=====================================================
>> * The horrible Mihoshi-like woman is what Mihoshi looks like
>>   in the letter she sent home but was altered by Z.  His aim
>>   is to start a war between Kuramitsu and the Earth gang or
>>   Jurai.
>
>I came to the same conclusion about Mihoshi's altered letter
>after I watched episode 16 a few times. I'm not sure that Z
>wants to provoke a war between the Kuramitsu and anybody else;
>rather, I think that he want to provoke Tenchi into displaying
>his abilities.

At any rate, my own thought on Mihoshi's horrible appearence was that it
was a flashback to a previous collapse.  We know something happened in
the past (although its never been hinted that it was *that* dramatic), and
the impression that I got was that her family was afraid that it was about
to happen again - due to Tenchi.

Having read these last few e-mails on this thread, I went back and
scanned the ep, and I totally missed that flashback thing.  Poor
Mihoshi!  It might explain why she's kinda ditzy now though.  Whatever
IT is.  Remember Kagato saying that Mihoshi HAD been the or one of the
best GP detectives?  It got her pretty mad too.  Hrrmmm.
=====================================================

JLH -- Agreed.  What clinched it for me was Noike's throw-away line about
the "daughter of Kuramitsu" being included with all those military powers on
Earth that needed monitoring.  We already know she's Lucky, but we don't
know the extent.

=====================================================
>>>I came to the same conclusion about Mihoshi's altered letter
>>>after I watched episode 16 a few times. I'm not sure that Z
>>>wants to provoke a war between the Kuramitsu and anybody else;
>>>rather, I think that he want to provoke Tenchi into displaying
>>>his abilities.
>>
>>interesting...  what prompts this opinion?
>
>Seems pretty obvious to me...  Tokimi tells Z to not lay hands on
>Tenchi.  Z thought he would still do something anyway, and heads off to
>the Masaki household, then proceeds to modify a letter Mihoshi's sending.
>
>Next thing we know, Mihoshi's grandfather and brother are up in arms
>about how badly Mihoshi's being treated, and sends out one of their most
>powerful ships to "rescue" her.
>
>The people who know of Tenchi's prowess expect him to win ("I'll sit
>back and watch")...  I wouldn't expect Z to think otherwise, since he
>also saw Dr. Clay's report.
>
>So why set-off all this trouble?  Why that sinister smile when he sees
>the Kuramitsu ship launched?
>
>He wants to see Tenchi in action first hand, rather than from a report.

Its a possibility.  My suspicion is that the entire thing is just a
distraction.
Tokimi wants to have a chat with Washu, and she's already sent one
agent to fetch her.  The entire thing could be just a set-up so Z can
swoop in and swipe Washu while Tenchi is distracted.
=====================================================

JLH -- I said earlier that I thought Z was goading Tenchi into a
confrontation, and thus claim "self defense" when the LHW appear.  I have
now had a change of mind: I'd have to agree that the whole thing is a
diversion.  Z's motives are probably just a smokescreen to confuse the
audience.

                    Jeff

Jeffery (Jeff) Harris
JLHOnami@mchsi.com

Author of "The Harem Saga" -- http://www.tmffa.com/fanfic.html?id=484
"Harem Saga" background data at
http://home.mchsi.com/~jlhonami/JeffsNotebook.html