Tenchi Muyo!

Tenchi Muyo!, Originally titled Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, is a twenty episode collection of OVAs produced by AIC, initially released in Japan in 1992. The first two OVA series were later licensed and distributed in North America by Pioneer Entertainment, with Funimation taking over the rights for the third (and latest) series.

The English dubbed versions of OVA 1 and 2, spanning episodes 1-7 and 8-13 respectively, were picked up by Cartoon Network in July 2000 for broadcast on its Toonami block.

The Toonami version titled simply "Tenchi Muyo!", was heavily edited to remove blood, profanity and nudity (by digitaly adding bikinis), as well as to shorten the length of the episodes to fit broadcast standards. OVA 3, spanning episodes 14-20, was never shown on Toonami due to the fact that no dubbed version was made until 2003.

Plot
Tenchi Masaki was a normal 17-year old boy until the day he accidentally releases the space pirate, Ryoko from a cave she was sealed in 700 years ago as the people thought she was a demon. In a series of events, four other alien girls show up at the Masaki household as Tenchi learns much of his heritage he never knew about and deal with five alien girls who each have some sort of romantic interest in him.

Characters
Tenchi Masaki — A teenager that accidentally releases an alien space pirate, thereby drawing the attention of other space faring individuals. His actions unintentionally cause the destruction of his school and the revelation that he himself is part of the powerful Juraian race, and a member of their royal family. In the 1st OVA it is revealed that he can create Lighthawk Wings (the power of the goddesses and Jurai ships) himself without the aid of a royal tree (Tenchi has no Royal Tree but possesses both Yosho's sword key for tree Funaho and a bracelet to draw power from tree Tsunami) when generating his own Lighthawk Wings, Tenchi can also perform energy-matter conversion. All of his female cohabitors are attracted to him in some way or another, and they often compete with each other for his affection.

Ryoko Hakubi — A creation of the scientist Wushu (of her own egg and a substance called Masu) Ryoko was a space pirate in the service of Kagato until she was sealed in a cave for 700 years, she is released by Tenchi in the first episode. She draws most of her powers from three mysterious gems and is partnered with the cabbit spaceship Ryo-Ohki.

Ayeka Masaki Jurai — A princess of the Jurai Royal Family, she is searching the galaxy for her half-brother Yosho with her younger sister Sasami when she detects Ryoko (whom Yosho had been pursuing prior to his disappearance) her tree-ship Ryu-Oh crashes on Earth, where she reluctantly joins Tenchi and Ryoko. After initially disliking Tenchi she starts to become attracted to him.

Sasami Masaki Jurai — A princess of the Jurai Royal Family, she tags along on her older sister's search for Yosho, it is revealed in the 2nd OAV (though hinted at in the 1st) that in addition to being a Jurain princess, she has also merged with the Goddess Tsunami, which grants the Jurai family its royal trees. Sasami frequently cooks for the household and is paired with the tree-ship Tsunami (the original tree-ship of Goddess Tsunami).

Mihoshi Kuramitsu — A member of the powerful Kuramitsu family of the Seniwa empire and a Detective of the Galaxy Police (which is also under Kuramitsu control) Mihoshi is prone to clumsiness and can act ditsy, despite being highly intelligent. Mihoshi is distantly related to Washu, and that lineage has the power of improbably good luck. She crashes on Earth while looking for Kagato.

Washu Hakubi — A former Director of the Galaxy Academy and ranked among the top scientists in the galaxy. Washu's more recent pursuits involve investigating the three gems (the ones Ryoko was given) and creating lifeforms capable of harnessing their power (of which the Ryoko/Ryo-Ohki combination is one). She was trapped by Kagato and later released by Mihoshi, it is revealed in OVA 3 and some spinoff media (and hinted in OVA 2) that Washu is a human manifestation of a sister-goddess to Tsunami and Tokimi.

Episodes
Tenchi Muyo! consists of 3 OVA series containing 20 episodes. The first episode of the first OVA was originally released in Japan on September 25, 1992. Pioneer LDC produced the first two OVA series, and VAP produced the third OVA series. Pioneer Entertainment (later Geneon) licensed the first two OVA series and released them on Laserdisc, VHS and DVD. The third OVA series was licensed by Funimation Entertainment. After Geneon's departure from the North American market in November 2007, Funimation bought the rights to the original two OVA series, along with a handful of other Tenchi Muyo! properties. Funimation released a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on December 4, 2012.

The first two OVA series, excluding episode 13b, premiered in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Toonami block from July 3, 2000 to July 19, 2000. The series then aired in reruns on Toonami until January 16, 2002. One episode also appeared as part of Adult Swim's Toonami April Fools Prank.

List of Tenchi Muyo! Episodes