Friends watched Tenchi. Something unexpected happened.

[Y_Anthony_Who]

So I had some of my friends individually watch TM!R OVA1-3 with the 3 True Tenchi Novels between OVA2 and 3 just to get their opinions (and are they really my friends if they haven't seen Tenchi?). Half of them did not grow up watching much anime if any.

Over half of them said OVA3 was their favorite season, and most said Mihoshi was their favorite character with one person saying Ryoko was their favorite.

I wonder how much the long wait between seasons, lack of access to the TTNs, and the rampant theorizing between OVA3 episodes affected fans' perceptions of OVA3.

When I asked their reasons for favoring OVA3, here's what they gave in no particular order.

1. It felt less episodic. Introducing Z and foreshadowing Noike in the first episode. Each episode leading into the next.
2. The expressive faces.
3. The inclusion of Seto and Airi from the novels. (Seto, Naja, and Airi wound up kinda popular.)
4. Dommy-Mommy Mashisu and Twink Misao. (Some of my friends are dang-ass freaks, and I love it.)
5. A feeling of conclusion, revelations, etc.
6. Tenchi and Noike's family drama. (My therapist friend loves watching characters process their family trauma and heal.)
7. Episode 19 was insane.

I expected OVA1 to dominate.

I dunno where I stand, personally, but the results of my very small survey surprised me.

[Ryo-Okay]

I wonder how much the long wait between seasons, lack of access to the TTNs, and the rampant theorizing between OVA3 episodes affected fans' perceptions of OVA3.

I think the wait and shift in focus away from the core cast onto new characters combined is what got people salty about OVA 3 and then later OVAs. You wait 10 years for a third season of a show and then when it finally happens the characters you've been waiting to see get sidelined a bit. It's not as bad in OVA 3 as it is in OVA 4 and 5, but it still happened.

I watched through all the Kajishima stuff for the first time back in 2015, so I had little issue with OVA 3 when I watched it. But now as OVA 4 and 5 come out I'm finding myself in a similar boat where I wish the focus would move back towards Tenchi and his harem, and I'm enjoying each season less.

I think the Tenchi franchise watches really good all together, but once you are caught up and the waiting begins it is hard for new OVAs to match expectations. You wait years for more episodes and are left saying "that's it?" once a new OVA comes along.

[Y_Anthony_Who]

But now as OVA 4 and 5 come out I'm finding myself in a similar boat where I wish the focus would move back towards Tenchi and his harem, and I'm enjoying each season less.

Oh, I hear ya.