Trivia / Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

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• Acting for Two:
  • Kiyone and Tennyo Masaki are both played by Emi Shinohara.
  • Takeshi Aono voiced Katsuhito and Nobuyuki Masaki for the first three OVAs.
  • Sasami Masaki Jurai and Tsunami are both played by Chisa Yokoyama.
  • Besides replacing Yuko Mizutani as Mihoshi Kuramitsu from the fourth OVA onwards, Michie Tomizawa also plays her mother Mitoto for her appearance in the fifth series.
  • Miki Narahashi plays Taro and Kei Masaki.
• Alan Smithee: Until the twelfth episode, many of the English voice actors besides Jay Hopper frequently used pseudonyms. For example, Matt K. Miller (Tenchi) was billed as "Kermit Miller".
• Author's Saving Throw: Mikami Kuramitsu's matronly side came from Shinichi Watanabe during production of Tenchi Muyo! GXP. Masaki Kajishima reportedly hated the direction Nabeshin brought the series to, and wanted to treat Mikami in the same Bunny-Ears Lawyer way as all her other relatives, thus the Hard-Drinking Party Girl in the fourth OVA and all subsequent appearances.
• Breakthrough Hit: The first two OVAs marked Pioneer LDC's start as an anime distributor and producer in both Japan and North America.
• Completely Different Title: The series is called Chi ha bisogno di Tenchi?^note Who needs Tenchi? in Italy.
• Cross-Dressing Voices:
  • Tenchi's younger self is voiced by Mari Mashiba.
  • In the Italian dub of the OVAs, Ryo-Ohki's cabbit form is voiced by the male Fabrizio Mazzotta.
• Directed by Cast Member:
  • In the English dub of the first two OVAs, Jack Fletcher was the ADR director and D3's voice actor.
  • The Italian dub of the first two OVAs were directed by Fabrizio Mazzotta, who also voiced Ryo-Ohki's cabbit form.
• Edited for Syndication: In the United States, certain scenes from the first 12 episodes, as well as the ending themes and next episode previews, were cut from Cartoon Network's short-lived 2000-2002 run.
• Executive Meddling: During the first OVA's production, Masaki Kajishima was originally planning to name the OVA after the titular cabbit. However, the sponsors were concerned about potential sales issues and at the suggestion of AIC's then-representative director Toru Miura, Kajishima included the Tenchi Muyo! title.
• Exiled from Continuity: Since 2020, the fourth and fifth series are being streamed on Crunchyroll, meaning that, among other things, it is not available on Funimation's website.
• He Also Did:
  • Hiroki Hayashi, the co-creator and director of the first OVA, would later go on to create and direct another AIC series, El-Hazard: The Magnificent World, in 1995.
  • Nahoko Hasegawa, the first OVA's scriptwriter, later worked on the OVA adaptation of Ah! My Goddess.
• International Coproduction: While the fourth OVA's animation was still produced in Japan, the production committee consisted of companies from both Japan (Luxent, Bellplans, Pony Canyon Enterprise and Asia Animation Partners) and China (Youku Tudou and Yukin Trading).
• Keep Circulating the Tapes:
  • Pioneer released the first two Ryo-Ohki OVA series in North America on laserdisc, VHS, and DVD, but have since gone out of print. They wouldn't receive another re-release until December 18, 2012, when Funimation released the first two OVAs in a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD boxset.
  • An edited version of the first 12 episodes aired on Cartoon Network in North America in July 2000 and it hasn't been rebroadcast since January 16, 2002.
  • At present, the NBCUEJ Japanese Blu-ray releases, as well as the Pioneer DVD Ultimate Edition boxset released in 1999, are the only official way to see the English dub of the episode 13.5 omake (which is absent from the Funimation release).
• Late Export for You:
  • The first two OVAs didn't reach Italy until 1997, five years after its initial Japanese release.
  • Crunchyroll began streaming the fourth OVA worldwide outside of Asia in June 2020, four years after it premiered in Japan and three months after Crunchyroll began releasing the fifth OVA.
• Marth Debuted in "Smash Bros.": The characters from the Japan-exclusive Paradise War novels make an appearance in the fifth OVA.
• Meaningful Release Date: The twelfth episode came out on June 25, 1995, which was also the same day the thirteenth episode of Tenchi Universe first aired on TV Tokyo.
• Milestone Celebration:
  • Funimation's release of the third OVA coincided with the 10th anniversary of the second OVA's ending. Their 2012 release of the first two OVA series coincided with the 20th anniversary of the series' premiere.
  • NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan's Blu-ray releases of the first two OVA series coincided with the franchise's 25th anniversary.
  • The fifth OVA's premiere took place in 2020, the year which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the second OVA's finale and Tenchi Universe, as well as the 15th anniversary of the third OVA's premiere.
• Missing Episode: In North America, the episode 13.5 omake is missing from Funimation's streaming website as well as their 2012 Blu-ray/DVD boxset.
• No Dub for You: As of 2021, the fourth and fifth series have no English dubs, as opposed to the first three OVA series.
• No Export for You:
  • The first three OVAs streamed on Funimation in North and South America, the UK, Ireland and Australasia.
  • Many Tenchi Muyo! fans outside Japan don't view the entire series as a whole including the Doujinshi and Novels released by Kajishima. This causes them to miss out on important information, and the lack of this causes a severely ignorant case of Americans Hate Tingle.
• The Original Darrin: After being replaced for their brief appearance in GXP, Matt K. Miller, Jennifer Darling, Sherry Lynn, Kate T. Vogt and Debi Derryberry respectively return as Tenchi Masaki, Ayeka Masaki Jurai, Sasami Masaki Jurai, Washu Hakubi and Ryo-Ohki for the 3rd OVA.
• The Other Darrin:
  • In the Japanese version:
    • By the time of the fourth OVA's release, Ayeka's voice actress on all of her previous appearances, Yumi Takada, had retired from voice acting. As a result, she is now played by Haruhi Nanao, reprising her role from Ai Tenchi Muyo!.
    • Due to Yuko Mizutani's death in May 2016, Michie Tomizawa became the de facto voice for Mihoshi starting with the fourth OVA. She would also replace Mizutani as Mitoto from Tenchi Muyo! GXP.
    • Though Tomoko Kaneda reprised her role as Fuku from GXP for her appearance in the third OVA, she was replaced by Chie Nakamura for her appearance in the fifth OVA.
    • Since Takeshi Aono died of post-operative multiple cerebral infarctions in-between the third and fourth series, Ken Uo and Katsuyuki Konishi voice Katsuhito and Nobuyuki Masaki, respectively.
    • For the third OVA, Ikuko Sugita voiced Mikami Kuramitsu, reprising her role from GXP. After Sugita's 2009 death, Yoko Soumi voiced Mikami for all later appearances of the character; Airi hand waves this in the fourth OVA episode "The Day Before the Party" by asking how Mikami switched back to her true, younger form.
    • For the fourth OVA, Shigeru Mogi reprised his role as Seina Yamada from GXP. Beginning with the fifth OVA, the character has been voiced by Hirofumi Nojima.
    • In the second OVA, Kei Masaki was voiced by Naoko Ishii. Due to her retirement, she was replaced by Miki Narahashi from the fourth OVA onwards.
  • In the English dub:
    • Akie Masaki was voiced by Zita Campisi in the first OVA, with Washu's voice actress Kate T. Vogt replacing her in the second OVA.
    • For the first two OVA series, Azaka was voiced by Mark Tracy. Starting with the third OVA, he was replaced by Doug Stone, reprising his role from Tenchi in Tokyo.
    • Kamidake was originally voiced by Phil Fox in his first appearances. He was replaced by Jack Fletcher for the seventh episode and the second OVA, and by Michael Sorich (also reprising his role from Tenchi in Tokyo) for the third OVA.
    • For the third OVA, Bob Papenbrook replaced Jay Hopper as Katsuhito Masaki, also reprising that role from Tenchi in Tokyo.
    • Despite Jennifer Darling coming back to voice Ayeka in the third OVA, she's been replaced as Lady Tokimi by Mari Devon.
    • Michael McConnohie replaced Jack Fletcher as D3 for the third OVA.
    • Mona Marshall and Wendee Lee replace Petrea Burchard as the respective voices of Ryoko and Kiyone Masaki in the third OVA.
    • Grace Zandarski voiced Misaki and Funaho for the second OVA, but when they returned in the third OVA, Kari Wahlgren took over the roles.
• The Other Marty: In the English dub:
  • Michael Sorich replaced Mark Tracy as Kazuhiko Amagasaki for the Toonami airing of the first OVA due to the conversation between Amagasaki and Tenchi in the first episode probably being far too vulgar for a kids network.
  • R. Martin Klein replaced John DeMita as the voice of Seiryo for the Toonami airing of the second OVA due to DeMita's performance turning Seiryo into a gay stereotype which the Toonami executives believed would result in complaints from the Gay Anti-Defamation League.
• Out of Order: Crunchyroll began streaming the fifth series on March 7, 2020, with the fourth one joining on June 2.
• Posthumous Credit: Funimation released the second and third volumes of the third Ryo-Ohki OVA months after Bob Papenbrook's tragic death.
• Role Reprise:
  • Since the third OVA, many of the Tenchi Muyo! GXP cast reprised their roles, including Yukari Nozawa as Seto Kamiki Jurai, Mariko Suzuki as Amane Kaunaq, Sakiko Tamagawa as Airi Masaki, Yuko Nagashima as Minaho Masaki, Kumi Sakuma as Kiriko Masaki, Hisayoshi Suganuma as Kai Masaki, Hikaru Midorikawa as Misao Kuramitsu, Aya Hisakawa as Ryoko Balta, Nao Takamori as Gyokuren, Shiho Kawaragi as Karen, Nana Mizuki as Neju Na Melmas and Keiko Onodera as Mashisu Makibi.
  • From the fourth OVA onwards, Haruhi Nanao reprises her role as Ayeka Masaki Jurai from Ai Tenchi Muyo!.
  • Hisako Kyoda voiced Akie Masaki in the first two OVAs and reprised the role 13 years later for her appearance in the fourth OVA.
  • In the fifth OVA, the older Kenshi Masaki was reprised by Hiro Shimono for the first time since Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar (2009).
  • In the third OVA's English dub, Bob Papenbrook and Rebecca Forstadt reprise their respective roles as Katsuhito (and Nobuyuki) Masaki and Mihoshi Kuramitsu from Tenchi in Tokyo and Mona Marshall reprises her role as Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo GXP. For Papenbrook, it would be the final time he voiced his roles before his tragic death in 2006.
• Sequel Gap: The third OVA made its debut in 2004, nine years after the second one was released. Nearly eleven years later, the fourth OVA was released.
• Studio Hop:
  • In Japan, the first two OVAs were produced and released by Pioneer LDC; when NBCUniversal acquired Pioneer LDC/Geneon from Dentsu in 2008, they acquired these OVAs as well. For the third OVA, VAP took over as producer/distributor. The fourth and fifth OVA series were distributed by Hobibox.
  • The first two OVAs were released in North America by Pioneer Entertainment USA (which would later be renamed Geneon Entertainment USA after Dentsu's buyout of the company). Funimation released the third OVA in 2005 and would later go on to release the first two OVAs five years after Geneon shut down its North American division in 2007.
  • The first three OVAs are being streamed on Funimation's website in North America while (now Sony-owned) Crunchyroll are exclusively streaming the fourth and fifth OVAs worldwide outside of Asia. As of 2021, the fourth and fifth series are the only animated Ryo-Ohki entries not licensed by Funimation, who owns the North American rights to the first three OVAs as well as several Tenchi Muyo! entries previously rescued by the company.
• Swan Song: The third OVA was Ikuko Sugita's final appearance as Mikami Kuramitsu before her 2009 death, as well as Takeshi Aono's final appearance as Katsuhito and Nobuyuki Masaki before his 2012 death.
• Two Voices, One Character:
  • Yosho Masaki Jurai and his Katsuhito Masaki disguise are voiced by two separate actors.
  • In the Italian dub, Ryo-Ohki's cabbit form is voiced by Fabrizio Mazzotta and her human form is voiced by Gilberta Crispino.
• Word of God: Tenchi marries everyone including Ryo-Ohki.
  • Recent Doujinshi have been released that show Ryoko, Ayaka, Ryo-ohki, Mihoshi, and Noike's daughters and their relationships with Seina's 3 sons by Kiriko, Amane, and Ryoko Balta all of whom were born before Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar. A picture of them can be found at http://postimg.org/image/qssdo16hn/
• You Sound Familiar:
  • Miki Narahashi initially voiced Taro in the second OVA and would later voice Kei Masaki from the fourth OVA onwards.
  • Katsuyuki Konishi voiced Sorunaru in the third OVA and would later go on to voice Nobuyuki Masaki starting with the fourth OVA.
  • From Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure: Rie Tanaka (Mitsuki Sanada) is Miki Steinbeck, Megumi Toyoguchi (Mitsuki Rara) is Kirche and Chie Nakamura (Yayoi Schwael) is the second Fuku.

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