Well, what can be said about Tenchi that hasn't already been said. Some people love the series, some people hate it. Then again, there are some of us that love the series, but hate what Cartoon Network has done to it with their editing...just ask anyone on the Tenchi Mailing list ~_^
As many people know, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki is a series, produced by AIC and distributed by Pioneer. It's creator is a man by the name of Kajishima Masaki. The first OVA was released in Sept, 1992, and since then it's been a phenomenon on both sides of the Pacific.
No matter what universe you're watching, whether it's the OVA's or Tenchi Universe, the basic premise behind the series is the same. Tenchi Masaki is just a normal high-school student living with his father and grandfather near the Masaki Shrine. Then his whole world turns upside down when 5 beautiful girls arrive from outer space.
The title can be read in a couple different ways. By taking the name as a whole, tenchimuyou means "this side up", which could be in referral to Tenchi's quest to return to the normal life he once had. An alternative translation is "No Need for Tenchi" or "Useless Tenchi", which really takes on an extra meaning upon discovering that there are acutally two Tenchi's.
Since the release of the original OVA series in 1992, there's been a second OVA series, two OVA special episode, two 26 episode TV series, three theatrical movies, a spin-off OVA and TV series based on Pretty Sammy. There's also a manga series which goes more in depth into the Tenchi story. It has also been confirmed by AIC Japan that the OVA 3 series and a new spin-off series based on the Galaxy Police are due out sometime in 2002. (Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that they are better then Shin Tenchi Muyo!)
OVA Series 1
Vol. 1 : 1992.9.25
Vol. 2 : 1992.10.25
Vol. 3 : 1992.11.25
Vol. 4 : 1992.12.10
Vol. 5 : 1993.2.25
Vol. 6 : 1993.3.25
OVA
Vol. 7 : 1993.9.25
OVA Mihoshi Special : 1994.3.25
OVA Series 2
Vol. 8 : 1994.9.25
Vol. 9 : 1994.10.25
Vol. 10 : 1995.2.25
Vol. 11 : 1995.3.25
Vol. 12 : 1995.6.25
Vol. 13 : 1995.9.25
TV Series 1 : 1995.4.2~1995.9.24
TV Series 2 : 1997.4.1~1997.9.23
Movie 1 ~ Tenchi Muyo In Love : 1996.4.20
Movie 2 ~ Matsuno no Eve : 1997.8.2
Movie 3 ~ Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 : 1999.4.24
Pretty Sammy TV : 1996.10.4~1997.3.28
Pretty Sammy OVA
Vol. 1 : 1995.8.25
Vol. 2 : 1996.6.25
Vol. 3 : 1997.8.24
Information Reference: Animage Roman Album Anime Pocket Data 2000, Tokuma Shoten~~information was given to me by CuSO4 (one of the members of the Tenchi Mailing List)
For character pages, please visit this link to my list of individual character pages.
Hopefully I will soon be able to give a little bit more information about each of the different series, but it will take some time to amass the information necessary. If you have anything further that you would like to know about this delightful series, please follow these links.