Tenchi Masaki is a high school boy living at his grandfather's shrine in the countryside, until a space pirate, two alien princesses, a Galaxy Police officer and a genius scientist land in his life one after another and move into his house. What starts as a crowded comedy slowly reveals that Tenchi's family is tied to the royal house of the planet Jurai.
Plus 3 optional extras and 8 more titles.
7 titles · 30 episodes · ~15.5 hours
Tenchi Muyo! has several continuities that share characters but not stories. Start with the original OVA series, then branch into its spin-offs. Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo and Ai Tenchi Muyo! are separate versions, listed under their own dividers.
Start here. The original six-episode OVA from 1992: Tenchi Masaki's quiet life at his family's shrine ends when Ryoko, Ayeka, Sasami and the others arrive one after another. Every title in the OVA continuity builds on it.
Episode 7 of the OVA, released in 1993. An original story set after the battle with Kagato, and the last episode of the first OVA series.
Episodes 8 to 13, released from 1994 to 1995. The story continues directly from the first OVA series.
Episodes 14 to 19, released from 2003, eight years after the second OVA series ended. The OVA story picks up again from there.
Episode 20, released in 2005, and the end of the third OVA series. Watch it right after OVA 3.
Four episodes released from 2016 that continue the OVA story.
Six episodes released from 2020 to 2021, the latest chapter of the OVA story so far.
The second half of the OVA's episode 13, a seven-minute epilogue. Watch it right after OVA 2.
⚠ A picture drama: voice acting over still images rather than full animation. In English it was released together with episode 13.
Mihoshi tells a made-up story in which the household plays different roles. It does not affect the OVA plot.
A 26-episode TV spin-off from 2002 set in the OVA continuity, starring Seina Yamada, who ends up in the Galaxy Police. Its story runs alongside the OVA, and Tenchi's household appears in supporting roles.
The 2023 sequel to GXP, six episodes. Crunchyroll lists it as Paradise Begins Arc. Watch GXP first.
13 episodes of about 45 minutes, released from 2009 to 2010. Kenshi Masaki, Tenchi's half-brother, is sent to another world. It is set in the OVA continuity, 15 years after GXP.
A 1997 film whose place in the continuities has never been settled. It is listed here as a standalone story.
Tenchi Universe (1995, 26 episodes) retells the story from the beginning in its own continuity, loosely based on the first six OVA episodes. It is not a sequel to the OVA.
The 1996 film, set after the end of Tenchi Universe. Watch the TV series first.
The 1999 film and the final story of the Tenchi Universe continuity, a sequel to Tenchi Muyo! in Love.
Tenchi in Tokyo (1997, 26 episodes) is its own continuity, in which Tenchi leaves home for school in Tokyo. It does not continue the OVA or Tenchi Universe.
A 2014 TV series of 50 five-minute episodes. Director Hiroshi Negishi built it from an unmade sequel idea to Tenchi Forever, but how it connects to Tenchi Universe is not stated outright.
The original OVA series is the core of the franchise. It runs from 1992 to 2021 across five series and 30 episodes, and GXP, GXP Paradise Starting and War on Geminar are set in the same continuity. That is why the OVA comes first here.
Under Optional Extras are the pieces that sit around the OVA: a seven-minute picture-drama epilogue to OVA 2, the Mihoshi Special (a story Mihoshi makes up), the GXP spin-offs, War on Geminar, and the 1997 film The Daughter of Darkness, whose continuity has never been settled.
The last three dividers are separate continuities. Tenchi Universe is a TV retelling with its own two films, Tenchi Muyo! in Love and Tenchi Forever!. Tenchi in Tokyo is another TV version. Ai Tenchi Muyo! is a 2014 series of five-minute episodes. None of them continues the OVA, so you can watch any of them on its own, before or after the OVA.
Left out of the list: the Pretty Sammy and Sasami: Magical Girls Club spin-offs, which are set in their own worlds, and two Japan-only extras with no English release.
Tenchi Muyo! has 7 other entries in the main run — 30 episodes altogether.
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki | OVA | 6 episodes | September 1992 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: The Night Before The Carnival! | OVA | 1 episode | September 1993 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Season 2 | OVA | 6 episodes | September 1994 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Season 3 | OVA | 6 episodes | September 2003 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: Final Confrontations | OVA | 1 episode | September 2005 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Season 4 | OVA | 4 episodes | November 2016 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki Season 5 | OVA | 6 episodes | February 2020 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: Sachi Tookaraji Gojitsudan | Special | 1 episode | September 1995 |
| Tenchi Muyo! Mihoshi Special | OVA | 1 episode | March 1994 |
| Tenchi Muyo! GXP | TV Series | 26 episodes | April 2002 |
| Tenchi Muyo! GXP Paradise Starting | OVA | 6 episodes | May 2023 |
| Tenchi Muyo! War on Geminar | OVA | 13 episodes | March 2009 |
| Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness | Movie | — | August 1997 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenchi Universe | TV Series | 26 episodes | April 1995 |
| Tenchi Muyo! In Love | Movie | — | April 1996 |
| Tenchi Forever! | Movie | — | April 1999 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenchi in Tokyo | TV Series | 26 episodes | April 1997 |
| Title | Type | Episodes | Aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ai Tenchi Muyo! | TV Short | 50 episodes | October 2014 |
7 titles · 30 episodes · ~15.5 hours
Tenchi Muyo! is an original anime created by Masaki Kajishima at AIC, so there is no source manga or novel to continue from. Kajishima's novel trilogy True Tenchi Muyo! (Seven Seas in English) picks up right after OVA 2, and GXP also has light novels in Japan.
Start with the original OVA series from 1992. It is the first Tenchi Muyo! anime, and every later OVA, GXP and War on Geminar continues from it. If you would rather watch one self-contained TV series, Tenchi Universe (1995) also works as a starting point, because it retells the story in its own continuity.
For the OVA continuity: OVA 1 (episodes 1 to 7), OVA 2 (episodes 8 to 13), OVA 3 (episodes 14 to 20), OVA 4 and OVA 5. The spin-offs Tenchi Muyo! GXP, GXP Paradise Starting and War on Geminar come after. Tenchi Universe (with the films Tenchi Muyo! in Love and Tenchi Forever!), Tenchi in Tokyo and Ai Tenchi Muyo! are separate versions you can watch on their own.
No. They use the same characters but are separate continuities. Tenchi Universe is a TV retelling loosely based on the first six OVA episodes, and Tenchi in Tokyo is another TV version with its own story. Neither continues the OVA.
Tenchi Muyo! in Love (1996) is set after the end of Tenchi Universe, and Tenchi Forever! (1999) is the final story of that continuity. Tenchi the Movie 2: The Daughter of Darkness (1997) has never been clearly placed in any continuity, so it is best treated as a standalone film.
Not to follow the OVA. GXP (2002, 26 episodes) stars Seina Yamada and runs alongside the OVA story, and GXP Paradise Starting (2023) is its sequel. War on Geminar (2009) follows Kenshi Masaki, Tenchi's half-brother, 15 years after GXP. All three are set in the OVA continuity.
Pretty Sammy (OVA from 1995, TV series Magical Project S from 1996) and Sasami: Magical Girls Club (2006) are magical girl spin-offs set in their own worlds, so they are not in the watch order. Two Japan-only extras are also left out: Heianmuyo!, a picture book video with still images, and the Shin Tenchi Muyo! Omake Gekijou shorts from the Japanese Tenchi in Tokyo LaserDiscs. Neither has an English release.
Yes for most of it. Pioneer dubbed OVA 1 and 2, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo and the three films, and Funimation dubbed OVA 3, GXP, War on Geminar and Ai Tenchi Muyo!. Matt K. Miller voices Tenchi in the Pioneer dubs, OVA 3 and Ai Tenchi Muyo!. OVA 4, OVA 5 and GXP Paradise Starting have no English dub; they are subtitled only.
No. Tenchi Muyo! is an original anime with no source manga, so there is nothing for filler to pad out. Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo and Ai Tenchi Muyo! are separate retellings, not filler.
In the US, Crunchyroll streams OVA 4, OVA 5, GXP Paradise Starting and War on Geminar. OVA 1 to 3, GXP and the films are not on subscription services, and Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo are available to buy digitally. Availability differs by region.
The OVA story is not wrapped up: OVA 5 ended on May 28, 2021, and GXP Paradise Starting ended on October 27, 2023. A new pilot, Tenchi Galaxy, directed by Hiroshi Negishi and described as a spiritual successor to Tenchi Universe, was funded on Kickstarter in September 2026. Its release date has not been announced.
Tenchi Muyo! is an original anime created by Masaki Kajishima, so there is no source to read first. Kajishima's novel trilogy, published in English by Seven Seas as True Tenchi Muyo!, picks up right after OVA 2. GXP also has light novels in Japan.
The OVA series is 30 episodes of about 30 minutes each, roughly 15.5 hours. Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo add 26 episodes of about 23 minutes each, and GXP adds 26 episodes of about 24 minutes.
