This seems to be becoming a recurring theme in my pages. I have a bunch of categories such as "characters", "story", etc. It seems that I almost always end up with a general information dump that I don't know how to categorize. Well this time I just called this section "opinions". This page also has voice actor information, some rumors I've heard, and for the hell of it, I threw some sounds in too.



  Favorites

Favorite Character - Ryoko (of course)
I donno. I really like Ryoko. There's so much to her. Sexy at times, often weird, she likes getting drunk and partying, yet she is still caring (even if she doesn't show it). Even though I like all the characters who have their places, I still have to say Ryoko is the best.


Favorite OAV Episode - Zero Ryoko
Washu was absolutely hilarious in this episode. I think I actually fell on the floor because I was laughing so hard. Funny, interesting... and everything you could want in a Tenchi episode.


Favorite TV Episode - Time & Space Adventurers II
Well, the first part of this episode was pretty good, Kiyone finally finds happiness, but the second half, ho-HO! is it a good one! Yeah, it involves Pretty Sammy, but it was great. My enjoyment was probably added to this one because I got to see it subtitled too. Best quote from the episode - Ryoko: "so this is what they call happiness..."
  Dubbing and Subtitles

Although I have a preference for subtitles, I saw the majority of the Tenchi series dubbed. As far as dubs go, Tenchi Muyo is probably one of the best done that I've seen. Granted that the first and second episodes of the OAV had some problems, but not long after that all the problems got ironed out. The dub actually didn't detract much from the series at all. Even with all that said about the dub, I still think the subtitled version to be better. Of course I have my opinions on individual characters. While I think the majority of the voice acting was well done, there's still a few things that stand out.

Ryoko - Hmm..... if you would have shown me the original Tenchi series, then let me listen to the English voice actor, I would have said your nuts. Of course now I think a bit differently. What can I say? The English voice actor is perfect. Even though her voice is completely different from the Japanese voice, it still fits perfectly. Such a diverse character as Ryoko, and very rarely even a slip in the voice (we'll overlook some parts of the first OAV episode). Of course the dub voice actress is simply living up to the Japanese voice actress who is also VERY good. Either way, Ryoko sounds terrific.

Aeka - Well, in the beginning I REALLY didn't like Aeka's voice, but I think I've more or less built up a tolerance now. Her voice actress is well suited for calm moments, but is slightly lacking when Aeka gets angry. I do of course like Aeka's Japanese voice actress, who certainly is better at sounding frustrated.

Mihoshi - A little reversal here, I thought Mihoshi's Japanese voice actor sucked. Not so much because of the talent, but because I found the voice itself to be irritating. I didn't think Mihoshi's voice within itself had to sound like that of an idiot. The English voice got the point across with a little skill in the voice acting, and of course with Mihoshi's dialog. So for once I found that the English voice actress sounded better. 



Character          Voice Actor [en]          Voice Actor [jp]
----------------------------------------------------------------
Tenchi             Matthew Miller            Masami Kikuchi 
Nobuyuki           Jay Hopper                Takeshi Aono 
Katsuhito          Jay Hopper                Takeshi Aono 
Aeka               Jennifer Darling          Yumi Takada 
Ryoko              Petrea Burchard           Ai Orikasa 
Sasami             Sherry Lynn               Chisa Yokoyama 
Mihoshi            Ellen Gerstell            Yuko Mizutani 
Kiyone             Sherry Lynn               Yuri Amano 
Washu              K. T. Vogt                Yuko Kobayashi 
Ryo-oki            Debi Deriberry            Etsuko Kozakura 
Achika             Grace Zandarski           Megumi Hayashibara


  Rumors:
Where Tenchi went wrong:

I've been continually hearing about the decreasing popularity of Tenchi in Japan. Most people attribute this to Shin Tenchi Muyo (which didn't do as well as expected). It seems that with this attempt at change in Tenchi, the series began to wind down. I've also heard that there is a new Tenchi series in the works in Japan. Although I've heard it may be a new TV series, it seems like there is more confirmation leaning towards a new OAV series. The new series is going to be a "new universe" once again, and I've heard that this may actually be the last Tenchi series!


OAV related rumors:

I've heard some rather interesting things related to the OAV series. The first thing is that Tsunami, Tokimi, and Washu were all once sisters. While I actually don't have proof, nor does anyone I've talked with (this is all on hearsay), I've heard that this is in fact the way things occur in the manga. If anyone else knows for sure, feel free to mail me.


According to the OAV, Washu is was imprisoned for thousands of years. It is revealed in episode 8 that Washu once had a child. Now I'm sure most of you are aware that over the course of generations people end up far different then their ancestors. I've actually heard that the final result of Washu's family line was none other than Mihoshi! Washu's child did have blond hair, and keep in mind that in the Tenchi series, children often have the attributes of their parents (especially hair color). It's obviously ridiculous to assume that a family would maintain a hair color all the way through thousands of years, but keep in mind that this is anime. It's an interesting thought save nothing else.


Other stuff:

For those that watched the Mihoshi Special, you may have watched the end credits and noticed the little animation sequence that goes along with it. The sequence involves none other than Pretty Sammy. Even though nothing is actually said during the animation, it becomes clear that the animation does NOT follow the story of Pretty Sammy. What is it? Well if memory serves correctly, the Mihoshi Special came out before Pretty Sammy. This is mere speculation, but it seems to me that this in fact was the original concept for Pretty Sammy.

Think about it. Isn't it a tad bit odd that there is this animation to go along with this? Typically end animations are low grade shorts involving still cells, or repeats of previous animation, I mean, why would they come up with this little sequence? Well it could be some Pretty Sammy thing not released in the U.S. that I've never heard about, but it seems to me that this is what Pretty Sammy was going to be before they rearranged everything.

You may notice that Sasami obviously seems to have a crush on Tenchi (very un-sisterly behavior). She is obviously jealous enough to throw a bottle of suntan at Tenchi when he is gawking at other girls. And of all the strange things, Kiyone shows up in a skimpy outfit as some sort of S & M queen. Finally, at the end, Tenchi and Sammy (almost) kiss. Perhaps this is what PS might have been before some executive figured, "you know, Tenchi is WAY too old for Sasami".
  Sounds


  Aeka [jp] - Tenchi-sama... houkago te mada desu no? (Isn't it after school YET?) [90k]
  Aeka [en] - Aah! I can't take this anymore! [19k]
  Ryoko [jp] - neh.. Tenchi, Tenchi Tenchi... (Ryoko sounds so cute!) [58k]
  Ryoko [en] - Agh! He's scratching himself, AAAGHHH! [38k]
  Kiyone [en] - Be polite children now please... little brats. [77k]