I'm sure this will be one of the most controversial and most unexpected entry. I don't really talk about this series very much, at least until recently. Tenchi Muyo! was a series I got into back when I first got into the scene in the 90s. I'm huge fan of the first two OVA series, the manga, and to a lesser extent Tenchi Universe. The first film in the franchise was easily one of my favorite non-Ghibli films of the 90s and mostly embodies everything I love about the series; which is balancing great humor, with tender storytelling, and some cool Sci-Fi action. I still feel like the Jurai are some of the coolest galactic empires in science fiction as well.
Quick rundown of the franchise for the people who don't know. Tenchi follows the story of a Japanese boy named Tenchi Masaki who runs afoul of a feared Space Pirate named Ryoko who ends up falling for him and deciding to hide out on Earth. Unfortunately she ends up attracting a host of other crazy alien girls to the planet who come looking for her and end up staying thanks to Tenchi.
Tenchi Muyo in Love is set within the TV series universe and begins with the Galaxy Police HQ imploding and disappearing from space as the A-1 Class criminal Kain escapes. Shortly after, Tenchi Masaki begins to disappear from reality until resident scientist Washu uses her super science to keep him from fading away. Unfortunately, even her science can't save Tenchi and the group discover that something happened in the past that caused Tenchi's mother to die before giving birth to him. So now the whole group has to travel back to the 70s to keep an eye on Achika and figure out what happened while also trying not to interfere with her falling in love with Tenchi's dad. So yeah, it's basically Tenchi Muyo!'s take on Back to the Future.
What really makes this an emotional story for fans of the series is that Tenchi's relationship with his mother plays a central part in all of this. In every series, Tenchi's mother passed away when he was very young, so Tenchi never really knew his mother and it's usually one of the only character building aspects of his character since most male characters in harem's have the personality of cardboard. Course, what really makes this movie a bit different is that it really is more of the story about Tenchi's mom Achika's daily life and meeting her future husband, so it's really more of a love story that just ends with a battle against an inter-dimensional space monster in a pocket dimension. So the film is more of a quiet slice of life romance flick than space battles, you just still get the fun high jinks of Ryoko and Ayeka fighting, Mihoshi being her usual ditzy self, and poor Kiyone being the token team butt monkey.
The animation is really well done, and probably some of the best within the series outside of the original OVA series. The music was composed by Christopher Franke of German based electronica band Tangerine Dream, and it is fantasticwith several great piecesthat really fit the feelof the films themes and characters. It was actually one of the first CDs I owned back in the day. While there are two other films in the Tenchi series, the other two films just never set right with me. Daughter of Darkness felt too much like a filler story from Tenchi Universe with more laughs than actual feels; while Tenchi Forever lacked the energy and fun that made the series enjoyable, instead focusing on high drama and having a punishing slow pace.
I feel the real reason why this film is so high on the list is that it does a few really interesting things here for me. I think this is the film that made me fall in love with Japan, and I still wish to visit sometime. This is also one of the very few films that actually makes me feel gooey inside, which alone is a pretty strong sentiment since I'm usually a fairly unfeeling machine about most subjects. Yet the ending really kind of gets to me each time, and watching Achika and Nobuyuki's blossoming relationship just garners some emotional investment from me. Overall, if you haven't had a chance to check this film out, you should, especially if you're familiar with the Tenchi franchise.
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