Interview with Tenchi OAV 3 Brand Manager

Originally, we were going to write an article about the third Tenchi Muyo! OAV and try to answer some questions that fans might have had about the new property, but we realized, hey, why not pass the questions on to someone who would know all the answers already? Who better to ask than Adam Sheehan, FUNimation brand manager for the OAV. Thanks to him, we have a better idea of what to expect, why it's even out, and wait, is that plans for a possible seventh episode we hear?


One of the first questions that fans were asking was... “why?” Why the interest in a third Tenchi OAV?

I believe that the main reason for the third OAV was that there was more story to tell and still some questions left unanswered. It's better late than never. ^_^ Not only does this third OAV continue the story, but with the huge gap between the second OAV and this, the animation has really improved.

Considering the age of the Tenchi franchise, do you think it'll still appeal to newer fans who may havenever seen the original series and OAVs?

Tenchi is timeless. If you saw it back in the 1990s or if this is your first time seeing it, I think most fans will find the series entertaining and engaging. I do think it will have new fans of the series going back and trying to find the first two OAVs very quickly.

What are FUNimation's plans for this release? Any big marketing plans or hopes?

With there being 6 episodes in this series we will be releasing them all over two volumes. The first one will be bit longer since episode one was almost double the length of all the other episodes. I don't think most will mind having some extra Tenchi for free. ^_^

Volume two we are still working on; we are trying to get some great extras for it from Japan. We don't want to miss anything if we can help it. Besides a large advertising campaign in print and online, we also will have three different collector post cards that we will be passing out at conventions. And if you are at Anime Expo, San Diego Comic Con, or Otakon this year, you can't miss the huge Tenchi pillar that is helping to hold up part of our booth.

How do you think this compares to the original Tenchi shows? Do you think fans of the original will have just as big of a blast with this one?

Being an old school Tenchi fan myself, this was a key point I kept in mind when I started working on the series. I see this still as part of the original Tenchi. Everything fans loved about the first two OAV's is all still in this one. The biggest draw for the third OAV over the first two is how much production of anime has improved over the years. Better art, sound, translations, understanding what the true fans want.

Everything is enhanced. This is a great example of an evolutionary step showing just how far Anime has come. With almost the entire original voice cast coming back, transitioning fans will just fall back in love with Tenchi.

What's the release schedule looking like for this series? Any cool extras planned?

Volume 1, “Here comes the Bride!” hits shelves on July 5th, so run, don't walk, to your local store and pick up a copy. The best extra on the first DVD is the extended first episode, almost 20 extra minutes. Volume 2 we are still looking when best to release it. If everything works well for us this will have a lot of extras for it.

There has also been talk about a possible seventh episode, an epilogue to the entire series, which we are looking into. We may put this out with some cool extras and a box that would hold all three DVD's. Only time will tell, but I feel very strongly about the possibility of this happening right now.