backed up from useless tenchi
Frank White wrote:
> leo86@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > In the first OAV ep., Ryoko chases and attacks Tenchi with the desire
> > to get revenge. Yet a few eps. later she's fondly recalling Tenchi as
> > a baby and a little boy visiting the shrine. If she knew who he was and
> > so fondly recalled him, why is she attacking him so hard in the first
> > ep.?
>
> There have been a variety of explanations as to why Ryoko did
> this, some of them quite entertaining (eg, Ryoko doesn't know
> Earth mating customs. So she was taking the straight forward
> route of pretend-fighting Tenchi, losing to him, and then insisting
> he ravage her as spoils of war! That's why she was in Tenchi's
> bed after the fight, and if Ayeka hadn't shown up, things would
> have gotten X-rated pretty fast...) The real explanation appears
> to be that the writers started out the OAV planning to have the
> characters have the personalities and relationships that we later
> saw in the TV series; but then realized they could tell a better
> tale with some changes and different backstories...
>
> FW
Interestingly enough, an early draft of the episode 5 script written by
K-sensei has Ryoko explaining why she attacked Ryoko. Since I happen
to have a translation at my fingertips, I'll share it. The translation
not by me, and is taken from the doujinshi "Tenchi Sokuhou"; that's the
one with Ryoko and 'Tennko' on the cover. I decided to include the
whole scene since it helps us to understand Ryoko more (IMO).
*Text below is a direct quote*
Ryoko pours sake for Ayeka.
Ayeka: "Hey, let me ask you something.... Why are you here?"
Ryoko: "'Why'... What do you mean?"
Ayeka receives a bottle from Ryoko and pours sake into Ryoko's teacup.
Ayeka: "I mean you lost to Yosho-niisama and got trashed wham! bam! and
sealed in that mountain for 700 years. Don't you hold a grudge against
niisama?"
Ryoko: "I already took it out. On Tenchi."
Ayeka: "I guess you mean when you destroyed Tenchi-sama's school. But
that's very minor harassment for someone like you."
Ayeka moves her face closer to Ryoko.
Ayeka: "What kind of an attitude change is that?"
Ryoko: "It's nothing special.... In the old days I certainly felt
bitter enough to want to kill him. For the first 100 years or so."
Ayeka: "Only 100 years?"
Ryoko: "I think 100 years is already a lot. For 700 years all I could
do every day was think. I was thinking and thinking and before long I
lost track of what the heck I'd been thinking at first. I lost the
reason I was holding a grudge against Yosho!"
Ayeka: "... 700 years is indeed a long time."
Ryoko: "Even so, I still hated being locked up indefinitely. To break
the barrier, I was going to use the energy of my own body to make...
look, here..."
Ryoko shows Ayeka the gem on her left hand.
Ryoko: "I was going to make a replica of this."
Ayeka: "Aha, so that's how you became a mummy. But if you weren't
holding a grudge, why did you give Tenchi-sama hard time?"
Ryoko: "Because he opened the seal 3 days before the gem would have
been complete."
Ayeka: "... No way... just because of that?"
Ryoko: "I'd been working on it for 500 long years! I wanted to complete
it and undo the seal on my own... and then I'd been thinking about all
kinds of ways to surprise them."
Ayeka rolls her eyes.
Ayeka: "That's you all right."
Ryoko: "You can't change your personality so easily."
Ryoko looks up at the window.
Ryoko: "It's snowing quite hard... hehe."
Ryoko laughs as though she'd recalled something.
Ayeka: "What's the matter? That's creepy."
Ryoko: "That... I guess it was about 10 years ago. The replica was
nearing completion and I got my sight and hearing back, so I thought
I'd take a peek at what it's like outside after a long while... Hehe...
Guess what the first thing I saw was."
Ayeka ponders.
Ayeka: "... So, what on earth did you see?"
Smiling at Ayeka's question, Ryoko turns her face towards the window in
nostalgic recollection and takes a sip of sake from her teacup.
Ryoko's reminiscence.
Masaki shrine. At first the scene is blurred and can't be seen well.
Stifled crying can be heard.
Ryoko: "Who is this? Crying..."
The blurred scene becomes clearer little by little.
Right under a small shrine, little Tenchi is crouched down and crying.
Tenchi is trying to hold back his uncontrollable sobbing.
Tenchi: "Okaachan..."
Murmuring thus, he covers his face. His shoulders keep trembling
slightly.
Ryoko in her spirit body appears next to Tenchi and places her hand
upon Tenchi's head.
Ryoko: "Your mother has died? Oh, this is Yosho's..."
Ryoko looks at Tenchi for a while and squats down next to him.
Snow begins to fall.
Ryoko looks up at the sky and back at Tenchi, but Tenchi makes no
attempt to move from the spot.
Ryoko: "700 years. I guess it's been a long time for him too."
Ryoko holds her left hand up to the sky and the snow falling around
Tenchi is obstructed as though by a wall and melts away.
Ryoko puts her arm around Tenchi's shoulders.
The ground is becoming white, only around Tenchi the snow is not
accumulating.
Summer. Tenchi is peeking into the shrine, holding a net and an insect
cage. Katsuhito can be heard shouting behind him. Tenchi turns around
in surprise.
As he's turned, Ryoko is standing behind him.
Fall. Tenchi, an elementary school third-grader, is making a bonfire.
He pokes the fire with a stick, pulling out a baked sweet potato.
He's forced to drop the potato because it's too hot. The potato starts
rolling downhill.
Tenchi races after it.
Ryoko is standing next to the fire, laughing.
Winter. Tenchi, in the first year of middle shcool, walks by, holding a
broom.
Tenchi stops and turns towards the shrine for a moment. He starts
walking again.
Ryoko is sitting on the shrine, watching Tenchi.
Spring. Tenchi, now in high school, stands, studying the shrine.
He picks up the bag next to him, turns around and heads down the
stairs.
Ryoko sees him off, looking sad.
Summer. Tenchi is holding a key and trying to open the shrine.
Back to the two in the bathtub.
Ayeka: "So you're trying to say you've been watching Tenchi-sama for 10
years, ever since being dumbfounded by his teary face?"
Ryoko turns away from the window towards Ayeka.
Ryoko: "He was so adorable."
There are two additional empty half-gallon bottles next to Ayeka.
Ayeka: "What an embarrassingly tall tale."
Ryoko: "You must be envious to say something like that."
Ayeka: "No I'm not."
Ayeka tries to move closer to Ryoko, but sinks into the bathtub.
Ryoko: "What a mess. Did you already get drunk from so little sake?"
Ryoko tries to approach Ayeka to pull her up. She sinks just the same.
*End of direct quote*
To the translator (whom I won't name), you still have my eternal
thanks! ^_^
Frank White wrote:
> leo86@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> > In the first OAV ep., Ryoko chases and attacks Tenchi with the desire
> > to get revenge. Yet a few eps. later she's fondly recalling Tenchi as
> > a baby and a little boy visiting the shrine. If she knew who he was and
> > so fondly recalled him, why is she attacking him so hard in the first
> > ep.?
>
> There have been a variety of explanations as to why Ryoko did
> this, some of them quite entertaining (eg, Ryoko doesn't know
> Earth mating customs. So she was taking the straight forward
> route of pretend-fighting Tenchi, losing to him, and then insisting
> he ravage her as spoils of war! That's why she was in Tenchi's
> bed after the fight, and if Ayeka hadn't shown up, things would
> have gotten X-rated pretty fast...) The real explanation appears
> to be that the writers started out the OAV planning to have the
> characters have the personalities and relationships that we later
> saw in the TV series; but then realized they could tell a better
> tale with some changes and different backstories...
>
> FW
Interestingly enough, an early draft of the episode 5 script written by
K-sensei has Ryoko explaining why she attacked Ryoko. Since I happen
to have a translation at my fingertips, I'll share it. The translation
not by me, and is taken from the doujinshi "Tenchi Sokuhou"; that's the
one with Ryoko and 'Tennko' on the cover. I decided to include the
whole scene since it helps us to understand Ryoko more (IMO).
*Text below is a direct quote*
Ryoko pours sake for Ayeka.
Ayeka: "Hey, let me ask you something.... Why are you here?"
Ryoko: "'Why'... What do you mean?"
Ayeka receives a bottle from Ryoko and pours sake into Ryoko's teacup.
Ayeka: "I mean you lost to Yosho-niisama and got trashed wham! bam! and
sealed in that mountain for 700 years. Don't you hold a grudge against
niisama?"
Ryoko: "I already took it out. On Tenchi."
Ayeka: "I guess you mean when you destroyed Tenchi-sama's school. But
that's very minor harassment for someone like you."
Ayeka moves her face closer to Ryoko.
Ayeka: "What kind of an attitude change is that?"
Ryoko: "It's nothing special.... In the old days I certainly felt
bitter enough to want to kill him. For the first 100 years or so."
Ayeka: "Only 100 years?"
Ryoko: "I think 100 years is already a lot. For 700 years all I could
do every day was think. I was thinking and thinking and before long I
lost track of what the heck I'd been thinking at first. I lost the
reason I was holding a grudge against Yosho!"
Ayeka: "... 700 years is indeed a long time."
Ryoko: "Even so, I still hated being locked up indefinitely. To break
the barrier, I was going to use the energy of my own body to make...
look, here..."
Ryoko shows Ayeka the gem on her left hand.
Ryoko: "I was going to make a replica of this."
Ayeka: "Aha, so that's how you became a mummy. But if you weren't
holding a grudge, why did you give Tenchi-sama hard time?"
Ryoko: "Because he opened the seal 3 days before the gem would have
been complete."
Ayeka: "... No way... just because of that?"
Ryoko: "I'd been working on it for 500 long years! I wanted to complete
it and undo the seal on my own... and then I'd been thinking about all
kinds of ways to surprise them."
Ayeka rolls her eyes.
Ayeka: "That's you all right."
Ryoko: "You can't change your personality so easily."
Ryoko looks up at the window.
Ryoko: "It's snowing quite hard... hehe."
Ryoko laughs as though she'd recalled something.
Ayeka: "What's the matter? That's creepy."
Ryoko: "That... I guess it was about 10 years ago. The replica was
nearing completion and I got my sight and hearing back, so I thought
I'd take a peek at what it's like outside after a long while... Hehe...
Guess what the first thing I saw was."
Ayeka ponders.
Ayeka: "... So, what on earth did you see?"
Smiling at Ayeka's question, Ryoko turns her face towards the window in
nostalgic recollection and takes a sip of sake from her teacup.
Ryoko's reminiscence.
Masaki shrine. At first the scene is blurred and can't be seen well.
Stifled crying can be heard.
Ryoko: "Who is this? Crying..."
The blurred scene becomes clearer little by little.
Right under a small shrine, little Tenchi is crouched down and crying.
Tenchi is trying to hold back his uncontrollable sobbing.
Tenchi: "Okaachan..."
Murmuring thus, he covers his face. His shoulders keep trembling
slightly.
Ryoko in her spirit body appears next to Tenchi and places her hand
upon Tenchi's head.
Ryoko: "Your mother has died? Oh, this is Yosho's..."
Ryoko looks at Tenchi for a while and squats down next to him.
Snow begins to fall.
Ryoko looks up at the sky and back at Tenchi, but Tenchi makes no
attempt to move from the spot.
Ryoko: "700 years. I guess it's been a long time for him too."
Ryoko holds her left hand up to the sky and the snow falling around
Tenchi is obstructed as though by a wall and melts away.
Ryoko puts her arm around Tenchi's shoulders.
The ground is becoming white, only around Tenchi the snow is not
accumulating.
Summer. Tenchi is peeking into the shrine, holding a net and an insect
cage. Katsuhito can be heard shouting behind him. Tenchi turns around
in surprise.
As he's turned, Ryoko is standing behind him.
Fall. Tenchi, an elementary school third-grader, is making a bonfire.
He pokes the fire with a stick, pulling out a baked sweet potato.
He's forced to drop the potato because it's too hot. The potato starts
rolling downhill.
Tenchi races after it.
Ryoko is standing next to the fire, laughing.
Winter. Tenchi, in the first year of middle shcool, walks by, holding a
broom.
Tenchi stops and turns towards the shrine for a moment. He starts
walking again.
Ryoko is sitting on the shrine, watching Tenchi.
Spring. Tenchi, now in high school, stands, studying the shrine.
He picks up the bag next to him, turns around and heads down the
stairs.
Ryoko sees him off, looking sad.
Summer. Tenchi is holding a key and trying to open the shrine.
Back to the two in the bathtub.
Ayeka: "So you're trying to say you've been watching Tenchi-sama for 10
years, ever since being dumbfounded by his teary face?"
Ryoko turns away from the window towards Ayeka.
Ryoko: "He was so adorable."
There are two additional empty half-gallon bottles next to Ayeka.
Ayeka: "What an embarrassingly tall tale."
Ryoko: "You must be envious to say something like that."
Ayeka: "No I'm not."
Ayeka tries to move closer to Ryoko, but sinks into the bathtub.
Ryoko: "What a mess. Did you already get drunk from so little sake?"
Ryoko tries to approach Ayeka to pull her up. She sinks just the same.
*End of direct quote*
To the translator (whom I won't name), you still have my eternal
thanks! ^_^