Tenchi Muyo! / YMMV

Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Is Yuzuha a Jerkass Woobie or a Complete Monster? Her last moments lend credibility to the former.
- Also Universe's Kagato, a universal conqueror who's out to kill of his rivals so he can have all the power in existence or a Blood Knight who felt guilty over his actions that left his best friend shaken by choosing to die at his grandson's hands. The episode of his death sort of leans towards the latter.
- In Tenchi in Tokyo, Kiyone tells Ryoko that Tenchi would be much better with a law-abiding citizen like herself. How serious she was about it is up in the air. Either she genuinely entertained the thought of her and Tenchi being together or she only said that to try to provoke Ryoko into coming back to Earth and still only saw Tenchi as just a friend. It's equally as possible she really was coming around to the idea of being one of Tenchi's love interests but still intentionally said that to provoke Ryoko into returning all the same.
Aluminium Christmas Trees: They probably don't actually exist but cabbits are a type of cryptid that some people claim to have seen in real life.
Americans Hate Tingle:
- In the west, Noike is almost universally derided for her spotlight stealing role in OVA 3. In Japan, opinion of her is a lot more balanced, and is overall accepted and liked by the masses. This is probably due to Kajishima's continued releases of doujinshi and novels that expand upon the 'verse. Americans were pretty surprised by Noike due to No Export for You.
- Ayeka is a lot less liked in the west than she is in Japan.
Awesome Music:
- Since the first OVA, Tenchi Muyo! has a stellar amount of tunes.
- "Tenchi Muyo! Theme" is a soothing array of synths and oriental instruments playing with no lyrics.
- "Talent For Love" is the ending theme for Tenchi Muyo! and is just as good. This time with lyrics mix with synths. Very upbeat.
Base-Breaking Character: Ayeka, Mihoshi and Ryoko. Is Ayeka a nice princess who cares about the others but doesn't really now how to express it properly, or a bitch who only cares for herself? Is Ryoko a Jerk with a Heart of Gold whose antics are funny or an annoying and selfish Jerkass who constantly abuses others? Is Mihoshi a sympathetic Cloudcuckoolander or an irritating Too Dumb to Live character who always gets her friends in trouble? In Mihoshi's case, it should be noted that people generally do like her Genius Ditz OVA version and only dislike her TV version where her stupidity is turned up more.
Broken Base:
- The redesigns for the original OVA girls (minus Noike) for Ai Tenchi Muyo! have been mixed. Some feel that the girls have been modernized, while others consider it oversexualization, especially Mihoshi's Playboy Bunny-esque outfit and Sasami's short skirt.
- The direction of the 4th and 5th OVAs. Some people like that we actually get to see the characters age and that we're getting background info on Kenshi for his spinoff. Others lament that the OVAs have gone full on Slice of Life and that Tenchi and his harem are basically Advertised Extras. And since most of the expanded material never leaves Japan, the 5th OVA ends up bombarding you with new character after new character. Moreover, Tenchi marries his entire harem and even has babies with Ryoko and Ayeka. This has proven divisive with fans to say the least; many think that it's weird the girls are OK with such an arrangement, and that it's potential to be icky is large.
Complete Monster:
- OVA: Kagato is an intergalactic researcher who utterly lacks anything resembling a conscience. Kagato turned on his mentor, Washu Hakubi, and imprisoned her for thousands of years, hijacking everything she had left behind, including Washu's created "daughter" Ryoko. Brainwashing Ryoko, Kagato sent her to discover the truth of the "greatest treasure in the universe," having her hunt down traces of it, and then destroy the worlds that contained it to make certain nobody else could replicate his discoveries, whether they were inhabited or not. Over 3,000 worlds met their fate this way. After losing Ryoko, Kagato continued the process himself until he discovered her alive on Earth. He wastes little time in trying to kill Tenchi and his Unwanted Harem and succeeds in blowing Tenchi apart from his ship. When Ryoko offers her life in place of Tenchi's, Kagato merely responds he'll just kill both. When Wahsu is freed, Kagato decides to "reminisce" about the old days by drawing on his ship's power to destroy the Earth. Kagato is defined by his drive for his "scientific method." Anything and anyone that gets caught in his path is simply collateral damage to that end.
- Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi in Love!: Kain is a powerful extraterrestrial criminal who is captured by the Galaxy Police and the Jurai Emperor after he destroyed several federated planets and hundreds of thousands of spacecrafts during his crusade to destroy the universe. Centuries after his capture, Kain escapes from his confinement and destroys the Galaxy Police headquarters, killing everyone inside. Developing a hatred towards the Jurai Emperor, Kain attempts to kill the current descendant, Achika Masaki, the mother of Tenchi Masaki; this would result in Tenchi ceasing to exist and affect the future of his companions. When Kain got sucked into another planet with Achika and his future husband, Nobuyuki, Kain tortures Nobuyuki while forcing Achika to watch.
Continuity Lock-Out: Not at first, but by the time of the 5th OVA, most of the cast getting the lion's share of the screen time were properly introduced in either the spinoffs (which at least did make it outside Japan), or in the light novels (which didn't). If you only watch the anime, everything after the 2nd OVA is going to be extremely confusing.
Die for Our Ship: Ryoko vs. Ayeka, though it is implied that Ryoko wins in the Tenchi Universe continuity. There is also Sakuya in Tenchi in Tokyo, and the Ryoko and Ayeka fandoms rioted over this (until Sakuya died).
Ensemble Dark Horse:
- Mayuka, Minagi, and Nagi.
- Mihoshi in the original series before her inevitable Flanderization later on.
- Also Kagato from the Universe version to those who found him an even more intimidating villain than the original.
- People forget that Kiyone became very popular after her first appearance during the Mihoshi special of the OVA series. Back then, she wasn't meant to be a main character, but was made one in Tenchi Universe and beyond.
- While most of OVA 3 is considered a Contested Sequel and inspires much Base Breaking, the character of Z is pretty universally well liked by Tenchi fans.
Escapist Character: While Tenchi may just see himself as an unremarkable guy, much of his male fanbase may see things differently and want to be in his shoes, especially considering Tenchi's got a harem of beautiful women living with him and eventually grows so powerful that he becomes practically omnipotent and debate-ably the most powerful character in all of Anime.
Fan-Preferred Couple: Among western audiences, the majority of fans seem to feel that Tenchi should choose Ryoko. The number of fanfics where Tenchi ends up with Ryoko hugely outnumber the ones where he picks Ayeka or one of the other girls.
Foe Yay Shipping: Despite their constant fighting over Tenchi, some of Ryoko and Ayeka's interactions give a small subsection of fans the idea that they could be into each other. Tenchi Universe spoofed the idea during the "Adventures in Time and Space" mini-arc, by having them wind up in a highschool AU setting, where Pretty Sammy shoots them with a love arrow during one of their arguments. It was designed to make them be friends, but was somewhat overpowered; which made them lose interest in Tenchi altogether and fall in love with each other - complete with Love Bubbles and a Kissing Discretion Shot! One can only imagine their fury if they ever remembered this happening.
Franchise Original Sin:
- One of the biggest complaints Tenchi in Tokyo received was how most of the cast had become flanderized. This was also apparent in the show's much more well received predecessor, Tenchi Universe, but with much more restraint.
- Mihoshi, the childish and simple minded galaxy police officer deserves a mention. While she was never really that popular in the fandom, she was at the very least tolerated in the original OVAs, as she had a few moments that showed that she wasn't completely ditzy. Later adaptations, however, played up her comedic elements to the point that her only purpose was comedic relief, causing her popularity to wane considerably.
- The use of Unintentionally Unsympathetic Anti-Villain or villains have been around the franchise since Daughter of Darkness with Yuzuha. A villain who is somewhat symapthetic, but you're clearly not supposed to support or cry too much for her. Though she does get a sorta Alas, Poor Villain moment that undermines this a little. This form of "smypathetic" villains really rears it ugly head with Yugi from Tenchi in Tokyo, and Haruna from Tenchi Forever (In Love 2). The former comes off as a Karma Houdini for killing Sakuya, her good half. The latter villain, even more so for raping Tenchi. A Moral Event Horizon crossed so far, most fans lost all sympathy for her.
Gateway Series: For most Westerners, Tenchi was the introduction of the harem genre for many.
Genre Turning Point: Although Urusei Yatsura is generally credited as the first harem show ^note, Tenchi really set the genre on fire, launching a host of imitators. Perhaps its biggest innovation was to make the male lead a soft-spoken, incredibly Nice Guy (and have this be why the girls all like him) as opposed to Ataru, who is a sex-crazed jerkass. It was easier for viewers to see themselves in someone like Tenchi, which amped up the wish fulfillment.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Ryoko's easily considered the most popular Tenchi girl in the west.
He Really Can Act: The English dub of OVAs 1 and 2, Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo were released more or less at the same time as the original Japanese in the 90's, a time when English dubs of anime were definitely not known for their quality. Despite this, the cast actually do a very good job for the most part. In particular, Patrea Burchard's performance as Ryoko is considered to be one of the most iconic in all of anime English dubs, to the point where hearing anyone else voice the character just feels off.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Kain, the villain from the first Tenchi movie, bears an uncanny resemblance to No Face
Inferred Holocaust: Destroying half the Earth? Yeah. That'll definitely kill some people on the planet but the Reset Button made it so that didn't actually happen.
Misaimed Fandom: Both Ryoko and Ayeka have had their moments of questionable decency. The idea that there are fans who view one as always in the right while the other is always in the wrong is strange.
Moral Event Horizon:
- Not only did Yuzuha kill her "daughter" Mayuka, but she mocks Tenchi and the girls when they mourn her. Then there's the reason she claims she's the real wronged one. It takes a lot of gall to complain about being attacked by Juraian guardsmen while hanging out with a young Crown Prince Yosho during Startica when you turned three of Yosho's friends into diamond candy and ate them just before meeting him in the first place and then lied to him about it!!
- In Tenchi Universe, Ryoko crossed it for many fans when she took the group's remaining funds, which was meant to buy food, and frittered it away instead. She blew it all by drinking and gambling while they were starving. Then decided to "make up" for it... by robbing The First National Bank of Jurai, despite being a wanted space fugitive by the Galaxy Police. Then again, it wasn't like she cared, since she knew they couldn't stop her.
- Haruna passes this for lots of people, when you see that in her despair to consummate her love for Yosho... she brainwashed and raped Yosho's innocent grandson Tenchi.
- Hotsuma, Tsugaru, and finally Yugi from Tenchi in Tokyo do this too. Hotsuma crosses the limits when he not only takes advantage of a (for once) truly distressed Ryoko and tricks her into abandoning the group, but also denigrates her when speaking to Yugi — and that's when Ryoko was starting to like him quite a bit (and afterwards, Ryoko thinks to herself that as bad as she can be, she's honest to a fault and would never fall THAT low); Tsugaru does it when he laughs his ass off as Mihoshi chooses to shield Kiyone and get badly injured in her place, instead of shooting him dead, and finally, Yugi (until then a Magnificent Bitch with a Dark and Troubled Past) crosses this when she first re-absorbs her "shadow" Sakuya while revealing her true origins to her and mocking poor Sakuya's distress as well as Tenchi's; and then when setting a Lotus-Eater Machine for Tenchi... with Sakuya as the bait!
- OVA!Kagato does this via mind controlling Ryoko to attack the group and Tenchi, then by killing Tenchi in the upcoming battle (with only the timely intervention of Tsunami bringing him back) — while forcing a kidnapped Ryoko to watch!
Replacement Scrappy: Noike is often seen as a poor copy of Kiyone. Although she actually predates Kiyone in creation (she just wasn't implemented into the show until much after Kiyone's first appearance), some fans wonder why she wasn't just replaced with Kiyone in the first place, making this an odd inversion of the trope.
Retroactive Recognition: Ryo-Ohki was one of Etsuko Kozakura's earliest roles, these days how ever she's more famous for voicing Tamama and Jibanyan.
Romantic Plot Tumor: Probably one of the shortest examples. Three quarters into OVA 3, an entire episode is spent exploring the budding romance between Misao and Mashisu. This might not seem like a big deal, but considering that OVA 3 is only seven episodes long and the love reveal distracted from other more pressing plot elements, this definitely fits.
The Scrappy:
- Noike for American fans but the obvious is Yugi for her smugness and the Karma Houdini for the truly monstrous acts she commits.
- Both Mashisu and Misao from the OVA 3 are almost universally hated because one episode focused on their romance instead of the plot. And Sakuya is seen as annoying for a large portion of the fandom.
- The Paradise War cast in OVA5 for a variety of reasons, largely due to their novels not getting animated and never leaving Japan. The fact that the female members of the cast seem to have an unhealthy obsession with the underage Kenshi can lead to some Squick for some viewers as well.
- Kenshi himself, for being a Spotlight-Stealing Squad for the final two OVAs despite having his own spinoff.
Stoic Woobie: Katsuhito/Yosho in the Universe version. He had lost his first true friend, a child eating monster who was about to change her ways until the Jurai authorities came and beat the hell out of her, calling her a freak when she revealed her true form and running away. In his adulthood, he's forced to kill his best friend who had become power-hungry, killing and destroying everything in sight. He then wanders across the galaxy out of guilt while attempting to find a place for his lover who wasn't royalty so that they can love each other without suffering from social class discrimination. She then dies before they even arrive to Earth. His daughter's (Achika) lifespan was greatly diminished as a result of most of her Jurai power passing onto Tenchi when she gave birth to him. She passed away when her son was very young, causing Katsuhito and Tenchi's father, Nobuyuki to hate winter for a while, being the time she died. Then we get to the present where that power-hungry friend has literally come back from hell to use his identity and frame one of his relatives for treason, leading to a long journey back to Jurai, in which he finally meets said friend again and is understandably distraught about killing him again, to the point that he considers double suicide as a solution. After that mess, the first friend has returned in being a bratty trickster who's now a Yandere for him, to the point that she creates an artificial girl with her and his grandson's DNA and have said girl take his grandson to her dimension until he comes over himself. Finally, the lover's ghost manipulates his grandson's memories and uses him as a substitute for her former lover. Despite all of this, he continues on being solemn and sometimes cheerful.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
- Western opinion on Noike is generally poor, but a lot more could've been built around her status as an official fiance for Tenchi and a spy for Jurai. The other girls' reactions to this would've made for good entertainment and development, and the spy angle could've introduced the political elements of the story in a more controlled manner. Instead, her status as a spy is just explained away to Ryoko and Ayeka after they basically just accepted Noike's existence. And despite having some episode focus, she still gets so little actual character progression she barely qualifies as a Satellite Character. Then there are those who just feel she could have just as easily been replaced by Ensemble Dark Horse Kiyone from the alternate continuities.
- Hiwa Takahashi in the manga. She is Tenchi's childhood friend and has a crush on him. That sounds like potential for good stories, right? Well, she was only a one-shot character and the story focus more on Ayeka and Ryoko and her relation with Tenchi is never really explored.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Haruna is such an Anti-Villain with a tragic backstory and the viewers are supposed to find her sympathetic, but after seeing her rape Tenchi, many fans saw this as her Moral Event Horizon and lost all sympathy for her.
What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: The OVA first aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block, in an after school timeslot. Even when they moved it to [adult swim], they still couldn't get away with showing the female characters frequently nude. Years later, it was even admitted by the staff of Toonami that it was the single hardest project they had ever worked on.
The Woobie: Sasami fills this role. She believes that the real Sasami died from a fall seven hundred years ago and that she's a vessel for Tsunami when really, she did survive, but barely. This makes the poor girl afraid that if Ayeka found out, she wouldn't love her anymore. Thankfully Ayeka, and the others accepted Sasami even when she revealed that fact.

YMMV / Tenchi Muyo!

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