By Joe Meadows BENE: This novel (comprising 24 chapters, a Prologue, and an Epilogue) is a sequel to the "Tenchi Muyo Television Series" ("Tenchi Universe"), with some "Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki!" original OAV series characters and elements included where--in the author's opinion--they don't conflict with "Tenchi Universe." For example, in order to flesh out a family background for Ayeka and Sasami, rather than create new characters, I used the existing parental figures of King Asuza and Queen Misaki from the OAVs. In order to bring the Galaxy Police more into the story, I re-instated the Grand Marshall as Mihoshi's grandfather and used an existing character from the Tenchi Muyo mangas, Chief Tor Bodai. And so on.
AIC and Pioneer LDC, whose kind indulgence I am counting on, own the copyrights on the original Tenchi Muyo characters. The character of Chief Tor Bodai was created by Hitoshi Okuda for the Tenchi Muyo manga series and is also copyrighted by AIC and Pioneer LDC. All truly new characters are my creation. Those characters and the actual story are copyright 2002 by yours truly. The lyrics for both versions of the theme song for "Speed Racer," the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album, the Beach Boys' "Surfing USA," the theme to "The Brady Bunch," and "That's Amore" are copyrighted by their various owners. The events that comprise the "Tenchi Universe" series are discussed in this novel; consequently, spoilers lurk within. Be warned. Please check out the "Chapter Notes" at the end of some of the chapters. Feedback is very welcome! I can be reached at and thanks for taking the time to read this novel.
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POSTSCRIPT THE SECOND
A Few Notes On The Novel
It is unusual to include such a postscript to a "fanfic." However, the many, many comments and questions I have received (over 100 emails) about this novel since I published it on the Net deserve response and new readers may well have the same comments and questions. This is a handy way to respond to them. Besides, some explanations really are in order, I will admit.
One quick appeal--please do not read this until you have read the novel. Spoilers, as always, lurk within.
"Tenchi Wakusei" is meant to be a fun read for Tenchi Muyo fans, especially the fans who enjoyed the "Tenchi Universe" television series and the first Tenchi movie ("Tenchi Muyo In Love"). I have aged the characters a couple of years and allowed them to grow and mature somewhat. Thus, in the novel, they display feelings and inner conflicts they only fleetingly revealed in the television series. That is because even the most masterly rendered anime cannot get into a character's psyche and soul the way the written word can. (Which is why there are fanfics.)
So, vis-à-vis the novel, readers should bear in mind that the original "Tenchi Universe" gang have "grown up" a bit, and have been obliged to live together for quite a spell. That means that all of them would have joined into a natural living rhythm and found ways to get along with each other-or at least to quell tempests before they got out of hand. This is why the gang seems more of a family in the novel than they were in the television series.
I'll continue by answering some of the specific questions and comments I've received about "Tenchi Wakusei, Book One."
QUESTION/COMMENT: How come Ryoko's so nice? Why isn't she ripping the place up and blasting Ayeka and stuff?
ANSWER: I know my somewhat "kinder, gentler" Ryoko may not please some of her fans-but recall that she had moderated her behavior quite a bit by the end of the television series. She is very soft in approaching Tenchi is the series' final moments and she makes a "fair fight" pledge regarding Ayeka. That moderation would logically continue once she was again ensconced in a houseful of other women and made aware that Tenchi would not chose a mate who could not cut it as the respectable wife of a Shinto priest.
Although in the novel Ryoko is "a real softie inside if she likes you," she still cuts no one (except Tenchi and Lord Yosho) any slack. She is sassy, smart-mouthed, loves to bedevil the others, not above a bit of snooping and skullduggery, and hell on wheels against her enemies. Ryoko fans, I trust, will enjoy that aspect of her in the novel.
The memorable firefights between Ryoko and Ayeka in "Tenchi Universe" logically could not continue due to the property damage involved (which I used to re-introduce the Masaki house's ceiling beams from the OAV series) and the effect they had in alienating Tenchi. Ryoko and Ayeka still fight, but do so in much less thunderous ways. In regards to our favorite royal personage.
Q/C: What's Ayeka doing, being so kind and helpful and smart? She's a snooty stuck-up royal bitch in the anime and (ad infinitum, ad nauseum).
A: Amongst Tenchi fandom, a vocal group exists that not only favors Ryoko for Tenchi, but also tends to demonize Ayeka. This is unfair and is not borne out in "Tenchi Universe" or in the OAV series, for that matter.
Ayeka can be snobbish, overbearing, condescending, willful, prudish, and lose her temper rather alarmingly. But most of that negative behavior is a consequence of her battle with Ryoko for Tenchi's love. Aside from her tête-à-têtes with Ryoko, Ayeka constantly proves to be kind, thoughtful, gentle, industrious, and nurturing. For example, this "snooty" woman almost immediately began sweeping the temple upon landing (crashing) on Earth in "Tenchi Universe," then took over management of the household just as her little sister, Sasami, assumed the cooking chores. In the OAV series, Ayeka often shows her gentle side and even goes so far as attempt to save Ryoko. Like Ryoko, Ayeka is a real softie inside if she likes you, and, unlike Ryoko, at least will treat you civilly even if she doesn't.
Furthermore, she is the First/Crowned Princess of planet Jurai and about to assume the throne of that uber-powerful dynasty. Thus, simply to have survived, she must have acquired political and diplomatic skills and knows very well how to handle people (aside from Ryoko). She simply puts those skills to use in the novel to help her friends.
Q/C: Tenchi is acting pretty grown-up all of a sudden. I thought he never drank alcohol.
A: Tenchi is now a college student, and after the "exam hells" and the general pressure cooker that is the Japanese middle school and high school system, students generally kick back in college. Tenchi does likewise. He is looser, more cosmopolitan, drinks beer, and does some silly things, like any college student. But he is also more mature, more take-charge, and he is acquiring his grandfather's wisdom and gravitas. My portrait of Tenchi is meant to point to the man that he, I believe, would and should become.a somewhat worldly young man with strong traditional morals and beliefs, who is having his last bit of freedom and fun before he trains for the Shinto priesthood in earnest.
Part of that aspect of letting his hair down (so to speak) is his singular friendship with the American transfer student, Tristram Xavier Coffin. Only during his wild-oats college days would Tenchi Masaki befriend such an uncouth and unrefined person. Even if Tris does have much of Japanese manners and etiquette down pat, even if he can speak Japanese well and even read it, he is still an American and his loud, bumptious nature would grate on Japanese sensibilities. Thus, Tris's friendship with Tenchi is a singular event, that could happen at no other time in Tenchi's life. I hope that is understood, for I have as much disdain for the usual "an American crashes the Masaki household" fanfics as anyone else. Speaking of which.
Q/C: Where did you get that name, "Tris Coffin," anyway?
A: It was chosen deliberately. In the 1930's, 40's, and '50's, Tris Coffin was a very minor leading man (usually a "heavy") in B-movies. His one claim to fame was that he starred in the terrific Republic Studios serial "King Of The Rocket Men." That serial inspired the Dave Stevens graphic novel and later Disney film, "The Rocketeer." I felt it apropos for Tenchi's American pal.
Q/C: Okay, okay, so Tris isn't the usual super stud Author Created Character (ACC) I've run across in fanfics. But his background isn't realistic. I'll bet he's also a Self Insertion (SI).
A: Actually Tris's background is realistic. I based it on the real-life teens, children of American service members whom I met while in Japan. The US Air Force maintains two large airbases in Japan. One, called Yokota, is located near Tokyo. Many American Air Force members there opt to serve several tours in Japan and their children consequently do likewise. Some of those families live off the base "in the economy," shoulder to shoulder with their Japanese neighbors. Over time, some of those service members' children learn to speak and even read and write Japanese and acquire close Japanese friends. There is any number of "Tris (and "Trish") Coffins" living in Japan even now.
Tris is an ACC, but he is not an SI. Not to come off like Leonard ("I am not Spock/Well, maybe I am, a little bit") Nimoy, but I am not Tris.
In fanfic, there is a universally despised type of SI called a "Mary Sue" or a "Marty Stu." A "Mary Sue" is that perfect reflection of the author who is just a super person, all of the characters like her immediately, a few fall in love with her, and she always saves the day, elbowing out the main characters in their own story. Is Tris a "Marty Stu"? No more than what any author would put of himself or herself in a character they created. Tris and I have some traits in common, but of all the Tenchi gang, I resemble Nobuyuki far more than I resemble Tris. Which means that Kiyone would, alas, never fall in love with me. Which, in turn, brings up another subject.
Q/C: Kiyone, our teal-haired goddess, fall in love with some lame Earth guy? No way! She's not interested in guys and, anyway, she deserves a Juraian nobleman or someone like that.
A: I think most "Tenchi Universe" fans see Kiyone as a highly competent galactic police officer whose career takes precedence over personal affairs. However, they also acknowledge that Kiyone is a warm, caring woman deep inside as well. However, there is a hard-core group of Kiyone fans who insist either she isn't prey to womanly feelings or that she wouldn't even consider dating anyone less worthy than the galactic equivalent of James Bond or the late Prince Rainier.
These fans are wrong. Both "Tenchi Universe" and the first two Tenchi films ("Tenchi In Love" and "Daughter Of Darkness") abound with evidence that Kiyone is a normal, warm-hearted, romantic-minded woman, even if she does keep it buried deep.
A small example: When Kiyone first meets Tenchi upon arriving on Earth to look for Mihoshi in "Universe," she laughs coyly and even partially covers her face with her hand. This is a typical Japanese young woman's reaction to meeting a man she finds handsome. In the first film, while the gang is spying on the young Nobuyuki and his future bride, Kiyone finds their courting romantic-she says so quite openly (as if she forgot herself for a moment). Indeed, her caring treatment of the "daughter" of Tenchi in the second film reveals a warm and affectionate inner self. And then there is "her" segment in the "Time And Space Adventures" in "Universe," where Kiyone clearly wants to live an emotionally secure life surrounded by caring and supportive friends. Finally, although I do not consider the "Pretty Sammy" OAV and television series anything like authoritative, the characters in it are meant to reflect the personalities of their counterparts in the Tenchi series. In the "Pretty Sammy" episodes, Kiyone is firmly interested in men.
Some Tenchi fans have opined that since neither Mihoshi nor Kiyone show any interest in Tenchi (or in guys, period) in "Universe," it's off base to give them romantic feelings. The answer to that is--when did poor Miho-Kiyo have time to meet and date men in the television series? Mihoshi hangs around the Masaki home (nowhere else to go) until Kiyone finds her, then they both work part-time jobs and their "real" job just to survive (they don't even have time to clean their dingy apartment). Then Kiyone gets promoted, leaves with Mihoshi, and both find themselves on the run from the Galaxy Police, the Juraian military, and just about everyone else. Those two barely have time to catch their breaths, much less date. And the reason neither of them overtly shows any romantic feeling toward Tenchi is that he's spoken for--and how! Of course, during the "Time and Space Adventures," Mihoshi fantasizes that she's married to Tenchi.
Yes, Kiyone is very career-minded and would sacrifice a lot to rise as fast as possible in her chosen profession. But, in the novel, she learns she can have a successful career and not live a barren existence--that's a part of truly growing up. Besides, when the right guy rolls around, "career-first" Kiyone would be as vulnerable as any woman. And if that guy happens to be normal rather than godlike, that's fully in the spirit of the Tenchi milieu. And while we're on the subject of that guy.
Q/C: Yeah, but Tris Coffin?
A: Well, opposites do attract. And when a person is down in the dumps and believes their life is in the toilet, someone who can shake them from their lethargy, make them laugh, make them feel attractive.that's a potent thing. It can lead to affection and eventually love. Timing is important for romance, too. Tris arrives in Kiyone's life when she could indulge in a flirtation--he's Tenchi's roommate, he's "in the know" about the alien women, and he'll go back to college in a few weeks. So, Kiyone, having nothing better to do than mope around, indulges in a light romance, or so she thinks. Had Kiyone encountered Tris under any other circumstances, it's likely she wouldn't have spared him a second (well, maybe a third) glance. Serendipity and timing have brought more couples together than dating services.
Q/C: I never thought of Kiyone coming from a lower-class background and having to really struggle against family and finances to make it through the Galaxy Police Academy. But it makes sense, given her personality.
A: I think it does, too. Recall Mitsuki's snide comment about money when she's cornered our heroine at GP Headquarters in "Universe"? In the novel, Kiyone had to borrow money and skimp to get through the Academy and also had to do without support from her parents and elder brother. That would help account for the explosive anger and frustration deep in Kiyone's psyche. Yes, Mihoshi frustrates her, but Kiyone's hair-trigger temper springs from more than that. Yet, as mentioned above, Kiyone has her soft and tender side as well. I felt such a person must have some old issues gnawing at her. That's why I saddled Kiyone with cold and disapproving parents and an elder brother who let those parents influence him, but eventually came to respect his younger sister.
Q/C: But Kiyone's real brother is named Seion, and-
A: No, that's a character created by another fanfic author.
Q/C: Kiyone and Tris are pretty physical. All that kissing! You know, don't you, that in Japanese anime and manga, that stuff is usually played down or not even shown.
A: Yes, I know that. But neither Tris nor Kiyone are Japanese and they usually smooch only when they're alone. Both of them would be regardful of their host's cultural sensibilities when around Tenchi and the rest of the gang. But when, to paraphrase Kiyone in the novel, there's a moon, just those two, and the place all to themselves.they're going to act like two normal young people. Kiyone is rather physical, anyway. She certainly is physical in taking out her frustrations (usually on Mihoshi) and I think she'd be just as physical in expressing affection and love. And while we're on the topic of Mihoshi.
Q/C: What's the deal with Mihoshi? She saves the day? Hah! She's of the nobility? Double hah! Four brothers? Make that three hahs! Where did you get that? And her grandfather was the GP Grand Marshall only in the OAV series, not the first TV series.
A: Again, I did mix OAV and television series elements deliberately, but only where they did not conflict with information we were given in "Tenchi Universe." We know zilch about Mihoshi's background in "Universe," so I had to develop one from scratch. I used the "grandfather is the Grand Marshall" element from the OAVs as a starting point. It made sense that a direct relative of such a lofty personage as the Grand Marshall would likely have some noble blood in her. Remember, in the novel, Lady Mihoshi is only a scion of her own planet's landed aristocracy, blue bloods who have nowhere near the eminence of the Jurai royal family. Mihoshi deliberately avoids the title of "Lady" because she thinks it cools people to her. She didn't mention that her grandfather is the Grand Marshall to Tenchi and the others in "Universe," granted. She also didn't mention that salient fact to Tenchi and the others in the OAV series, either.
Mihoshi Kuramitsu is sweet, warm-hearted, terminally immature, and scatter-brained. But she also made it into the elite Galaxy Police and has kept her position. She must have some competence if we are to regard the Tenchi series with any shade of reality. Remember, in the opening episode of "Universe," Mihoshi tracked down Ryoko, the most- wanted space pirate. No one else in the GP had. Alone, she took on the fearsome and awesomely powerful Ryoko, not only once, but twice. When she sees Tenchi take Ryoko in, Mihoshi has the patience and the smarts to wait until she can figure out what to do before she acts. She fails to capture Ryoko.but so does Kiyone a few episodes later (albeit with a little bumbling non-help from Mihoshi). So, Mihoshi does have some inner resources and she calls upon those inner resources in the novel.
In order to account for Mihoshi's innate sweetness and immaturity, I felt that she must have grown up overly protected by a family that doted over her, but without a mother's firm guiding hand. That equates to being raised by a father and brothers. Under those circumstances, our Mihoshi would have ended up either as a mega-brat or sweetness personified. Fortunately, it was the latter. Such a person would easily fall in love with a man who was nice to her (such as Tenchi and Tris) and she would adore any gift a man gave to her, especially a woebegone stuffed dog. And she would try to avoid conflict always. That makes her timid, even cowardly, to some folks. But, in some cases, she is perfectly right to do so. After all, if she captures a fugitive by letting the latter run out of ammo while firing at her rather than engaging in a battle, the outcome is still the same.and the fugitive comes out of it a live prisoner.
Q/A: You have a different take on Nobuyuki. He's not the letch he is in the TV series.
A: Actually, he does have his private reactions to the beautiful and sexy alien women living in his midst in the novel. In "Universe," the series had a few yuks over Nobuyuki's "dirty middle-aged man" antics, but most of the time, Nobuyuki was a quite sober presence (he even beat Yosho at Go!). Every culture has its comic conventions (such as men dressing up like women in British comedy) and one of those conventions for the Japanese is the dirty old/middle-aged man. Nobuyuki represents that guaranteed-laugh element in the Tenchi series. But he's more than that.
Nobuyuki is Tenchi's father and some of Tenchi's good qualities must have come from him. Also, a Japanese father wants the respect of his son perhaps even more so than a Western father does. So, he would make an effort to repress his baser reactions once he sees that they repel his son. Aside from that, Nobuyuki is a typical hardworking, loyal, and steadfast "salaryman" and the breadwinner for the extended Masaki family.
Q/A: But a romance with Washuu? Isn't that kind of like child molestation?
A: No, because (1) Washuu Hakubi is a grown woman who's been around (not always conscious, though) for hundreds of years and (2) Nobuyuki knows that. In the "Tench Universe" series, the notion of "Little Washuu" gets very little play. Unlike in the OAVs, Washuu spends no time trying to act like a little kid aaside from the one-time request to be called "Little Washuu"--which no one ever does, by the way. At any rate, she'd still a grown woman, can certainly set her cap for a man when she chooses and can make herself attractive when she tires of winging through life solo. Nobuyuki may seem an odd choice, but, over time, folks do develop attachments and we know that Nobuyuki is far from being ready for the rocking chair brigade.
Well, I hope this helps answer some questions about "Tenchi Wakusei, Book One." In regards to whether there will be a "Tenchi Wakusei, Book Two"...well, anything is possible in the "world" of Tenchi! Cheers! And thanks for the kind and thoughtful feedback on the novel. It has made writing it well worth the effort.