Customer Reviews

Tenchi Muyo OVA - (Vol. 1) (Geneon Signature Series)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Tenchi Muyo! is one of those legendary anime productions that continues to live on in the minds of fans. Essentially a fairy tale and a coming-of-age story, the plot revolves around the seemingly simple Tenchi who inexplicably finds himself surrounded by a bevy of beautiful alien women. Naturally, zany adventure and epic danger quickly ensue. For many, this now common "harem" style of anime was their first introduction to the art form during a time when it was still a rare commodity. And for most, the series' cast of lovable, fascinating, and unforgettable characters still remain indelibly etched onto their hearts.

The franchise is also a complicated one, with various alternate versions of the original series spanning nearly all forms of media, including television, manga, video games, and even novels. Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki - Box Set The Complete Series is the much anticipated seven episode continuation of the original OVA (original video animation, or direct-to-video) animated series, although fans expecting to find the show's earlier thirteen episodes will not find them here.

Misleading monikers aside, these newest installments to the Tenchi canon serve as perfect examples of how not to resurrect a series. After a thirteenth episode that ended on a rather inconclusive note, fans, after years of waiting, naturally imagined the new installments would contain the same heartfelt romantic intrigue, epic battles, and zany shenanigans associated with the earlier productions. Instead, they received seven boring, nearly humorless episodes that revolved around characters not even present in the earlier stories. Below are some of my more detailed complaints, but beware of spoilers:

Remember Ryoko, the awesome space pirate? She's now a weak, ineffectual whiner. Remember Noike and Misau? Of course not, because they weren't in the earlier episodes, but they dominate these. Remember the awesome battles in the climactic sixth episode? Not one is worth mentioning this time around. Remember wondering what Tenchi's mother must have been like? Well, you got your wish--she was a half-deluded prankster who enjoyed toying with Tenchi through trickery and gags. Remember thinking Yosho was an unmarried widower? Well, turns out he's actually married to a Jurain woman that he sees, hmmm, virtually never. Remember thinking Lady Seto, the Devil Princess of Jurai, must really be a force to be reckoned with? Nah, she's just a harmless, somewhat frail woman. Remember looking forward to a climactic showdown with the Goddess Tokimi? Never happens, turns out she just wants to be friends! Remember wondering about the identity of the Counter-Actor? Of course not, she never existed or was even hinted at in the earlier stories, nor is she well explained in these. And, of course, here's the biggest one--Which girl does Tenchi choose? Apparently, he will someday marry all of them! *sigh*

Couple all these complaints with just average animation and shaky writing, and you have what is possibly the worst continuation of a beloved series anyone could have ever conjured up. The show's only slightly redeeming quality is that certain long-held questions regarding some of the characters are finally resolved or explained (but whether anyone likes those "answers" is a different story).

The entire Tenchi Muyo franchise is special. Seek out the earlier episodes (known as Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVA 1 and 2), check out the TV series Tenchi Universe (and its excellent sequel movies, Tenchi Muyo in Love and Tenchi Forever), and seek out Hitoshi Okuda's brilliant No Need for Tenchi manga novels. But as for the episodes in this set, they will only make you cry.

I used to love watching this show on cartoon network when I was just 12 years old, it had a good story, funny charecters, and plenty of action! I've missed it alot over the years, and have wanted to see it again alot since then. I wasnt sure what to expect when I bought this DVD, but now that I've seen it, I'm glad that I bought it. It's the same old show that I used to love! Sure, it's uncut, but not much has changed...
Yes, the last episode on this DVD contains nudity, and lots of it, but it's nothing worse than the nudity in Disney's Fantasia movie, so dont let that stop you from buying it.

This DVD is 120 minutes long.
Contains 4 episodes.
Plays in either Japanese or English language.
Subtitles in English are available.

Tenchi Muyo is a highly entertaining and wonderful series! It has some really nice art work, a graet story, and it's alot of fun to watch. Tenchi Muyo is also one of the few shows that successfully blends comedy with action, in most shows where they try to blend comedy with action it just ends up looking inappropriate. Tenchi however, blends the two perfectly, and doesnt leave you feeling confused. I highly recommend buying this DVD, it's a great show and lots of fun to watch!

Sammy is a really great character and this is a show all hers. All the rest of the characters are here but it's nothing like the other shows. Washu is here, she's funnier than ever and everybody thinks she's a kid. In Vol. 1 she tells this great story about why such a little kid is out alone and when Mihoshi re-tells it it's simply hilarious. Anyways, in this volume the plot becomes even more ridiculus. Pixy Misa comes back and Tenchi is a dumb as ever, Sammy seems a bit better adjusted to using magic now. A great movie with very kawaii animation 5 stars ***** for any Tenchi or anime fan.

As I walked to where the Jap. Anime part in Blockbuster I spotted Tenchi Muyo.I had had read about it in a magazine.So I took it and rented it.I was amazed by the how funny it was I laughed all threw the movie.The voices for the charcters were picked nicely.Thats how i became a good fan of Sasami I'm still waiting to buy the movie!Every Tenchi Muyo Fan MUSt see this!

Just adding this review as a disclaimer that this is the third OVA from a couple years back. If you were looking for the original series from 1992 - this isn't it.

The information on this leads you to think its the entire Tenchi series, its the last 7 episodes of the OVAs ( the worst ones )the descriptions need to be re written to reflect that this is NOT the complete series.

Episode 7 is supposed to be the final episode of the first OVA series (1-7) but since the first episode of the "infinity" series starts on episode 8 and ends on 13, I do not consider these two universes, but one OVA series consisting of episodes 1-13 and that's how most everyone sees it anyways. So, Episode 7 has Ryoko and Ayeka fighting over Tenchi again and this time, Mihoshi leaves for the Galaxy Police. This was a trick by Ryoko to get Mihoshi out of the picture and to eliminate her as a candidate for Tenchi's love. While Ryoko just wants to sleep with Tenchi, Ayeka's objective is to stop her at all costs. This episode is to good to miss. Out of everything that is Tenchi Muyo, this is my favorite! This Video also includes the Mihoshi special. For some Reason, they didn't include this special on the Tenchi Muyo Ultimate OVA DVD. You can only get it on this tape so buy it now and have it in your collection! The Mihoshi special is about Mihoshi telling a story from one of her galaxy police missions. It's mainly about Ryoko and Washu in a crime operation of stealing ultra energy matter with Mihoshi and Kiyone being hired by Ayeka to capture Ryoko for stealing Tenchi away who is also a GP officer. Later When Pretty Sammy comes around, things get more interesting. I like the ending music of the Pretty Sammy Theme. It sounds best in japanese but the english version is alright. I say buy this video now because of "the night before the carnival" (my favorite) and Just so you can have a copy of the Mihoshi special since it's not even on the DVD That costs 83 Bucks.

If you're a big Tenchi fan, I definitly reccommend this tape! It's sooooooooo funny, and I can gauruntee it will amuse you. It contains eps. #7 and the Mihoshi Special, both hilarious. Episode 7, "The Night Before the Carnival," contains the "Nurse Washu" segment, which will have u rolling on the floor with laughter. BUY IT!!!!

Like many people my age I was treated to the strange, cliffhanger ending of the original Tenchi series when it aired on Cartoon Network in 2000. The series was fabulous: fun characters, creative and pseudo-mystical sci-fi trappings, and lots of humor. But how did it end?

Years later this came out. It is 7 episodes to wrap the thing up, and on a whole they leave much to be desired. The charm of the original series is lost with boring stories that lack the atmosphere and charm of the originals... that's true at least of the first five episodes, but then we get the final two: a suprising return to form that fills us in on exactly what the point of the series was and wraps things up in satisfactory fashion.

I get the feeling that these final two episodes are comprised of ideas that were founded back in the mid-'90s when the original series was beging thought up, and the first five episodes were just filler, like how most of George Lucas' backstory for Star Wars was used in Episode III leaving him to come up with a lot of foam peanuts to fill those first two movies.

It's worth watching only because the first 13 epsidoes from the 1990s are, and you need this to wrap those up.

We get to see more Pretty Sammy! This time she has to use her magical powers agains an evil monopolist software titan Biff Standard (seems alot like Bill Gates) who wants to take over the world with his operating System (Microsoft Windows). Of course, her nemesis Pixy Misa gets involved with Bill Gates , I mean Biff Standard (same thing) so poor Bill (umm Biff) has a fighting chance.

In all the commotion, there are some tender moments revealing what's going on inside of Sasami's head. That's what makes this series special. She's the perfect daughter we would all like to have.

The Sammy series is extra complicated because 4 different instances of it exist. Pretty Sammy originated in a follow-up to the Tenchi Muyo OVA called the "Mihoshi Special" and later re appeared in one of the fantasy within a fantasy episodes of the Tenchi Universe Series. (It was Sasami's dream to be Pretty Sammy). Next came the OVA, which is what this tape is from. Later a TV series followed.

Recommmended for Shoujo (Japanese Girl Anime) and Tenchi fans. This one is extra funny for those who work in the computer industry. This is also good for little kids, and those who are kids at heart.