Episode 2: Here Comes Aeka!
- of the 1st OVA series -
Synopses by John 'Furball' Yung
Editing by Scanner
Invaluable help from Takumi Hawa
A tree standing in a huge domed room receives familiar-looking beams of light. Two wooden robotic guardians, Azaka and Kamidake, rotate in their places, summoning Aeka to the bridge. She awakens from her sleep and asks if they are back at Jurai. She is told that they are not at Jurai but at the planet where the pirate Ryoko is imprisoned. Aeka gets agitated at the mention of that name, saying that she is not interested in this information, but she is told that Ryoko's sentence is almost over. Aeka looks to the stars, wondering if she'll find her older brother.
Back in his room on Earth, Tenchi tries to deal with the discovery of Ryoko in his bed. She is interested in getting the power gems in the sword's pommel, because she needs them to call her ship, Ryo-oh-ki. Tenchi refuses to give the sword to her, so they struggle for it. After pinning the boy on his bed and wrestling the sword from his grasp, she discovers that the sword has defenses of its own. Realizing that Tenchi has some control over the sword, Ryoko tries to beg Tenchi for the power gems in the sword's pommel.
Tenchi's father, wondering what the ruckus upstairs is all about, peeks into his son's bedroom and sees the two. "My son! With a woman! Wouldn't his mother be proud of him!" [Remember, an alternate translation of the title (besides "This Side Up") is "Good-for- nothing Tenchi". A great Japanese pun for the title.] Ryoko explains that she needs the gems to protect herself from "an evil woman who will come after her."
Aboard her ship, the Ryuu-oh, Aeka sneezes and looks around. The guardians inform her that they have found Ryoko. Aeka gives orders to close in on her enemy, believing that Ryoko can answer for her brother's whereabouts.
Tenchi's father climbs up a ladder with a camcorder, hoping to capture his son's transition into manhood. Then he notices Aeka's ship hovering overhead.
"Ryoko, come out. I know you're down there," orders Aeka. When she doesn't receive any reaction, she orders a warning shot.
"Do you understand?" Ryoko asks Tenchi, who agrees. "All you have to do is will the gems over to me," she informs him. When the process is over, she complains, "Only one?!?" Tenchi sarcastically responds, "I thought so." Settling for one (at the moment), she summons Ryo-oh-ki from its sleep under the lake near the family shrine.
Aeka's ship detects the approach of Ryo-oh-ki, and she orders a barrage to prevent the pirate ship from reaching its owner to little avail. Tenchi and Ryoko are beamed aboard, and Tenchi's home and father are digitized by Ryo-oh-ki. They put up a brief exchange in trying to escape from Aeka, but they are captured.
Aeka tries torturing Ryoko for information about her brother and how Ryoko had the sword aboard Ryo-oh-ki. All she gets is the answer, "Ask Tenchi." Then Aeka is told by one of her robotic servants that it's almost her bedtime. She leaves reluctantly, with Ryoko taunting her.
Tenchi finds himself in a weird cell where the roots which form the bars which automatically close in wherever he tries to squeeze through the openings. While attempting to cut through the roots with a pocket knife, he meets a young girl who introduces herself as Sasami. She frees Tenchi, asking if he would play with her. Looking at Sasami's key, Tenchi sees that it resembles the sword. He then checks himself and discovers that the sword is missing from his person. He tells Sasami that he lost his sword. Sasami thinks for a moment and answers that she knows somebody who would know where it is.
Aeka prepares for bed, wondering where her older brother is. When the lights go out in her bedroom, Tenchi sneaks in to steal the sword back but is caught in the act. Aeka sends the Azaka and Kamidake after Tenchi. Running for his life, Tenchi picks up a giggling Sasami (who thinks that this is all a neat game). She directs Tenchi to a detour which deposits them near Ryoko's cell.
Tenchi inadverdantly frees Ryoko, and Sasami asks Tenchi "Ne, ne, oni-san. Oba-san wa dare? (which can be translated as, "Who is this old lady?" ^_^)" Ryoko demonstrates that she is sensitive about her age, despite being over 700 years old. [When Ryoko insists that she is an "one-san" instead of an "oba-san," she is not saying that she's related to Sasami (and Aeka). It is customary for Japanese children to refer to other people as relatives. Sasami recognizes Tenchi's sword as "Tenchiken", which belonged to her brother Yosho.
Aeka arrives with Azaka and Kamidake, asking what Sasami is doing with such evil people. Ryoko tries taking Sasami hostage, but she gets entangled in vines by Aeka. Sasami tries protecting Tenchi from being captured by one of the guardians, but Tenchi, since he has the tenchiken, the master key, takes control over the vines, surprising Aeka since only people of Jurai could control them. Aeka asks Tenchi where did he get Yosho's sword? Tenchi looks a bit confused and replies that Yosho has been dead for a long time.
Ryoko takes advantage of the situation to summon Ryo-oh-ki, which pierces through the bottom of the Ryuu-oh. She takes Tenchi with her, leaving a dazed Sasami. Ryoko tries exacting revenge on Aeka by pushing Aeka's ship toward Earth. Only the core of Aeka's ship survives re-entry through the atmosphere, and both ships skip across part of (Tokyo?) bay, crashing into a bridge.
The next day, the wrecked bridge is reported on television with some speculation over the cause of its collapse. Tenchi's father comments on the generosity of Tenchi's grandfather for letting them stay at his home by the shrine. Tenchi is told by his father to eat more, but the boy has little appetite this morning. Ryoko remarks about how delicious the meal is and also encourages Tenchi to eat. She also mentions that he was kept from harm by her during re-entry, so she wonders if she'll get any thanks from him. Sasami mentions that the reason they survived reentry was because of Ryuu-oh's explosion which cushioned them. Tenchi's father asks where the other girl is at the moment. Aeka stumbles back from pulling wooden boards from the wreckage. She passes by the room, asking Sasami why she is eating and not helping with salvaging the Ryuu-oh from the lake. Sasami replies that the Ryuu-oh is beyond repair. Aeka runs off toward the lake and trips, throwing her armful of wooden boards which bounce off her ship's core, causing it to sink. Aeka is left crying that she cannot leave this awful place.
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