These three episodes of the extremely popular slapstick-romance series were broadcast on Japanese TV during its second season. The stories center on four girls from outer space: Ryoko, the dangerous galactic criminal; Ayeka, the proper Jurai princess; her more practical little sister, Sasami; and Mihoshi, a bubble-brained Galactic Police Officer. Ayeka, Sasami, and Mihoshi, who were trying to capture Ryoko, find themselves living with her on Earth after an unplanned landing. All four of them are interested in Tenchi Masami, whose attraction has to be taken as a given--the viewer sees very little of him. Director Nobuhiro Takamoto keeps the action focused on the girls, whose adventures juxtapose interplanetary intrigue with such mundane difficulties as budgeting, keeping house, and cooking. Additional comedy is provided by Ryo-Ohki, Ayeka's spaceship, which has been transformed into a "cabbit," a fuzzy cross between a rabbit and a cat.
The animation is minimal, even by anime standards, although Takamoto sometimes uses the limits cleverly, e.g., reducing a group of roommates trying to borrow money to a clutch of begging hands. Many elements in the stories play off Shinto legends, references American viewers are not likely to recognize; in the U.S., Tenchi plays like a cross between The Archies and My Favorite Martian. In addition to the regular series, there have been TV specials and direct-to-video adventures for Tenchi and the gang. --Charles Solomon
