Customer Reviews

Tenchi Muyo GXP - Past, Present, and Future (Vol. 8)

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They sure crammed as much as possible in the last volume of this Tenchi spinoff. The first episode is jam packed with action, rivaling anything found in other Tenchi series. Giant robot mechs, spaceships and awesome explosions make it one of the more dazzling and suprisingly serious episodes in the series. Seina really matures and takes charge in this volume. Later we learn all kinds of new things about the politics of Jurai, and Seina's place in them. There are appearances from all the past characters in the series, Azusa (the Emperor), and even the whole cast of Tenchi Muyo! are seen (but not heard, unfortunately). And the best part is, unlike Tenchi, Seina is never in a position to HAVE to choose among the girls. You'll have to pick this volume up to find out just what that means.

GXP has been a painfully uneven series at times. The artwork has varied from good to godawful; the stories have wavered from excellent to slop; the characters have always been endearingly over the top (except for the execrable NB and NaBiKo); the comedy has been everything from near brilliant to badly contrived. Fortunately, this final volume is the best since the Volume 1.

I won't go into the stories; if you want detailed plot descriptions, I suggest that you check out the superb Tenchi Muyo! Another Universe web site. Let's just say that the crossover in the first episode (#24) from the series Dual! is pretty funny, and it leads to complications for Seina that were quite unexpected, especially with regard to the Jurai royal family. The next episode is about Seina's graduation and the effect that it has on the girls in his "harem" (along with tons of political plotting). The final episode deals with Seina's wedding day, his brides (yes, plural), his two kidnappings in one day, his new-found competence, and a load of double harem troubles.

In spite of its extreme unevenness, GXP has been worth the purchase price and it has been a wild, loopy ride. If you liked any of the rest of the series, you should really like volume 8.