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Forum - View topicThe Complete Guide to 25 Years of Tenchi Muyo!
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michaelarroyo01
Posts: 59 |
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Here you go:
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1327 |
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Nice to read an out-of-the-blue article to remind people of this classic. Tenchi Muyo was my gateway title to anime, it had such a profound effect on my life, and I still love this title to this very day. It just has that perfect blend of sci-fi, action/adventure, wacky humor with a solid cast of distinctive characters. I’ve collected the action figures, the artbooks, soundtracks and just about every American DVD/Blu-Ray release that ever happened (all spin-off series included). I also have the manga which is filled with plenty of charming stories, where you also get the better sense that all the characters truly think of each other as family, even Ryoko.
One of the things I’ll admit is that when I rewatch the OVA series, I tend to stick with the original 6 episodes. Fans say the story degraded on OVA3, but the more I think about the more I believe it started with OVA 2, when Kajishima took over control and altered the girls’ personalities (Ryoko in particular changed from tough girl to comedic punching-bag character between those 2 seasons). I don’t care much for how Kajishima has been handling the OVA storyline anymore than most people, but there were still stuff to like in OVA 3 (Ryoko babying Ryo-ohki in the 1st episode was truly cute) and I really do enjoy War on Geminar. I believe Tenchi in Tokyo is criminally underrated (I think Ayeka was a far stronger character in this version), but even then my favorite iteration of the Tenchi franchise is Universe, because it takes the core story of OVA 1 and expands it, and it caps off with two really good movies. Tenchi Forever/In Love 2 is especially good, as it takes Tenchi out and forces Ryoko and Ayeka to really genuinely grow as characters in a way they never were able to in the series and come close to admitting friendship between them, and the answer as to who Tenchi chooses between them was made very much clear at the end (anyone who believes it's still ambiguous is just blindly desperate to see it that way) and done in a poignant way that gives one the sense their future will be okay. It seems a lot of anime fans are unable to rewatch some of their old favorites because they’ve changed in several ways over time—but with me and Tenchi, every time I rewatch any one series, I find myself reminded why I’ve loved this series and why it continues to charm me even into my adulthood. While it may be debatable about the girls battling over Tenchi, said girls have genuine personality and character to them that one just doesn’t find so much in harem series today, certainly as far as I’m aware of. Theron doesn’t seem to think it’s special much anymore, but I can’t help but disagree on that. Last edited by pachy_boy on Wed May 24, 2017 11:56 am; edited 1 time in total |
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CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
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Good article, since I've always been curious about Tenchi. I've (unfortunately) seen bits of GXP back when it was airing on Toonami, as well as the first episode of the OVA series (which I enjoyed a lot more).
I do need to make a correction, though.
The edited version of Tenchi was only released on VHS by Pioneer. |
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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Most knee-jerk fans--especially the "It's a sci-fi EPIC!" fans who indoctrinated themselves on the Ryo-Ohki OVA, and believe Universe was a crime against humanity for being a sitcom--angrily gave up on Tokyo after the first episode, or maybe the second, immediately thinking the entire series was going to be like that. And yes, while the first episode is cute (Ryoko: "Remember, Tenchi, don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me!  "), the animation initially looks pretty darn awful and the monster-of-the-week "Sailor Tenchi and the Dangerously-Jealous Scouts" concept seems doomed from the start. It gets better (Ep. 5, where the characters all try to get part-time jobs in the city), but you can see a director/planner who got re-booted at eps. 6-7, where they brought in the new canon, and the new concept of the series focusing on the characters as family, and the now stronger villain's attempt to break it up.
Of course, the change of horses midstream, and the new Ep. 7 "The Day We Met" canon is the reason the chart puts Tokyo as an "alternate" canon, and doesn't put Tokyo after Universe and before Tenchi Forever, as it should be in terms of story.
Ayeka does come off as the strongest character in Tokyo, because she seems to know the appeal of the Universe series was the fact that the characters had such an oddball family of their own, and it's poignant when she sees them strategically made to drift apart. They'd pretty much resolved their big sci-fi conflict on the home planet at the end of the Universe series, so the only reason they're still hanging around is partly because it's the most family they've all got, and also because...well, you know. Two certain characters aren't about to give up yet. The bewildering hardcore sci-fi comics of Ryo-Ohki came first (at least on US disk), so most fans seem to have chick-imprinted on that one as the "true" version, and bring us even more bewildering sci-fi action series with the wannabe-producers OVA 3 and afterwards. But for those who watched TM:RO, Universe and Tokyo on Cartoon Network, all anal-retentively aired in sequence by programmers who didn't know any better, there's doing it first, and then there's doing it right. |
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Animegomaniac
Posts: 4089 |
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War on Genimar is one of those series that once I start watching episode 1, I do not stop until episode 13 and it's been that way since I first saw it in its fansub days. There's just so many great things about it, from being one of the greater takes on "From another world" stories- except in this case, it's the hard sci-fi world he came from which is really fantastic so the "I've got to get home" early plot actually works- to its "Super-man among the normal" aspects- he's descended from Goddesses and lives with them so "normal" isn't exactly normal for him, to its general intelligence when it doesn't have to be that smart.
One meaning of Kenshi is "Earth sword". Go figure, huh? Or how much its previous Earht visitor affected the world in strange and very strange ways. Was that really Noboyuki, Tenchi's father, or was it just a coincidence that strange visitor- and that strange man- share similar tastes? It's a good series on the surface, it's a great series once you start digging into it. Much like the OVA series and the much maligned GXP, there's more to it than you can see. And GXP will always get high marks from me just from the first "warp" sequence alone. Reality just can't afford Hollywood special effects... However, I'm not much of a fan of Universe and I outright dislike Tenchi in Tokyo- that name alone is poison. What do you get by setting a hard sci-fi world in normal Tokyo? Both series keep everything on the surface with very little connective flow between episodes, let alone anything else. It makes for an easier first viewing but there's no substance. |
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BodaciousSpacePirate
 Subscriber Posts: 3017 |
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My favorite part of the Tenchi franchise will always be Sasami: Magical Girls Club. It's such a great mixture of an after school club show and a magical girl series. Additionally, if you decide to watch the dub, you can pretend that A Certain Scientific Railgun got a third season (it's all the same voice actresses, basically).
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CCTakato
Posts: 514 |
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It should also be pointed out the second movie is based on one of the light novels which is why Kiyone is in it even though it's based in OVA canon because Kiyone was in some of the light novels. The OVAs were my favorite in my high school day but I think as I get older, I think Tenchi Universe has become my favorite. I appreciate that it actually tells a complete story and I love all the comedic antics and Universe gives us Kiyone who is one of my top favorite Tenchi characters. I also love Magical Project S and I think it's still the ideal magical girl parody (sorry Cute High fans; Pretty Sammy did it better two decades ago). This Did You Know video with the English voice artist for Ryoko is also worth checking out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aD9cMvxkOHY&t=1s |
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Triltaison
 Posts: 728 |
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I think it's worth making a little distinction with the Pretty Sammy entries instead of lumping them all together as the same thing. The first one was a parody of the magical girl genre and was basically what would happen if the cast of Tenchi were in one of those shows. The second played the genre straight with heavy parody/comedic elements, and the third is totally unconnected to the rest of the Tenchi franchise beyond some names and character designs. The last one is definitely standard magical girl fare, though it's in a universe all its own.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18212 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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^
The magical girl branch of the franchise is the one I'm least familiar with; whereas I've seen nearly every minute of every other title in the franchise except GXP (where I've seen about half of it), I've only seen the OVA series and snippets of the first TV series for the magical girl stuff. Given what you describe, I'll definitely agree that a little more differentiation is warranted there, although they're still all very distinctly magical girl series and distinctly separate from the rest of the franchise, so putting them all under the same heading is, I feel, still warranted. And thanks to those providing details on the novels. I think I do now remember hearing at one point that the second movie was more connected to the novels, but had forgotten about that. |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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In the Universe TV series, Eps. 11-13 were the "Time & Space Adventures" three-part, where Washuu's invention lets everyone create their alternate realities. Kiyone imagines a seacoast drama where's she's starting over after losing her partner, Mihoshi imagines a popular Japanese soap-opera parody (not sure which one?), Sasami imagines a cute magical-girl story, and Ryoko imagines her and Tenchi as a US 20's Bonnie & Clyde, and doesn't want to leave. The idea of magical-girl Sasami had such marketing possibilities, the Pretty Sammy OAV was directly spun off, with Ryoko and Ayeka as schoolgirls fighting over Tenchi. When it went to series, the alternate canon was completely changed, and Magical Project S (Pioneer US didn't want to call it "Pretty Sammy TV", since the OAV had sold badly) started over from scratch. No relation to the "Sasami Magical Club" series, at which point the Tenchi-verse was in the hands of the new OAV3-era owners who thought they were rebooting MPS, but just made up any old junk to fit the franchise. |
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KH91
Posts: 6176 |
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Tenchi is one of my favorite series. I only care for the main canon timeline (No surprise. Everything else is a one time watch. lol), but Sakuya is one of those characters that will make me acknowledge the alternate timeline because she is so cute.
Also, I await Penguintruth to comment regarding a certain character. |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1866 |
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Oh, may I recommend you start with the television series, Tenchi Universe? The OVA starts stronger, but the fact that the further you get, the more standard it becomes may turn you off. Tenchi Universe was how I introduced my friend to the franchise (after seeing the first two movies just for fun) and he loved it. |
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Nonaka Machine Gun B
 Posts: 819 |
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I loved this when it was on Toonami. I was always of the impression everything was connected; am I wrong in assuming the dub rewrote Universe and in Tokyo to sort of fit with the OVA?
The '90s aesthetic of this, Rurouni Kenshin, YuYu Hakusho, plus the original Dragon Ball from the '80s pretty much ruled my elementary school days, though I never had much affinity for Gundam. I'd like to think the Toonami of today is doing something similar for people, but part of me feels that isn't really happening, at least not anywhere close to the same level or impact. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1866 |
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Because it's easier to reach a group of children who just came home from school and whose minds are still open and being shaped than it is to reach whatever few adults are still up and watching Adult Swim past midnight. Sadly, it looks like modern Toonami might die soon, since it lost half its runtime again. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted... |
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2285 Location: In front of my computer |
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I'm curious where this info is coming from, because doing my research all I see are from when its time was cut back in 2015, not anything more recent. To the subject at hand... I loved Tenchi Muyo. It was one of the rare anime I was allowed to watch outside of Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Dragonball Z that had more "mature" themes to it. Even with it being censored and reworked as it was for TV at the time. I remember when the last episode of Tenchi Universe premiered - which is still my favorite of the Tenchi series - and it was on the same day my family and I were leaving out for a trip to Wisconsin Dells, and my father made sure to record it on VHS so we could watch it when we got back. Since this was all before the age of streaming and who knew when/if it would've aired again, and it was doubtful that we'd ever actually buy the series (it was well before I gained the collector's mentality I have now). I still think back fondly of my love for the series, even though it's been quite a bit since I watched it. I really should do so again. With my Ryoko figure right next to the TV for the laugh of it all. 
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