Tenchi Muyo GXP Volume 2 (2002)
Released by: Funimation
Animation Production: AIC
Running Time: 125 Minutes
By Kakumei Shojo

The Premise

Unlucky Seina Yamada’s life is turned upside down when he becomes a member of the Galaxy Police! He finds himself surrounded by beautiful women all fighting for his attention, including his childhood crush Kiriko.

Story

Seina has passed all of Amane’s rigorous training and is now ready for his first official day of training in space. Once again his bad luck interferes and the spacecraft they are traveling on is attacked by pirates! Due to his consistent run-ins with the pirates Seina is promoted to captain of the Pirate Decoy Squad with Amane and Kiriko as pilot and navigator! Through his close interaction with his crew, Seina learns that some of the people in his life have a side to them better left unseen, and that you can find allies in the most unexpected places and people. Can Seina come to terms with what he discovers? Is Seina ready to handle the duties associated with his new title?

Review

This 2nd volume in Funimation’s release of Tenchi Muyo GXP features episodes 9 through 14 in the series, which include:

Episode 9: A Stormy Voyage
While on his first official day of training in space Seina’s bad luck brings him face to face once again with Space Pirates! It seems even Amane’s perfect record of 0 encounters with space pirates couldn’t negate Seina’s bad luck! How will Seina and his comrades stave off the pirate invasion?

Episode 10: Baptism
Due to his consistency of run-ins with space pirates in the most unexpected of places, the higher ups choose Seina to be a decoy to lure them out. But things quickly get out of hand when the son of one of the pirates captured by Jurai because of Seina’s interference is out for Seina’s blood! Now its up to Kiriko to rescue Seina, but in doing so she is forced to reveal a side of herself she never wanted him to see…

Episode 11: First Paychecks
As a result of their heroic efforts, Seina is made captain of the Pirate Decoy Squad with Amane and Kiriko at his side! The best part about the new position is the substantial increase in pay, and as a result they all decide to go shopping! But a misunderstanding between Seina and the girls leads to them spying on him. Unaware of what they are up to Seina haphazardly bumps into Elma. It appears something is wrong with her, but she refuses to talk about it. Can Seina help her?

Episode 12: The Vengeful and the Wounded
Seina and crew come across a young man who was horribly wounded in an attempt to flee the Space Pirates. He hands them a box, and tells them it must be safely delivered to Jurai. But the pirates want this box. They damage Seina’s ship severely once, crippling its warping ability, and Seina’s bad luck keeps bringing them right back into pirate crossfire time and again. With barely any supplies remaining, severe damage dealt to the ship, and everyone’s sanity hanging by a thread, it looks like Seina and crew are doomed. But unexpected allies might be the key to turning this dire situation around…

Episode 13: Old Reveals and New Deals
After escaping from the pirates with the help of Ryoko, Seina, Kiriko, Amane and Ryoko, a once adversary now turned ally, set off to deliver the box to Jurai. When they arrive they are greeted with a warm reception, but the Juraian princess Seto Sama is up to her old tricks once again! She attempts to choose suitors not only for Amane, buit Kiriko and Ryoko! Meanwhile, Seina turns to Jurai to assist with repairing the damage to the ship.

Episode 14: Neju Who?
Seto Sama is unable to repair the ship so she gives Seina a new ship created by the scientist Washu. All she asks of Seina and the girls in return is to safely transport Neige san, a mysterious little girl who adores Seina. But things are not always what they seem. While Seina spends time enjoying Neige chan’s company, the girls have a hunch she is more than she seems and try to expose her for what she really is. And what is that exactly?

As the second volume of Tenchi GXP began, I was glad to see the story pick up right where it left off at the end of the first volume, sans all the tedious sexual humor. After living with Amane and her housemates for a brief time, Seina is back at the academy and training. He is reunited with his dorm mates while on their first lesson in space, and the three get themselves into trouble. His bad luck once again brings Seina and his companions in direct contact with Space Pirates, and not even Amane or Seiryo can save them! Although there is some sexual content in this episode, it does not dominate the story. Instead, it provides humor through what could otherwise be a very intense moment in the series, and is done in such a way that its funny as opposed to raunchy.

While the series is overall humorous, there are serious moments which add depth to the characters. Episode 10 is the darkest and most serious of the episodes in this volume. Seina is being hunted by the son of one of the pirates who was imprisoned by the Juraian princess due to Seina’s unintentional interference. He seeks revenge, and wants Seina to suffer greatly before ending his life. Kiriko must rescue Seina, but in doing so, Seina learns a side of her he never knew existed and it terrifies him. By the 11th episode, Seina is made captain of the Pirate Decoy Squad, and is still trying to come to terms with what he learned about Kiriko.

All of the characters continue to develop underlying facets to their personalities that they keep hidden from each other. When they surface, the results can be disturbing or hilarious. The main idea behind the plot is that many of the people in Seina’s life are not what they appear to be, and the audience learns this simultaneously with Seina, which allows for some unexpected surprises.

The characters have been established for this story, and have been fleshed out well. Of course, the 3 girls’ differences in personality cause conflict, especially in regards to Seina. However, the bickering is kept to a minimum in comparison to Tenchi Muyo, which in my opinion is a good thing. The girls work very well as a team and do whatever is necessary to get the job done.

Episode 11 is a good character episode for everyone, especially Seina and Elma. It is well-balanced with comedy regarding Amane and Kiriko and revelations about Elma which lead to a rather serious situation. While Amane and Kiriko spy on Seina believing him to be up to something perverted, Seina runs into Elma, who is acting strange. Seina attempts to help Elma, but ends up being the one in need of help. This episode demonstrates Seina’s awkward, yet kindheartedness. It is a perfect example of how he is able to get himself out of what appears to be a hopeless situation, and why the women in Seina’s life care so much for him.

Not only does Seina impress his comrades, but also his superiors. It is evident why Seina is made captain of the Pirate Decoy Squad. His sense of loyalty to his companions is very strong, and Seina will do anything to protect them and assist them. Seina’s supposed bad luck appears to be a blessing in disguise. Although his bad luck initially leads him into one bad situation after another, the outcome is always the best it could be for Seina. Through his constant run-ins with the pirates Seina learns just how many allies he has.

Although Tenchi GXP is a series with a simple plot, there is a surprising amount of character development and story to this lighthearted sci fi comedy; much like the original Tenchi. The snappy dialogue and humor propel the story quickly from episode to episode, and the depth provided for the main characters make the story that much more engaging.

If the style looks familiar that is because all the visuals were done by AIC. This is the same studio that did Tenchi in Tokyo. However, since I had watched the OAVS first, followed by the TV series, the drastic change in style from the TV series and OAVS took some getting used to. AIC does a good job of continuing the same kinds of site gags and basic style as the original Tenchi animators. The animation style works much better for Tenchi GXP, since this is a new story with new characters and style. The use of cell shading is fantastic, as the animation style is fairly simplistic. The artists use bold colors and dark outlines around the characters to make them stand out, but the cell shading provides a subtle way of incorporating a very different look to the series.

As for the voices, both the English and Japanese casts hold their own admirably, but I was especially impressed with Amane’s Japanese voice actress, who can rant a million miles per hour. I didn’t know it was possible for anyone to babble that fast and still sound coherent! From what I have seen, everyone seems to be well-matched vocally to their characters, but I will need to see the rest of the series to determine if they handle the serious aspects (which remain to be seen) of the story well.

Like Tenchi, the events that cause the complete upheaval of Seina’s life are introduced rather quickly. The series is fast paced, light-hearted, and humorous. The fact that Seina carries bad luck around him like a curse that not only affects him, but everyone around him adds a clever and incredibly humorous touch to this series, and provides some unpredictability as to what will happen next.

Very nice transfer. Good picture quality, clear lines for the characters, and only a minute bit of color bleeding on the outlines around the characters. The CG (cell shading in this case) was clean and not too stark against the animation either. The sound quality for this DVD was nice. The music and dialogue were well-balanced, so that the music was background, but still very audible. Both the English and Japanese were mixed very well.

Like the first volume, this DVD also has fairly standard extras including textless opener and closer, and character profiles, which consist of a single screen with a picture of the character and basic information.

Final Thoughts

My concerns brought on from the first volume of Tenchi GXP were thankfully laid to rest in volume 2. The random sexually explicit gags that in my opinion went on entirely too long in the last 2 episodes were causing some concern, but luckily (although there still continues to be some sexual humor) the series does not rely entirely upon these to get laughs or further the plot.

As the characters continue to develop and more is revealed about them, they become increasingly likeable. It was also refreshing to see that none of the characters are trying to emulate the chemistry or characters from the Tenchi OAVs. I was a little concerned that Tenchi GXP was trying to replicate what the original Tenchi series so successfully accomplished, but now I do not believe this to be the case. Having said this, I am hoping there will be some more back story for Amane, Kiriko, and Ryoko as to how they became involved with the GXP and in Ryoko’s case piracy. I like the characters a lot and am hoping more will be revealed about them over time.

The story continues to delicately handle allusions to the original Tenchi Muyo characters, as they are mentioned in passing, but are not actual characters in the story. Tenchi GXP is great as a standalone series set in the Tenchi universe. The only negative in my opinion is the abrupt transitions from silly to serious. As much as I enjoy the humor in the series I also like the serious moments as they tend to reveal important information regarding the characters, or development in the relationships between characters. I am enjoying Tenchi GXP much more than I thought I would. I like the simple, yet entertaining plot and look forward to how the remaining episodes will be handled, the characters developed, and the story revealed.

Kakumei Shojo