Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki season 2 finally makes the pivot into full-on harem territory that was only briefly suggested during the first season, and does so to extremely mixed results. It’s honestly a bit of a crapshoot on whether any given gag or moment of over the top pining from our cast of cute alien waifus will be either charmingly humorous or laboriously unfunny, and you’re really not sure which one it’s gonna be until it happens. Thankfully, this season also gets some pretty substantive worldbuilding details to satisfy the sci-fi adventure cravings that the first season is rooted in, as well as some small-scale, butsurprisingly impacting character moments to more effectively humanize these wacky space aliens.
The stronger focus on Washu in particular was one of this season’s highlights, be it massive lore drops about her past as a genius scientist and enemies from her past coming back for revenge, or the first episode’s more tender view of her as a motherly figure. Moments like these, as well as the low-stakes, yet engaging tone the series presents are where the core appeal of this franchise can be found. Aesthetically, it’s pretty much the same as the first season, though, disappointingly, it has significantly cut back on the moments of swashbuckling action, and, also also a bit disappointingly, there’s really not much else to say on that front. Is it a bit of a slip down from the first season? Yes, but not by much, especially with how much fun the finale has playing around with well-worn tropes. The fun hasn’t stopped quite yet, and I hope it doesn’t for a while longer.