Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi Universe Episode 14: No Need for a Rebellion!

Welcome back to Tenchi everyone. Now that we’ve officially passed the half way point, it’s time to start pushing to finish this show, partially because I’m really excited about our next anime project, but mostly because there’s a Tenchi related review I’d like to be able to write in time for the Christmas season and in order for that to happen, we need to get the lead out. lsos

We open with Tenchi, Ryoko, Sasami and Ayeka looking out on the pond outside Tenchi’s house where Ayeka’s spaceship is growing back. Yes that’s right I said GROWING back. While Ryoko’s spaceship is an adorable bunny rabbit, Ayeka’s is apparently some kind of tree. Neat. Anyway, Tenchi needs to head to school and bids Ayeka and Sasami a fond farewell. However, Ayeka can’t help but notice that Ryoko is nowhere to be found and it’s not hard to guess where she went. Predictably, Ryoko has gone after Tenchi but surprisingly, she’s not trying to molest him like she usually does. Instead, they appear to be having a nice, heartfelt and rather sweet conversation about how much Ryoko loves being on Earth and spending time with Tenchi. I really like this and it shows that the events of the previous episode have matured Ryoko a great deal. Sure, she’ll put on an act when Ayeka’s around, but when it’s just her and Tenchi, she’s willing to let her true feelings shine through.

Meanwhile, at Kiyone and Mihoshi’s apartment, Kiyone seems to have received a promotion, meaning she finally gets to leave Earth and more importantly, she is FINALLY free of Mihoshi. Mihoshi, who as we know, is incapable of being away from Mihoshi for more than one tenth of a second, throws an ugly temper tantrum when Kiyone says she’s leaving. As Kiyone bids a fond farewell to the gang and Mihoshi loses her mind, a mysterious spaceship looms in the skies above Casa de Masaki

Later, when Tenchi comes home from school to find that his house has been stolen. That’s right, just when this poor kid was getting used to the sheer insanity that has become his life, the universe tosses this curveball right at his nuts. Only Ryo-Ohki is left and Tenchi tries to ask her what happened. Uh… Tenchi, did you get hit in the head during your multi-versal crime spree with Ryoko? Look, I know Ryo-Ohki is smarter than your average earth rabbit, but she’s still a rabbit so unless you’re Tom Cruise from the movie Legend, you’re not really going to get much out of her. Later, Yosho walks up. Apparently, he was in the family shrine when the house was stolen. That shrine must be the most soundproofed structure in all creation if Yosho didn’t hear a FREAKING HOUSE GETTING STOLEN! And then, as if things weren’t weird enough, Washu, Kiyone, Mihoshi and Nobuyuki then fall from the sky in a giant egg. However, Ayeka, Ryoko and Sasami are still missing. Washu spells out what’s been going on. Apparently, there was a coup on planet Jurai and Ayeka and Sasami’s family have now been declared enemies of the state. While Ryoko was gloating about Ayeka being hauled off to the slammer, one of the Jurai guards recognizes Ryoko as a universally wanted criminal and takes her in as well. Also, the Jurai rebels shrunk Tenchi’s house down to the size of a small briefcase, because they’re dicks like that. I should also note that Yosho looks oddly concerned at the notion of a coup on the planet Jurai.

In their cell Ayeka is throwing a temper tantrum while Ryoko is hard at work trying to contact Ryo-Ohki. Thank god Sasami is there to keep the peace, because with Ayeka and Ryoko locked in a tight space together for an extended period of time, it wouldn’t be long before some poor unfortunate bastard has to scrape what’s left of them off the walls.

Elsewhere on the Jurai battleship, we join the captain, who seems to be having second thoughts about arresting the princesses. Kiyone arrives in her police cruiser to negotiate for the release of the prisoners, but this has all been a ruse for Tenchi and crew to get in range to use Washu’s newest invention, a short-range teleporter, to warp onto the Jurai cruiser. Once there, Yosho seems to instinctively know exactly where Ryoko and the princesses are being held. Curiouser and curiouser. On their way, Jurai guards attack, but as we’ve seen in the past, Yosho can slay killer robots with nothing but a piece of wood and he’s taught Tenchi everything he knows so the two make fairly short work of these grunts. When they reach the cell, Ayeka and Ryoko are both glad to see Tenchi, which invariably leads to another round of bickering. Look, ladies, I know your hatred of one another is so great that it’s actually coded into your very DNA, but now is seriously not the time. Anywho, Washu has the bright idea of getting Ryo-Ohki to transform into spaceship mode… inside the spaceship. Dammit Washu, you’re supposed to be the smart one! In any case, the episode ends with our heroes boarding Ryo-Ohki and waving goodbye to the earth until they can get to the bottom of this rebellion thing.

While I like the idea of giving this fairly episodic sit-com-y show an actual plot, I must say, this episode really didn’t do much for me. It felt very unfocused and left the audience more confused than anything else. The highlights include Tenchi and Ryoko in the beginning as well as Tenchi and Grandpa Yosho kicking ass aboard the ship, but overall, this episode really didn’t really wow me like it’s predecessors.