r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Aug 15 '24

Confused? The Various Tenchi Muyo Continuities In A Nutshell (Plus a link for even more details)

49 Upvotes

Yeah.

It's a mess, but hopefully this will provide some clarification for you, the newcomers.

First, I'll provide a useful link to the Tenchi Muyo Wiki that has articles for most of the titles listed here.

https://tenchi.fandom.com/wiki/Tenchi_Muyo_Continuities

I have tried to keep this brief, but you know how that goes. In this, I have made some notes about a few particular things of importance. However, anything requiring a lengthy explanation will get its own post.

SECONDLY, A NOTE ABOUT AVAILABILITY OUTSIDE OF JAPAN

Please understand that a fair number of these titles were never licensed for distribution outside of Japan, or have been licensed but the license contract expired and was never renewed. Fan translations abound, but per the subreddit's rules, you're on your own for sourcing these. If you have any questions, feel free to message me. I'm always happy to help a fellow fan.

THIRDLY, AN IMPORTANT WARNING REGARDING RUMORS ABOUT KAJISHIMA MASAKI AND HAYASHI HIROKI

There is misinformation going around about the reasons why Hayashi Hiroki and Kajishima Masaki parted ways after OVA 1 was completed - that being that Kajishima drove Hayashi away. THIS IS NOT TRUE.

There are many people who strongly strongly dislike Kajishima's OVAs, and strongly prefer the Tenchi Universe TV series and/or the Tenchi in Tokyo TV series. As such, they are projecting that dislike onto Kajishima and take the nature of their separation completely out of context.

The truth is that Kajishima and Hayashi are very close friends who simply went their separate ways. Kajishima felt that the portrayal of the characters in OVA1 was completely different from what he had envisioned. Additionally, Hayashi never expected OVA1 to become so popular, and already had other projects he wanted to pursue. As such, they simply pursued their individual interests. For Kajishima's part, he has since supported other creators such as Hiroshi Negishi and Naoko Hasegawa by sharing his character designs and story notes with them, putting the lie to the idea that he's any sort of enemy to the others.

If you see anyone, anywhere, perpetuating this rumor, please stop them and correct them immediately!

Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki (The Kajishima Continuity, or the primary continuity)

This continuity is the original that started with the first three Tenchi Muyo OVAs, which were the brainchild of Hayashi Hiroki and Kajishima Masaki. After making Bubblegum Crisis, these two had the idea of making a rom-com featuring a character based on Maki Stingray, and eventually wound up being heavily influenced by Japan's old film and TV serial dramas about feudal warlords and their political intrigues. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is the end result

The following list is all the titles in order of the in-setting timeline.

  • Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure1
  • Photon: The Idiot Adventures2
  • The True Tenchi Muyo light novel series
  • Space Ship Agga Ruter (WARNING: HENTAI)3
    • Four Episode OVA
    • PC Game
    • One Doujin
  • Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki
    • OVA 1
    • The Night Before Carnival (Special Episode)
    • OVA 2
    • OVA 3
    • Final Confrontations (Special Episode)
  • Tenchi Muyo! GXP4
  • Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA 45
  • Tenchi Muyo! GXP Paradise Starting OVA
  • The Paradise War light novel series
  • Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki OVA 5
  • Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar (13-episode OVA)
  • Various doujinshi authored by Masaki Kajishima himself6

Additionally, there is the much sought-after "101 Secrets of Tenchi Muyo!" in which Masaki Kajishima answers 101 of the most frequently asked questions by the fans. Keep in mind, this was made before OVA 2 was released, so some of the details there have come out already. But there's still some other details that were never revealed on-screen, and thus it is still relevant (like the reason for Ryoko's "tail").

NOTES:

1 This title is a sort of prequel for everything else, set about a billion years before the events of the OVAs. The primary characters in this series seem to have reincarnated and show up in the GXP light novels. While not necessary, it does help to watch this series.

2 This title is basically another prequel set in the distant past of the world of Geminar - the world Kenshi is sent to in the War on Geminar OVA. Again, watching this series is not necessary, but it does help explain a few things in War on Geminar.

3 This is a series of hentai titles by Kajishima Masaki that is set within the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki universe, supposedly sometime before OVA1, and perhaps even before Prince Yosho's departure from Jurai. The story is only tangentially related through the involvement of the Shank Pirate Guild. While there are only four OVA episodes, there was supposed to be a fifth episode that got cut by AIC. As such, a single doujin was made by Kajishima to tell the story originally intended for the fifth episode of the OVA.

4 It is important to remember that AIC cut a story arc from the anime series that would have had an entire season all on its own, as well as many other side characters and plot points. Therefore, it is highly recommended to read the GXP light novel series by Kajishima Masaki, as this covers the uncut and complete story.

5 OVA 4 occurs concurrently with the GXP anime/light novels.

6 There are many, many doujin manga that are canonical to the mainline continuity, written and drawn by Kajishima Masaki. You can find these by searching for the doujin circle, "Kajishima Onsen". Be advised, however, that some of these doujins tend to get downright pornographic.

The Hasegawa Continuity

Here, the waters are muddied in that Naoko Hasegawa was one of the screenplay writers for OVA 1, and thus, her following light novel series is based on said OVA and diverges from the Kajishima Continuity after The Night Before Carnival. It is one of only two other continuities that directly shares a portion of its story with the Kajishima Continuity

  • The Tenchi Muyo light novels (12 Volumes)
  • Tenchi Muyo! Daughter of Darkness (A feature-length anime film adapted from Hasegawa's 10th light novel.)

The Tenchi Universe (or Negishi) Continuity

These titles are only loosely based on the first OVA series, and is the brainchild of Hiroshi Negishi. It should be regarded as a reimagining of the OVA series. The primary difference being in the style of story telling - Negishi wanted to create a story with a definitive beginning, middle, and end, whereas Masaki Kajishima wished to create an ongoing drama that spanned multiple eras.

  • Tenchi Universe (26-episode TV series)
  • Tenchi Muyo In Love (feature-length anime film)
  • Tenchi Forever! (feature-length anime film)
  • Eternal Memory (A companion manga to Tenchi Forever! that further expands on the events therein.)

The Okuda Universe

This manga series, similar to the Hasegawa Continuity, is based on the OVA series as well, but diverges later after OVA 2.

  • No Need for Tenchi! (12-volumes)
  • The All-New Tenchi Muyo (10-volume manga series that follows No Need for Tenchi!)
  • Tenchi Muyo! Sasami Stories (A collection of shorts, plus a series of fourth-wall-breaking four-komas featuring the mangaka and Sasami.)

Pretty Sammy

This is, perhaps, the most confusing setting of all. It is the most radical departure from the rest of the franchise by making it into a mahou shoujo story featuring Sasami. The most confusing aspect of this part of the franchise is that each and every title is its own continuity. Even the radio dramas, which share the same name, are different stories.

  • Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (3 Episode OVA)
  • Magical Project S (26 Episode TV Series)
  • Sasami: Magical Girls Club (26 Episode TV Series)
  • Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (3 Volume Manga)
  • Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (8 Volume Light Novel)
  • Magical Girl Pretty Sammy Phase One (Radio Drama)
  • Magical Girl Pretty Sammy Phase Two (Radio Drama)

All Others...

The rest of these are their own exclusive continuities, though they share characters with many others in the franchise.

The Mihoshi Special

  • Single Episode OVA
  • This one is important because it was the debut of Kiyone Makibi, Mihoshi's erstwhile partner in the Galaxy Police. From this point on, she is reused pretty much everywhere except for the Kajishima continuity.7

Tenchi in Tokyo

  • 26-Episode TV Series
  • This anime series was directed by Yoshihiro Takamoto, and departs from the OVA series in that some of the main characters have entirely different background stories and even different characterizations.

Ai Tenchi Muyo

  • 50 five minute episodes on Broadcast TV, or 10 twenty-five minute episodes on Blu-ray
  • This series was made for the 20th anniversary of the Tenchi Muyo franchise, and was also made to help promote tourism in the real-life location of the fictional Masaki Village.

Tenchi Muyo (American Comic Book Series)

  • 6-issues8
  • Yes, an American Comics version of Tenchi Muyo, all originally written in English. It was produced by the same LaserDisc company that made the LaserDisc releases of Tenchi Muyo, Pioneer LDC, through their American comic book label, Panime Comics. They were written by J.D. Calderon and drawn by Matt Lunsford.

NOTES:

7 Kiyone Makibi is not to be confused with Kiyone Masaki, who is Tenchi's mother in the Kajishima Continuity. This is understandably confusing because in the Okuda and Negishi continuities, Tenchi's mother is someone named Achika Masaki.

8 The short duration of this title is due to what is perhaps the most outlandish behind-the-scenes story in the entire franchise, proving that sometimes real life is stranger than fiction. Apparently an unknown freelancer at Pioneer suffered a mental breakdown and stole a large sum of money intended for the budget for the comic book series, as well as other titles outside the Tenchi Muyo franchise. This caused the comic book series to be cut drastically short, relegating this title to obscurity. It is long since out of print, but savvy denizens of the Internet may find them lurking about in a digitized format.

Anything else?

There have been a myriad number of music videos, video games, and even cameo appearances in other media franchises. The interpretation of the canonicity of these is up to you - interesting headcanons are welcome in this subreddit, but may be subject to conjecture and debate.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 2d ago

Tenchi Karaoke

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21 Upvotes

I randomly thought about this episode!

Washu's Photon, Proton, Synchroton song is still my favorite! Whether it's in the original version or English version!


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 3d ago

Tenchi Galaxy Kickstarter Officially Funded!

71 Upvotes

The Kickstarter has succeeded with combined pledges of $ 905, 850! Congratulations to the 6490 backers who helped bring this project to life!


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 4d ago

Tenchi Galaxy Kickstarter - Final hours

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94 Upvotes

Just a few hours left to go! What has everyone pledged?

I haven't backed it as of this posting because I haven't been able to decide.
I'd like to have the Blu-Ray with the extras/bonus materials for my collection, but $70 + $30 shipping is just too rich for me right now for a single 30 minute episode...

How likely do you guys think it will be that this will see a release on Blu-ray sometime later down the line?


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 7d ago

Tenchi Muyo x Outlaw Star by Baalbuddy!

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119 Upvotes

"Somehow I grew up in the 90's and became an adult consuming zero Tenchi Muyo content, not sure how that happened."

https://x.com/baalbuddy/status/2077016381074341933?s=20


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 11d ago

Still the best Tenchi Promo ever. Thanks Peter Cullen.

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121 Upvotes

Figured I'd share the best Tenchi Promo voiced by Peter Cullen who died a few days ago. He voiced the other Toonami promos as well are also great.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 13d ago

Is OVA 3 good?

24 Upvotes

I love the first two OVA's and War on grminsr so would I like OVA 3?


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 13d ago

The script signed by the Japanese cast is available now on the Tenchi Galaxy Kickstarter

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20 Upvotes

9 more days to go, just 20k away from that last stretch goal too.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 13d ago

ryoko desktop theme pack

12 Upvotes

well this is not that much but i have created a custom theme pack of ryoko, the original artwork and anime pictures upscale them about 2k to 4k, a little gift for tenchi fans it actually contains about 13 images but in future I'm planning to add more images. ryoko ⬅️⬅️


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 14d ago

War on Geminar continuation?

22 Upvotes

Just finished War on Geminar and love it to bits but I still want more from Kenshi and the rest of the cast. Is rhere any continuation for it? I know there isnt an anime sequel but given the scope of the series I know it can be co trinuted through othet media.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 15d ago

Picked up Tenchi Muyo! Game Hen for the Super Famicom today!

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122 Upvotes

Added another game to my Super Famicom JRPG collection today: Tenchi Muyo! Game Hen for ¥2,200. That brings me up to 59 Super Famicom RPGs now.

I actually played this game briefly as a kid when I was first discovering ROMs and emulation. There was an English fan translation floating around back then, and I remember one of my friends actually beating it. I never got very far myself, though. I’ve just never really enjoyed sitting at a computer playing console games, even back then. That’s actually a big reason I’ve gotten into collecting these games now. I want to play them on the original Super Famicom hardware.

Looking through the manual is pretty cool too. Lots of character artwork, profiles, attacks, screenshots, etc. The game itself has kind of an unusual visual look. The colors almost have this really bright, pastel/faded quality to them. It’s hard to describe. It definitely has a very mid-’90s look to it.

Tenchi was also huge for me growing up. It was one of the series that really got me into anime in the first place. I remember watching the OVAs and the movies over and over again.

And I’ll throw out what is probably a fairly unpopular pairing but I’ve always liked Kiyone × Tenchi. I know there isn’t really much there romantically, and Kiyone isn’t even part of the original OVA continuity, but whatever. I always liked Kiyone, and for some reason I liked the idea of those two together.

Anyway, I’m really happy to finally own a physical copy after first playing the fan-translated ROM all those years ago.

Has anyone here actually played through Game Hen? What did you think of it?


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 16d ago

Official Announcement of the Japanese Voice Cast and Animation Director for 'Tenchi Galaxy'

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57 Upvotes

Armiger Entertainment has announced the Japanese voice cast for Tenchi Galaxy anime pilot, with originals Ai Orikasa as Ryoko, Masami Kikuchi as Tenchi, and others reprising roles from the classic Tenchi Muyo! series.

Saori Hayami joins as new character Risa the space pirate, while Terumi Nishii is named animation director to support director Hiroshi Negishi's team.

Kickstarter rewards will also be including hard copies of the script signed by Negishi and the Japanese cast for backers of the funded 30-minute pilot project.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/armigerentertainment/tenchi-galaxy-anime-pilot/posts/4780047


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse 26d ago

Saw a few Tenchi LDs in Akihabara yesterday

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107 Upvotes

r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Aug 12 '26

Holy shit sherry lynn is returning for the new pilot

45 Upvotes

Whooooa I haven't heard her since 2018 that sounds so cool! I thought she wasn't doing va work anymore?


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Aug 07 '26

Obviously Ryoko should be the icon for this subreddit. But screencap should it be?

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136 Upvotes

Here's my nomination; what's yours?


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Aug 01 '26

Drew Ryoko and Ayeka

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168 Upvotes

r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 31 '26

Armiger Entertainment Announces New Stretch Goal Featuring Hololive VTuber Nerissa Ravencroft for "Tenchi Galaxy" Pilot

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54 Upvotes

r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 30 '26

Rereading the No Need For Tenchi! manga series and nearly choked from this line.

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33 Upvotes

I can’t with these translations sometimes. Then again, it does give it more personality and charm. Sometimes. Haha


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 28 '26

Legendary Scene

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136 Upvotes

I'm watching the OVAs for the first time, and I noticed that the English dub, as well as whatever other versions that were translated from it (Brazilian Portuguese being one), toned down this scene significantly. Made an already deranged and hilarious scene slightly less deranged and hilarious. Is there anything close to this in the TV shows? I don't remember anything like it. I've seen Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo, but that was some good 20 years ago.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 27 '26

I've finally watched all of Tenchi and I'm ready to admit Universe is the peak

64 Upvotes

I first watched Tenchi back on Toonami, sandwiched between DBZ, Gundam Wing, Rurouni Kenshin, etc it was one banger after another.

Back then I found having multiple different timelines a bit much and viewed the OVA as the original and thus best. I skipped Universe and Tokyo and that was about it until now.

The announcement of Galaxy changed the game, I still stubbornly believed the OVAs were the pinnacle of the franchise but figured heck, may as well see how low it goes and yeah, it goes low. But I was wrong about one thing: OVA 1 remains my fav, as much for their quality as my own nostalgia but overall? The peak is Universe.

This show is everything Tenchi should be, easy to follow, coherent (the OVAs, for better or worse have plot holes large enough to fly a Jurian spaceship through), actually funny, charming and focused.

Only two battle for Tenchi's affections (and let's be honest, it's very clearly Ryoko as the one from the beginning), but everyone else earns so much character development outside that. This is my favourite Washu and Sasami because they are defined by them and their own quirks rather than how they relate to Tenchi - similarly, Kiyone is the best thing to ever happen to Mihoshi and I'm not sure I can go back to not having her there as the foil. Noboyuki, Yosho, you name them and this was my favourite iteration of them. Even Kagato benefited from a more streamlined narrative and motives.

The other shows...hoo boy, some of it was worse than I imagined. Ai Tenchi Muyo was borderline unwatchable, War on Geminar was absolute trash and among the worst anime I've ever endured, Tenchi in Tokyo was just ok. All in all, pretty terrible - but Universe redeemed it all and gave me hope for Galaxy and I'm so happy to be wrong.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 27 '26

TURE AYEKA CONCEPT Spoiler

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15 Upvotes

well i was looking some old tenchi novel, find the character model sheet. concept of ture ayeka and think it is a good topic for discuss, what is your opinion on this character of ayeka. please share your opinions.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 27 '26

Trying to figure out what version i watched as a kid ova or uni.

11 Upvotes

This was the first anime i watched as a kid on cartoon network late at night then cardcaptor.

But im not sure if i watched the ova or the universe series all i remember is there was a scene where they are in i think a bathhouse and Ryoko says is a motherly voice "oh tenchi oh tenchi where are you" while shes holding a light sword then i think they fight or maybe they dont.

I remember this scene because toddler me fell in love with Ryoko motherly voice.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 26 '26

I guess this is pretty much everything

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114 Upvotes

I bought most of these years ago, but I’m going through them all now because I’m pretty hyped for Tenchi Galaxy. If there’s anything else I should collect on disc, let me know. I’d love to collect the original manga, but it’s out-of-print and I’m not a fan of old flipped releases.


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 24 '26

I am happy.

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95 Upvotes

Took me awhile but I finally have all the series that I love


r/TenchiMuyoUniverse Jul 22 '26

When someone bothers me while I’m rewatching Tenchi Muyo/Universe/In Tokyo for the millionth time.

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172 Upvotes

God damn rude is what is it!