I'm pretty sure I understood most of the impact this episode has upon the ongoing narrative thrust, which is: not much. This doesn't advance the story very much, but it does feature Ryouko, Kiyone, and Mihoshi in their day jobs. There's also a lot of Japanese in this episode in crucial spots, so if I missed something, tell me.
On some distant planet, Ryouko blasts her way out of an underground stronghold with a lot of money. Armed and armoured troops are waiting for her, but it really doesn't matter. Ryouko also seems to have become the leader of what I will call the "Paper Bag Gang." They're a large group of fairly burly men whose indentity is obscured by sackcloths over their heads, with eye and mouth holes.
Hotsuma comes in Ryouko's ship and beams the Paper Bag Gang on board. Ryouko takes a little time to take out some poor guy who tried to draw a weapon on her and then laugh gleefully before she gets beamed on board.
Ryouko's return to piracy has been very successful. Back in her hideout, she's sitting on bags of loot, while cheering members of the Paper Bag Gang party below. Hotsuma is her right-hand man. Kiyone and Mihoshi are partying too, as they've infiltrated the Paper Bag Gang. They shouldn't be too hard to spot, actually, since they are the only women in the Paper Bag Gang and the masks they wear also have holes to let their hair out. (Actually, only one shock of Kiyone's hair comes out, so she looks pretty unbalanced.)
Meanwhile, back in Tokyo, Tenchi and the rest of the class are finishing up a test. (The teacher is, once again, Fujisawa from El-Hazard. He's credited as such, with the same voice actor.) It's a hot day. They've changed to their hot-weather uniforms.
Tenchi actually finishes up a little early, but the other students (especially the Ugly Guy) are sweating it out until the final seconds. After the test is over, the students begin to talk amongst themselves. The Ugly Guy asks Tenchi how he did and he says he thinks he did OK. (Tenchi is being modest, and he probably doesn't want to jinx himself. But everyone else knows that Tenchi's a smart kid, so they realize he did really well.) Tenchi asks the Ugly Guy how he did. The Ugly Guy didn't do so good -- he collapses. Luke Perry comes up, and there's the same deal with their performance on the test. (But Luke Perry didn't do as bad as Ugly Guy.) Sakuya's three friends pop up, and they start talking, and they don't think they did very well either. Sakuya then pops up behind Tenchi, and she asks him how he did, and he asks her how she did, and she says she thinks she did OK and she uses the exact same words that Tenchi did.
At this, the others groan. (And little emotional spirals appear above their heads.) One of Sakuya's friends remarks at how well suited Tenchi and Sakuya are for each other, to which they protest that "doing OK" doesn't mean that they aced the test. Then they turn to each other and say "Right?" at the same time. The others groan even louder, and the emotional spirals get larger.
That bit being done, the converstation turns to what the group should do now that it is summer break. Since it is Tenchi's first summer in Tokyo, everyone agrees to let Tenchi decide. (Not that Tenchi asked for this...) Sakuya's friends say that if it's something Tenchi chooses it will be good, and Tenchi's friends are a bit miffed at this (since they'd like to believe that their opinions are worth listening too) but Sakuya's friends still go by Tenchi. ("Masaki-kun!" they cheer at one point, that being how they refer to Tenchi.) Sakuya beams -- she's happy that all her friends like Tenchi.
(I thank "PsychoPixi" for letting me know what was going on in this scene.)
Fujisawa walks through the corridors of the school, talking to himself in some weird language (i.e., Japanese.)
Meanwhile, the pirate gang continues to party in outer space. Ryouko and Hotsuma share their own private toast. Kiyone and Mihoshi try to blend in at the party, but between Kiyone crowing about moving up the ranks of the Galaxy Police once they capture Ryouko and Mihoshi's singing and dancing (with her mask off!), they don't do a very good job. Fortunately for them, the pirates of the Paper Bag Gang are real party animals, and they really don't notice anything unusual.
But Ryouko and Hotsuma do notice the duo, because they are not total idiots.
Kiyone and Mihoshi sneak off to a corner so Kiyone can remind Mihoshi why they are here. (To capture Ryouko.) The Paper Bag Gang notices them, so Kiyone leads a cheer: "Heee!!" The Gang lets out a cheer: "Yaaay!!!" And the Gang resumes partying, distraction forgotten. But Mihoshi reminds Kiyone about Tenchi, and what they all share (I guess) and Kiyone agrees to try to bring Ryouko back to the Tenchi family.
Ryouko decided to call out Kiyone and Mihoshi, while pretending she doesn't know who they are. She sends them somewhere to do some sort of job, which Kiyone and Mihoshi go off to do, so as not to blow their cover. Hotsuma asks Ryouko what she is planning, and Ryouko says that she's going to play with them a little bit.
Ryouko turns on a big screen so she can watch Kiyone and Mihoshi. They're somewhere sweeping up, and Ryouko sends a big spiked wall down to crush them, and the duo run away comically. And the gang cheers!
Then Ryouko sends them into the kitchen (I guess to cook for the gang) and then she lets a big dinosaur into the kitchen with them. And the gang is all there watching them, and they cheer! (Ryouko is wearing the big cloak in this scene that she wears in the opening.)
Then Ryouko has them put in a big pit, with the gang and her on the outside. The gang rips off their shirts and tosses them into the pit, which turns out to be a giant washing machine which fills with water and starts laundering the dirty clothes and the detectives. And the gang cheers!
Then Kiyone and Mihoshi put on a show. They're up on stage, and I guess they deliver some sort of vaudeville like routine which is not received well by the audience. (Mihoshi: "Why did the chicken cross the road, Ms. K?" Kiyone: "I give up, Ms. M. Why did the chicken cross the road?" Mihoshi: "Ooh, I knew this one....") The gang boos and throws things at the pair. Ryouko thinks this is pretty funny. Then Kiyone and Mihoshi try to balance plates on sticks. The gang boos and tosses furniture. Ryouko laughs. The pair tries tightrope walking (Mihoshi ends up hanging on the rope.) The gang tosses more stuff. Ryouko laughs harder. Kiyone sends Mihoshi jumping through hoops of fire. The gang tosses more stuff, but Ryouko thinks this is hilarious. But the pair win over the crowd with Mihoshi's fire breathing act, which also chars Kiyone. The crowd cheers!
Kiyone and Mihoshi finally get a break backstage. Kiyone is pretty mad, but Mihoshi is in good spirits. Outside, Ryouko is completely busting up. Hotsuma, standing behind her, lets a sinister smirk cross his face as the first segment of the show ends.
After the commercial break, Kiyone, Mihoshi, and Ryouko are drinking tea in Tenchi's house. (Well, it looks like Tenchi's house.) Mihoshi is serving the tea, and naturally manages to spill hot tea over Kiyone. Ryouko thinks this is very funny. A little while later, Mihoshi playfully gives Mihoshi a slap on her burned leg, and Kiyone jumps up in pain, and Ryouko laughs at the duo's antics.
The house is actually a replica built into the hideout. The trio are talking a lot, which poses a problem for non-Japanese speaking people like me. Ryouko tells them about Hotsuma. (Hotsuma actually built the replica for Ryouko, at her request.) Ryouko calls for him, but Hotsuma doesn't show up. Ryouko wonders where he is. As it turns out, Hotsuma is secretly watching this conversation on the same sort of viewing device that Yuugi uses. He doesn't look happy.
Anyway, Ryouko and Kiyone talk a bit. Kiyone is not actually interested in arresting Ryouko at this point. She's trying to get Ryouko to return to the Tenchi house, and she's figured out that something happened the night of the school festival. Then Mihoshi chimes in -- she needs to know where the bathroom is. Really quickly. After Ryouko points it out to her, Mihoshi is off like a shot.
There's apparently only one bathroom in the whole hideout though, and there's a huge line for it (peopled with very uncomfortable gang members.) Mihoshi (in dire straits) clears out the line by breathing fire!
Hotsuma watches as Mihoshi returns to the living room, and the the trio resume their conversation, which is in Japanese. Kiyone (who hasn't managed to get Ryouko to tell her what happened the night of the festival) goes so far as to suggest that if Ryouko doesn't return, she'll go after Tenchi. Mihoshi thinks this is a pretty neat idea. Ryouko says that what Kiyone suggests is impossible, because of Sakuya. Ryouko gets depressed, and then (as Kiyone pressed the matter) angry. She gets up to leave, but Kiyone continues her appeal. She grabs Ryouko by the hand, but Ryouko shrugs it off.
So Mihoshi suggests a game of cards. (Kiyone thinks this a a pretty goofy idea.) And Ryouko accepts.
Hotsuma, watching this, doesn't like this and he decides it's time to bring in the Galaxy Police.
Somewhere, a Galaxy Police commander thinks that Kiyone and Mihoshi have found Ryouko and is signaling them.
Meanwhile, the detectives and the pirates are blissfully playing Old Maid. They're still talking about Tenchi, and I still don't understand what they are saying. Kiyone manages to pick the Old Maid (actually a joker) from Ryouko, who thinks this is pretty funny. Mihoshi picks a card from Kiyone, and then it's Ryouko's turn. Ryouko manages to find the Old Maid again, which she doesn't think is funny. But Ryouko has been enjoying herself.
Then an alarm sounds. Hotsuma rushes in to tell Ryouko that the Galaxy Police.... Ryouko is rather rather dismissive, but Hotsuma presses on. They're attacking! The communication screen lights up, and the Galaxy Police commander delivers an ultimatim to Ryouko. Mihoshi and Kiyone are contacted by the Galaxy Police. (Their wrist communicator starts talking, but I don't know what they say.)
Ryouko thinks that Kiyone brought the Galaxy Police in on her. Kiyone denies it, but Ryouko doesn't believe her. She thinks Kiyone used their friendship to betray her.
Anyway, Ryouko goes out to battle the Galaxy Police, leaving the detectives in the hideout. Mihoshi yells something as she leaves. (She doesn't want Ryouko to go, maybe?) Hotsuma as he and Ryouko vanish into the ship.
There's a bunch of members of the Paper Bag Gang around Mihoshi and the ship. She uses her fire-breathing technique to scatter them, so she's not afraid of them. But the ship leaves, and Mihoshi's unable to stop Ryouko.
Ryouko mutters "idiots...." under her breath as the ship takes off. (I don't know who she is referring to.)
(I thank Junji and "PsychoPixi" for letting me know what was going on between Kiyone and Ryouko.)
Back in Tokyo, Tenchi and the schoolkids are in a cafe. Tenchi's Ugly Friend still has not recovered -- he's yelling about something. Sakuya's three friends are talking. I think that they're talking about how cool Tenchi is. One of them seems a bit jealous of Sakuya, or at least the other two playfully suggest this. (I think they're just making fun of her, though.) Sakuya happily thinks to herself that she wants to know more about Tenchi.
Yuugi watches Sakuya and Tenchi together. Tsugaru and Matori appear beside her. Yuugi seems to have a slight frown when she speaks to the two, but they don't say anything. She says that she does not understand Sakuya's feelings at all. As the episode draws to a close, she begins to smirk as usual and says that this cannot be allowed to go any further than it already has.
Stay tuned for the next episode, where Kiyone and Mihoshi get decorated, Tenchi and Sakuya go to the beach, and Yuugi's plans for Sasami are revealed! See you there!
Once again, I'd like to thank "PsychoPixi" for letting me know what was going on with all the scenes with Tenchi and Sakuya and "PsychoPixi" and Junji for letting me know what was going on with the scenes in the replica of the Tenchi living room!
I am the keeper of Gummi Wisdom!
Email address: gee@math.berkeley.edu