Achika

Achika Masaki is the much loved mother of Tenchi who was only seen in the 1st Tenchi movie and in brief flashbacks during the series "Tenchi Universe." Tenchi's mother appeared in a flashback in the OAV (episode 10). However, this arguably isn't Achika because in the Tenchi Muyo OAV, Tenchi's mother is referred to by a different name (which I can't remember at the moment, sorry), not by Achika.

Achika's most major role was in the movie, "Tenchi Muyo In Love." In this movie, the viewer gets to watch her relationship with Noboyuki develop. It also gives clues as to how she died.

Achika is the son of Yosho (Katsuhito) and Itsuki Masaki. She is the mother of Tenchi Masaki. She was the wife of Noboyuki. Achika died shortly after giving birth to Tenchi.

The main theory as to why her death came so early in her life was due to her battle with Kain as shown in the Tenchi Universe movie, "Tenchi Muyo In Love," discussed below. The theory is that in the battle, Achika used so much energy that she burned herself out.

Achika is one of my favorite characters in Tenchi Muyo. Achika is very sweet and caring and seems to accept faith with a smile. So much so that I sometimes wonder how she does it. One just needs to watch the first Tenchi movie to understand what I mean.

In the OAV (Tenchi Muyo!)

Achika is shown only once in the OAV. However, she is not referred to (only as "mother", or in the Toonami version, "Grandma"). Her name is not mentioned in the entire series. However, in an OAV graphic novel, she is referred to as "Kiyone," and not Achika. Thus, whether Achika really exists in the OAV is really a matter of speculation. And it doesn't really matter that much anyway since Achika only appears for a few seconds in the OAV, during a brief flashback.

Sasami has no relationship with Achika since...well, they never met.

In TV Series #1 (Tenchi Universe)

In the TV series, Achika plays her biggest role. Although she doesn't appear in the actual TV series, she does appear in the event that occured immediately after the TV series ended: the movie Tenchi Muyo! in Love.

In this movie, Tenchi and his friends have to travel back in time to the year 1970 when both Achika and Noboyuki were in high school. Late in the movie you get to see her spectacular power when she battles KAIN, this scary evil dude.

However, Achika used all of her power in the battle. This weakened her, and in theory eventually caused her death, about 15 years after the battle.

It is revealed that Yosho had intended for Achika to take his place on the Jurai throne. So, Yosho, like he later did with Tenchi, had Achika train and train away with swordplay and Jurai power. However she lost interest in training and opted instead to live a normal life.

Achika doesn't really interact with Sasami in the movie.

In TV Series #2 (Tenchi In Tokyo; Shin Tenchi Muyo!)

Although Tenchi definately has a mother in this series (otherwise his existance would be questionable, needless to say), she doesn't exist as a character. Tenchi's mother is mentioned several times during the series (the crystals he has belonged to his mother) but his mother is never mentioned by name so there's no way of knowing if Achika exists. Plus, she is not shown in this series Therefore she is not a character in this series.

Notes on Achika

• Achika would be about 50 years old at the time of this writing (Dec. 2002). Interesting. I think it's really sad how Achika died so young with so much of her life ahead of her.
• Achika's seiyu, or voice actor, is Megumi Hayashibara in Japan and is Grace Zandarski in America.
• Anyone else think Achika's hair is cool? I think it must be a bother to keep her hair like that, but then again just look at Sasami's hair.
• Like Tenchi and Yosho, Achika knows how to use the sword (Jurai Key) "Tenchi." She is in full control of her Jurai power.

Selected Achika Images