Yay, Tenchi spin-off.
As expected, the only thing it’s got in common is the main character’s design and name. Oh, and a harem that comes into being for even LESS reason than Tenchi’s. Of course, all the girls, queen included (but not the the suspicious tsundere), start falling for Kenichi the instant they lay eyes on him. It must be in the Masaki genome.
Random thoughts and screenshots below the fold:
They finessed having to update the Tenchi mythos by a simple expedient: Kenichi starts the story already in this alternate world, and working as an assassin for the bad guys.
Obviously, most of the brains in the family went to the elder sibling. Dude. Never trust a guy in a mask. He’s either a villain who will betray you, or worse, a superhero who will inevitably cause you to be kidnapped by the master villain and used for purposes of blackmailing said hero into submission. Which never works, since the ungrateful rat bastard always risks your life defying the bad guy. Yeah, works for him, HE’S the friggin’ hero.
Oh wait, where was I? Episodes are an hour long. That’s just….weird. Is this an OVA? There are next episode previews…
The delay in bringing this out may have been to work on the female character designs — they’re actually attractive now.
Well, some of them. This was her best shot; after this, she just looks…overdone. Hyperinflation should remain an economic problem. Note that while cuddled up with those, Tenchi Kenichi mutters both “Nee-san” and “Nii-san.” Sleepy Kenichi is confused Kenichi. Maybe he was giving them nicknames? “Hiya, boys!”
You could nibble on her ears quite a while.
Young Queen is very confident for someone in the cross-hairs of a treacherous “supporter.” Hi, Nagi! Oh wait, you can’t be Nagi, you actually have boobs.
How come protagonists only flash the tsundere?
We don’t get much of a sense of anything from Kenichi. He’s a rarity, a male mecha pilot in this world. It’s established that he is insanely good, has unusual abilities, is a badass in hand to hand, but there’s no sign as to whether he can do light-hawk wings. He’s not really wild about killing the queen; he just wants to go home. He’s not smart enough to realize that promises made by people in masks usually aren’t worth anything.
Ohhh! It’s Kallen vs CC! Um, no wait. They were actually sexy, as opposed to these two…..
Looking at her ain’t hard, but I keep thinking I queued up an episode of Lodoss War by mistake.
Well, anyway, Kenichi gets badly sick with some local disease, and the women all nurse him back to health to end the episode. Generic plot: young princess has just been crowned queen; certain parties don’t want to see her live. They’re playing against the tropes here, as she knows exactly who is trying to kill her, and she isn’t so much confident of winning as she is enjoying the contest of wits and strength. She’s coming across as less interested in running the country than she is in proving she can defeat her rival. Not that she seems to have a lot of assets; for 3/4 of the show she’s traveling in a flying castle to some holy land, and is practically undefended; two mechas are her sole defense.
Oh, did I mention? This show has mechas. Oh dear. Suckage will commence in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1….
Seriously, I’ve seen much worse this season. MUCH worse.
GXP continues to stand as the best part of the franchise, I think.
No argument, but we’re only one episode in so far. Not that I’m expecting this to surpass it. What really irks me is that the Tenchi connection is utterly superfluous. It’s only there to get people to watch it; in no way does it seem germane to the story.
Oh and one more observation. Third picture, girl on the far left with her back to the camera. Yes, that’s an alligator clip. I mean, I would expect something more decorative, but these look like she just snatched them off a desk and stuck them in her hair…which is entirely possible, as she’s a tech/gearhead and somewhat disreputable mad scientist; it appears that she’s just invented gunpowder, or at least guns. At one point, she brings out a clumsy tank to defend the castle.