Tenchi Universe - Volume 5 - Space I

A coup has taken place on Jurai: the legendary warrior Yosho has returned and installed himself as emperor. He's captured all the other claimants to the throne, including Crown Princesses Ayeka and Sasami. His soldiers also seize Ryoko, the space pirate. With the aid of Washu, his grandfather, and Ryo-Ohki (who conveniently turns into a space ship), Tenchi rescues the three prisoners. When Kiyone and Mihoshi learn about the Jurai crisis, they're naturally drawn into the fray, and soon the gang is on the lam together. To buy more fuel, they set up a karaoke bar-clip joint on the planet Concor, while dodging the Jurai military, the Galactic Police, and the interstellar bounty hunter Nagi. As fans know and expect, whenever Tenchi and his friends appear, chaos and comedy are never far behind.

Rated for ages 13 and up for cartoon violence and drinking. --Charles Solomon

Description
Fugitives! Tenchi an dthe girls are wanted throughout the galaxy for attempting to overthrow the Jurai government as they flee through space to Jurai to clear their names. With the Galaxy Police and the Jurai Military on their trail, they have very little itme to try and find out who framed them, especially when they have no money and they just ran out of gas!

For the fifth (of eight) discs in the series, Tenchi, his family and his friends find themselves suddenly (literally) pulcked from Earth and into space - and a plot. With the series now halfway over, the characters of Tenchi have left behind the character development, the light silliness and the few pieces of foreshadowing presented in discs one through four in favor of a political mystery on Ayeka and Sasami's homeworld, a a galactic game of cat-and-mouse and, oh yes, some serious silliness.

While I enjoyed the four discs before this one, it was nice to actually feel that there is a driving plot and direction in the series. The mood in this disc does stay relatively light, but it foreshadows the increased drama of the future episodes.

In terms of the quality of the DVD release itself, I am continually glad that Pioneer included the episodes uncut for the DVD release - with full openings and endings for each episode (something they did not do for the VHS release). The digital extras are minimal - line art and character data - but welcome in the sense that anything was given to a disc this late in the series is nice. The finger puppets that come with the early pressings of each disc are adorable and have become a point of curiousity for me as I work my way through the discs wondering who the next group of "super-deformed" Tenchi characters made into finger-puppet form will be.

If you're working your way through the series, definitely get this disc. If you want to start watching Tenchi in its original form but find the earlier, plot-light episodes a bit too much to handle, this might be a better place to start again. Either way, it's a DVD worth getting.


Great!   August 2, 2000
HeWhoCorrupts (Cincinnati, OH United States)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful

Tenchi owns you! the OAVS are better but not by to much, plus this series is twice as long. If you love tenchi, you will love this for sure! buy it!


Tenchi, 6 space babes and a cabbit... most wanted criminals!   February 17, 2001
Ryoko Masaki (Ohkayama, Japan)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

This movie/episodes are hilarious! It finally makes a plot for "Tenchi Universe" while making everybody laugh at the same time! Pretty amazing huh? Well... it all starts of with Ayeka being arrested by the planet Jurai and Ryoko, the most wanted criminal in the galaxy and poor Sasami... all captured by Jurai! How will they escape? Well, it has a great conclusion and is very exciting! I can't wait to see what happens next!


Spaceward ho!   November 11, 2000
Carl J Clark (Washington, DC United States)
Tenchi and company head into outer space in this fifth DVD installment of the Tenchi Universe series, which has aired on Cartoon Network.

Humor and hilarity abound as the Tenchi cast take to the spacelanes in an effort to figure out why everyone from the Jurai military to the Galaxy Police is after them. Fans of Tenchi will not be disappointed, as poor, put-upon Tenchi finds himself on the run, not only from unwanted female attention, but also from the law!

This is a definite must-have for all Tenchi fans. I give it five stars out of five...it's humor, action, and romance, all in the finest Tenchi tradition.


No Need for Space   April 26, 2002
Drez (Barberton, Ohio United States)
This 5th volume of the Tenchi Universe starts out normal enough. But, a Jurai spaceship comes and takes Tenchi's house and all of his friends from outer space. It seems Aekya, Sasami and Ryoko were all arrested by the orders of Yosho, the new ruler of Jurai. Tenchi, Washu, Tenchi's grandfather saves Aekya, Sasami and Ryoko from the Jurai battleship.
Soon, everyone is most wanted by the Gaxaly Police, even Kiyone and Mioshi. Tenchi's grandfather suggested that they all go to Jurai and find out what's happening there. So, the entire group is heading for Jurai. Things are getting Interesting.