Tenchi Muyou! in Love 2: Harukanaru Omoi

It's refreshing to watch a theatrical anime done by cel, now that every other anime is done by CG. Usually cel anime are pretty poor in graphics, but theatrical ones tend to be very good in quality, like the one we have here, Tenchi Muyo in Love 2. This movie is done in 1999, which is more than 10 years old by now, but it's a gem. I found the DVD lying around in a sale for $1 and honestly I didn't have high hopes for it, but the content far exceeds its price. Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 brought back the excitement I once ... had for animation movies.

Story: 7/10

This movie is an original, meaning it's not a sequel/prequel to the TV/OVA whatsoever, borrowing just the concept/cast/background of Tenchi Muyo, which I like. The story's rather simple but intriguing, with an interesting twist. The pace of the whole show is set steadily and it gives a lot of room for thinking. The setting felt somewhat nostalgic and familiar. The tone is not as comical as the TV/OVA but a tad more serious.

Art: 9/10

The art of Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 is beautiful. I grew up with cel-art, but my generation belongs to CG, so I can appreciate both kinds of artwork, and the artwork is really really gorgeous. Environments are rendered realistically but it fits the mood and setting. The characters are also drawn in higher quality than in the series, with more care of the details and richer colour. There are a few new character designs that I think are better than the old.

Sound: 7/10

I don't usually pay attention to the music/sound unless it stands out, but definitely the sound/music helped to create the magical mood/setting of the show. The ending song is very appropriate and soothing as well.

Character: 8/10

There are some new characters in the movie and I like the characters as they are and how they fit into the movie. The older characters didn't get so much air time but I think each character is given enough screen time to make a significant impact on the main character. The main character gets a lot of development and gets shown in a different light than usual. I felt like I got to know the main character a lot more from this short 1-2hours than the whole TV/OVA series.

Enjoyment: 8/10

I enjoyed it a lot. It's my cup of tea. The ending was done rather well, and the length of the movie is just nice.

Overall: 8/10

Anyone who enjoys a good cup of a romance movie should try Tenchi Muyo in Love 2. It doesn't really matter if you watched the original series or not. Definitely a must watch for people who likes older anime and cel graphics.

"Look, a bear has come out of hibernation and is airing out its futon!" - probably the only good part of this film. I'm sharing it so you don't have to watch the whole thing. Okay, older Tenchi with long hair is nice, too.

For whatever reason this film has the worst art style of all three films, while simultaneously getting what looks like a technical upgrade. Faces are squashed. Ears are rectangular. Bodies are smushed. Most of the time the art team cannot seemingly draw boobs in clothing.

I have a thought that maybe the anime team/production company thought "okay, we had a movie where ... the team stalks a teenager the whole film, then the Christmas alien kidnap film, now what? Oh, I know, we'll have Tenchi get kidnapped, brainwashed, and sexually assaulted the whole film with a sort of thriller-esque tone as brainwashed Tenchi sort of gets that he's in an abusive relationship but can't do much about it because Haruna is too powerful I guess."

I'm also not sure what Haruna gets out of it. Sure, she's still in love with Yosho and maybe sexually attracted to Tenchi, but the first time we see them have sex she doesn't seem that thrilled. I'm not sure if it's a physical thing or because it's a psychologically empty relationship or something (I mean it's pretty clear she basically temporarily lobotomized him by screwing with his memories so anything she gets out of it would have to be purely physical). The movie apparently wants you to feel bad for her (see the umbrella scene; like oh no, she had to wait in the rain for a bit and move away from the entrance to a store, such tragic... 9_9) but like... she's doing a lot of really awful stuff so... um... no?

But we finally get an improvement over the dub :D dub!Yosho crying out for Haruna is awful. in the sub the voice actor did a far better job. Yippee!

Skip this.

This pure slice of life, hardcore melodrama, and sentimental. This anime explores the emotional attachment each of the females characters for the man they love. The story really attempts to give substance/depth of 2-dimensional characters but barley manages to scratch the minuscule surface of these emotions. It is a very shallow SLICE-OF-LIFE tale. This film is very forgettable.

The art style and shifts in art throughout the story are very interesting and different.

To get ANY ENJOYMENT from this film I would suggest watching Tenchi Muyo the TV series to understand the character relationships and motivations.

There are ... not actions scenes or fighting so if that is your thing you might be disappointed.

A suprisingly mature and meditative conclusion to a series who's selling point is asking the audience which alien broad they'd like to date. In fact it could be said the film rather uniquely explores the tropes of the harem genre from which it was birthed. Its heavy focus on the female characters is unique even for the relatively more female focused Tenchi Muyou franchise allows for an exploration of the emotional labour that would of course be associated with the harem or love triangle formula for all particpants. Even in the movie itself there's this strange tonal disonance between the ruminative almost mumble-core discussions on ... loss and nostalgia and the more high-concept sci fi set pieces though that gives it a unique charm.