Ask John: Does and Should Tenchi Muyo Have a Future?

Question:
Since the release of the last part of the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki series, and the fact Pioneer/Geneon has stopped their distribution of anime, what do you see in the future for the Tenchi Muyo! franchise? And in your opinion, should it be put to bed after so many years?

Answer:
I have two distinct opinions about the Tenchi Muyo franchise that equate to its status in America and Japan. On one hand, I’d like to see the series remain available for posterity. On the other hand, I think that the series has run its course.

Tenchi Muyo was a tremendously popular and influential franchise in America. Apart from establishing and popularizing the “harem” genre of romantic anime, Tenchi Muyo served to create countless American anime fans. Tenchi Muyo was one of the first Japanese language anime series to achieve “mega-hit” status in America. In respect for its role in the historical development of the American anime fan community, I’d be pleased to see Geneon’s Tenchi Muyo catalog resurrected for future American fans to discover. FUNimation claimed to have re-licensed the Slayers television series when Central Park Media’s license expired, in order to keep the series accessible to American viewers. I’d be quite pleased if FUNimation, or another domestic distributor, were to do the same thing with the first two Tenchi Muyo OVA series, the three motion pictures, and the two television series, if not also the Pretty Sammy spin-offs.

In Japan, however, I think that the series has more than run its course. The GXP series and third OVA series were reportedly produced because Tenchi Muyo co-creator Masaki Kajishima still wanted to work with the franchise. The third OVA series concluded the story left unfinished by the first two OVA series. The Tenchi franchise even continued long enough in Japan to spin off into the two Sasami ~ Mahou Shoujo Club television series that had no relation at all to Tenchi Muyo except for recycling some of the characters into a new universe.

In effect, not only has the original Tenchi Muyo story ended, its spin-offs have ended, and even its loosely inspired spin-offs have finished. Some part of me believes that the Tenchi Muyo franchise has been as thoroughly exhausted as an anime franchise can be. However, I also know the anime industry. After years of dormancy, Slayers is being revived. Along the same lines, there’s no telling when Tenchi Muyo may possibly be revived to prey upon and profit from the nostalgic curiosity of its long-time fans, and appeal to new generations of viewers unfamiliar with the earlier installments.