Tenchi Does Tokyo

Tenchi has had a lot of experiences and adventures, but he still hasn't yet planned much for his future. Nobiyuki Misaki is already an architect, so the duty falls to Tenchi to one day take over Misaki Shrine. There comes a point in a persons life where if they want to become more than they are, they have to set out on a new sort of adventure. For Tenchi, that adventure lay in Tokyo. Going to Tokyo wasn't so much of a problem, but leaving the love sick crew behind certainly was. The girls eventually find a way to visit Tenchi, only to find another girl named Sakuya has taken an interest in him. All this with a new enemy who manipulates things behind the scenes makes for an entirely new Tenchi adventure.


Shin Tenchi Muyo (meaning New Tenchi Muyo) which is the second Tenchi TV series, is released in America as Tenchi in Tokyo. Shin Tenchi is yet another Tenchi universe. This time however, things don't start from scratch. Shin Tenchi Muyo seems to follow the first TV series, yet different elements seem to have been added which don't follow any of the previous series. Ironically the add I saw for Shin Tenchi said something like "new place, same ol Tenchi". That's pretty far off the mark. Just about everything about this series is different. The animation and character designs have changed a LOT. It seems to follow the trend of simpler design, traded for better frame rates. The humor also changed, which I consider to be somewhat of a drawback that this series doesn't follow the formula which has worked so well for the Tenchi series. Even certain sight gags changed, such as veins popping out of characters foreheads when they're angry. New love interest for Tenchi, new enemies, new setting... when they say Shin Tenchi Muyo, they weren't kidding.

So what do I think? Well it's hard to say at this point. The series taken as simple anime is pretty good. As a Tenchi series... well... I don't know. I find certain things about it annoying, but on the other side, it's still pretty good. Since I haven't seen much of it yet, I'm going to leave this page rather open ended. From what I've heard about future developments in the story of Shin Tenchi, the plot could certainly make this series just as good as the rest. Then again I've seen anime with a lot of potential fall flat on their faces too. I guess I'll have to wait and see... Kiyone actually taking notice of Tenchi certainly sparks my interest. Maybe it's because she doesn't have that headband to restrain anymore her =P