AnimeFlow's Conclusion: El Hazard 2: Tape 2 and Tenchi Forever

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El Hazard 2: Promise for Reunion

Genre: comedy/fantasy

Length: 60 minutes (2 episodes)

Audience Age: 13+

Opinion: No El Hazard fan should be let down by this bonus story to the anime universe.

This is a review of the subtitled VHS version.

Check out the rest of this critique at AnimeRuss.blogspot.com - For those curious about anime but hate the geeks

Techi Muyo! In Love 2

Techi Muyo! In Love 2

Tenchi Forever: The Movie

Genre: dramedy/sci-fi fantasy
Length: 95 minutes (Theatrical Film)
Audience Age: 16+

Opinion: The only addition to the series that can make any anime fan respect "Tenchi Muyo!".

This is a review of the dubbed VHS version.

Die Hard Game Fan's critic's favorite anime of 2000.

Like every other "Tenchi Muyo!" theatrical addition, the film starts with a seemingly normal day for Tenchi that is until an argument between Ryoko and Ayeka forces him to flee into the forest near their house. Looking for some peace and quiet, to his surprise he sees a bud of a camellia tree, but it is out of season. He searches for and finds this beautiful plant which seems to draw him into it. 

Six months later, Tenchi has yet to return from his trek into the woods. Ayeka and Ryoko have gone to Tokyo to find him while the other girls have gone to Planet Jurai and the Space Science Academy to find out where he could have gone. Could Tenchi have gone to another world or, as Washu has hypothesized, another dimension? What does Yosho know about the tree he planted? If you recall why Tenchi ran off, does he even want to comeback? Despite no one's life maybe on the line, this could be one of the gravest scenarios.

No matter how tedious Tenchi Muyo! is, I never mind seeing new stories about the series' hero. Tenchi never seems to disappoint its fans, so when "Tenchi Forever" came out, I had to pick it up. Surprisingly, I did not expect it to be so great and that it also earned the 16 Up rating by being the most mature and sophisticated Tenchi installment ever.

What a brilliant film for a TV/OVA (Original Video Animation) series. Tenchi Forever's colors are bland (possibly for dramatic effect), there are not many technical advances over the other series, and by no means is it as funny as the lamest Tenchi episodes. But its ability of finding how to use the main characters to their full dramatic potential puts it above the rest of the series.

This film nearly being a total drama justifies its Japanese theatrical release by having the essential dark and dreary plot, but it makes it work which is a rarity for spin offs to the big screen. Perhaps some characters are under utilized and I found the ending somewhat disappointing (an issue of personal taste/ideals), nothing else from the film can bring it down from being the top release of all Tenchi series.