Reply at end.


<<SPOILERS>>




















nik wrote:
>>It isn't so much that he explains or alludes to Misaki's condition in 
other mediums that pisses me off, but what chaps my ass is that there 
really is no hint in the OVAs themselves.  To the majority of people who 
watch Tenchi, there is a big glaring "what the hell??"<<

     As AstroNerdBoy said, what people are we talking about?  The reason 
that we even had GXP and OVA 3 was because Kajishima's books have sold so 
well.  Even the 101 was a strong seller, yet English-speaking fans don't 
have access to its answers (though there are English summaries out there).  
Kajishima's doujinshi also sell out, but part of that has to do with his 
small print runs (though still sizable compared to other doujinshi).  
Remember, the first STM novel came out about the same time as TMiL, 1997, 
so the information has long been out there.  So, a good number of Japanese 
fans have always had this information, though many probably didn't put 
things together.

     Still, even within the *first* OVA there were subtle clues as to the 
nature of Tenchi, Sasami, Tsunami, and Washuu.  A lot people immediately 
clued into the strong usage of Shinto and Buddhist symbolism and 
mythology.  The OVA Special brought up Tokimi and if you bought the 101 Q&A 
(1994), which many thousands of Japanese fans did, you got a big boost of 
information that would have really helped you connect the dots.  So, 
coupled with a Japanese student's most basic education on Japanese history 
and Shinto mythology, you could have figured out where Kajishima was headed.

     Indeed, one of my first posts on the AIC BBS (circa September 2001) 
was mentioning how I believed that Tenchi was a kami.  I even backed up my 
theory with data from the Japanese Kojiki, a collection of Japan's oldest 
Shinto myths and legends, Japanese history, and the 101 Q&A (though only 
the fan translation).  If I did that much with some basic knowledge of 
Japanese history and mythology, a rough and incomplete 101 translation, and 
watching the OVAs, then imagine what a native Japanese fan could have 
probably figured out....

>>More things that annoy me: 

Does this new info have bearing on Tenchi's name?<<

     The kanji used for Tenchi's name is the exact same kanji used in the 
Kojiki.  As mentioned by native Japanese, that was very strange.  I likened 
it to naming a child, "Mt. Rushmore".  So, in a sense, Kajishima told us 
that Tenchi is great than and existed before the Choushin.
 
>>Where exactly does Yosho fit in on all this? (ie: how does he know that 
Tenchi has his own power?)<<

     Youshou's name was probably also a hint that he was leading up to 
Tenchi.  Yet, that would have been Kajishima's way of hinting to the 
viewer.  The character Youshou himself suspected that Tenchi was special in 
some way, though Kajishima has not told us how.  This might be covered in 
the OVA 3 Special.

>>And did Yosho realize that Tenchi was a Godlike being?<<

     No.  The 101 Q&A clearly states that Tenchi had far more power than 
Youshou suspected.

>>Why is it that Tenchi-kami choose Yosho's lineage?<<

     This has yet to be explained, but my theory has been that the 
anomalies present in the Juraian line and the Airaian line were like tiny 
grooves in the time-space continuum.  When a power being such as Tenchi 
chose to be incarnated as a lower dimensional being, as vast a being as he 
was, the relatively tiny grooves were able to 'guide' him down a particular 
path.  Undoubtedly, fate literally had a role in this.  I suspect that 
Kajishima believes that the universe is deterministic, that everything has 
a cause and that things can thus be predicted if you have all the 
information.  (Think of Kagato that was looking to complete the Grand 
Unified Field Theory, something that would effectively enable someone to 
connect the dots to everything that takes place in the universe.)

>>WHY does Tenchi-kami/Glowing Tenchi bother to appear as a human?<<

     Why does Tsunami look like Sasami?  The past, present, and future must 
be the same for a being that exists beyond time and space.  That is how you 
know the future... because you're already there.  In fact, one plasma 
theory stipulates that all times exist at the same time, but that it is a 
particle's temporal position that changes.  So, if you could control a 
particle's temporal position, you could effectively transmit information 
from the future (or past) to the 'present'.  I guess it would also help you 
in TM!R if you studied high energy physics.

>>Where is Kiyone?  Do we ever get to learn what happened to her?<<

     I suspect that we will find out in the OVA 3 Special.

>>If Kajishima originally intended for Tenchi to choose a girl in this 
series, who would it have been?  The structure of this last OVA seems to 
favor none of the original cast except maybe Sasami, and hints at his 
choice being Noike?.<<

     All indications are that Kajishima never intended that Tenchi choose a 
particular girl.  In fact, the 101 mentions that the family-like 
arrangement (with no girl being seen as a romantic love) was his choice.  
Now, the 101 did allude that Sasami's getting older would change something, 
but we don't know what.  Looking at Kajishima's other works should also 
give you a good idea as to how he has long intended to resolve the multiple-
girl/one guy dilemma.

     Ultimately, the truth of the matter is that as English 
speaking/reading fans, we are deprived of over 50% of the information that 
is out there, though a few of us are trying to change that ratio a bit. 

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