Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi Universe Episode 4: No Need for Monsters!

Welcome back to yet another look at Tenchi Muyo, a show that Lito from Sense8 probably watches every night before bed to remind himself that, even though he thinks he’s having a mental breakdown and he’s being stalked by a knife wielding sociopath because his co-star decided invited herself to live with him, his own life isn’t that bad by comparison.

Last time, we were introduced to Ayeka’s little sister Sasami, meaning that we now have four alien women living with poor Tenchi, who I’m willing to bet, wishes he could remember exactly what his life used to be like before he found Ryoko’s ship right about now.

Our episode opens with Ayeka helping out with the chores around the house while Ryoko lays around, loudly declaring her boredom. Before Yosho can further exploit Ayeka’s good nature by getting her to do more chores, Ryo-Ohki emerges from a nearby cave. When Sasami asks what’s in the cave, Yosho says that legend has it that an ancient and powerful goblin was sealed away in the cave seven hundred years ago, and it was for this reason that the Masaki family shrine was built. Yosho warns the girls not to go in the cave, and Ryoko, being an impulsive lunatic, decides releasing a centuries-old evil goblin might be a fun way to kill an afternoon. However, when she fails to convince the rest of the girls, even the highly impressionable Sasami, to go into the cave with her, she decides that there’s only one thing to do: sneak up on our favorite put-upon hero, Tenchi, tie him up with rope, and drag him into the cave. Man, I would really hate to see this poor kid’s therapy bills.

Back at casa de Masaki, Ayeka and the others start to get worried when Tenchi isn’t back in time for dinner. Ayeka, asks Ryo-Ohki where Tenchi is, but gets frustrated when she remembers that she doesn’t speak space-rabbit. However, when Ayeka realizes that Ryoko is also not present, it doesn’t take her long to put two and two together and she storms off with Sasami and Mihoshi in tow, apparently more concerned about keeping Ryoko away from Tenchi than the threat of an evil Goblin.

Back in the cave, Ryoko finally gets taken down a peg when one of the cave’s booby traps activates and Ryoko takes an arrow with “go home you idiot” written on it right between the eyes. After that, Ryoko is finally ready to turn back, much to Tenchi’s relief. However, when the booby traps of the cave continue to get the better of her, Ryoko snaps and blasts her way through to the center chamber. There, the two find an ancient crystal said to be where the Goblin was sealed. Noting that this place is nice and private, Ryoko decides to drop the pretense entirely, strip down and try to molest poor Tenchi. Before this gets anymore uncomfortable, Ayeka enters the chamber, enraged to see Ryoko with her hands on Tenchi, Ayeka once again goes at it with Ryoko. Since you can’t exactly have a space battle in a tight cave, instead, the two opt for a super-power brawl. However, in the ensuing fight, Ryoko causes the crystal containing the goblin to crack, freeing it. Appearing as a gigantic ball of light, the Goblin chases the others out of the cave, but when it corners the gang outside, Yosho steps up and talks it down in a calm manner that denotes familiarity. The “goblin” then reveals itself to be a young woman and introduces herself as Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe. Ayeka instantly recognizes the name as that of a legendary mad scientist known to her people. Washu then demonstrates that she’s more than a little nuts when she pulls out two creepy looking puppets to sing her praises and starts making flirty eyes at Tenchi. In the funniest moment of the episode, Washu asks who woke her from her peaceful slumber and everyone, without missing a beat, instantly points the finger at Ryoko, and so, Washu uses the power of science to turn her into a turtle. When Ayeka thinks turning someone into a turtle is silly, Washu does the same to her.

Since Washu has nowhere to go, we once again, have a pretty lady from space with the hots for Tenchi moving into the Masaki household. And so our episode ends with the revelation that Washu has already converted Tenchi’s pantry into her laboratory, and Tenchi, Ryoko and Ayeka thinking they may have been better off if she was an evil Goblin.

Once again, this was a fun episode. I liked how it played against expectations having the Goblin turn out to be another girl, and Washu seems to be a fun and likeable character and a welcome addition to the group. I especially appreciated Ryoko finally getting punished for her impulsiveness at Washu’s hands. However, the centerpiece here is once again the rivalry between Ryoko and Ayeka over Tenchi, something I sense will be a theme for this show.