Product Description

The classic Tenchi Muyo OVA series collected in a two disc, bilingual, THX approved Box Set! The re-mastered film transfers and re-mixed 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround sound for the Japanese tracks are included with the original 2.0 Dolby Digital tracks for Japanese and English languages. This box set contains a bonus third disc - the new, improved, Tenchi Muyo Encyclopedia (Ver.3.0) that contains detailed information about every Tenchi incarnation: The OVA series, the movies, Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi in Tokyo. Also included in the encyclopedia are production materials from various Tenchi Muyo projects - even materials from the third Tenchi Muyo feature film that will be released in Japan in the Spring of 1999! All packaged in a premium three disc DVD case with a printed, plastic slip case! • Remastered film transfer to D-1 • 3 Dolby Digital Soundtracks! • 5.1 Re-mixed Japanese • 2.0 Original Japanese • 2.0 English Language • Contains the Tenchi Muyo Encyclopedia Ver. 3.0 • First 3,000 boxes contain a 24ct. Gold Foil printed plastic collector's card! • 420 minutes of Tenchi Muyo! (OVA Vol. 1-13, plus specials)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25939 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-07-03
• Rating: Unrated
• Formats: Animated, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, THX, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 420 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Although the title means something along the lines of "no need for Tenchi," everyone wants the hapless hero of this popular series. These 13 OAV episodes reunite the cast from the TV show, but with some changes. Sasami is initially much younger and less domestic; grandfather Masaki turns out to be Yosho, the long-lost Jurai prince who was betrothed to Ayeka centuries ago; genius-in-residence Wasshu reveals an unexpected bond with interstellar outlaw Ryoko. The tone is a little racier than the broadcast version: Ryoko runs around naked and the attempts to seduce the terminally klutzy Tenchi are more pointed.

In the first adventure (episodes 1-7), Tenchi inadvertently wakes a mummified demon who was imprisoned at the Masaki family shrine 700 years ago--none other than space pirate extraordinaire Ryoko. The problems she causes are dwarfed by the arrival of Jurai princesses Ayeka and Sasami, bubble-brained Galactic Police Agent Miyoshi--and interstellar criminal Kagato. Assuming the role (and costume) of the Crown Prince of Jurai, Tenchi defeats the evil Kagato with a magic sword that resembles the lightsabers in Star Wars.

Unexpected arrivals keep the Masaki household in chaos in the later, shorter adventures (episodes 8-13), including a baby cousin of Tenchi's, a shape-shifting robot who impersonates Ryoko, and the Emperor and Empress of Jurai. The writers occasionally lose track of the plot, especially in episode 13, "Here Comes Jurai," but Tenchi has never been noted for its logic. In all the episodes, the filmmakers manage to balance interplanetary threats, teenage romance, and broad comedy with their usual aplomb.

The Tenchi Encyclopedia (powered by Wasshu OS) offers short biographies of the main characters with clips and stills, pencil tests, digital comics, Japanese commercials, and full credits for the series. A must-have for Tenchi fans. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Tenchi Muyo OVA DVD: An Anime Fan's Dream Come True
It is impossible to put fully into words what Pioneer has done with this unbelievable (and totally complete) box set. Basically, they have taken an all-time favorite anime .. given it a digital remastering, along with Dolby 5.1 Japanese tracks (subtitled wonderfully I might add), along with a great job on the English dubbing, all 13 OVA Episodes, an interactive encyclopedia for Tenchi Fanatics and an unbeatable price. The animation is beautiful in the DVD format and extremely clear, which brings vibrant new life into this anime classic. Pretty much I would recommend this to any anime fan who hasn't seen the series yet (you really have no idea what you're missing out on!) or any Tenchi fan who would like to see this series in its ideal format. If you are new to the anime DVD scene like I am, make sure you put this set on your list of "to buy" collections ^_^ You won't be disapointed!

You will fall in love with this world...OVA defined
I've watched only a few anime shows in my lifetime, traditionally sticking to the classics (e.g., Akira) at the recommendations of my friends. Tenchi showed up after I tried a few other recommendations such as Ghost in the Shell and Demon City Shinjuku (neither of which got me excited, except that Ghost in the Shell had nice visuals).

Suffice it to say that this anime has so won over my heart that, in a time when I'm trying to stay conservative financially, I have already bought the special edition OVA set and all three of the Tenchi movies and am committed to buying all of the TV series episodes to boot (for those like me who didn't know, OVA stands for "original video animation", and means it was a straight to video production).

You will feel the same after watching this series as you did when you finished reading the Lord of the Rings for the first time -- you are entranced by the world...you will miss the characters like you do real people, because they are so expressive and genuine, and you'll want to go back and visit them.

Tips:

1. You definitely want to watch with the original Japanese voice track. I have watched with both English and Japanese and though the English translation was faithful to the meaning, the emotion of the characters isn't communicated like it is in the Japanese...also, the voice casting was just RIGHT. Can't really explain it in words...

2. Watch on a high quality home theater system...this thing will stress every part of the system, every disk has very high quality soundtracks and incredible colors (both the wild and the mild -- beautiful soft cherry blossoms in the foreground with a neon orange slashing death duel in the background...).

3. There is some mild nudity in this series - parts are not appropriate for kids (or at least they'll be somewhat confused) which is a real shame because some of the characters (Ryo-ohki, Sasami, and Misaki) are soooo perfect for the little ones.

Now if I could only figure out who is more alluring...Ryoko or Washu?

Now this is what I call animation.
Tenchi is the story of a teenage boy who has his life turned up side down by a group of alien women. These alien women all fall in love with and eventually end up living with him in the same house some where in the country. The main players in the series are a five thousand year old space pirate named Ryoko, the crown princess of the planet Jurai named Ayeka and her little sister Sasami, the universes most brilliant mad scientist named Washu, and a galaxy police officer named Mihoshi. As if that's not bad enough things get worse for poor Tenchi when his grandfather Kashuhito reveal secrets about his past and origin. Thenchi is one of those series where the character development and animation are executed so well that you forget you are watching an animated series. The characters are very likeable and seem to actually have real lives and emotions. This 3 disk box set contain 13 episode of high quality animation on 2 disks. The two disks with the episodes on them are presented in THX. The original japanese audio is presented in 5.1 digital. The english audio is presented in 2.0 digital. The english audio is very good. Not only are the english actors actually good but even the theme songs are dubbed in english on the dubbed track. Disk 3 contains the Tenchi encyclopedia v3.0. The Tenchi encyclopedia contains interviews, video trailers, concept drawings, character bios, and much more. This box set contains medium violence, nudity, and sexually suggestive situations.