Summary: Vibrant, fast-paced romantic/comedy follow-up to the popular original, places Tenchi amidst a pesky demon and a mysterious young girl. It's relentless pacing and wacky humor appeals to Tenchi fans, though some may find it's plot to be too rampant.
Title Aka:	Manatsu Eve Midsummer's Eve
Company/Distributors:	Kadokawa Shoten;Pioneer Entertainment
Year:	1997
Length:	60 Minutes
Rating:
Genres:	Comedy, Romance, Fantasy
Format:	Feature Film
Content Level:	Violence: Mild Sex: Mild Nudity: Mild Profanity: Mild
Comments:	N/A

Synopsis: Some of anime's most beloved characters of all time are brought forth to the screen once again. Only this time the center stage is welded around a fantastical and often whisical feat of creative imagination, fantasy and everyone's favorite cast of aliens and one young teen whom all cause wreak havoc within the confines of a small shine upon a large hill. Well, at least not too much havoc. Sound familiar? "Tenchi The Movie 2: Daughter Of Darkness" is the follow up to the feature film debut of the highly popular "Tenchi Muyo" Series; and for the most part, the film does a surprisingly good job of living up to the charm of the original. While considering the epic scope of the effects-laden romantic original, it would inevidably come to pass that this feature film sequel would most likely be an intirely different concept; one that would not challenge the quality of the original. Tenchi The Movie 2 does not attempt to do so in it's array of comedic farce and character personality blunder; but instead this film is a considerably high-quality, entertaining surprize at the Tenchi universe. One so well set with the original three series prior to the feature films. A rampant and vibrant opening depicts the abrupt endings to a charming and lively festival, engaged upon planet Jurai's best night vistas and vast environments; one very far from Earth. Legend foretells that if true love were to unite during the festival, their love would be destined to be joined forever; but when an occurence as such is halted violently, one can only be overly-cautious not to come near it. When the time of "Startica" (Midsummer's Eve) on Jurai comes along, little "Yuzuha" only wishes to give her true love a special gift, but for "Yosho" it would be an utter nightmare to witness the destruction of "Yuzuha"; once a kind-hearted female demon turned deadly. 700 years later, Yuzuha seeks revenge upon Yosho's grandson "Tenchi Masaki"; whom has attained a pleasant living for himself along with his friends, "Ayeka", "Sasami", "Mihoshi", "Kiyone", "Washu" and of course "Ryoko". Pleasant country life at the "Misaki Shrine" take a turn for the weird and dangerous, when a beautiful yet mysterious girl suddenly appears amidst the Misaki family. Claiming to be the daughter of Tenchi, "Mayuka" appears both heartwarming and lively. Until the brilliant Washu is able to examine Mayuka's DNA, it is soon discovered that she is indeed the true daughter of Tenchi; though her real mother is unknown. Things begin to take their toll, when it's soon discovered that Yuzuha intends to destroy Tenchi through her own means. And that the sacrifice taken in order to halt her evil intents could tear the Misaki family apart. That is, unless Tenchi can save his friends in enough time to stop it first. It's an all out rush of comedy, danger and excitement in the second Tenchi Movie! Review: Writters like "Hasegawa Naoko" and director "Kimura Satoshi" display their true talent in producing a second Tenchi film, coming right out of a popular realization of several key characters; whom have been turned inside out by three different television series and already one feature film. Who would have thought that fans could even take anymore, for this reason I suppose thats not true here. For in this past decade, there has been arguably never as popular a romantic/sci-fi anime saga like "Tenchi Muyo". An instant phenomenon all over Japan and America. While Surviving multiple showings on "Cartoon Network" and countless video distribution, none could expect that highly anticipated fans would be screaming for more; and it's worked all the way to it's thrid and final sequel. Rather than revolve around the cliches of sci-fi and romance, worked to perfection with the first film, "Tenchi The Movie 2: Daughter Of Darkness" succeeds in traveling deeper into the world of Jurai's past, and that of such characters as "Ryoko" and "Mayuka". Vibrant animation and often relentless pacing keep the high-flown, tenchi vehicle up to par with it's predecessors. Only this time around the focus appears to be a young girl, thought to be Tenchi's daughter; also appearing in much of the storyline is the character of "Ryoko". Whom appears more open to character development and interaction within the story; more so than in the last film. Tenchi The Movie 2 does a pretty decent job of both stylization and pacing, much like the more drawn out original; which required the knowledge of the previous series to stay focused, the sequel allows for a more quick yet broad outlook to the tenchi universe. Something reminiscent of "Tenchi Universe's" comedic nature is present with more slapstick and fast paced humor, often absent from "Tenchi Muyo In Love". But with variations arises problems in the works, the film's impetuous and relentless nature leaves it a bit more than an hour, not quite enough to please the ardent anime fan, let alone a plethora of newcommers. This fault is all too apparent in the film's blistering, yet somewhat predictable ending; which has become second nature to the Tenchi Universe. Despite the obvious blunder of it's faults, it's the film's wacky sense of comedic appeal and wonderfully rendered character depth that make it as enjoyable; yet inconsistently less polished than it's original. Sasami and Ryo-Ohki's ultra-cute/comedic presense allows for forgivable entertainment value, and Mayuka is a well-rendered edition to the Tenchi gang; though she may not be a perminant character. Several key animation improvements and problems are also noticable, which make this feature neither highly impressive or disappointing to say the least (In comparison to the original of course). But what has always made the Tenchi features highly appealing are the incredible sense of both structure, style and pacing; most of all it's the character that make it all possible. Tenchi The Movie 2 Succeeds in obtaining almost all these great qualities, and that alone is enought to keep it afloat. Despite all these factors however: following all the Tenchi mania up to this point, as well as the obvious fact that fans may well indeed be tired of all these characters and their cliches; it's a bit hard to imagine it all being possible with this movie. Nonetheless, don't let these slight flaws get you down; this is in all the sense as entertaining as the original. Click Here To See Overview!

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