Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (天地無用! 魎皇鬼), known as simply Tenchi Muyo! in North America, is a collection of Japanese OVAs created by Masaki Kajishima and animated by AIC. Initially released in 1992, it marked the beginning of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise, composed of several manga, OVAs, TV series, and other related media. The first two OVA series were later licensed and distributed in North America by Pioneer Entertainment, with Funimation taking over the rights for the third series, and later taking over the rights for the first two OVAs. In 2020, Crunchyroll acquired worldwide streaming rights (outside Asia) for the fourth and fifth seasons of the OVA. The distribution of the first OVA series was originally started in September 1992 and released six episodes that lasted until 1993. The first series was so successful that a seventh special episode was released in September 1993, followed by a second OVA series with six additional episodes that begun distribution in September 1994 and lasted for one year until September 1995. However, the second OVA series ended on a cliffhanger and it was not until nearly eight years later in 2003 that a third OVA series was distributed in Japan. The third OVA series continued the Tenchi Muyo OVA storyline with six episodes, followed by a special episode released in September 2005 that concluded the third OVA storyline. The Ultimate Collection box set release of the first two OVAs from Geneon was one of the few releases from the company to feature THX-certified audio and video. On October 16, 2015, a fourth OVA series was announced to be in production, the first episode of which was released on November 30, 2016. Subsequent episodes were released with an interval of three months each, and the final part of the series arrived on September 13, 2017. On July 12, 2019, it was announced that a fifth OVA series was in development with Masaki Kajishima again serving as chief director and Hideki Shirane writing and overseeing scripts. Keitaro Motonaga is credited as director. The six-episode OVA series was released from February 28, 2020 to May 28, 2021.

Plot summary

The story follows Tenchi Masaki, a teenager whose life changes drastically as soon as he releases an ancient space pirate from 700 years ago named Ryoko Hakubi. Although she appears to openly hostile to him at first, Ryoko nonetheless agrees to accompany Tenchi. Throughout the series, Tenchi encounters various other powerful and recurrently eccentric women from outer space.

Characters

Protagonists

Villains and antagonists

Minor

For other characters within the OVA continuity that make a brief appearance in the OVA series, see also: Tenchi Muyo! GXP.

Broadcast history

The English-dubbed version of OVAs 1 and 2 was originally aired on San Jose PBS superstation, KTEH in the late 1990s as part of its Sunday Late-Prime (9pm-after 12) Sci-Fi programming block, and then later picked up by Cartoon Network in July 2000 for broadcast on its Toonami block (US and Europe). The Toonami version was heavily edited for content and to remove blood, profanity and nudity, as well as to shorten the length of the episodes to fit broadcast standards, and featured custom opening and closing credits. The series also ran on Cartoon Network and then later CNX in the UK. After Cartoon Network's rights to broadcast the show expired, the now-defunct International Channel (later AZN Television) picked up the rights to air the dubbed version in 2004. As of April 1, 2012, only one episode of OVA 3 has aired on basic cable television in the United States. However, the Funimation Channel had the third season in rotation for a time.

Tenchi Muyo! Mihoshi Special

Tenchi Muyo! Bangai-hen: Galaxy Police Mihoshi's Space Adventure or Mihoshi Special (天地無用!番外編 宇宙刑事美星銀河大冒険) is a special episode of the series. The special features the anime debut of Kiyone Makibi and Sasami's alter-ego, Pretty Sammy (the latter made her debut in the Tenchi Muyo! drama CD, Tenchi Muyo! Special: Creation of the Universe Journey across Space-Time).

Synopsis

As usual, Mihoshi Kuramitsu was asleep on the deck of the house while everyone else (with the notable exception of Ryoko) was doing chores. After Ayeka questions Mihoshi's qualifications of being a Galaxy Policewoman, Mihoshi then tells the story of her and her partner Kiyone's greatest adventure: the "Ultra-Energy Matter" caper. In the story, Mihoshi casts the Masaki household as the various characters in the story: Ryoko as the thief, Tenchi as a Galaxy Policeman, Ayeka as Tenchi's heiress fiancée, Sasami as an apprentice detective, Washu as a mad scientist (not a far stretch of the imagination), and Ryo-Ohki as... Ryo-Ohki. As the investigation progresses (not to mention romantic rivalries between "Ryoko" and "Ayeka"), the detectives stumble onto a plot to destroy the universe.

Music