑ 真夏のイヴ Mariko Nagai Single Release Poster Front
- ↑ 真夏のイヴ Mariko Nagai Single Release Poster bottom right corner
- ↑ Pioneer NA Soundtrack CD Book
