History Anime / TenchiMuyo

* TheFederation: The Galactic Union in the OVA canon is a textbook example of the "United Nations" type, consisting of a number of human polities [[WeAreStrugglingTogether in an uneasy truce]], including the protagonists' native [[TheGoodKingdom Empire of Jurai]]; [[TheRival their rivals]], the theocratic nation of Airai that worships [[PhysicalGod the Choushin]], and the oligarchical polity of Seniwa, whose ruling families (especially the Kuramitsu one) are very influential in the [[SpacePolice Galaxy Police]]. With them are allied several non-human nations, most important of whom are the [[CatPeople powerful race of humanoid felines]] called Wau. (It should be noted that rivals to the Jurai are only rivals not because they actually pose any threat to Jurai, which they don't, but a steady relationship is necessary to maintain order within the galaxy and beyond. Militarily speaking, Jurai is absolutely peerless. )

* ThirdPersonPerson: Sasami, in the Japanese version, which is a comon way to shows the character's youth and innocence in the Japanese media.

* CreatorProvincialism: Most of the names in the series are based on localities in Masaki Kajishima's native Okayama prefecture where the protagonists also live. Not to mention the fact that the most powerful royal family in the Galaxy, through the unlikely turn of events, ''just happens'' to descend from the ancient Japanese, ''[[UpToEleven and continues to recruit from there]]''.

* ''True Tenchi Muyo!'', several light novels that revealed otherwise-undisclosed background information on the original {{OVA}} timeline.[[note]]Translated and released in English by Creator/SevenSeasEntertainment in 2018.[[/note]]

The {{OVA}} series ''Anime/TenchiMuyoRyoOhki'' (simply ''Tenchi Muyo!'' in the United States) follows the life of Tenchi Masaki (voiced by Creator/MasamiKikuchi), the teenage grandson of a UsefulNotes/{{Shinto}} priest (who has taken it upon himself to teach Tenchi an ancient form of swordplay). When Tenchi steals the keys to -- and intrudes upon -- a sealed cave on the shrine grounds that legends say holds a sleeping demon, he accidentally releases Ryoko (Creator/AiOrikasa), a [[SpacePirates Space Pirate]] who had lain in suspended animation for seven centuries. This lone act begins a cascade of events that results in Tenchi moving from Kurashiki to the Okayama countryside, acquiring a half-dozen alien girls in an UnwantedHarem, discovering his own secret heritage, and becoming involved in events of literally cosmic proportions.

** Katsuhito's real identity as [[spoiler:Yosho]] is hinted by his playing up of DirtyOldMan tendencies towards Ryoko by touching her breasts and effortlessly blocking her punch in response. Remember that Ryoko is a notorious SpacePirate who laid waste to 700 planets and has SuperStrength (which he demonstrates later in the episode by knocking down a wall), and this seemingly ordinary old man (albeit Tenchi's OldMaster) residing on Earth was able to get the better of her. [[spoiler:Something only Yosho was known to have done]]. Ayeka is also reminded of [[spoiler:Yosho]] from meeting Katsuhito and observing the swordplay he was teaching Tenchi. The most definitive, though subtle, clue comes from a close-up that reveals Katsuhito's eye color is the same as [[spoiler: Yosho's, as shown in Ayeka's reminiscence earlier in the episode]].

* BiggerOnTheInside: Any space that Washu has had a chance to manipulate. And in the [=OVAs=], all Juraian tree-ships, which are about 170 meters long on the outside, while the interior is a subspace pocket containing several planets, entire star systems, galaxies or even entire universes with accompanying ecosystems and population. Galaxy Police ships are no slouch either, Mihoshi's patrol ship for example, which is no larger than your average sedan, has a subspace pocket containing a fully-equipped apartment.

* BiggerOnTheInside: Any space that Washu has had a chance to manipulate. And in the [=OVAs=], all Juraian tree-ships, which are about 170 meters long on the outside, while the interior is a subspace pocket containing several planets, entire star systems, galaxies and/or even universes. Galaxy Police ships are no slouch either, Mihoshi's patrol ship for example, which is no larger than your average sedan, has a subspace pocket containing a fully-equipped apartment.

* IncestIsRelative: [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/28/cf/ab/28cfab2a8f0efc45c1bd60af6d1f3f60.jpg Oh boy... where to begin?]] The third OAV series and ''GXP'' only complicate the web of relationships even further. If we include every important character in the various shows, there are only two or three members who are not related to Tenchi somehow. [[Anime/TenchiInTokyo One doesn't actually exist]] and [[Anime/TenchiUniverse Kiyone isn't interested]] ([[DependingOnTheWriter most of the time]]). The original OVA series alone has:
** Ayeka, who is engaged to marry her elder half-brother Yosho. She later tracked him to Earth, found out that he had aged physically to a point where she no longer considered him attractive (though he turns out to be using illusions to fake it because he's absorbed enough Earth taboos for it to squick him out), then fell in love with Tenchi... who happens to be the grandson of Yosho (or Katsuhito, as he knew him), making Ayeka (and her little sister Sasami, who is also interested) his ''great-aunts''.
** Ryoko is technically Washu's daughter, as she was created by fusing an egg-cell from Washu with an amorphous entity called "Mass"; Washu herself is actually a goddess and a sister of Tsunami, which technically makes her ''Sasami's sister'' and thus makes both Ayeka and Sasami '''''Ryoko's aunts.'''''
** WordOfGod is that Tenchi's father is Katsuhito's descendant by an earlier marriage, and this earlier marriage was with his cousin and both her mother and his mother are Earth-born descendants of Masaki Jurai.
** Mihoshi is ''Washu's'' descendant, her grandfather being the result of Washu's rather happy first marriage... which ended disastrously when her husband's political background demanded she give up ''both'' her husband and child. This is what drove her to become a TrulySingleParent.

** The Princesses? Elegant and refined Aeka is a bossy, prudishly-repressed proto-dominatrix, while adorable homemaker Sasami is a little girl who happens to be [[spoiler:the avatar of one of the three [[GodWasMyCopilot goddesses who created the universe]],]] and they're both [[IncestIsRelative half-sisters of his grandfather]].

* NamedAfterTheirPlanet: A lot of the aliens. Juraians come from Jurai, Seniwans from Seniwa and Airi from Airi. Notably the Juraian royal family have Jurai as their surname.

* ThreesomeSubtext: Ryoko x Tenchi x Ayeka, and Ayeka and Ryoko hate each other, but plenty FoeYay occurs [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDiEsyI5Syw in universe.]]

* AlienPrincess: Ayeka and Sasami are both HumanoidAliens from Jurai, with a host of strange powers and [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair outlandish hair colors]]. Ayeka is more concerned with her royal status than Sasami is. The Juraian Emperor enters the story at one point, trying to get his daughters to return home, and setting up an ArrangedMarriage to a Juraian noble named Seiryo, stating that Tenchi must defeat Seiryo in a duel if the girls wish to remain on Earth.

** Washu's hair (which is really out of proportion with her usual body) combines an extreme version of Ryoko's style with apparent inspiration from the crablegs-design for a kabuki mask, and a dash of [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair You Gotta Have Pink Hair.]]

* Three theatrical movies (''Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love!'', ''Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness'', and ''Tenchi Forever: The Movie'').

** Ryoko, who (In the original series) was sealed in the Masaki family shrine; she turned into a 'good guy' pretty quickly, although isn't always 'good'. Also in the original series, Washu was trapped within a crystal in the ''Soja's'' reverse-dimension; that ''could'' be a subversion of the evil part, depending on how far Washu is willing to take the MadScientist thing.

* NamedAfterTheirHomePlanet: A lot of the aliens. Juraians come from Jurai, Seniwans from Seniwa and Airi from Airi. Notably the Juraian royal family have Jurai as their surname.

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * NewSuperPower

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * PreExplosionGlow

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * SneezeCut: Ayeka does this in episode 2 of the OVA.

* TokenYuriGirls: Parodied in one episode. After being cast into a HighSchoolAU, MagicalGirl Sasami shoots the bickering Ayeka and Ryoko with a "beam of friendship". The sequence just gets more suggestive as two begin gazing into each other's eyes, proclaiming their mutual love and admiration, and {{almost kiss}}ing before being cut off by the end of the episode.

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * HypnotizeThePrincess: Ayeka in the manga.

* BadassMustache: Katsuhito and Nobuyuki. Katsuhito is pretty neat with the blade, and his 'stache reflects that. Nobuyuki is less impressive, but the fact that he is [[spoiler: pushing 300]] in the OVA continuity counts.

** Washu's highly-appropriate nickname for Dr. Clay? "Octopus-head!" Clay's hair is unique, because he combines his admittedly epic curls with some kind of BadassBeard. (Ironic, because he's about as far from badass as Tenchi Muyo ever gets.)
** Kagato gets some form of...Poofy mullet in the back when absorbing Ryoko's power.
*** Somehow, he still manages to remain intimidating; despite looking ''less'' like he's cruelly draining Ryoko's energy and ''more'' like he stuck his finger in an electrical socket.
** Seiryo Tennan, the man who was chosen as Ayeka's second fiance gets a mention because his hair is the ''exact'' same color as the sakura petals that he makes his entrance with.
*** And is shaped exactly like Mihoshi's: like someone tied together the ropes of two identical loofas and stuck them on their head.

** And Tenchi himself still manages to be somewhat of a badass despite having a rat-tail.