Ask John: How Do Tenchi Muyo & Love Hina Compare?

Question:
You recently cited the shows Love Hina, Tenchi Muyo and Happy Lesson as being enjoyable and unique despite superficial similarities. I’ve personally watched both Tenchi Muyo and Love Hina, and while I enjoyed them both, I vastly prefer the latter. Could you compare and contrast the elements of these similar shows to help fans like myself identify why we prefer one over another?

Answer:
I think this is an interesting question, but I must admit that it’s been many years since I watched either Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina. I’ll do my best to critique and compare them, but please excuse me if I forget significant points. Both Tenchi Muyo and Love Hina are tremendously popular shows. They’re also similar because they’re both romantic comedies based on the conceit of an indecisive teen boy living with a bevy of young women, many of whom are attracted to him. The primary superficial difference between the two shows is that the girls in Tenchi Muyo are aliens while Love Hina occurs in relatively normal everyday reality.

Although I have no evidence to support my theory, I have a suspicion that preference for Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina may depend largely upon which show individual viewers were first introduced to and became familiar with. Tenchi Muyo premiered in 1992. The Love Hina anime premiered in 2000. Probably at least one generation of American anime fans entered the fan community after Tenchi Muyo and before Love Hina, so there are numerous American fans who literally grew up with Tenchi Muyo, and fans who grew up with Love Hina. Otherwise, given the two series superficial similarities, it’s necessary to investigate the two shows’ technical qualities to distinguish them and categorizes their unique characteristics.

Tenchi Muyo was an original anime production that began as a six episode OVA series. Its surprise success led to a special additional OVA, then a second OVA series and an ongoing franchise of movies, TV series, OVAs, games, and spin-off series. Tenchi Muyo is notable for a number of reasons. Its character design is unique and instantly identifiable. The show had a vibrant color palate and a memorable otherworldly art design most evident in its costume and spaceship design. Tenchi Muyo also had an interesting, diverse cast. Ryoko was seductive and aggressive. Ayeka’s graceful persona disguised a jealous and fragile private personality. Sasami was a cheerful little sister. Washu was the sly, indulgent elder. Mihoshi played the loveable fool. The story in Tenchi Muyo took a back seat to the character interactions. Unfortunately, as the Tenchi Muyo franchise blossomed, its installments developed faster than its story. As a result, much of the Tenchi Muyo anime works because of the strength of its characters. The narrative is often disjointed, or simply doesn’t feel compelling. I think that Tenchi Muyo fans generally like the characters more than the story, and interest in the story is only fueled by a desire to know what happens to the characters, rather than an innate tension or drama in the story itself. Viewers who approach Tenchi Muyo with inflated expectations, I think, may wonder why the show inspires such loyalty.

Just as Tenchi Muyo has strengths and weaknesses, so does Love Hina. Unlike Tenchi Muyo, which often felt like a story that was made up as it went along, the Love Hina anime was adapted from a manga, so the anime had a cohesive singular narrative structure that Tenchi Muyo lacked. Like Tenchi Muyo, the strengths of the Love Hina anime included its vibrant and crisp visual design, its character design that combined sexiness with naturalistic charm, and the diversity of its cast. Like Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina had a distinctive and memorable cast. Naru is both Ryoko and Ayeka in one character: assertive and attractive, but secretly vulnerable. Kitsune plays the Washu role of being a sly observer. Motoko is the amusingly strict disciplinarian, similar to Tenchi Muyo’s Kiyone. The Sasami role is divided between Kaolla and Shinobu; the former being the unpredictable energy and the later being the innocent waif. Otohime plays the Mihoshi role of being the bumbling but loveable idiot. Even more than the sometimes assertive Tenchi Masaki, Keitaro Urashima was a good natured everyman that viewers could easily identify with. He’s the victimized underdog whom we want to be successful. And unlike Tenchi Masaki, who had no clearly defined goal, Keitaro had two goals: get accepted into Tokyo University, and reunite with his long lost love. But while it may seem like Love Hina is more structured and efficient than Tenchi Muyo, Love Hina also had some weaknesses. While the early episodes of Tenchi Muyo are cohesive and effective because the series was originally designed as a short OVA series, the early episodes of Love Hina feel like a one trick pony. Keitaro finds himself in precarious situation, and one of the girls punishes him by beating him up. Love Hina takes a while to develop its characters, give them individual motivations, and develop a compelling narrative. Love Hina also feels redundant to viewers who have previously watched Tenchi Muyo. It’s entertaining, but it feels recycled from earlier ideas.

Tenchi Muyo has the benefit of its sci-fi elements and fully developed personalities for each of its primary characters. But it has weak story development and lacks a sense of continuity between its various incarnations. Love Hina benefits from its energetic pace and lighthearted atmosphere, and from its cast that’s sexy and unique. However, Love Hina’s story and character development are superficial. Character relationships and situational comedy take precedence over complex narrative development. The girls serve more as roles or personality types than fully realized individual people. In effect, I don’t think that either Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina stands as an undisputed superior show. Both series rise above the average of harem anime including Happy Lesson, Hanaukyo Maid Tai, Hand Maid May, Yumeria, Kanon, and numerous other similar titles because Tenchi Muyo and Love Hina both have unusually interesting and complex characters, and an atmosphere that’s entertaining and sexy without being vulgar or overtly manipulative. I think the qualities and characteristics of Tenchi Muyo and Love Hina are roughly even, so their individual appeal depends on personal reaction to them. And personal reactions are influenced by each viewer’s personal taste and experience.