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".

Title explanation

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.
The Tenchi Muyo! GXP novels, written by creator of both DUAL! and Tenchi Muyo!, 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:
Ending Theme:
; Core Robots
; 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. Miki Steinbeck, the future reincarnation of Mitsuki Sanada and Ken Manada appear in the Tenchi GXP novels. Seina Yamada is also confirmed to be the future reincarnation of Kazuki Yotsuga. In fact, Dual! is so consistently relevant to the GXP novels they can be viewed as a distant sequel.