Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)


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Name:Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
Contains:
checked Comedyun-checked Mechschecked Drama
un-checked Violenceun-checked Shoujo 
un-checked Hentaiun-checked Explicit Sexchecked Brief Nudity
Running Length:26 episodes mins.
Description:

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Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
Tenchi in Tokyo/Shin Tenchi Muyo review

(Remember, if this review is helpful or well-written, please give me a good rating (down below!) Thanks for your support! *^__^)

Animation:
It's good, I guess. I don't really know, because this show is something I'm trying to forget. I really do wish I could.
But anyway, yeah, it's probably no better or worse than Tenchi Universe's animation.

Plot:
I think I just reconsidered my entire Plot grading system. I've always graded Plot on two points: Characters, and story.
Now, usually, characters can be so good that they overshadow the fact that there's basically no story (see Sailor Moon), so I figured I'd decide to do the same thing with story. I've never seen an anime with a story that good, but in theory, maybe story could overshadow terrible characters.
And then I remembered this anime. It almost makes me wanna rewrite the Plot part of my Blue Seed review, now that I've changed my grading system, but nah...
Anyway, the fact is, they've got a great setup here. Yugi trying to break up the entire Tenchi group is an excellent plot and it's really something unique because it had never been tried in Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe. I was particularly interested in that Ryoko actually returned to being a space pirate, but unfortunately, they let me down and spent very little time showing exactly what adventures Ryoko gets into as a space pirate.
So yeah, it was a good story!
The only problem? The characters were all so completely forgettable that I really didn't care that they were being separated. Well, no, I take that back... I did care about Sasami, but then again, there's more emotion in her eyes (which I should mention are the only eyes in the show that were left more or less the same) than in the rest of the cast combined. Yugi's motives are good motives, too, I guess, it's just that she doesn't succeed in showing a strong enough belief in them for you to take them seriously. Like I said, flat characters here.
It is worth mentioning that if you already know the Tenchi cast beforehand, the show will probably seem at least a little better than it would.
I admit that when I was watching Tenchi Universe, for example, the fact that they left out most of the important details of the characters' pasts didn't bother me because I'd already seen Tenchi Muyo.
But that was Tenchi Universe, which at least left the characters INTACT. In Shin Tenchi Muyo/Tenchi in Tokyo, the characters are all shells of their former selves, are given absolutely no introduction, and are never really developed. If you'd never seen or read anything Tenchi-related before and you started here, you'd probably end here too, never wanting to touch a Tenchi anime or manga again.
I think the one thing that kept me watching this show was Sakuya, because it was somewhat interesting to see Tenchi with an actual normal girl, but if not for her, I probably would've dropped this show after the first five episodes. Maybe sooner.

Humor:
It just doesn't click. While there were some moments like Ayeka and Ryoko trying to get Ryo-ohki through the gate to Tenchi's apartment, with most of the cast separated for the majority of the show and with Tenchi almost never actually back at home, how can you call it Tenchi?
I said in my other Tenchi reviews that I thought the Tenchi story itself was never really that great, but the characters were the saving grace. Without the characters, it's just not Tenchi anymore, even if the story IS a lot more unique (in my opinion).

Soundtrack:
I can't remember if it was good or bad, but I do know I liked Sakuya's theme in all of its incarnations and I liked the music for the episode previews, so I'll give it a good score.

Overall:
The Overall score I give to an anime isn't just an average of the other four scores, and you can see that here.
Technically, the show is good: The animation and music are both above-average, that is to say. Technically, the storyline is good too.
But there are two factors that absolutely destroy this show for my Overall grade.
1 - Re-watchability. I could not bring myself to watch this again. Seriously. That factor single-handedly shaved four points off of Earthian's Overall grade, and the bad show itself took off two more points, getting it a grade of 4. Luckily, Shin Tenchi Muyo actually has a storyline that finishes, has much better characters and music, and actually has humor and some good moments. I'd have given Tenchi in Tokyo a 6 if the lack of desire to watch it again was its only problem, but it wasn't.
2 - It's a complete butchering of the original characters and it doesn't deserve to carry the name "Tenchi" at all. For that, it's misleading. When a show carries the name "Tenchi," or even if it just hints at something Tenchi-related, like Magical Girl Pretty Sammy, you go in expecting a certain amount of quality.
Shin Tenchi Muyo/Tenchi in Tokyo fails to live up to its name, its origins, and its characters, and because of that, to a Tenchi fan, this anime is even more disappointing than it would be to a non-fan. Below this review, RedXIV gave this series a 0...
While I don't think that's entirely fair to the show, at the same time, I can understand any dedicated Tenchi fan being sickened with the changes made in this anime, and I can't argue with a 0 grade.
But I won't do that. Although this is a 10-point scale, I grade like a school system. 7 is average on my scale, not 5. 5 is failing, and this show definitely fails.
Unless Tenchi in Tokyo, Earthian, and possibly Dragonball GT are the only anime in the world you haven't seen and you desperately need to see more, don't buy this. Actually, heck, even go with DBZ over this. At least there's something vaguely entertaining about DBZ in that you can at least watch it when you're bored. I definitely wouldn't watch this show when I was bored.
Not recommended. Nowhere near recommended, even.

All reviews by me:
Ah My Goddess! OAV, Battle Athletes, Blue Seed, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Z: Dead Zone, Dragonball Z: The Tree of Might, Dragonball Z: The World's Strongest, Earthian, El Hazard: The Wanderers, Green Legend Ran, Irresponsible Captain Tylor, Irresponsible Captain Tylor OAVs, Legend of the Last Labyrinth, Mononoke no Hime, Outlaw Star, Pokémon, Rurouni Kenshin, Sailor Moon R movie, Sailor Moon S, Sailor Moon S: Hearts In Ice, Sailor Moon SuperS, Sailor Moon SuperS: Black Dream Hole, Shinesman, Slayers: The Motion Picture, Tenchi in Tokyo, Tenchi Muyo, Tenchi Universe

Overall Rating: 5
Animation:8 Plot:5 Humor:4 Sound Track:8
Weight: 40 (Reputable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=105167


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
Really dissapointed. Animation was awful. Definatly not my favorite of the series.

Overall Rating: 5
Animation:2 Plot:4 Humor:5 Sound Track:7
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=75366


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
Are you sure I can't assign negative numbers here?

Okay, Shin Tenchi Muyo isn't that bad, but it's close. I wouldn't recommend this series for anything other than locking your worst enemy in a satellite and forcing him to watch, ala MST2K. I'm half-convinced that this started out as a (bad) fanfiction written by the child of some Pioneer executive, and that executive then forced the company to make it into a TV series. And apparently he was unable to get the artists that worked on the previous series; I can only assume that they didn't want to be invovled in a project this bad. Perhaps someone who hasn't already seen either Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe would be more forgiving, but that's only because they'd be unaware that most of the characters are a pale mockery of characters by the same name in those other series. Whether it's Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe that you prefer, do not be fooled. These characters may have the same names and voice actors as the ones you know and love, but they're not the Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, Washu, Kiyone, and Katsuhito that you know. Whatever it was you liked about those characters, you probably won't find more than the vaguest hint of it in Shin Tenchi's caricatures of them. Fans of Washu and/or Mihoshi are doubly warned; while nobody comes out very well in this series, these two fare by far the worst. Mihoshi in this series is rather like the Tenchi Universe version, if she had her brain surgically removed. She has no talents and no personality. And Washu is reduced from the greatest scientific genius in the universe to a downright incompetent mad scientist who seems to just be there to get bullied by Ryoko. Several episodes even go by with Washu completely absent, though as a fan of Washu, I consider that a blessing. If only Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, and everybody else had pulled similar disappearing acts...

And if you're hoping for the original characters to save this mess of a series, don't get your hopes up. The only one that's even vaguely interesting is the villain, Yugi, a pre-adolescent mutant girl with a vendetta against Jurai. Her henchmen, Hotsuma, Tsugaru, and somebody else whose name wasn't worth remembering, are all quite forgettable, and Sakuya, Tenchi's new love interest, is downright one-dimensional.

In addition, Shin Tenchi attempts to alter the near-perfect balance of humor, romance, and drama that makes Tenchi Muyo so great. They say you shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken, and this is a perfect example of what can happen when you try to. The balance I mentioned is gone, replaced by an unconvincing romance centered around quite possibly the most boring character in all of anime, moster-of-the-episode battles, and an overemphasis on slapstick comedy that more often than not just isn't funny. And Ryo-Ohki now transforms not into a spaceship, but giant pink rabbit-mech for Sasami to pilot. I rest my case.

In short, I suggest simply watching Tenchi Muyo or Tenchi Universe again, or if you've never seen them, watch them and not Shin Tenchi. There are moments when some of the greatness of the earlier series seems to shine through (no doubt a result of the minimal involvement that Masaki Kajishima, the creative genius behind the original Tenchi Muyo, was allowed to have in Shin Tenchi), but they're too few and far between to save the series.

Overall Rating: 0
Animation:0 Plot:0 Humor:0 Sound Track:7
Weight: 10 (Trustworthy Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=100511


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
they ain't really nothin to say about this anime, it jus a good show my niggas

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=356090


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
The story thus far (DVD vol. 6) is going nowhere, and the character designs are downright awful. I'm taking my losses and selling my DVDs.

Overall Rating: 3
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18391


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
Really, i mean REALLY terrible stuff. The Tenchi series has unfortunately been mutilated into this pile of crap that really isn't worth anybody's time.

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18390


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
crapulence. this show will be Tenchi's downfall.

Overall Rating: 0
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18389


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
For god's sake, when will AIC realize that Tenchi is a deadzone? Why can't that company come up with something other than another lame remake of a show that proved popular? If they tried to be original, which Tenchi is Tokyo proves they can't be, they might prove to be as influential as Gainax has with series like His/Her Situation and Evangelion.

This anime sucks. Just more recycling courtesy of the animation industry's worst foe, AIC.

Overall Rating: 1
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18386


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
tenchi in tokyo is the coolest animation so far right up there with Dragonball Z

Overall Rating: 10
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
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Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18385


Tenchi In Tokyo (Shin Tenchi Muyo)
The Tenchi in Tokyo series does have some differences from the other series. The animation is well... different, but it does satisfy the craving of wanting to know what happened after the TV series (Tenchi Universe). It is a wonderful series and is a must for Tenchi fans. Although Tenchi in Tokyo is a good series on its own, watching the previous Tenchi tv episodes will make watching this series more rewarding. As for the Tenchi OAV's I have not seen them yet therfore I am unable to comment on their effect on watching the Tenchi in Tokyo series. But as far as i know the Tenchi in Tokyo series is based upon the Tenchi tv series (Tenchi Universe).

Overall Rating: 8
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date:
By:
Link to this vote: http://www.excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=18384

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