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Title Information:
Distributor: Pioneer Animation
Street Date: 09/30/1997
Review Date: 05/13/2002
Price: $14.99
Length: 95 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Letterboxed
Region: 1, 4
Disc Rating:
13 &UP
· Violence
· Brief Nudity
Cover Art:
Audio Options:
· English DD 5.1
· Japanese DD 5.1
Subtitle Options:
· English
· English (Closed Captioning)
· Japanese
Disc Extras:
· Theatrical Trailer
· TV Spots (3)
· Interview with Christopher Franke
· Christopher Franke Biography
· Production Notes/Director's Comments
· Tenchi Universe Video Information
Disc Gradings:
· Audio: A
· Video: A-
· Packaging: B+
· Menus: B-
· Extras: B
· Content: A
Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo! in Love
Around the same time on earth, Tenchi's house has suddenly disappeared. What's even worse is that Tenchi's body is disappearing too! Something must have happened in the past to Tenchi's mother, Achika. So the gang must now leave for a journey to the year 1970.
AUDIO: A
We are given two audio options on this disc. We have a Dobly Digital 5.1 English track, and a Dobly Digital 5.1 Japanese track. The audio was very nice on both tracks. I didn't notice any drop outs or mess-ups through out the movie.
VIDEO: A-
The picture was also very good. I spotted a few cross-coloration, but other than that, the picture quality was nice. I didn't notice any bleeding or artifacting.
PACKAGING: B+
The cover image is different from the VHS covers, which is nice. The cover itself is well done, but the "DVD Special Edition" may confuse some people into thinking there are two editions of the DVD. The back features some small shots of the characters in their 70s' identities. A summary and DVD extras are listed. Some incorrected information is on here as well (more on that in the Menus review). The insert was probably the best of the packaging. It's a four-page booklet, featuring the cover on the front, and a nice image of all the characters (including young Nobiyuki and Achika) with autographs by both English and Japanese voice actors. The back features a scene index. Very nice.
MENUS: B-
The menus are a little sloppy. The main menu features six selections. Set-Up, Scenes, Extras, Information, Play Movie, and (in Japanese) Japanese Menus. For the first four selections, everytime you move around them, it takes a while loading as clips start playing for each of them.
The Set-Up menu is done like many of American movies' DVDs. Selections for either Audio or Subtitle options. I'll note, the packaging it listed that Closed Captioning subtitles would be provided (for the hearing-impaired), but they are no where to be found on the disc!
The scenes menu is done quite nicely. Each of the pages have different backgrounds (each of the main characters). It was nice, but I wish a selection could of been added onto the bottom, to let us select which page to go to, since you have to go back and forth through the various scenes.
The extras menu wasn't as good, but simple to use.
The information menu was done good, but the font being used is quite hard to see here since it's quite small.
Japanese menus are also available, and did I mention, all the "Main" selections on the submenus have Ryo-ohki "meow"!
EXTRAS: B
We have minimal extras here, but they are quite good. We have a theatrical trailer and three (or was it four?) TV spots. The theatrical trailer was incredibly short, and a TV spot featured the exact same 30 seconds that the theatrical one had. Another nice extra was a video interview with the music composer. He explained how he choose the type of music to do for the movie. Very nice. In the "information" menu, we get comments from the director, and a biography on the composer. Information on Tenchi Universe videos are provided as well, and the original Japanese closing credits for the movie are included.
CONTENT: A
Taking place as a sequal to the Tenchi Muyo! TV series (Tenchi Universe), director Hiroshi Negishi sure knows what direction to take. This movie was created to introduce the fans of Tenchi to his mother, Achika. This movie was really good. I have to admit though, the second time I saw it (when I rented it) I began to fall slightly to sleep. I hope it was just the fact that I was tired again. :)
(Potiental Spoiler Warning)
It all begins at Galaxy Police Headquaters. An A-class criminal, Kain, escapes from his prison and destroys GP! Kiyone and Mihoshi take a break in Yugami. Mihoshi eats some munchies, and begins to choke once a call goes through for them. Kiyone answers, and is unable to hear the caller. Mihoshi sees a strange light which zooms past them at a very high speed. The light heads for Earth, causing an "Northern Light" effect. Tenchi walks down the steps of his home and senses something. He then looks down and notices his feet begin to look strange. He takes a look at his right hand, and it begins to vanish!
Tenchi and the girls (excluding Washu, Kiyone, and Mihoshi) all watch some of Tenchi's father's home-made movies in the living room. The girls are surprised when Tenchi mentions that his father met his mother when he was filming the movie they were watching. Tenchi and Sasami discuss his mother's beauty, until they notice that his mother simply vanishes off the screen. Tenchi then notices that he is also disappearing. Before he completely vanishes, a force field (which looks like a web) captures him. Washu walks in and tells the girls that there is a problem in the past, and that the Masaki family had died out. Washu explains how they can save Tenchi's mother, Achika, if they go back into time which her time-teleporting device.
Ryoko makes a late-night visit to Kiyone and Mihoshi's apartment. Scaring Kiyone, Ryoko tells her that it's "time to go". Kiyone screams and finds herself, and Mihoshi (who is still asleep), in Washu's lab. All the girls and Tenchi are strapped into Washu's time-teleporting device. Washu tells them how she thinks the machine SHOULD work, and that they will be transported into the year 1970, around the time Achika would vanish.
The transportation is a success, and all of them arrive in the year 1970. Mihoshi, is a school teacher (and ends up re-teaching a story told in "Time and Space Adventures"), Kiyone is a school janitor, Ayeka and Ryoko are new students, and Sasami and Tenchi hide in bushes to keep an eye out on Tenchi's mother. There are really nice scenes in which Tenchi is able to see his mother. Ryoko and Ayeka successfully get permission to stay in Achika's home, and Kiyone is called back by Washu to learn more about the criminal that destroyed Galaxy Police HQ. Learning more about Kain, the group figure out that Kain will be the one who tries to destroy Achika. Ryoko also notices something strange, a silent student in their class seems to be keeping a close eye on Achika. Ryoko suspects that he could be after her.
This movie really is good, and fits right in as a sequal for the Tenchi Muyo! TV series. So, I suggest that you do watch Tenchi Muyo! TV ("Tenchi Universe" in the U.S.) before watching this.
· Philco 21" TV
· APEX AD-1500 DVD Player
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