As OAV 4 approaches, have people gotten over OAV3? Or is there still butthurt?

[Guy183]

Hmm, wasn't OVA 3 suppose to be a 12 episode series?
I could be wrong.

[AstroNerdBoy]

We in the West speculated that this would be the case, especially after there was a six month delay between episodes 3 and 4. But that was never officially the case.

[bishopcruz]

I suppose, but back in the days of the TenchiML, in the before time, in the long long ago, it seemed like most fans liked both the OAVs and the TV series, and were united in their hatred of Tenchi in Tokyo. The biggest flame wars were about whether or not your particular girl was going to be the OTP. You could have a preference for one or the other, but it wasn't like the vitriol that came out after the 3rd series.

Well right there you hit upon it.  The majority of the absolute vitriol stems less from what occurred in OAV3 itself and more from the slow realization that MK is fully pro-harem and won't fulfill a singular pairing, of mainly a very loud and persistent OTP crowd.

It's no coincidence that the same crowd that spent years absolutely shitting upon OAV3 for not including Kiyone Makibi... pretty much said next-to-nothing about AiTM not including her AFAIK, although her inclusion would make much more sense in a Negishi continuity.  It's also why OAV2 was considered perfectly great by most until they started hating anything Kajishima, then suddenly some considered it crappy after-the-fact.  It's rationalization.

The harem issue caused the split.

Yeah, the revisionist perspective of OVA2 baffles me. It's not quite as good as OAV1, which was generally paced better, but it was still pretty great. The Kiyone blinders though, you would think she was a main character and not a foil. I think what gets me is that, the information that it was basically going to be a Harem ending was out there LONG before OAV3 came out. It wasn't even that hard to find, and even if you didn't know that, episode 13 was there to ease people into the idea of multiple wives, and GXP just went all out.

I'll add my 2¢, and this is purely anecdotal information. When OVA 3 came out from FUNimation, my FAQ site immediately rose up in traffic. What I learned is that all of the people e-mailing me to ask me questions (and there were lots back then) were new fans to the franchise who'd been introduced to Tenchi via OVA 3. Because we'd already seen the split in older fans because of OVA 3, I was curious to see what these fans thought about OVA 3 (if they didn't specifically mention something in their e-mails), and without exception, all of them loved OVA 3 and were looking forward to watching OVA 1 and 2 (if they hadn't already gone out and watched it).

Now, as I said, this is just anecdotal evidence, but I do believe that folks with no emotional ties to the original OVA series going back to the TenchiML (Heh! I used to be a part of that!) and AIC's English forum (and other such forums) had no problems with OVA 3. Of the old school fans, the fans who were versed in the additional, canon information that came from Kajishima-sensei during the years between OVA 2 and OVA 3 (and who'd watched GXP) liked OVA 3, even if they found flaws in it. The other old school fans who weren't that versed and didn't care to become versed seemed to be the ones who hated OVA 3 the most, more so if they had vested theories that didn't pan out.

I've defended OVA 3 for years while admitting it is flawed (and I will ALWAYS hate how the battle between Tenchi's harem and the GXP Special Forces was handled) and I was hammered for YEARS by this all over the Internet. In more recent times, that has all but stopped (though I know I'm still "watched"), but yeah, I know how insane the butthurt and rage some folks have over OVA 3.

Yeah, I think I read something similar on your blog. OAV3 has major issues, but none of them compared to realizing that no, Tenchi was not going to ditch the other girls to marry whoever you thought was going to be the OTP (most likely Ryoko) and move on from there.

It is interesting as even though Tenchi was the first of the modern harem shows, it really followed its own rules. Most people expect a harem show to have one overall main romance, and maybe one real rival, with the rest of the harem around for situational comedy and eye candy. To be fair in 1992, the closest we got to an actual harem series was probably Ranma, and it was clear that, fanfiction aside it was all about Ranma and Akane. Before that, it was all about the triangle.

I think the other thing that put people off too is that even in Tenchi TV, the galactic civilization is pretty similar to earth in how things work and how people act. In GXP and to a lesser extent OAV3 we learn that nope, the Galaxy is full of crazy people by earth standards, and the Juraians are crazy by even galactic standards. Seriously, Tenchi's entire family is batshit insane. I just kinda write it off as near immortality and absurd power levels giving you a very different perspective on life.

We in the West speculated that this would be the case, especially after there was a six month delay between episodes 3 and 4. But that was never officially the case.

I thought that he mentioned that episodes got cut, in on of his doujins. I might not be remembering right though.

[Harls]

I thought that he mentioned that episodes got cut, in on of his doujins. I might not be remembering right though.

"not going to continue on the story as far as originally planned."

Certainly implied.

[Zigra]

Yeah, the revisionist perspective of OVA2 baffles me. It's not quite as good as OAV1, which was generally paced better, but it was still pretty great. The Kiyone blinders though, you would think she was a main character and not a foil. I think what gets me is that, the information that it was basically going to be a Harem ending was out there LONG before OAV3 came out. It wasn't even that hard to find, and even if you didn't know that, episode 13 was there to ease people into the idea of multiple wives, and GXP just went all out.

Oh, the information that the OAV would end in a harem is even older than you realize. Maybe Jibril or Astronerdboy can show you if they have it, but there was a piece of doujin artwork that MK drew shortly after OAV 1 that showed Tenchi marrying all of the girls. Tokimi is even among this group that he is marrying, which told us early on that the "Tokimi is a villain" theory that got tossed around a lot back in the old days wasn't true.

[Guy183]

This one?

[Zigra]

That's the one, yes

[bishopcruz]

Yeah, the revisionist perspective of OVA2 baffles me. It's not quite as good as OAV1, which was generally paced better, but it was still pretty great. The Kiyone blinders though, you would think she was a main character and not a foil. I think what gets me is that, the information that it was basically going to be a Harem ending was out there LONG before OAV3 came out. It wasn't even that hard to find, and even if you didn't know that, episode 13 was there to ease people into the idea of multiple wives, and GXP just went all out.

Oh, the information that the OAV would end in a harem is even older than you realize. Maybe Jibril or Astronerdboy can show you if they have it, but there was a piece of doujin artwork that MK drew shortly after OAV 1 that showed Tenchi marrying all of the girls. Tokimi is even among this group that he is marrying, which told us early on that the "Tokimi is a villain" theory that got tossed around a lot back in the old days wasn't true.

This one?

Damn. Interesting pic primarily because Noike is missing though. But it pretty much just sealed the deal right there. Though to be fair to fans, one could easily explain away the image if you wanted to. Kinda crazy when you think about it.

[takahata]

I will agreed with the ideal OVA 3 was hurt as a result of it coming out ten years after OVA 2 and being tied to GXP.  OVA 3 had its flaws. The introductions of Tenchi's older sister Tennyo, his maternal grandmother Airi, and Noike could have been done in the first episode.

One of the flaws of OVA 3 was how Mihoshi  acting like if her Universe self and she had change universes. OVA 3 had blown the chance of telling us what happen to Mihoshi before OVA 1. While OVA 3 had a few blown opportunities and flaws, it had turn out to be a good series.

[AstroNerdBoy]

I thought that he mentioned that episodes got cut, in on of his doujins. I might not be remembering right though.

"not going to continue on the story as far as originally planned."

Certainly implied.

Yeah, I remember that now. Thanks for the reminder. ^_^

Regarding the harem ending, thanks @Guy183 for that reminder. I remember back in the day having my theory on the Tenchi x Ryoko ending and no other ending was acceptable. It was Jirbril and True Sheol on the old AIC forums (mostly) who debated with me about this and pointed out how the other material, including the old doujinshi image of the harem ending, was Kajishima-sensei's true ending.

I was butt hurt for a little bit when I realized they were right ('cause I was REALLY wed to the Ryoko x Tenchi ending), but then I got over it in short order. I didn't attack Jibril or True Sheol for telling folks about a harem ending. I didn't start saying "Tenchi sucks and so does Kajishima" because I didn't get the pairing I wanted. If anything, once I saw there was an actual story-related reason for Tenchi to be in a harem, I was OK with it.

OVA 3 had blown the chance of telling us what happen to Mihoshi before OVA 1.

Yes, exactly. Before OVA 3 came out, there was talk out of Japan that Kajishima-sensei was going to write a fourth Shin Tenchi Muyo! novel to cover Mihoshi and her family, where we'd find out what had happened to her prior to OVA 1. Then when OVA 3 was announced, the word was the 4th novel was scrapped as the information would be revealed in OVA 3. Unfortunately, all we got was a massive tease that something happened and a look at Mihoshi's brother Misao (and his relationship with Mashisu), but we didn't get what we thought we'd get.

I know this is off topic, but is this gif from Pretty Sammy?

[antvasima]

Yeah, there are you, me, and Jibril left from the old AIC board. Are there any others still around? Would either of you like to become administrators at the Tenchi Muyo wiki btw? If so, I can fix that.

Also, for those who have been a part of this community for more than 5-6 years, my apologies for being batshit insane/severely psychotic for quite a while. I have recovered considerably since then.

[Kagato3]

Well I was around  on the old AIC  but I tend to drift in and out of the community. Dear god that feels  like a lifetime  ago.

[Harls]

It's been almost a generation. The gap has been a factor in the fandom.

[DeusChex ^////^]

I know this is off topic, but is this gif from Pretty Sammy?

I believe so.  I'm not sure if it's from the original 3ep OVA or from "Magical Project S" though.  I believe it's the former due to the art style.  Probably from when she "transforms" into her "pretty sammy" costume.  She has those flower things in her hair in those series.

[Tenbac86]

Thank god I got over my issues with OVA 3. (Granted I needed to watch the sub to do so) I will say that while I enjoyed it more after a reviewing, it is still a bit of a mess.

So looking forward to Mihoshi's tale. But vis a vie.