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Episode 20 -	No Need for Runaways!
	Mizugi muyō!
First aired -	13th August 1995

The Yagami is in the docks for repairs again, and Tenchi and family have taken jobs at a local seaside resort to pay the bills. Katsuhito and Nobuyuki are running a small sea front café, while the others sell ice-cream along the beach. However, things are not going as well as could be hoped; Ryoko and Ayeka are happier soaking up the sun than working, and customers at the café are scarce. As if matters were not bad enough, Ryoko's nemesis Nagi arrives on the scene, still bent on vengeance against the space pirate.

Meanwhile, the gang take shelter from the four blazing suns overhead and cool down by eating shaved ice. Only Kiyone doesn't join them; she has taken the initiative and found a more successful job as a lifeguard. The others are just about ready to admit defeat when they hear an announcement over the beach PA system about a swimsuit competition with a one million Jurai prize for the winner. Seeing this as the ideal opportunity to pay off the repair bills with as little work as possible, the girls decide to enter. As competitive as ever, Ryoko and Ayeka both see it as another opportunity to assert their superiority over the other.

A short while later, they are sorting through a pile of swimsuits to find the perfect look when Nagi strides into the café and asks for a beer. Ryoko is astonished that her arch-rival has managed to track her down, and Nagi, seeing Ryoko again, challenges her to another fight. However, before the battle commences, another announcement on the PA notifies contestants for the swimsuit competition that registration is about to begin, so Ryoko suggests that they postpone their duel. Astonishingly, Nagi agrees to wait until after the contest.

Later that afternoon, Tenchi, Katsuhito, Nobuyuki and Sasami take their place in the audience and wait for the contest to begin. Meanwhile, the girls get changed in the dressing room, and Ryoko and Ayeka's rivalry continues unabated. Kiyone is distraught to discover that working out in the open as a lifeguard has left her with embarrassingly obvious tan lines!

As the contest begins, Sasami notices that Ryo-Ohki has gone missing. Ryo-Ohki is meeting up with her sweetheart, Ken-Ohki, across the beach in a secluded cove for some quiet time together.

Meanwhile, the first contestant steps out onto the stage; princess Ayeka (touting herself as an Ayeka lookalike on account of her wanted status). Ryoko in next onto the stage (also pretending to be a lookalike), proudly showing off her skimpy red bikini. Further contestants, including an android and a catgirl, all take their turn, until Kiyone steps bashfully onto the stage. To her surprise, the audience cheers enthusiastically, and she gracefully accepts the adulation. Finally, Mihoshi makes her entrance, and in her characteristically clumsy fashion, falls flat on her face. The compère is about to announce the start of judging when a surprise final entry leaps onto the stage; Nagi! The judges agree to let her enter, and the audience goes wild when Nagi whips off her robe to reveal an astoundingly skimpy swimsuit.

With all the entries waiting nervously, the judges submit their votes and the winner is revealed as Nagi. Within moments of accepting the winner's crown, Nagi turns to face Ryoko for their promised fight, but Ryoko has already beaten a hasty retreat aboard the Yagami, taking the prize money with her. The others chase after her aboard Ryo-Ohki, who has just returned from her romantic afternoon with Ken-Ohki.

Later, when everyone has regrouped aboard the Yagami, Ayeka and Ryoko are still at loggerheads. Despite being soundly beaten, they continue to fight over who should have won the swimsuit competition!

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Episode 21 - No Need for a Checkpoint! >>

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