The creators of Tenchi Muyo! returned to the world of anime sometime in the late '90s to produce a lampoon series, satirizing the genre of giant mechs. The result: Parallel Adventure Trouble Dual!, which contains more references to Neon Genesis Evangelion than to practically any other mecha show out there. This means I can draw some parallels (no pun intended) with a few elements of the show. Let's see ....

1. Kazuki Yotsuga (later Sanada) is Shinji Ikari's counterpart. This explains the "female plug suit," complete with complementary "shock absorbers" (Ken Sanada's description of the chest area), that he is forced to wear early on. I wonder how Asuka would respond to this ...
2. The mechs in Dual somewhat resemble the Evas. I still think Shinji's Unit 1 is more impressive than Kazuki's, even when the latter is upgraded to Zinv.
3. Does Ken remind anybody of the engineer in Nadesico, or is it just me? All mad scientists and engineers tend to act the same after a while.

There are, of course, others (what they are entirely depend on your outlook of the show), but I won't bog down this review with any further comments. Let's press on, shall we?

Dual centers around the life of Kazuki Yotsuga, ordinary high school student. That is, he would be ordinary, had it not been for one thing: he receives visions of several robotic fighters duking it out throughout the streets of Tokyo. He's managed to integrate these visions into a story he posts online; it's decent, as far as I can tell, but what I do know is that he has attracted the attention of the most beautiful girl in his school: Mitsuki Sanada, daughter of local fruit Ken Sanada, who's currently at work devising a dimensional transporter to test his theory of an alternate world (more on that later). Kazuki ends up accompanying Mitsuki to her house after school, where Ken eagerly greets him with an overly strong hug. Yes, he's overexcited, but what can I say? He's a nut.

Either case, Ken introduces his new-found friend to his latest invention: the transporter, which is activated by a conspicuous lever large enough to allow someone to sit on it. Which is what happens. When Kazuki is strapped to the device (much to his chagrin), Mitsuki inadvertently sits on the lever, causing the transporter to thrust Kazuki into the alternate world.

In this alternate world, Ken's house is in shambles, although his illustrious creation is still standing (albeit covered in more cobwebs and dust than Strom Thurmond). This is where the story picks up; Kazuki realizes he's be transported to an alternative timeline of Earth, which began with the discovery of an alien artifact by a construction crew. The decision to either keep or destroy the technology splits these two histories of earth, creating two worlds: one without the presence of the warring factions of Rara and Sanada, the other with. In this world, Ken is the commander of the Earth Defense Force (how they managed to elect him commander is beyond me), Mr. Rara is married to Ayuko, and giant mechs reign supreme on the battleground.

All in all, a wonderful setup. But how does this show play out?

To be honest, it's a good effort by the Tenchi crew. Directed by Katuhito Akiyama and written by Yosuke Koruda, with character designs by animation director Jun Okuda, Dual manages to maintain the flair of Tenchi Muyo! while integrating it into a mecha comedy. Okuda's characters are top-notch and beautifully designed; I preferred this over Tenchi, personally.

However, the story is somewhat lacking. Although the jokes are indeed funny (I especially enjoyed the "shock absorbers" scene), the story doesn't introduce anything new to the genre. Yes, this is the result of parodying the genre itself, but some effort should still be placed on being creative and originally. Probably the most original part of Dual is Dee, the bioroid with a soul. Likely a send-up of Rei Ayanami from Evangelion, Dee differs from Rei by virtue of her true soul, which allows her to become fully human at the end of the series.

Having said that, if you are looking for a truly remarkable experience, this is a possibility. Dual is a wonderful effort marred by a standard plot which could have benefited from a unique trait or two.

Rating: B-