Tenchi Muyô! Ryô Ôki (1992) (V)

Directors:

Masashi Abe
Hiroki Hayashi

Writer:

Masaki Kajishima (creator)

Release Date:

25 September 1992 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Tenchi Masaki is a normal high school student in Japan, who spends the summers doing chores around his grandfather's family shrine...

Plot Keywords:

Sword | High School Student | Love Interest | Love | Exclamation Point In Title

Cast

Masami Kikuchi	...	Tenchi Masaki
Yûko Kobayashi	...	Washu Hakubi
Yûko Mizutani	...	Mihoshi / Mitoto Kuramitsu
Ai Orikasa	...	Ryoko / Zero
Yumi Takada	...	Ayeka Masaki Jurai
Chisa Yokoyama	...	Sasami Masaki Jurai / Tsunami
Petrea Burchard	...	Ryoko / Zero, Tenchi's Mother - OVA 1 and 2 (voice: English version) (as Celeste Burch)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Alan	...	Tokimi / Additional Voices - OVA3 (voice: English version) (as Mari Devon)
Dan Butler	...	Galaxy Police Officer (voice: English version)
Zita Campisi	...	Innkeeper - OVA 1 (voice: English version)
Lara Cody	...	Mashisu Makibi / Fuku - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Jennifer Darling	...	Ayeka Masaki Jurai / Young Ayeka / Tokimi (voice: English version)
Debi Derryberry	...	Ryo-Ohki (voice: English version) (as Marie Cabbit)
Jack Fletcher	...	D3 - OVA 2 (voice: English version)
Rebecca Forstadt	...	Mihoshi Kuramitsu - OVA 3 (voice: English version) (as Becky Olkowski)
Crispin Freeman	...	Kamikura - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Ellen Gerstell	...	Mihoshi Kuramitsu - OVA 1 and 2 (voice: English version) (as Jean Schwartz)
Eiji Hanawa	...	Z
Melora Harte	...	Seto Kamiki Jurai - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Jay Hopper	...	Katsuhito Masaki / Nobuyuki Masaki / Galaxy Police Marshall - OVA 1 and 2 (voice: English version)
David Johnson	...	White Rock Commander / Galaxy Police Station Chief / Captain Nobeyama (voice: English version)
Sean Cw Johnson	...	Fujimasa / Additional Voices - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Tomoko Kaneda	...	Fuku
Seizô Katô	...	Dr. Clay
R. Martin Klein	...	Seiryo Tennan - Toonami version (voice: English version) (as Bob Marx)
Katsuyuki Konishi	...	Sorunaru
Hisako Kyôda	...	Innkeeper (First and Second series)
John Rafter Lee	...	Seiryo Tennan - OVA 2 Uncut version (voice: English version) (as John Lee)
Wendee Lee	...	Female Kagato / Kiyone Masaki - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Sherry Lynn	...	Sasami Masaki Jurai / Tsunami (voice: English version) (as Katie Ashley)
Brad MacDonald	...	Z / Additional Voices - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Mitsuaki Madono	...	Seiryo Tennan
Wess Mann	...	Dr. Clay (voice: English version)
Mona Marshall	...	Ryoko / Rea Masaki - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Fumio Matsuoka	...	Minami Kuramitsu / Galaxy Police Marshall
Michael McConnohie	...	D3 / Minami Kuramitsu / Additional Voices - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Hikaru Midorikawa	...	Misao Kuramitsu
Matt K. Miller	...	Tenchi Masaki / Yosho (voice: English version) (as Kermit Miller)
Yûko Nagashima	...	Minaho Masaki
Rio Natsuki	...	Rea Masaki
Yukari Nozawa	...	Seto Kamiki Jurai
Kenichi Ogata	...	Azaka
Tony Oliver	...	Misao Kuramitsu - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Peggy O'Neal	...	Tenyo Masaki / Additional Voices - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Keiko Onodera	...	Mashisu Makibi
Ryûzaburô Ôtomo	...	D3
Bob Papenbrook	...	Katsuhito Masaki / Nobuyuki Masaki / Yosho - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Michael Scott Ryan	...	Kagato (voice: English version) (as Weston Peese)
Yoshiko Sakakibara	...	Misaki Kamiki Jurai
Rei Sakuma	...	Funaho Masaki Jurai
Naomi Shindô	...	Noike Kamiki Jurai
Emi Shinohara	...	Tenyo Masaki / Kiyone Masaki
Yoshinori Sonobe	...	Baguma (voice)
Michael Sorich	...	Kamidake - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Melodee Spevack	...	Mikami Kuramitsu (voice: English version)
Doug Stone	...	Azaka - OVA3 (voice: English version)
Kim Strauss	...	Sorunaru - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Ikuko Sugita	...	Mikami Kuramitsu
Junichi Suwabe	...	Nakita Kuramitsu (voice)
Wataru Takagi	...	Kamidake / Kamikura
Sakiko Tamagawa	...	Airi Masaki
Kirk Thornton	...	Ikeda / Nakita Kuramitsu - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Yumi Tôma	...	Tokimi (second and third series)
Mark Tracy	...	Kazuhiko Amagasaki / Azaka / Yukinojyo - OVA 1 and 2 (voice: English version)
Hidenari Ugaki	...	Fujimasa
K.T. Vogt	...	Washu Hakubi / Innkeeper (voice: English version) (as Gee Gee Loo Loo)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Airi Masaki / Noike Kamiki Jurai / Misaki / Mitoto Kuramitsu / Minaho Masaki - OVA3 (voice: English version)
Norio Wakamoto	...	Kagato
Dan Woren	...	Baguma / Additional Voices - OVA 3 (voice: English version)
Yasuhiro	...	Ikeda (as Yasuhiro Fujiwara)
Grace Zandarski	...	Lady Funaho / Lady Misaki (voice: English version)

Also Known As:

No Need for Tenchi
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-oh-ki (USA) (alternative transliteration)
This End Up!

Runtime:

USA:30 min (20 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Colombia:12 | Spain:13 | Peru:14 | Chile:14 | Venezuela:PG-13 | UK:PG | USA:TV-PG

Company:

AIC Animate Film

Trivia:

The animation for the third OVA series was done with computer generated graphics rather than hand drawn animation.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In Tenchi Muyo OVA 3 (which it was made around 2000) the sound effects, when you set your DVD language to Japanese, doesn't match the motions of the character at all. In the English one it does match.

Quotes:

Mihoshi: There's no way out?
Washu Hakubi: That's what I'm saying. You see on this diagram that this goes this way and this goes that way, and so, there's no way out. Absolutely not. No way. That's it. Got it?
Mihoshi: Nope, I don't get it at all.
[Washu falls]
Mihoshi: So, I guess what you mean is that there is absolutely no way out of here?
Washu Hakubi: Where were you when they handed out the brains?
Mihoshi: [grabbing Washu's leg, crying] But how can this be? You created this ship, didn't you?
Washu Hakubi: Mm-hmm.
[she gives the middle finger]
Washu Hakubi: And that is why it is so perfect!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tenchi Muyô! In Love (1996)

Soundtrack:

Tenchi Muyo! Theme Of Ryo-Ohki

Simply brilliant

The original series that launched 3 spin-offs and 3 movies, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki is by far the pick of the bunch. Although the series spans several genres it is more of a comedy at heart with its light hearted tone. This series perfectly encapsulates the whole Tenchi universe. Its art and animation is lush and gorgeous and the plot (or plots) is (are) relatively solid although the writers lose it occasionally after the first 6 episodes. Thrill-seekers may bemoan the absence of heart-stopping moments in the action scenes but the series' true strength lies in its characters.

The characters are compelling and genuinely appealing with deep and well-developed personalities. Even the pipe organ-playing(!) villain is cool! The character interactions are seldom boring, often being very funny and sometimes touching as well. One drawback is that is unfinished. The plot kinda meandered towards the end but then a ton of new plot threads were introduced which weren't resolved making the series seem incomplete.

Hopefully we'll see more of this series (which has been hinted) in the future but for I heartedly recommend this series to anyone. Simply put, it is simply brilliant.