Nobody -- not Ryouko, not Ayeka, not Mihoshi, not Kiyone, not Washuu -- likes Nobuyuki's food. Unfortunately, Sasami is sick, and is confined to bed, wearing carrot pajamas, while Ryou-oh-ki worried watches over her. So Nobuyuki is caring for the household, and the rest of the girls at the breakfast table do not seem to care for it. Ryouko and Ayeka start arguing about the taste of the miso soup. Ryoko says they should add more spice while Aeka says it already has too much.
Each starts to trumpet her culinary taste, and they each bring out major awards they got for it, and each breaks the other's award in rage. A major fight breaks out, and when Kiyone tries to calm them down, she gets clobbered out cold.
The fight exhausts the girls, so they sleep while Nobuyuki does the housework. (Well, Sasami valiantly tries to get up, but she just isn't well enough.)
Nobuyuki can't do the chores as well as Sasami. He can't do the chores as well as his late wife, either, and as he hangs up the laundry he starts to think about her. And that gets him thinking about his wife's (and his) only child, Tenchi. And so he decides to visit Tenchi. Nobuyuki continues thinking about his wife and Tenchi's mother on the train to Tokyo. He has a photo of her, where she looks like she does in the first OAV series. (I thank Kenji Shimizu for letting me know what was going on here.)
Meanwhile, Tenchi is looking at the photos of him and Ryouko that came from the photo machine during their "date." (Perhaps these are those sticker photos that I have heard are popular in Japan these days. They've got one at Yaohan here.) But his thoughts are on Sakuya, in particular, what she tells him when she meets up with Tenchi just after she sees Ryouko end their date by hugging Tenchi. She and Tenchi "break up" after that, and he replays their final conversation in his mind.
Nobuyuki gets into Tokyo, but he's not sure exactly where Tenchi is. Yuugi and Matori (the Cat-Woman, whose name is not Selina) watch as he looks for Tenchi's place. The Cat zaps into and magically trips Nobuyuki. He falls and by a not-so-remarkable coincidence, Sakuya is there to see him. Sakuya recognizes him immediately. Nobuyuki sort of remembers her, but he can't get her name quite right. Eventually he asks her if she knows where Tenchi lives, and she tells him that her name is Kumashiro.
Nobuyuki shows up on Tenchi's doorstep, and Tenchi is surprised. Tenchi is even more surprised when Nobuyuki reveals Sakuya behind him.
Meanwhile, Nobuyuki's absence and Sasami's sickness have taken their toll on the household. Everything is in disarray, and Ayeka, Ryouko, and Mihoshi are lying hungry on the table. Kiyone is still unconscious and being carried by Mihoshi. Tempers flare briefly (Ayeka and Ryouko's temper, actually) but hunger prevents things from getting violent. Someone gets a bright idea....
Back in Tenchi's apartment, everyone is sitting around uncomfortable. Nobuyuki tries to break the ice between Sakuya and Tenchi, but fails miserably. Eventually he ends up making some excuse to leave the apartment on some errand. (He says it is to "buy cold drinks.")
Back in the Masaki home, Ryou-oh-ki is zealously guarding Sasami's bank (which looks like a miniature Jurian guardian, if you recall) from Ryouko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, Washuu, and an unconscious Kiyone, who Mihoshi is carrying. Ryouko decides to take it by force, and throws a punch at the cabbit. But force is met by force, as a single kick from Ryou-oh-ki (still in cabbit form!) lands on Ryouko's jaw and knocks her out! ("Myaa!" crows Ryou-oh-ki.) Such an impressive display elicits apologies from Ayeka and Mihoshi, and everyone exits. (And Mihoshi carries out two people....)
Nobuyuki steps out of a store and puts out a cigarette. (Japanese people smoke too much.) Matori is watching from overhead. She takes the discarded cigarette butt and from it creates a fake Nobuyuki, with a pretty limited intelligence. (Its vocabulary mainly consists of "Ai!") She apparently wants to use him as part of her nefarious plot to get Tenchi and Sakuya together, and she tries to tell the fake Nobuyuki that. She doesn't get very far before the fake Nobuyuki runs away shouting "Ai! Ai! Ai!"
Tenchi and Sakuya are still sitting in Tenchi's apartment. Sakuya apologies, and they start to talk.... Things seem to be warming up between them. Tenchi gets up to make some tea... and Sakuya sees on his bed the pictures of him and Ryouko. (She saw them in the 10th episode as well.) That reminder prompts her to leave.
As she opens the door, the fake Nobuyuki is there! He grabs her and runs off with her. (Literally -- he tucks her under his arm.) Sakuya is understandably confused by this, but when she asks the fake Nobuyuki what's going in, all he does is set her back on her feet, kneels, and says a few words of love. Then his puts her under his arms again and runs off.
Matori is fuming at this turn of events.
Back in the Masaki house, the girls are still sitting around the table, and Kiyone is still unconcious. Washuu is missing -- in her place there is Washuu doll A (from the first television series) sitting on the table holding a couple of signs which say "call me when dinner's ready."
The fake Nobuyuki continues his run, but stops when he sees a young lady. He abandons Sakuya and proposes to the new object of his affections. She is pretty shocked, but no matter -- the fake tucks her under his arm and runs off for a few yards. Then he sees a lady with a young child. He sets down one lady, proposes to the new lady, which the kid finds pretty funny. Then he picks her up and runs off, with the kid being dragged along still holding his mother's hand. A few yards later, he sees a school girl....
The real Nobuyuki comes back to the apartment and finds a note left by Tenchi. The note says that Tenchi is out looking for Sakuya, and Nobuyuki should help himself to a cup of tea while he waits for them to return.
Matori, who has just picked up the fake Nobuyuki, explains to him that he's supposed to target Sakuya and Tenchi. If he fails again, she says, he will be terminated. Nobuyuki assimilates this knowledge, and then proposes to the Cat-Woman. Matori kicks him away in disgust.
Tenchi is out looking for Sakuya. Sakuya is sitting on a park bench, depressed, when the fake Nobuyuki comes back and carries her off again. The real Nobuyuki contemplates his wife's picture. The fake Nobuyuki runs in front of Tenchi, who recognizes his father's likeness. Tenchi realizes that there's trouble. Some creature who looks a lot like his father has kidnapped Sakuya!
The copy smiles at Tenchi, tilts Sakuya's head in Tenchi's direction and says, "I love you," thereby, in his simple mind, "transfers Sakuya's love to Tenchi." And then he runs off. From above, the Cat-Woman sighs and says, "Oh well, I didn't expect much from you anyway... I will just let the copy do his stuff and let the real father deal with the mess when it's over."
As the real Nobuyuki relaxes with a cup of tea in Tenchi's apartment, his cup cracks. A bad omen! Then a telephone falls off the bed. Then a small picture. Then a clock. Then the big picture hanging over the bed. These are bad omens! Nobuyuki realizes he has to come to his son's aid. He leaps off the bed ready for action, and then his pants fall down. (A very bad omen....)
In front of a shrine, Tenchi and the fake face off. Sakuya awakes. Tenchi advances, but the fake streeeeeches out his arm (a 15 foot reach) and grabs Tenchi by the neck. The real Nobuyuki enters the picture at about this time and immediately sees the peril facing his son and the other girl whose name he can't quite remember correctly. ("Dad!" cries Tenchi. "I'm Kumashiro!" cries Sakuya.)
Nobuyuki knows just what to do. He runs to the part of the shrine where they sell charms and such and buys a magic arrow. ("And will that be all, sir?" "Yes, thank you.") And he throws the arrow into the air, and it gently floats down with a soft pop on the fake's forehead. With a cry of pain ("Aieeee!!") The fake is vanquished!
After her ordeal, Sakuya goes off to wash the towel she probably gave to Tenchi to use, leaving Tenchi and his father alone for a moment to talk. Nobuyuki says to Tenchi, "There is a way to say things even when you don't know what to say. Even though I wasn't strong, I still told your mom the things that needed to be said. Can you tell her what is on your mind?"
Tenchi smiles and replies "Mom.... I understand, dad."
Then Tenchi goes to Sakuya. She asks him is he's all right, and he says yes, thank you, and she's about to make her goodbyes when Tenchi grabs her hand.
"I can't give you an answer yet," says Tenchi.
"What?"
"The other day," explains Tenchi, "you asked me how I felt about you. I can't give you an answer yet... I don't know whether or not I really like you, so I can't give you an answer since I don't want to be dishonest with you. If possible, I'd like to have some more time to think about it." Sakuya turns away. "So..." continues Tenchi, sadly.
Sakuya, smiling, turns back and puts her finger on his lips.
"Tenchi didn't lie...." she says. "Your nose didn't twitch this time." (She's refering to what Tenchi said to her after his "date" with Ryoko in the 10th episode.)
As Sakuya turns to walk away, she says "See you at the class tomorrow. And thank your father for me, Tenchi."
Tenchi looks, and his father is gone. And she runs away in that funny way of hers, happy. And Tenchi looks into space and says "Thanks, Dad."
Yuugi and Matori have been watching this, of course, and Yuugi laughs.
Back at the Tenchi residence, the girls are still sitting at the table, and Kiyone is still unconscious, and the Washuu A has fallen over, and Sasami is still sick as the episode ends.
I would like to thank Aubrey Kuang-Yu Chen (who also calls himself "Sasami-chan" when discussing matters Tenchi) for correcting so much of my previous versions of the synopses. Most of the translated dialog is due to him. (Any remaining mistakes are mine.)
I am the keeper of Gummi Wisdom!
Email address: gee@math.berkeley.edu