Tenchi Muyô!

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.

Amazing. Tenchi Muyo! is quite simply, one of the best anime out there (in my opinion, THE best). Why is this? It's certainly not because of the plot, which is full of holes (try to figure out the characters ages will lead you down a path to madness), it is currently incomplete (although the third OAV is on the way!), and there are certainly a lot of other flaws that I could pick out, but this is the kind of story in which you get so wrapped up in, you don't even notice any of the problems. It's the characters that really make this show. There is a surprising amount of depth here once you get past the terminally light tone of the show. The fact is, however, Tenchi Muyo! is incredibly touching.

Basically the plot is about 17-year-old Tenchi Masaki, a young man with hidden powers who suddenly finds himself surrounded by beautiful women from all over the universe who are all in love with him! There's Ayeka, the reserved dignified Juraian princess (and her younger sister Sasami, Mihoshi the clutzy Galaxy Space Officer, Little Washu, the genius scientist, and of course Ryoko, the demon space pirate who is released from a 700 year imprisonment by Tenchi which starts the whole saga rolling. One of the shows virtues is that Tenchi never even tries to decide, and the group becomes like a family with a common interest... The character of Ryoko is what really meant the difference to me, a 2000-year-old demon who is somewhat vicious and violent, but is truly humanized in her love for Tenchi. I couldn't help but root for her, and the scene in episode 5 where she remembers watching Tenchi grow up is truly touching. I won't really go into any plot cause that's not really the point. You get into this show because its light, funny, and touching.

I can't recommend it enough.

The OVA series of Tenchi Muyo! is undoubtedly one of the crowning achievements of Japanese animation. It's got whatever you could want: drama, romance, comedy, action, nudity, violence, profanity, stupidity...it's a tour-de-force of all the emotions, pushing all the buttons and trying to get a response.

Of course, fans may be dismayed to have the series stop midway through the story, but fortunately the next OVA series is on its way after all these years of the good TV series and the kinda-passable-maybe-alright-kinda-bad Tenchi in Tokyo series. OK, so TV2 was horrible. But hopefully they will redeem themselves...

When people run down the list of classic anime shows, Tenchi Muyo! is almost always overlooked. Why? just because it was on Cartoon Network? because it doesn't feature heart stopping action or deep philasophical issues? if so you need to give a look over because what the series lacks in the above two things, it makes up for in comedy, drama and it's characters which is the heart of the series.

The story starts out simple, with Tenchi Masaki a typical teenager meeting a variety of exotic space women who all fall for him on some level and live with him but grows more complex with the various relationships each character has with one another and how it's never the same thing through out.

The characters are amongst some of the most interesting I've ever seen in an anime. From it's star Tenchi to Ryoko to Aeka and Washu and others the show introduces characters who always manage to surprise you in showing a different aspect of their personality or something you didn't think they where capable This adds terrific depth to the characters and makes you care about them a great deal as they become more and more interesting with each episode.

The next thing that makes this show great is the mix of drama and comedy. Both are never overdone and when can coexsist at the same time without ever being goofy or annoyingly dramatic.

What else makes this a good anime is the extremely talented voice cast which for the most part is leaps and bounds ahead of the japanese cast. From Washu's voice to Ryoko who is one of the sexiest characters in anime based on her tone of voice. Music is also top notch and is a must listen for any J-pop or anime song fan. Though a few tracks are pretty annoying.

In the end, Tenchi Muyo! is a great series in the tradition of Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2 and is not to be missed. At the very least it should be given a shot, you won't be disappointed.

The Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA is perhaps the best of the Tenchi Muyo! series. The animation is beautiful and the overall plots are good as well. Just one problem: They left the plot open! Other than that, this is a great anime. Anyone can like this series. Even my mom who despises anime absolutely loves Tenchi Muyo! It just has wonderful characters and the english seiyuu are great and fitting the character which is so hard to find in dubbed anime. This is a great series.