Ryoko and Ayeka - or as they're also known, chalk and cheese. The prissy, protected princess with a will of iron versus the unruly, rebellious space pirate who just doesn't know when to stop pushing. And with their mutual affection for Tenchi thrown into the equation, there are a fair few spats between these two in all of the Tenchi incarnations.

The relationship between the two principle rivals for Tenchi's affections tends to fluctuate from the extreme to the ridiculous, depending on which series you are watching. Even in the Pretty Sammy universes, they appear as rivals to one another in some form - either as spatting schoolgirls or as the arch villain Romio (Ayeka) and the Royal Guard (Ryoko).

Because both Ayeka and Ryoko are strong willed characters, they often clash over things. But it does run deeper for them than a simple rivalry over Tenchi.

In the OVA, for example, when Ayeka gets the signal from Earth from Funaho, Yosho's tree, she obviously has quite a lot of venom for Ryoko and, although the statute of limitations on Ryoko's crimes has expired, decides to invent a reason for which to bring the pirate into her custody anyway. Ryoko, for her part, refers to Ayeka as 'the devil' and a demon even worse than she is, when describing her to Tenchi. They have obviously clashed in the past, and it's clear that Ayeka bears Ryoko a grudge for spiriting Yosho away from planet Jurai. Perhaps she even fears that Ryoko killed Yosho somehow in combat, although this is never made completely clear. Ayeka's love for Tenchi doesn't become apparent until a few episodes in, when they spent time together in a rainstorm, sheltering from the bad weather. However, her hatred of Ryoko exists from the start of the episode that introduces her.

Even when stranded on Planet Earth together, the two girls are as different as can be, and Ryoko takes every opportunity she can to play with Ayeka's mind, teasing her about her feelings for Tenchi, suggesting in her usual brash way the things which Ayeka is probably thinking but is too well bred to ever bring up in conversation. Ryoko baths naked, talks about sleeping with Tenchi and is overtly sexual in much of her talk regarding their relationship. When she feels that Ayeka has somehow grabbed Tenchi's attention, she pushes all the harder to make Ayeka feel uncomfortable with the situation at hand, probably in the hopes of weakening her competitor's claim over the man she's fallen in love with. As she says, "You've only known him for two months. I've known him since he was this big."

From Ayeka's perspective, Ryoko is rude, offensive and all the things that she has been trained not to be as a Princess of the planet Jurai. It's clear from her pampered royal background (her overbearing, affectionate mother, her stern father, her protective guardians and her status and power with RyuOh among other things) that she has no real way of knowing how to handle a character who deals with life in the way that Ryoko does. Equally, Ryoko - with her rough edged background and with so many questions about her origins (explained in part by Washu over the course of the series), has no clue how to deal with a princess who is concerned with her appearance - both in an actual sense and in a social one. In short, then, their differences only accentuate what is already an uncomfortable situation between them, and the fact that both are fiercely competitive women means that Tenchi is thrown into the ring as the next thing to be fought over.

And yet, despite their constant bickering, there are times in the OVA when the two girls work together. At one point they decide that there are too many people involved in things, so they plot to get rid of Mihoshi and Washu together. And when they think Tenchi is killed in battle, Ryoko and Ayeka team up to try and avenge his death against Kagato, speaking to each other almost as friends. During the battle also, Ayeka intervenes when Ryoko is in trouble, and Ryoko saves Ayeka from falling masonry - not to mention the fact she does not use her full power against Kagato for fear of killing Ayeka in the blast. Though they are never exactly friends in the OVA, both of them are smart enough to know that sometimes it's wiser to keep your enemy close!

In Tenchi Universe, the rivalry is along the same lines, but with a slightly different slant and, in some respects, a different journey (in particular for Ayeka, who seems to swing around full circle). Ayeka and Ryoko appear to hate each other based on childhood experiences. They have three shared memories, though whether Ryoko's account or Ayeka's is truth is up to the viewer. In terms of the original account - the flowers in the fields - I'm inclined to believe both accounts as being basically true, just told from opposing perspectives. The old adage - my truth, your truth and the real truth - comes in here :) I suspect neither are innocent nor are they both to blame. The same is probably true of the third recollection, in the hotel on a planet near to Jurai. But the middle one at the carnival is a touch different. I may be biased, but I've always taken the view that, if Ayeka's story is true, Azaka and Kamadake are conspicuously absent while Ryoko is cheating and robbing her of her money. They being the Guardians of Jurai and in charge of her on her trip to the planet, I find that surprising. The other thing that is strange in Ayeka's recollection is that Ryoko apparently pushes her to buy a Ryo Ohki plushie. But there is no Ryo Ohki in any of the three memories, therefore Ryoko hasn't come into contact with her cabbit yet. And this being so, why would she have a Ryo Ohki plushie to push on the princess? Seems a bit convenient to me, especially since when Ryo Ohki is regenerated earlier in the series, Ayeka does not know immediately what or who the cabbit is. However, when you look at Ryoko's account, there are no strange plushies -she explains the pottery she has as pottery she made herself, which is plausible, considering the lack of quality in the work and her young age. Azaka and Kamadake are right there WITH Ayeka in Ryoko's recollection, as Ayeka speaks to her. I don't know whether Ayeka would have destroyed the stall but on the whole Ryoko's story seems a lot more truthful. After all, their fight at THIS carnival is sparked off BY Ayeka destroying Ryoko's booth and also seems to inspire the memory of their prior meeting at a fair, so even if it isn't very princess-like, I guess there is plausibility for that element of Ryoko's story too. Equally, if you study the body language of both Ayeka and Ryoko after the telling, Ryoko is indignant and upset in a way that comes over as genuine - as opposed to her 'play-hurt' moments and 'crocodile tears' at other times. So in the instant of the carnival, I think, Ryoko is telling the truth. Certainly, hers has more truth about it than Ayeka's in this particular example.

Ayeka turns up on Planet Earth to discover herself in the company of a space pirate she hates, and almost winds up killing herself when she thinks that Tenchi likes Ryoko and has sworn to die with her. Ayeka is a lot more jittery in this series where Tenchi's affections are concerned. If Ryoko is absent, she immediately jumps to the conclusion that she must be with Tenchi, trying to seduce him in some way. At one point, Ryoko is simply taking a bath, and Tenchi has actually been kidnapped by Nagi. At another, she levels this concern to the rest of the household, when actually Tenchi has gone to speak to Ryoko and there's no active flirting involved. When Nagi calls Tenchi Ryoko's man, Ayeka goes slightly bananas about it, focusing in on this petty detail instead of the bigger picture - the fact Tenchi has been abducted. When Ryoko takes Tenchi to Washu's cave, she is so unamused she storms right on in there, regardless of the legends associated with the imprisoned goblin and the curse. And, at the local carnival, she destroys Ryoko's shoot-the-Ayeka stand (although I guess you could say she was provoked...)

Although she is a Princess of Jurai and therefore apparently steeped in honour and tradition, she also allows this personal honour to wane slightly when in competition with Ryoko - she attempts to steal Tenchi away during Nagi and Ryoko's battle on Venus and she tries her best to help Kiyone arrest Ryoko and take her away to prison. Ryoko, for her part, continues along the same lines as the OVA in the sense that she enjoys winding Ayeka up. She talks about flirting and other things and tries to seduce Tenchi when Ayeka is around - some of her lines are almost over the top to get a reaction from Ayeka, which unfortunately, Ayeka pretty much always gives. In the Time and Space Adventures, Ayeka and Ryoko are in competition all the way down the line - apart from that notorious moment in Sasami's world when, under Pretty Sammy's spell, they declare their undying love for one another!

W hether their speeches are meant to apply to the situations at hand, or whether they refer to their long term rivalries or not is a matter for debate. I feel that there is some deeper referencing going on, however, since Ryoko is always playing the potential love interest/mistress/rulebreaker and Ayeka is always the rich, high class millionairess type who's getting jilted. In her world, Ayeka resorts to a sword...in Ryoko's, she resorts to a rifle. Her meaning is very clear - frustration driven to breaking point by Ryoko's constant interference between her and Tenchi. Put that together with her comment for Nagi's battle -"I dont care if you die, Ryoko, just don't lose!" and "Your death won't have been in vain!", it's almost like she subconsciously feels the only way to get Ryoko out of her way - and her life - is to kill her once and for all.

Also, there is still the clash of personalities. Ryoko likes to flaunt her touchy-feely, direct nature, a fact which Ayeka admits she's jealous of in her karaoke song aboard Yagami. In some respects, I think they are both jealous of one another - Ryoko envies Ayeka her priveleged background and Ayeka envies Ryoko's ability to say what she's thinking and be daring, breaking social conventions and living the life of an outlaw instead of having to follow social protocol. I also genuinely believe that they think Tenchi prefers the other one - Ryoko because she's always fretting about Ayeka's interference, going over the top to compensate and get Tenchi's attention, and Ayeka because she is constantly suspicious of Ryoko and Tenchi together, and because she admits, right near the end, that her and Tenchi being together was something she couldn't imagine being real until she found out about his Jurai roots.

However, by the close of the Universe timeline - namely, at the end of Tenchi Forever, Ayeka and Ryoko's relationship has come round full circle. Tenchi has been taken from the equation and united by the common enemy, Haruna, the two girls work together, hunting him down and becoming almost friends with one another in the process. In fact, at the end of the film, it is Ayeka who tells Ryoko to go after Tenchi, acknowleding that she's the only one who can go and bring him back. It's almost as if she's conceded the fight to her foe, and would rather have Tenchi safe and with Ryoko than not have him back at all. (Which, after all I've said about her honour, just proves she's not without it after all!)

They come to recognise each other's strengths over the course of this film, being forced to spend so much time together as they are, and though there is the odd bit of sniping, they actually function pretty well as a team for the most part. Ayeka comments that Ryoko is strong, and sees her as emotional support - in contrast, it is Ayeka who points out to Ryoko that she can be too strong - and that she has to be true to her feelings or she'll lose herself. It could be said, then, that Tenchi's indecision is a major cause of their conflict in this series timeline, and that, with his removal, they lose a key reason to spat. (Seems everything else can be worked out between them by talking, bathing and waitressing...who woulda known?)

In Manatsu No Eve, the same thing can be said. After Tenchi and Ryoko have their major league spat, it is Ayeka who finds Ryoko by the lake, and they have a little heart to heart. Surprisingly, considering how bad the situation Ryoko has just left, she provides strength for Ayeka again, telling her that Tenchi would never break her heart, and that she was so well loved they'd be sending a search party out looking for her. It is a touch strange that Ayeka should choose Ryoko to pour her heart out to - a fact Ayeka even acknowledges - but somehow, in the context of the situation, it feels right. Ayeka and Ryoko are once more united by a common foe - in this case, Mayuka.

Ayeka and Ryoko's relationship in Tenchi in Tokyo is back to basics hostility combined with the mutual animosity for Sakuya (boy, I cannot blame them!) that drives them to occasionally agree - for example Ayeka backs up Ryoko's accusation that Sakuya stole their gems, and Ayeka and Ryoko spy on Tenchi and Sakuya together from his apartment, as well as tracking them to the House of the Eternal Pledge and fighting to rescue him from Hotsuma's spell. Equally, at the close of the series, they pull together...but when they are at one another's throats, they do it with gusto, yelling at each other in a very high pitched way. Although Ayeka is in love with Tenchi in this series, she's not in the picture in terms of the main romantic rivals. Although Tenchi says that he doesn't like either of them more than the other at the start, it becomes apparent as time goes on that he's not telling the entire truth. Even so, her rivalry with Ryoko seems to be based mostly on her imagination that she will end up Tenchi's bride, and the fact she's just a little bit psycho. (Did I say that? Heh!).