Tenchi Muyo!

Tenchi Muyo!

天地無用！
1992 -1995 AIC OVA 13 episodes Completed
Comedy Sci-Fi Harem Action
Details & Synopsis
The year is 1992. A six-episode OVA from AIC lands in Japan and begins quietly dismantling the walls between science fiction, comedy, and domestic drama in ways the medium was not quite ready for. By the time Pioneer localized it and VHS tapes started moving through anime clubs in North America, it had already built an underground following through the tape-trading networks that would eventually become fansub culture.

Tenchi Masaki is a perfectly ordinary Japanese teenager living with his grandfather near a Shinto shrine. He is about to have a very bad week. A space pirate named Ryoko, sealed away in a cave beneath the shrine for seven hundred years, gets loose, and within approximately forty-eight hours Tenchi's house is full: Ryoko, who oscillates between destroying things and fixating on Tenchi; Ayeka, a Juraian princess who considers Ryoko her sworn enemy; Sasami, Ayeka's little sister who is considerably more dangerous than she appears; Mihoshi, a Galaxy Police detective of supernatural incompetence; and Washu, the greatest scientific genius in the universe, who will tell you so unprompted.

Also Ryo-Ohki is there. Ryo-Ohki is a cabbit, part cat, part rabbit, part spaceship. She eats carrots.

Produced by AIC and directed by Hiroki Hayashi, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki began in September 1992. The original OVA series across its first two installments runs thirteen episodes and tells a story that begins as a harem comedy and gradually reveals itself to be something much stranger and more mythologically dense, a space opera built on top of a domestic sitcom, with royal lineages and ancient wars buried under jokes about hot springs and cooking.

This is where the Western harem genre came from. This is what the anime clubs were trading tapes of before Pioneer showed up with a box set. This is the foundational text.

Thirteen OVA episodes. Watch them in order. Then watch Tenchi Universe if you want the TV series version of the same cast in a different continuity. Come back to the OVA when you're ready to find out what's actually going on.
Alt Title 天地無用！
Studio AIC
Network OVA
Aired 1992 - 1995
Episodes 13
Genre Comedy, Sci-Fi, Harem, Action
Status Completed
← All lore

OVA 1–13 Master Combat Ledger

Climactic OVA 1 & OVA 2 Engagements

Yosho (Young Prince) vs. Ryoko (700 Years Ago)

OVA 1 Ep 3 / Backstory · Masaki Shrine Forest · Decisive Yosho Victory

700 years prior to the main story, Kagato used Ryoko to attack the planet Jurai. Prince Yosho pursued Ryoko to Earth in his Royal Tree-Ship.
The Breakdown
Yosho engaged Ryoko in a duel above Earth. Using his Master Key blade, Yosho excised Ryoko's three power gems, sealing her body inside the subterranean cave beneath what would become the Masaki Shrine.
Ryoko

Debut: Ep 003 - Hello Ryo-Ohki!

Tenchi Masaki vs. Ryoko (Shrine Seal Awakening)

OVA 1 Ep 1 · Masaki Shrine Cave & High School · Tenchi Victory

Tenchi snuck into the forbidden shrine cave and accidentally broke the ancestral sword-seal, awakening the space pirate demon Ryoko after 700 years of slumber.
The Breakdown
Ryoko pursued Tenchi to his high school, summoning phantom spirits to terrorize the grounds. Tenchi wielded the ancestral sword Tenchi-Ken, accidentally channeling its energy core to slash Ryoko's aura and force her retreat.
Tenchi Masaki Ryoko

Debut: Ep 001 - Ryoko Resurrected

Ryoko vs. Princess Aeka (Earth Orbit Ship Duel)

OVA 1 Ep 2 · Earth Upper Atmosphere · Mutual Crash Landing

Princess Aeka arrived in her Royal Tree-Ship Ryu-O to arrest the space pirate Ryoko, unleashing Jurain guard pods over the Masaki farm.
The Breakdown
Ryoko boarded Ryo-Ohki in ship mode to dogfight Aeka's Ryu-O. The resulting energy exchange damaged both vessels, causing both Royal Tree-Ships to crash-land into the Masaki hot springs and stranding Aeka on Earth.
Ryoko

Debut: Ep 002 - Here Comes Ayeka!

Tenchi & Ryoko vs. Kagato (Soja Battleship Climax)

SPOILER!

OVA 1 Ep 5–6 · Earth Orbit / Soja Bridge · Decisive Tenchi Victory

The space hermit Kagato invaded Earth aboard his colossal warship Soja, capturing Ryoko and disabling Aeka's forces to seize the Master Key.
The Breakdown
Tenchi infiltrated the Soja with Katsuhito's guidance. When Kagato mortally wounded Tenchi, Tenchi's Jurain royal blood awakened three Light Wave Wings (Lighthawk Wings). Tenchi bisected Kagato and destroyed the Soja, rescuing Washu and Ryoko.
Tenchi Masaki Ryoko Kagato

Debut: Ep 005 - Kagato Attacks!

Tenchi Household vs. Zero (Ryoko Copy Replacement)

SPOILER!

OVA 2 Ep 11–12 · Subterranean Washu Lab · Decisive Washu / Tenchi Victory

The shape-shifting synthetic android Zero was deployed by Dr. Clay to kidnap Washu, impersonating Ryoko to infiltrate the Masaki house.
The Breakdown
Zero captured Ryoko and attempted to absorb Tenchi's power. Washu uncovered the imposter using neural scans, while Tenchi's genuine affection for the real Ryoko broke Zero's emotional programming, allowing Washu to free Ryoko and defeat Dr. Clay.
Ryoko

Debut: Ep 012 - Zero Ryoko

Tenchi Masaki vs. Dr. Clay (Subterranean Lab Siege)

SPOILER!

OVA 2 Ep 13 · Subterranean Washu Core · Decisive Tenchi Victory

Dr. Clay trapped the Masaki family inside Washu's dimensional lab, attempting to escape with a captured Washu clone aboard his warship.
The Breakdown
Tenchi summoned the Tenchi-Ken, tapping into his Jurain royal heritage to generate Light Wave Wings inside the pocket dimension. Slicing through Dr. Clay's mechanical barriers, Tenchi freed Washu and apprehended Clay for the Galaxy Police.
Tenchi Masaki

Debut: Ep 013 - Here Comes Jurai!