Tenchi Muyo! Primer

Version 0.99.* Last updated on 02/02/2003

Tenchi Muyo! is a hard series to explain. Instead of being one continuous series, it is broken up into three distinct parts (the Tenchi Muyo! OAV's, Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo) that are related by virtue of them having the basically same characters in each series, but having different origin stories in each series. (Actually, there is now Tenchi Muyo! GXP airing in Japan right now, which takes place in the Tenchi universe, but doesn't use any of the characters, except for possible guest appearances. Also, there is a rumor of another OAV series that will be a sequel to the original OAV series, but that hasn't come out yet.) They are almost alternate universes, especially the OAV's and Tenchi Universe. Tenchi in Tokyo can be seen as an after story to the other two parts. In addition, there are three movies: Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love, Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness, and Tenchi Forever. Like Tenchi in Tokyo, these movies can be seen as coming after the OAV's and Tenchi Universe. I will endeavor to explain the characters and their relationships, as well as the general story line.

The main gist of the story is that through various circumstances a bunch of female aliens come to live with Tenchi and his family, and all fall in love with him. Together they fight off an evil force trying to take over the galaxy. While doing so, they argue over who gets Tenchi and have many misadventures and misunderstandings about life on Earth.

The main character in the story is Tenchi Masaki, a high school boy who lives at his family's shrine with his father, Noboyuki Masaki, and his grandfather, Katsuhito Masaki. Unknown to Tenchi, Katsuhito is actually Yosho, the crown prince of a planet called Jurai, who came to Earth hundreds of years ago and founded the Masaki shrine where he sealed a demon away. As a Juraian, he has special powers, and a special Jurai tree keeps him alive. He disguises himself as an old man, although he really appears as a young man (as Yosho). Tenchi is a very easy going person who likes to try to resolve conflicts without causing problems. Eventually it is revealed that he is a Juraian (essentially the crown prince, since Yosho basically vacated his rights to the throne), and is thus a very powerful person who can wield the "wings of the light hawk", a very powerful offensive and defensive weapon, plus he can use a very powerful sword.

Ryoko is a space pirate. She wanders the galaxy plundering at will. She even attacked Jurai, and is one of the most wanted criminals in the galaxy. Ryoko is very powerful. She can fly, teleport, wield a sword similar to a light saber, and throw around balls of energy. In one version of the story, she is a demon. Yosho leaves Jurai to track down Ryoko, and finally defeats her on Earth, sealing her away in a cave near where he founds the Masaki shrine. Tenchi releases her many years later when his curiosity gets the best of him. Ryoko has a space ship called Ryo-ohki, which also transforms into a cabbit (a combination of a cat and a rabbit—think rabbit that meows). Ryoko is very uninhibited, likes to party, has a short temper, and is somewhat lazy, especially when it comes to housework. She is desperately in love with Tenchi, is jealous of others who get close to him, and views Ayeka as her main rival for his affections.

Ayeka is the crown princess of Jurai. She comes to Earth chasing Ryoko or to find Ryoko and Yosho, depending on which version you see. Ayeka is very powerful as well, although her powers are defensive, while Ryoko's are offensive. Ayeka can create a force field around her, can summon some cylindrical looking things that create a barrier around other things (like Ryoko), and has two log-shaped guardians that protect her. She is Yosho's half-sister, and was supposed to marry him, but Yosho left Jurai a long time ago. She has her own space ship, Ryo-oh, which crashes on her arrival to earth, thus stranding her on this planet. Ayeka has a regal bearing, is usually calm (unless something doesn't go her way or she is dealing with Ryoko), is very bossy, but helps out around the house. She is in love with Tenchi and sees him as her logical fiancee, since he is essentially the crown prince of Jurai, and gets very jealous of anyone else getting close to Tenchi, especially Ryoko.

Sasami is Ayeka's little sister. Depending on which version you see, she either has her own ship and follows her sister to Earth, or she comes along with Ayeka on Ryo-oh. She is a cute little girl who is a little mischievous, but basically good, and is an excellent cook. If it wasn't for Sasami, everyone would starve. She doesn't display any powers like Ayeka, although they may not have manifested themselves yet. Also, due to an accident when she was younger, she merged bodies with Tsunami, the spirit of one of the main trees of Jurai. When Sasami grows up, she will become Tsunami. Sasami treats Ryo-ohki as her pet, although Ryo-ohki is really Ryoko's space ship.

Washu (that's "little Washu" or Washu-chan to you!!!) is the greatest scientific genius in the universe, at least according to her, although nobody dares to question her because her array of technology and scientific knowledge is so vast. She was once head of the royal galactic science academy until she was kicked out for creating weapons of mass destruction (i.e. to destroy the galaxy/universe). Depending on what story you see, she either gets rescued from Kagato's ship when Tenchi and company are fighting him, or was the "demon" sealed away in the cave near the Masaki shrine. Washu has many abilities, most of them science- and technology-related. She created Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, and refers to herself as Ryoko's mother, much to Ryoko's dismay. At the Masaki house, she builds herself a lab that resides in another dimension, with the door located under the stairs. She is interested in Tenchi mostly as a test subject (she refers to him as her "guinea pig"), but there is a little attraction there (she tells people that "guinea pig" doesn't always mean test subject). Washu is constantly monitoring the situation for any disturbances, and creating gadgets to use.

Mihoshi is a detective with the Galaxy Police. She is assigned to patrol the sector with the planet Earth in it. She comes to Earth to try to capture Ryoko and Ryo-ohki, but can't do it for various reasons. Depending on which version you see, Mihoshi can be a competent, if somewhat ditzy person, or a totally incompetent idiot. I prefer the former characterization. In the latter version, Mihoshi has a partner, Kiyone, on whom she relies for everything. Mihoshi is the granddaughter of one of the Marshals of the Galaxy Police. She takes her job as a Galaxy Police detective very seriously, often leaving the Masaki house to go out on patrol. She has a Galaxy Police space ship, which she seems to crash every time she lands on Earth. She also has a blaster pistol and various other armaments. She likes Tenchi, and sometimes fantasizes about being his wife, although the attraction is not nearly as strong as Ryoko's or Ayeka's. Mihoshi likes to eat and sleep a lot, and Ayeka often finds her napping when she's supposed to be working.

Kiyone is Mihoshi's partner in the Galaxy Police. She doesn't appear at all in the OVA's. Kiyone once had a very promising career in the Galaxy Police, graduating at or near the top of her class at the academy, and was on the fast track to a job at headquarters. That was until she was partnered with Mihoshi, who is very nice, but almost totally incompetent. Mihoshi is always messing things up for Kiyone. Despite this, Kiyone really likes Mihoshi deep down, although she often wants to kill Mihoshi after Mihoshi messes up. Kiyone is very gung ho and devoted to her duty as a Galaxy Police detective. She initially tries to arrest Ryoko, but things don't quite work out as planned. Like Mihoshi, Kiyone has a blaster pistol and various other armaments as weapons, and shares a Galaxy Police space ship with Mihoshi. Kiyone is probably the most rational and "real" character, except when it comes to Mihoshi. She likes Tenchi a lot, definitely as more than just a friend, but not nearly as much as Ryoko and Ayeka love Tenchi.

One main character I did not include is Sakuya, who is Tenchi's love interest in the Tenchi in Tokyo series. Basically the story of this series is Tenchi moves to Tokyo to train at a shrine there, goes to school there, and meets and falls in love with Sakuya. This of course makes Ryoko and Ayeka jealous, and the rest of the gang miss Tenchi. Without Tenchi there, the gang starts to disband. This is Yugi's plan all along. Yugi is the main villain in Tenchi in Tokyo. She is the result of a Juraian genetic experiment gone wrong. She is a little girl with tremendous, yet uncontrolled powers, who is eventually sealed away and banished from Jurai before she destroys the whole planet. She created Sakuya as part of her plan to get back at Tenchi, who is a Juraian. Eventually the gang reunites to come fight Yugi in the end.

The other main character in the series that I didn't include is Kagato. He is the main villain in the OAV series and Tenchi Universe. He is either a rogue member of the Jurai royal family or an egomaniacal scientist (who was Washu's student). Basically, Kagato is after the power of Jurai to try to take over the universe.

Hopefully you can appreciate how difficult this series is to describe. If you haven't seen any of Tenchi Muyo!, I recommend starting with the Ova's Most fans consider the Ova's canon. For a little more detail on each of the characters above, go to the Tenchi Tribe cast list page. There is some additional information about, as well as pictures of, the characters above.

*I'm doing this whole thing from memory. If some detail is wrong, gomen. Please let me know and I'll fix it.