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Tenchi Muyo question.




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etempest2k7



Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:43 am Reply with quote
I'm trying to make sense of tenchi Muyo series. Especially since Funimation got the rights to most of it and are re-releasing them.

Between this site and wikipedia, I think I got a handle of the three different series, and what spin-off's and movies are related to each one. (And I thought Robotech vs Macross was a bit confusing).

One special, however is throwing me off.

Tenchi Muyo! Mihoshi Special
anime#765

What I'm wondering if it's based off Tenchi Universe (it has Kiyone in it) or since it was Mihoshi "story" Kiyone was made up here (she's not present in the OVA series), but become a standard character in Universe series?

According to the dates, this special should be related to the OVA series?
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Key
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:55 am Reply with quote
The Mihoshi Special is part of the first OVA series, yes. And yes, it's the origin of Kiyone in the franchise.

It also, incidentally, marks the first appearance in the anime part of the franchise of Pretty Sammy.
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etempest2k7



Joined: 05 Feb 2007
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:23 am Reply with quote
Thank you quick response and information. I know not many people would have this information.

I got lucky tonight and found a copy of the Mihoshi/Sasami dvd special from half.com for a decent price.
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Ggultra2764
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:18 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
The Mihoshi Special is part of the first OVA series, yes. And yes, it's the origin of Kiyone in the franchise.

It also, incidentally, marks the first appearance in the anime part of the franchise of Pretty Sammy.


Actually, the answer to this isn't as straight forward as you would think considering the multiple lines of continuity that the Tenchi Muyo franchise is infamous for. The first set of OVAs are known to follow two different lines of canon, the "Kajishima canon" which is made by series creator Masaki Kajishima and the "Hasegawa canon" made by a scriptwriter of the first six OVA episodes to the series named Naoko Hasegawa. During production on the OVAs, Hasegawa made a series of novels related to Tenchi Muyo based on events from the first OVA series which don't follow later material revealed from Masaki Kajishima, thus they are considered a separate continuity from anything made by Kajishima. The novels introduced the character of Kiyone, Mihoshi's Galaxy Police partner, and had events from it used for the second Tenchi Muyo movie, Daughter of Darkness. The Mihoshi Special was created entirely by Hasegawa thus it is considered another part of the "Hasegawa canon".

In simple words, the Mihoshi Special is considered part of the first OVA series yet is technically not considered a part of the main continuity of the Tenchi Muyo franchise consisting of the OVAs and GXP thanks to the different versions of the Tenchi Muyo mythos that Kajishima and Hasegawa created.
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:39 pm Reply with quote
Ggultra2764 wrote:
Quote:
The Mihoshi Special is part of the first OVA series, yes. And yes, it's the origin of Kiyone in the franchise.
It also, incidentally, marks the first appearance in the anime part of the franchise of Pretty Sammy.

In simple words, the Mihoshi Special is considered part of the first OVA series yet is technically not considered a part of the main continuity of the Tenchi Muyo franchise consisting of the OVAs and GXP thanks to the different versions of the Tenchi Muyo mythos that Kajishima and Hasegawa created.


Kajishima & Hasegawa had anything to do with GXP??
Thought that was the first of the wanderings off canon, as the studio basically used "Tenchi" as a house brand name to put references to the canon characters into any situation, regardless of the OVA 1-2, Universe and Tokyo canon. (Pretty Sammy and Magical Project S were both deliberate "parody" canons, where the characters appeared, but not as themselves.)

GXP not only had none of the original characters in it (spinoff neighbors, relatives, but none of the "real" ones), and a completely different tone from both previous series, by Excel Saga's Shinichi Watanabe, and was the first of the name-only "claim-jump" series, followed by OVA 3 and Sasami Magic Club.
If you're one of those who gets hung up on the "fake" stylistic gulf between the Slayers TV series and the Naga-era OVA's, anything after the theatrical Tenchi Movie 3 (which the original canon believed was the finale) is just about unwatchable.


Last edited by EricJ on Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Key
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 1:41 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I could never keep all of the Tenchi convolutions straight. Confused

And etempest2k7: You might be surprised how many people around here would know this - at least the part that I said earlier, anyway. Pretty much anyone who can date their anime fandom at least partway back into the '90s knows of (and has likely seen) some or all of the franchise in question, as it was one of the most prominent staples in fandom in the '90s.
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Ggultra2764
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 2:32 pm Reply with quote
EricJ wrote:
Kajishima & Hasegawa had anything to do with GXP??


Hasegawa had nothing to do with later parts of the Tenchi Muyo franchise beyond the 1990s.

While Kajishima didn't direct GXP, he still had behind-the-scenes roles he performed in the production of the series such as scripting and storyboarding for one episode, serving as a director for the animation of character designs and cooperating in the show's overall design. He also created a manga spinoff of the series for a volume in 2002 and wrote novel material that greatly expanded on the plot of the GXP anime.

In terms of continuity, GXP technically takes place after the completion of the three OVA series' considering the prominent appearances of some members of the Jurai royal family and Mihoshi's family who had supporting roles in the third OVA series and the title's nods to events from the OVAs.
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:01 pm Reply with quote
Ggultra2764 wrote:
In terms of continuity, GXP technically takes place after the completion of the three OVA series' considering the prominent appearances of some members of the Jurai royal family and Mihoshi's family who had supporting roles in the third OVA series and the title's nods to events from the OVAs.


Again--to use the Slayers TV-vs.-OVA "real vs. fake" parallel--GXP looks like it's a "borrowed" house brand without the major elements belonging to a different production company.
In the revived Slayers Evolution-R TV series, there's a running joke about a character who seems to resemble a certain tall, arrogant, loud-laughing female from the Slayers OVA's...Except that we never see her face for the entire series, she can't remember her name (Nala?), and amnesia has now left her with an entirely opposite personality--Still, seems awfully familiar, somehow, but...naahh.
The show was obviously nudging fans in the ribs about the copyright restrictions of different production companies, and played the "You know, and we know" joke for all the fourth-wall humor it was worth.

But that was parody--
Here, in GXP, we have someone who looks like Ryoko (pretty sure, anyway, we don't see her face) cameoing in the first episode, before launching into the adventures of a guy who lived next to Tenchi wandering into space to meet the relatives of Ayeka and Mihoshi.
Uhhh-huh. Only they're not kidding about it.
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LuckySeven



Joined: 02 Sep 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:48 pm Reply with quote
I'm a long time Tenchi fan (got the VHS tapes to prove it) and I get confused a bit. Hopefully this pic off the back cover of FUNi's new Tenchi in Tokyo set will help you keep your different canons straight.

http://cdn3a.dvdempire.org/products/98/1627198bh.jpg

Obviously not everything, just FUNimation covering what they have the rights to at the moment.
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:45 pm Reply with quote
LuckySeven wrote:
I'm a long time Tenchi fan (got the VHS tapes to prove it) and I get confused a bit. Hopefully this pic off the back cover of FUNi's new Tenchi in Tokyo set will help you keep your different canons straight.

http://cdn3a.dvdempire.org/products/98/1627198bh.jpg

Obviously not everything, just FUNimation covering what they have the rights to at the moment.


Wouldn't put Tenchi in Tokyo TOO far off the Universe canon--
Started out as a straight continuation of Universe, but think there was a director switch midstream after Ep. 6, and the goofy design and Monster/Week plot had to be switched to a new sub-canon that changed the relationships and origin, to fit the new "Crystal" plot and give Yugi a larger role.

Not as severe as OVA vs. TV, where a Universe fan can be completely lost after two OVA episodes. Shocked
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getchman
He started it



Joined: 07 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 5:55 pm Reply with quote
Tokyo re-characterizes everybody. Tenchi, his dad and grandpa are now just earthlings with no connection to Jurai
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EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:54 pm Reply with quote
getchman wrote:
Tokyo re-characterizes everybody. Tenchi, his dad and grandpa are now just earthlings with no connection to Jurai


No, once we're into the "new" plot, we see that Tenchi is able to recognize spoiler[Yugi's origins] as Juraian on his own (during the field trip), not to mention the connection of his mother to the "crystal" plot.
Thus squarely putting it in Universe canon, with the minor re-tweaks for plot reboot. Grandpa isn't in the story enough to notice, and Dad was always an earthling, but there are enough references to his being the widower of Tenchi's mom.


Last edited by EricJ on Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:56 pm; edited 1 time in total
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getchman
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 6:55 pm Reply with quote
it still sucks
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Ggultra2764
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Joined: 21 Jan 2004
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2012 7:08 pm Reply with quote
EricJ wrote:
Wouldn't put Tenchi in Tokyo TOO far off the Universe canon--
Started out as a straight continuation of Universe, but think there was a director switch midstream after Ep. 6, and the goofy design and Monster/Week plot had to be switched to a new sub-canon that changed the relationships and origin, to fit the new "Crystal" plot and give Yugi a larger role.


What evidence do you have proving there was a continuity change in mid-production of the show?

And where are you getting that there was a change in directors? From what I'm looking up in ANN's Encyclopedia and other sources, the series retained the same director throughout its run, Nobuhiro Takamoto.
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