Yuzuha

Yuzuha (由厨葉) is a fictional villain in the Tenchi Muyō! series, appearing in the 1997 movie ''Tenchi Muyō! Manatsu no Eve, released by Pioneer in the U.S. as Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness''. She is an original creation of first OVA series' co-writer Naoko Hasegawa, the movie being an adaptation of her tenth novel.

Juraian origins
Yuzuha is the spirit of the Tree of Darkness and a devourer of souls. While she has many forms, her predominant one is that of a silver-furred and child-like demon, which she compliments by surrounding herself with a myriad of stuffed animals and toys. Yuzuha is in the middle of preying on children when she first meets the Juraian Prince Yōshō, who has arrived to meet three of his friends (on whom she had just killed and fed on). Oblivious, Yōshō befriends her, not frightened by her demon countenance and inviting her to join him at the Startica summer festival.

She takes him up on it, cloaking herself in the guise of young girl and happy to have, for the first time, companionship. Yuzuha brings Yōshō a holographic music box with a picture of her tree as a gift, wanting the prince to come back home with her to play. Before they can go, guards from the Royal Palace arrive, segregating Yōshō while savagely beating Yuzuha with their staves. Reverting to her normal self after being slashed with a sword, she seems ready to retaliate before being rebuked as a "wretched creature". Screaming, Yuzuha leaves the realm and sleeps dormant on her own.

Plot for revenge
Awakening after seven hundred years, Yuzuha finds Yōshō alive and happy at a Christmas party with his grandson Tenchi Masaki and others on earth, and embittered schemes to send the boy a present of her own. Using strands of hair from Tenchi and herself, Yuzuha blends and manipulates the DNA to create their "daughter", Mayuka. She sends Mayuka to her "Daddy" to amuse herself by the trouble her appearance causes, intent to bring Tenchi back to the dark world alone in the end.

However, Mayuka is accepted by everyone except Ryōko and Ayeka, with Sasami in particular caring for the girl. And while shocked at suddenly having a daughter (one his own age at that), Tenchi cares for her as well. Becoming increasing jealous and resentful of a "human shell" getting the acceptance she never could, Yuzuha forces her will on the girl, threatening her under pain of death if she wanders from her control. Not satisfied by her performance, Yuzuha resorts to full hypnosis when necessary to keep Mayuka in check.

Yōshō and Washū discover her presence in the midst of Tenchi's abduction, and scared and confused Mayuka runs away. Tired of failures and wanting absolute loyalty, Yuzuha wipes the girl's memory clean; Mayuka then kidnaps Sasami when she rushes to her defense. Yuzuha sends them back to her world, telling Tenchi and Ryōkō to ask the old man how to find her.

Battle in the Dark World
Washū opens a portal to Yuzuha's domain, with Tenchi being warned that his powers may not work in the dark world. Giant teddy bears, knife-spewing toys, and tendrils of Christmas wrap await Tenchi and Ryōko in what amounts to a holiday-themed fun house. Captured, Yuzuha then takes the two to her laboratory floor, ordering the possessed Mayuka to tear Tenchi apart. However, Sasami is able to break through the girl as she strangles her father, as Mayuka somehow willing herself free from Yuzuha. The demon is unable to usurp control and her creation attacks her, saying she wants to spend Christmas with those she loves and not in the darkness anymore. Emotionally hurt again, Yuzuha strips Mayuka of her life and returns her to a crystal stone.

She's uncaring until Tenchi informs her that Mayuka was as much her as she was himself, and that Yuzuha only succeeded in destroying her better half. Yuzuha screams to the boy on how he doesn't know anything of what the Juraians put her through, forcibly transforming back to her original form as a demon of shadow. She asks them to look at her and think how anyone could love her when she looks this way, lamenting on how she should have killed his grandfather back then.

Before they can answer, Ayeka appears with the aid of Washū, throwing a sprig from Yōshō's tree (one of light) to Tenchi, allowing his powers to manifest. He and the demon fight, with Tenchi finding an opening and going for the final blow. As his blade descends, Tenchi has a vision of Yōshō and Yuzuha in happier times, and realizes Yuzuha's true feelings towards his grandfather. "Imagine... the darkness in love with the light" she cries, her tears falling as she disintegrates from within. 

Powers and abilities
Yuzuha is seen to use several powers in the movie.


 * Transformation in to shadows, seen when she is initially cut down by guards and disppears in black smoke.
 * She is also able to Shapeshift as was shown when she made herself look more 'normal' to come before Yosho.
 * Regeneration - she healed her right eye after Mayuka slashed her
 * Blasting lightningenergy bolts
 * Her self-proclaimed "Disintegration Technique" which is self explanatory.
 * Most obviously is her ability to create and manipulate her own Dark Dimension in whatever way she pleases and to transform her shape.
 * Much like how Washu changes her appearance to that of a child, Yuzuha can do the same as she became a much taller, more mature form towards the end. This was later taken a step further as a being of total darkness.

Trivia

 * Yuzuha's dimension runs at a different rate than the natural world of Tenchi's, with time running as fast or as slow as the demon desires at any given moment. So while Yuzuha may have been away from the "real" world for seven hundred years, that amount of time would not have necessarily passed in her domain.
 * Though a demon, Yuzuha has a keen knowledge and interest in science and genetics, maintaining her own laboratory in the lower levels of her tree.
 * Yuzuha communicates with Mayuka on Earth through a holographic device that projects her presence across dimensions.
 * She suffers from an inferiority complex over her appearance and takes comments towards it quite seriously. Mayuka being her "good half", Yuzuha is also intensely envious of her experiences and takes her frustrations out on her through verbal and physical pain.
 * The battle in Yuzuha's realm bears a striking resemblance to the Night on Bald Mountain segment of the Disney movie, Fantasia (film).