Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure is a Japanese anime series animated by AIC and created by Masaki Kajishima, best known for the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. It was originally broadcast on Wowow from April to July 1999 and was licensed in the US by Pioneer LDC, later known as Geneon. In addition to the original TV run, an OVA special was added to conclude the series as a de facto "14th episode".
The title refers to the fact that the story takes place in two parallel universes, a concept loosely based on multiverse theory.
Plot
22 years ago, a huge alien artifact is found on a construction site by a worker named Yotsuga. The foreman orders that the artifact be broken apart to avoid delays. As Yotsuga walks towards the dumpsters to dispose of a small piece of the artifact, the world splits into two. In one world, Yotsuga tosses away the piece and the artifact is destroyed. In the other world, Yotsuga keeps the artifact, leading to the discovery of extraterrestrial technology that changes history.In the present, Kazuki Yotsuga is a high school student who is shunned by other students as an otaku; his web site describes battles between giant robots that only he can see, but it is mostly as a result of him being occasionally seen by the other students reacting to their "presence". One day, the most popular girl in school, Mitsuki Sanada, approaches him to tell him that she likes his stories. This is only a ruse; she lures him to her father, Dr. Ken Sanada, who wishes to study Kazuki for his research on parallel worlds.
After being thrown into the other possible world by Dr. Sanada's device, Kazuki finds himself still in Dr. Sanada's basement, but everything is covered with cobwebs. Kazuki goes home, is distracted by a real battle between two giant robots, one white and the other black. The white robot is knocked down and an injured female figure emerges from inside. When Kazuki goes to her aid, he is trapped inside the robot and somehow manages to activate it and defeat the enemy robot. Afterwards, Kazuki reaches his home, but his parents no longer recognize him. He is found by Mitsuki, who has followed him. Along with a military escort, she takes him to the Earth Defense Force HQ, a paramilitary operation led by this world's Dr. Sanada. After Kazuki learns of this world's situation and the attempted conquest of this world by this world's Dr. Rara who is using technology developed from the artifact, he volunteers to become a giant robot pilot.
Over the course of the series, Kazuki manages to attract several very different women without even trying, and he becomes a hero. He is later taken prisoner by Dr. Rara, the father of this world's Mitsuki. Mitsuki Rara eventually defects and comes to live with Kazuki and her counterpart. Later on, a new type of robot made from the artifact is deployed that can cause objects and people to be shifted between the alternate worlds. During the battle against it, Kazuki and Mitsuki Sanada are sent back to their original world, and they discover their world's Dr. Sanada covered up their disappearance by claiming that they had eloped. As it turns out, the frequent travel between worlds is taking a toll on the universe itself as the barriers separating them begin to break down; this will eventually lead to both worlds vanishing. A decision must be made; since Kazuki and the alien technology are exclusive to each world, one must be eliminated to halt the destruction. The robots are destroyed, and the worlds combine into one, an expression of Kazuki's wish for all his friends to continue to stay together with him.
Masaki Kajishima, confirmed that DUAL! is in fact set in the distant past of the Tenchi Muyo! universe.
Characters
;Kazuki Yotsuga;Mitsuki Sanada
;D
;Yayoi Schwael
;Mitsuki Rara
;Ken Sanada
;Akane Yamano
;Reika Nanjoin
;Hiroshi Rara
;Ayuko Rara
;Alice Shalom, Mena Fitzgerald, Ryla Phoenix
;Kaoru Hayase
;Kumu
List of episodes
Series
OVA
Music
Opening Theme:- "DUAL!": Act. 02 – 13
- :Song by: HARU&SAYAKA from UNIVERS★L D
- :Lyrics by: Hiroko Yah
- :Composition and arrangement by: Seikou Nagaoka
- "Real": Act. 01 – 12
- :Song by: Shifo from UNIVERS★L D
- :Lyrics and composition by: Shifo
- :Arrangement by: Seikou Nagaoka
- :Original lyrics by: Yūsuke Kuroda
- "DUAL! ": Act. 14
- :Song by: Mitsuki Sanada & Mitsuki Rara
- :Lyrics and composition by: Shifo
- :Arrangement by: Seikou Nagaoka
Glossary
; Earth Defense Force
; HIMC
; Kumu
; Life Sympathy
; Rara Army
; The Original
; Zinv
Connections to ''Tenchi Muyo!'' Universe
It has been confirmed by the creator of Tenchi Muyo! and Dual! that the two series are related, and in fact occur in the same universe. A mecha, confirmed in the Tenchi Muyo! GXP novels to be Zinv, is found during an episode of Tenchi Muyo! GXP which runs parallel with the Tenchi OVA Series. The hero of the GXP series, Seina Yamada has been confirmed to be a direct reincarnation of Kazuki Yotsuga and, in a complicated way, several others are basically partial reincarnations of the rest of the cast. In fact, Dual! is so consistently relevant to the GXP novels they can be viewed as a distant sequel.- The Great Prehistoric Civilization mentioned in the True Tenchi Muyo! novels is revealed, in the Tenchi Muyo! GXP novels, to be the space-faring civilization begun by the characters at the end of Dual!. It seems to have died out close to a billion years prior to the main Tenchi Muyo timeline. Though not the first or last, this civilization eventually performed the greatest "seeding" program in the galaxy. They seeded proto-planets so that the human genome would replicate itself and somehow even seeded cultural and technological norms so things like handheld telephone designs would repeat throughout the galaxy and similar food dishes, like curry and spaghetti, would continue almost unchanged throughout history. Tenchi's Earth has somehow turned out functionally identical to the earlier Earth. In fact, when the original solar system of the Earth from Dual is found, the entire solar system is found to be basically the same: containing a giant gas planet like Jupiter, a ringed planet like Saturn, etc.
- Washu explains that at one time in the past, a group of people made such an impact on the universe that their existence had massive effects on the "Astral Sea" that their astrals basically replicated and continue to revive and form the base of many beings in the universe.
- Certain astrals are so similar to their past astral selves that they retain vestigial memories of their past life that come to them occasionally like déjà vu. Miki Steinbeck, apparently represents the closest thing to direct reincarnation to Mitsuki Sanada, and her father, Hiroshi Manada, is physically identical to Ken Sanada, a friend and rival of Hiroshi's also seems to be the other half of this mixed up duo.
- By the end of GXP's 14th novel, Miki, another digital AI named Kirche, and D gain pseudo-cabbit bodies that were cloned from Fuku. With Fuku they seem to represent the most direct reincarnations of the original four girls in Dual. When the cabbit group appears in the 5th season of Tenchi Muyo! each had the same voice actors that voiced their respective counterparts from Dual.
- The Zinv that appears in GXP is the very same as the one in Dual and he immediately recognizes Seina as his partner.
- Seina represents an almost direct reincarnation of Kazuki and no others seem to share Kazuki's base astral.
- Other than Miki, Mitsuki Sanada's astral also forms the core of Kiriko Masaki, the Renza agent Karen, Tsukiko Masaki, and others.
- Other than Fuku, Yayoi Schwael shares her astral pattern with Amane Kaunaq, the Renza agent Gyokuren, Mikami Kuramitsu, and others.
- Other than Kirche, Mitsuki Rara shares her astral pattern with Ryoko Balta, the Renza agent Suiren, Ringo Tasuki, and others.
- Other than the D that is her astral copy, D/Dee shares her astral pattern with Neju Na Melmas, the Renza agent Hakuren, and others.
- When four of the girls that share an astral with their Dual counterpoint join Seina, his bad luck is lessened and can even create good luck.
- Others that surround Seina, like Airi Masaki and Seto Kamiki Jurai probably represent other primary characters in Dual, such as Akane Yamano, Reika Nanjoin, and Ayuko Rara, but this has not been confirmed. Seto does have a separate "mirror self" called Kuis Panta that has been confirmed to share the D astral, but while they are practically copies of each other- they do not seem to share the same astral pattern.
Cameo appearances
- Sasami and several other Tenchi Muyo! characters were featured in inserts found in the Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure releases in Japan.
- Kiyone Makibi, Ramia, and Misao Amano appear in a brief easter egg cameo in the series' OVA special.
Production
Media
Dual! was released in Japan via VHS, Laserdisc and DVD from June 25 to December 22, 1999. A Blu-Ray version was released in Japan on October 11, 2018.The US/Canada version was formerly licensed by Pioneer. On October 17, 2023, Discotek announced a Blu-Ray release of the anime in 2024.