Review by bobniche

The original series that launched 3 spin-offs and 3 movies, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is by far the pick of the bunch. Although the series spans several genres it is more of a comedy at heart with its light hearted tone. This series perfectly encapsulates the whole Tenchi universe. Its art and animation is lush and gorgeous and the plot (or plots) is (are) relatively solid although the writers lose it occasionally after the first 6 episodes. Thrill-seekers may bemoan the absence of heart-stopping moments in the action scenes but the series' true strength lies in its characters.

The characters are compelling and genuinely appealing with deep and well-developed personalities. Even the pipe organ-playing(!) villain is cool! The character interactions are seldom boring, often being very funny and sometimes touching as well. One drawback is that is unfinished. The plot kinda meandered towards the end but then a ton of new plot threads were introduced which weren't resolved making the series seem incomplete.

Hopefully we'll see more of this series (which has been hinted) in the future but for I heartedly recommend this series to anyone. Simply put, it is simply brilliant.