Forum - View topicNEWS: Tenchi Muyo! Ryo Ohki OVA Series Gets 5th Season
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AstroNerdBoy
 Posts: 413 Location: Denver, CO |
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(Part 1, since the site no longer allows long posts.)
They aren't going to share sales numbers with me, but I was told that sales were fine and the series is expected to have long tails. (I wish Seven Seas had promoted it more...I saw more buzz about this among the Japanese than America, mainly because I never saw Seven Seas push it like they do some of their other titles.) That said, I know there is interest at Seven Seas to do GXP, but sales of the True Tenchi Muyo! novels would have had to have been off the scale to convince Seven Seas to license GXP. GXP is still an ongoing novel series in Japan, which means it would be a massive commitment by Seven Seas to license. So while the TTM novels are doing fine for Seven Seas, the numbers aren't there to justify the risk of licensing GXP at this time. (Of course, I always hope to see an e-mail from them saying, "OK, we decided to go for GXP. You ready to adapt again?" )
Simple. Ryo-ohki is an alien, bio-technological creation who has humanoid form and feelings and is able to do anything any other alien humanoid can do. She isn't just a cabbit.
They did. It was called Ai Tenchi Muyo! and came out in 2014. But it is just a "meh" series. It would have been more interesting had it been linked to the Tenchi Universe continuity (TU and AITM were directed by the same person), but as a stand-alone, it was just OK. Fans in Japan wanted more canon stuff. Still, AIC is trying to produce via crowdfunding another Pretty Sammy series. |
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AstroNerdBoy
Posts: 413 Location: Denver, CO |
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(Part 2, since the site doesn't allow long posts.)
Well, even for a Tenchi fan like myself, OVA 4 was a tough slog. I've seen summaries of the GXP novels, but short of reading them myself, a lot of what was discussed in OVA 4 that related to the GXP novels was just babble to me. For Japanese fans, it was great stuff that filled in some gaps in the story or otherwise made things better in terms of lore. OVA 5 may be better though. I don't think OVA 4 was really what Kajishima-sensei wanted AIC to produce. He's been publishing his color storyboard "-IF-" doujinshi series, which basically is the story he wanted to tell. I think the financially troubled AIC didn't want to commit to that kind of project, so Kajishima-sensei just did Nobuyuki's wedding and an info-dump on why Kenshi had to go to Geminar (and the impact of events in Geminar on Jurai and Earth). OVA 5 is more in line with what Kajishima-sensei originally wanted to do. But it will piss off those who didn't want to accept the harem ending route.
Kajishima-sensei allude to that notion when he was interviewed prior to the GXP anime being aired. The plan was GXP, then go back and pick up OVA 3, then WoG. It was then that he was asked about OVA 4. At the time, Kajishima-sensei questioned whether folks would want to see anything after OVA 3. If OVA 3 wrapped up the equivalent of World War II, would people want to see the normal, everyday events that happen afterward? |
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AstroNerdBoy
Posts: 413 Location: Denver, CO |
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(Part 3 since the forum doesn't like long posts.)
I'm not aware of this. Hayashi-san did leave over creative differences with Kajishima-sensei. But my understanding is that Kajishima-sensei didn't like the limits Hayashi-san was putting on him. For example, Hayashi-san reportedly did not want Washu included in OVA 1. He felt too many characters had been introduced. But he caved on that on.But there were other things Kajishima-sensei wanted to do that Hayashi-san didn't cave to. And I believe it was Hayashi-san who introduced the notion of the Royal Tree to the story, which wasn't part of Kajishima-sensei's original scheme. In terms of personality, Japanese fans told us that Kajishima-sensei did not like how Hasegawa-sensei changed Aeka's personality. His original idea for Aeka reportedly was not to have her refuse to accept Yosho's apparent death. He wanted her to be strong, accept it, then move on. But apparently, it was Hasegawa-sensei who thought the notion of the tragic princess, desperately clinging to the idea of her "Oniisama" being alive was a good one. I've long said that I believe that Kajishima-sensei is somewhat of a prima donna. He is great at creating lore and is similar to Tolkien in being able to establish this incredibly complex universe. But in terms of telling that story, Kajishima-sensei needs an editor to keep him focused, and to force him to occasionally do things again. (I can't prove this, but I think the reason we didn't get to see Ryoko and Aeka fight in OVA 3 was because Kajishima-sensei had already shown this and thus didn't want to show them fighting again.) Anyway, Hayashi-san left because as I believed he termed it, Tenchi was Kajishima-sensei's baby.
You forgot all of the talk about Seina.  I think the series spent more time on discussing Seina than Tenchi, since Seina was having adventures, as depicted in the GXP novels.
That said, there's no denying that Kajishima-sensei loves his women. But in terms of lore, Aeka's father may be Emperor of Jurai, but it is Seto-sama who rules behind the scenes (as an example). I've always seen Seto-sama as a strong character. And she doesn't have to pretend to be a man or otherwise attempt to ape one. She has a set of skills and employs them to maximum effect. That's what makes her great.
I've stated earlier in this post that I think AIC hosed him on what he really wanted to do with OVA 4. That's what the "-If-" doujinshi were supposed to be for. I suspect that OVA 5 will be more in line with the "-If-" storyboards we've seen. That will show Tenchi and his harem with their kids, and the continued prep of Kenshi for his journey to Geminar.
Why would AIC end something that's making them money?
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AiddonValentine
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Yeah, that's been a big problem with Kajishima post-OVA1. When you get down to it, the harem genre evolved outside him and many series that have taken cues from Tenchi Muyo have realized calling it a "harem' is a gigantic misnomer. He's basically been inside a bubble, unaware of how many people have since surpassed him. |
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louis6578
 Posts: 1861 |
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I dunno if this is a popular opinion or not, but OVA 3 SUCKED, yet OVA 4 makes that look like Cowboy freaking Bebop! The 4th season was something I never thought I'd say about Tenchi, it was boring. I found Tokyo to be irritating at times, but never boring. I thought season 3 was weird and hard to follow while offering unsatisfying answers to things set up by season 2 of Ryo-Ohki, but it wasn't boring.
If I'm being honest Tenchi Muyo Ai was the closest thing to the spirit of Tenchi we've gotten since UNIVERSE (unless I'm leaving something out). I'd prefer more of that over getting another godawful OVA where the good characters are sidelined in favor of new harem girls with one personality trait each. |
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Cardcaptor Takato
 Posts: 4824 |
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In all honesty I think OVA3 would have been a fine spot to end the franchise. It was still at a point where you didn't need to have all this additional lore knowledge to understand it and it basically resolved the main story while leaving the harem aspects up to fan imagination and answered most of fandom questions about the goddesses and stuff. Tenchi's battle with Z was actually pretty exciting and all the stuff about Mihoshi's family even brought in some of the classic OVA humor. It felt pretty complete as an ending while still leaving room for more to be explored in other mediums. A lot of fans feel like Kajishima has just lost sight of what made Tenchi so appealing to fans in the first place which was it's good balance of sci-fi space opera action, romantic comedy, and engaging character drama that made it stand out from all the other harems that came out in the 90s. Nowadays it just feels like Tenchi is more like the typical harem than something that felt revolutionary and new to a lot of anime fans back then.
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3877 Location: New York state. |
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I was somewhat aware of what the True Tenchi Muyo novels covered for newer backstory related to Azusa, Yosho, Washu, and even some stuff with Ryoko and Kagato from whatever you provided on your site years ago before they were released stateside, as well as read a few of Kajishima's doujin. But the GXP novels were material I never could find online. The third OVA series made a few nods to TTM material, but didn't dabble too heavily into it. I felt a bit alienated at points getting into the fourth OVA because it looked like nods were made to the GXP novels with the addition of characters I was unfamiliar with and the newer material discussed by the characters. The fact Kajishima and AIC don't seem interested in wanting to animate the LN and doujin material is highly frustrating as it would help to fill in the holes for series lore that were not properly explored within earlier installments of the OVA continuity for those that don't follow material outside of the anime. I did look up more info on the 5th OVA from your blog since you have access to information on the doujin material. Still think this will be a bit frustrating to watch, not so much for spoiler[seeing the harem solution for Tenchi's choice] but for AIC and Kajishima continuing to alienate those without access to or lacking interest in dabbling into the extra media materials for the Tenchi franchise outside anime. |
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nDroae
 Posts: 382 |
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Outline of events in OVA 4 episode 4:
• Women having committee meeting • Women having committee meeting in bikinis • Women having committee meeting naked • Women having committee meeting in sleepwear
The last update I heard was this crowdfunding campaign that only reached 12% of its goal: animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-09-21/pretty-sammy-sequel-project-starts-crowdfunding-for-promo-video/.121678 https://camp-fire.jp/projects/view/26931
Strangely enough, I started with Tenchi Universe and I never liked that he ended up with Ryoko in that storyline. To me it felt like that ending came out of nowhere just for the sake of having an ending, both when I watched it at age 12 in 2000 and when I rewatched it (still dubbed) in 2009. This year I watched the original OVA in Japanese for the first time, hoping I'd like Ryoko more with her original voice, with some success. Tenchi Universe is up next after a first time through El Hazard. Currently, I think I might actually prefer Tenchi Solution over an ending in which the winner isn't Aeka or TU Kiyone (or maybe Washu). What I've always said is I would have thought that multiple realities would naturally each be used to give a different one of the original girls a victory, but [Shin] Tenchi in Tokyo and Ai Tenchi Muyo threw that chance away by opting for a new main girl instead. Which I realize is hypocritical considering my status as TU Kiyone trash.  I liked Ai Tenchi Muyo for what it was, wish it could have been a full series.
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Cardcaptor Takato
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Covnam
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I really hope the GXP novels come over so that I can actually enjoy OVA 4 & presumably 5. Hard to appreciate seeing so many characters on screen if you don't or barely know who they are without looking up a wiki
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CrownKlown
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Id be honest. I do want to see more geminar. But Tenchi, the ova canon is, and will probably always be my single favorite work.
I dont think K sensei suffers from the same problem as Lucas, but they both suffer from the same problem, aka over zealous fans. Its the work these guys spent their who lives creating, its their work. You either like it or you dont. But at some point some people began acting/feeling like this work somehow belongs to everyone else when it doesnt. I honestly find his attitude refreshing, he wants to tell his story the way he wants to, and F what you think. And then he goes and does a bunch of hentai doushin. God bless man. Also I had to laugh at people having issue with Ryoki having kids, I believe triplets with tenchi. K sensei has never cared taboos, and has never been one of these third writers who teases people with incest and harem and the like, only to cave into pressure with crap like , never blood related at all. Tenchi has always had elements of Incest, NTR, Harem, Bestality, S&M, and even Yuri/Yaoi undertones. If you are looking for some vanilla ice cream you came to the wrong store. The only thing I will agree on with alot of detractors are two fold: I do think maybe they should keep the ova continuity but do a reboot starting with ova 1, but flesh it out and make it flow better with the story and the spin offs like gxp and geminar. And 2, I will admit the non Ova stories had a few concepts I wish had been incorporated into the ova continuity, I do like Mayaka from Tenchi the movie 2, I do like the side stories with the Ryoko clones in the Hiroshi manga. I do like Nagi from Universe. But I can live with out them at the end of the day. I would like to see him maybe cave, and do like one ova episode where he subtly acknowledges the other works ala a marvel verse as alternative timelines or something, I mean he already did that with dual after all. It would be kind of a cool episode where washu makes some crazy invention ala Futurama where she transports the gang to the other dimensions for like one episode. |
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Tylerr
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i always found the original series to be kind of weak, give me some more Geminar...
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Cardcaptor Takato
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Animegomaniac
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Nice... in that I like the third OVA and hate Cowboy freaking Bebop. I still haven't seen the fourth OVA because I've lost interesting in pirating anime and former pirate sites last decade but just reading these long comments is making my brain hurt. "The men are weak" "the women are weak" "Everything's about Tenchi" "It's no longer about Tenchi" "The highlight of the franchise was Tenchi Universe!" "The first two OVA!" "The first OVA!" "The franchise always sucked!" The only thing I gathered about the fourth OVA is that it is canonfying GXP and War on Genimar, two series I love, while continuing to ignore Universe, a series I continue to dislike since the 90s but one that people bring up like it means something. What do I want from the OVA series? I still have no expectations, the simple fact that it's continuing is remarkable enough for me. I know I don't want an ending, "slice of life" has no ending. Just like Haruhi Suzumiya all I want to have that promise that we'll meet again, some day in the rain... Or for this franchise, one day it will be the Night Before the Carnival once more... yeah, there's the biggest difference between the OVA series and Universe, one series puts the emphasis on the event itself, "the carnival", while the other thinks the actual event will most likely be a let down and the anticipation of it in your mind will always be the best thing in the world... so the OVA is all build up with no release... Sounds about right. |
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louis6578
Posts: 1861 |
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The best thing you can do with this franchise is start over and FORGET the Ryo-Ohki timeline. It had a great start (season 1 is still probably the best part of any Tenchi thing besides movie 3 in my opinion), but it fell off the rails LONG ago. Just do another Universe or Ai thing. I think Ai was better than anyone gives it credit for.
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