Episode 4: Mihoshi Falls to the Land of Stars
- of the 1st OVA series -
Synopses by John 'Furball' Yung
Editing by Scanner
Invaluable help from Takumi Hawa
A mysterious ship cruises along in space, dwarfing the fleet of starships intent on stopping it. The giant shrugs off the barrage of missiles fired at it and responds by brushing against the fleet, easily destroying the tiny starships.
At the Galactic Police headquarters, the branch officer receives a report from the GP Commissioner that Kagato has been sighted in a certain sector, along with an order to send someone to investigate what Kagato is up to. The sub-branch officer brings coffee. As the branch officer starts to sip from his cup, he asks which officers are available. Informed that Mihoshi is the only one that can take the case, the branch officer does a double take and asks if the sub-branch officer is sure that Mihoshi is the only one available. The sub-branch officer asks why his superior is so upset, since Mihoshi is the commissioner's daughter. The branch officer then explains that the piles of paperwork on his desk are due to Mihoshi's incompetence.
Passing by a ringed planet is Mihoshi's ship. An emergency call comes in, with no one at the con. The reason is shown in the crew's quarters where Mihoshi is watching a show. She quickly demonstrates why her superior officer has qualms about putting her on any assignment. She answers the emergency with her uniform in disarray. The sub-branch officer lectures Mihoshi about proper GP conduct as she straightens her uniform, and he gives her the assignment of finding Kagato and observing his activities -- just observe, no more. Mihoshi does not quite grasp her orders exactly, saying that she'll find Kagato and put a stop to his criminal activities. The sub-branch officer tries to correct Mihoshi, but her mind is set on stopping Kagato.
The ship's computer asks if she wants briefing on her mission, which she first intently listens, but she lets her attention wander as the briefing drones on. She fiddles around with her control cube, causing the garbage to eject, the lights to fluctuate, objects to appear and fall out of mid-air. Frustrated, Mihoshi cries out, "All I wanted was a cup of coffee!" The briefing ends, and she gets set to head for the disturbance. Mihoshi opens throttle, and the ship starts to stall until she kicks a deckplate. The engines roar, and she is on her way.
Back on Earth, a van pulls up to a house. Sasami bounds out of the van, beckoning for her sister to follow. Aeka tells Sasami to behave now that they are at Tenchi's grandmother's home. The grandmother steps out to greet Tenchi's father, asking if Aeka is Tenchi's new girlfriend. Our hero is relegated to the task of unloading the luggage from the van. Ryoko appears, asking Tenchi for the same favor that he gave Aeka out in the shed. She figures that he did something special because of Aeka's change in attitude towards him. Tenchi insists that nothing really happened and tells Ryoko to leave him alone, which she does in a huff.
"Peeking?!?" exclaims Tenchi. His father hushes him, explaining his plan to peek at the women's side of the onsen [bathing pools]. Tenchi sighs with resignation, "They'll kill you if they discover you," as his father scales the bamboo wall separating the sides.
Ryoko greets Tenchi's father and asks him what he's doing with genuine curiosity. Surprised, the man panics and falls backwards into the pool. Tenchi mutters [something] and looks up, only to be surprised by Ryoko standing on the men's side of the onsen. Ryoko complains that the men's side is so small and invites Tenchi over to the women's side. As he protests, she transports him.
As Ryoko teases Tenchi, Sasami walks out to the pool with Ryo-oh-ki on top of her head. Seeing him in the pool, Sasami is only glad that he is present to play with them. She points this out to Aeka who reacts in typical female fashion. Sasami goes after her sister and tries to drag her out. Ryoko helps bringing Aeka out to the pool area with a comment about leaving Tenchi alone with Ryoko.
Hoping to embarrass Aeka, Ryoko sees that her plan backfires when they both avert their eyes and spotlights symbolically shine down upon them. Getting over the initial shock of seeing Tenchi, Aeka wades into the pool. Ryoko decides to spice things up by undoing Aeka's towel. Tenchi almost drowns himself in trying not to look at Aeka. Sasami drags him out of the water, and after Tenchi thanks her, she teases him about being a pervert. When she gets her towel back from Ryoko, she also receives a taunt about her modesty as Ryoko compares their breasts' sizes. A slapping exchange ensues and escalates into fight using their powers.
Ryoko summons a water elemental. When the elemental doesn't charge, she gives it a kick and discovers that she has no control over it as it turns upon her. She uses a blast on the elemental, but it has no effect. She remains standing the bamboo wall until the monster proceeds to attack her. Aeka laughs at Ryoko's situation, but she attracts the elemental's attention. Ryoko looks around for Tenchi, telling him to fetch the sword.
Mihoshi is alerted by her ship's computer that they are being drawn into an energy vortex located on the third planet of a nearby star system. Mihoshi doesn't pay close attention, since her watch is broken. After being told about they can't do anything to prevent being drawn into the vortex, Mihoshi asks, "Oh, that's not good, is it?"
Aeka and Ryoko argue over who was responsible for the elemental's presence as they flee down a corridor. The grandmother becomes curious about the ruckus outside her room. Confused by the two women running past her, the grandmother becomes a victim of the elemental's foot as it chases the pair.
Tenchi returns to the onsen with the sword, wondering where the monster is. He is answered by the approaching ruckus as the elemental follows Aeka and Ryoko back. Tenchi steps up to the monster, but the sword doesn't activate. The monster sends Tenchi flying. He is still conscious when he lands, but the sword still won't activate. Aeka tells Tenchi to concentrate harder as she and Sasami avoid the elemental's attacks. The sword activates, and Tenchi slashes the monster. Unfortunately, the monster is able to reintegrate itself.
Suddenly the sky changes color. Ryoko recognizes the arrival of a starship, but the starship only makes it halfway out of the energy vortex before getting sucked back in. The elemental gets sucked up too, but Tenchi also goes along with it. Ryoko flies up to save him, only to get knocked out of his arms by an unconscious Mihoshi. The vortex disappears, and Tenchi and Mihoshi become subjected to the law of gravity again. After making a big splash, Aeka and Sasami run to Tenchi's side as Ryoko picks up Mihoshi's watch with a grim look on her face.
Mihoshi wakes up and introduces herself as a Galactic Police officer to Aeka and Sasami. Noticing that her watch is missing, Mihoshi looks around until Ryoko enters the room, asking, "Looking for this?" Mihoshi is relieved, but when Ryoko snatches the watch out of her grasp, she whines, "Why are you being mean? Please give it back!" Ryoko relents and gives the watch back to Mihoshi who notices that it's working again. Ryoko says that she fixed it. With a gasp, she asks, "Are you... Are you... Are you a watchmaker?"
Ryoko is insulted, and Sasami informs Mihoshi that Ryoko is a space pirate. "If Ryoko is the famous space pirate," Mihoshi concludes, "then the demon pirate ship Ryo-oh-ki must be nearby. Be careful, everyone, this is a dangerous situation." When Ryoko asks how close Ryo-oh-ki is, Mihoshi reads aloud the sensor readings on her watching, "This direction.. very close... 15 centimeters?!?" Looking up at the creature sitting on Sasami's head, Mihoshi asks, "This is...?"
"Ryo-oh-ki," Sasami cheerfully replies, "Cute, isn't it?" Ryo-oh-ki takes that opportunity to have a small bite of Mihoshi's gun. The answer proves too much for Mihoshi, who passes out. Ryoko breaks out laughing, and Tenchi bursts into the room wondering if there is any danger. Tenchi's grandmother drags his father ino the room, demanding an explanation. Everyone else sighs...
While most of the household is asleep, Sasami has a disturbing dream. She is standing before a huge, beautiful tree. Looking up, she sees a silohuette of the mysterious starship. A mysterious figure wavers into view, and as Sasami calls out, "Tsunami!" it swings down with a sword. She awakes and joins Ryo-oh-ki outside who is growling at the sky, asking, "Do you see something?" Up in the sky, a familiar silohuette appears across the moon. Ryoko also sees this and becomes disturbed.
A fire bursts to life in an alien hand and lights the cave where Ryoko was once emtombed. The figure from Sasami's dream grunts and teleports away in swirls of smoke. It re-appears aboard the ship in orbit in a cavernous room furnished with a pipe organ. Studying the sensor readings, it remarks, "So Yosho chased you all the way here, Ryoko..."
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