Plot
Seina Yamada is a young Japanese high school student living with his parents and younger sister in ruralSetting
Unlike '' Tenchi Universe'' and ''Tenchi in Tokyo'', which are spin-offs of '' Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki'', ''GXP'' occurs during the same time period, making it a parallel series to the show. As such, the more-recognized cast do not play central roles, though they do make cameo appearances.Characters
; : :The unlikely protagonist of the series, Seina, a fifteen-year-old high school student with a supernatural penchant for bad luck (for himself AND for anyone around him), is mistakenly enlisted to the Galaxy Police after being coerced to fill out an application, which was meant to be given to Tenchi (his role model, who he addresses as " senpai"). His ultimate decision is to enroll, finding that, in the company of others and as the captain of his own ship, his otherwise unfortunate talent proves incredibly useful in rounding up pirates and other lawbreakers (leading to his nickname ' Lorelei Seina', as he is something of a siren in his ability to attract pirates). ; : :Amane is a twenty-year-old Galaxy Police Detective 2nd Class whose crash-landing on Earth at the start of the series is solely responsible for the events that later ensue. Her mission was to give the application to Tenchi, but she mistook Seina as Tenchi's apprentice. In spite of her justified decision to give Seina an application, her long-awaited promotion to Detective 1st Class was postponed and she was temporarily re-assigned as a GP Academy instructor for the semester in order to personally supervise and train Seina. With a genuine crush and empathy for the boy, Amane grows to like her new responsibility, becoming Ship's Weapons Specialist ( Tactical Officer) when Seina is given command of, first, the ''Kamidake'' and then later the ''Kamidake II'', and the group are assigned their own patrol. ; : :Kiriko is a twenty-four-year-old Immigration Officer for the Galaxy Police, whose double life in the agency is completely unknown to her family and peers on Earth (save for her mother and of-age members of the Masaki Village). Having grown up around Seina and developed a sympathy for his misfortune, she is the one most familiar with him and self-assigns herself the role of being his legal guardian and caretaker when he is accepted to the academy. In a manner identical to that of Amane (but with a suspicion that Lady Seto is behind it as a way to keep her close to Seina), she too is re-assigned to the GP Academy as an instructor for the semester. She becomes Ship's OS Officer when Seina is given command of, first, the ''Kamidake'' and then later the ''Kamidake II'', and the group are assigned their own patrol. ; : :Ryoko is a nineteen-year-old space pirate captain and member of the notorious Da Ruma guild, who in spite of her ruthless profile, exhibits behavior quite the opposite of her profession (even becoming something of a celebrity among GP members). She is introduced to Seina early into his travel to the academy, bestowing a humble, competitive respect for him when his paranormal luck aids in the arrest of several dozen pirate ships. Her admiration for him develops into a more passionate one, however, and Ryoko finds herself caught between her feelings and her allegiance to the guild (especially when the families of her crew are held hostage). However, events work out for the best and she becomes not only a full-member of the GP but also Ship's Pilot when Seina is given command of, first, the ''Kamidake'' and then later the ''Kamidake II'', and the group are assigned their own patrol. As a part of her body enhancement (performed when she was a newborn), Ryoko is able to transmute her body to assume other guises, including the Wau Erma and a mermaid. Her parents named her after the legendary Ryoko Hakubi, the only space pirate to have ever taken-on planet Jurai's defences. ; : :Neju, contrary to her stature and demeanor, is a two-thousand-year-old former priestess of Melmas, a distant planet of religious psychics. Following a brief, unelaborate encounter with Seina, she makes a more established presence when he and the group are asked to escort her aboard their ship. To the blatant annoyance of the other girls, she immediately grows fond of Seina, treating him as an older brother figure and even making plans to marry him. Having fulfilled her term as Melmas' high-priestess, Neju accepts Lady Seto's suggestion to enlist at the GP Academy, rather than return to secular life back on Melmas, as there was a hit on her. After a brief course at the Academy, Neju is assigned to the ''Kamidake II'', and the group are assigned their own patrol. ; : :Fuku is an infantile cabbit, developed as the nucleus of Seina's succeeding vessel, the Kamidake II. As the heart and powerhouse of the ship, Fuku exercises superseding control over its entirety, most notably its energy output, which is influenced by her emotional vigor. She is initially troubled by the stress of belligerence, stunting her from exercising full potential, but soon thanks to Seina's affection and support (later backed by that of the other girls) finds the strength to rise to the occasion and become a vital member of the crew. ; NB : :NB was originally a "NB Reasoning Unit" A.I. helper robot, specifically a new test model likely modified for Seina (according to Seina's dormmates, Kenneth and Rajau), that Seina was issued when he enrolled in the G.P. Academy. During Seina's re-training after his body-enhancement, Kiriko and Erma (Ryoko), not trusting Amane alone with Seina, added a video camera for surveillance; however, a short circuit, caused by Amane's modifications and some weird extra installed programming, altered the personality of the robot. NB's still the helper robot it was originally designed for, but now it has the personality and motivations of a voyeuristic pervert. NB is almost never found without its camera, hoping to catch girls in various stages of undress (and a weird obsession with '' chikuwa'' (a Japanese fish sausage). Unfortunately for NB, the girls usually do catch it, and the end result is NB getting dented. He finally meets his match in Nabiko, a female version of himself that has been programmed to be "intimate" with him and which, despite his desperate attempts to flee from her, finally catches him and makes him, to his horror, "impure". In the series' epilogue, it is shown that he ends up the father to a huge family of little NB's and a henpecked husband. ; : :Airi Masaki was first introduced in the third series of the '' Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki'' OVA and becomes a regular member of the ''Techi Muyo! GXP'' cast in Episode 4. She is Tenchi Masaki's grandmother, but anyone mentioning the fact that she is a grandmother had better run fast...she never likes to hear that she is a grandmother; Seina found this out when, as part of a joke played on him by Amane, he called Airi 'Granny' when her back was turned to him. When Seina found out, he was terrified (mostly because Airi was holding a chef's knife at the time), and she made him write lines as punishment. :She is the chairwoman for the Galaxy Police Academy and works closely with the Academy's headmistress Mikami Kuramitsu. She also has a love for cooking, and would be found in one of the GP Academy's restaurants practicing her skills. While a tough but fair administrator, she demonstrates some affection for Seina (feeling jealous of Seto for being able to hang around with Seina while she (Airi) is stuck doing paperwork and crying out for Seina to come back to regular GP duty when she gets overwhelmed by the mountains of paperwork) and shows respect for his being able to take Tarant Shank out by himself. ; : :Lady Seto is the mother of Empress Misaki, the adopted mother of Noike Jurai, the grandmother of Ayeka and Sasami and a very powerful 'behind the scenes' figure in Juraian politics...so much that because of her political craftiness and occasionally violent temper, she is referred to as "The Devil Princess of Jurai". She is married to the Kamiki clan head Utsutsumi Kamiki. :Her tree/ship, Mikagami, is known for her special attack: The Triple Z (AKA the "Genocidal Dance"), which literally causes all enemies to freeze in their tracks; either due to an Electromagnetic Pulse or some other mechanism (though the effect of this is left to the viewer's imagination) followed by almost total obliteration, and this attack is as much feared by her allies as her enemies because of her enjoyment of using it. Due to her past (see her entry in " List of Tenchi Muyo! supporting characters", she has an intense hatred of pirates. :Seto has a reputation as an unofficial "matchmaker" in the Jurai empire and has been known to arrange marriages either to cement alliances or just to see happens for her own amusement. She is behind the four-bride wedding at the close of the series, :While a lesser character in the ''Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki'' series, Lady Seto has a bigger and more influential role in ''Tenchi Muyo! GXP'', first meeting Seina Yamada when his transport ship was under attack by pirates. Seeing how Seina's bad luck could be useful not only for the GP but for herself, she effectively takes Seina under her wing by helping him enter the GP Academy (feeling like the academy could use a little chaos once in a while) and requesting Mikami Kuramitsu to have Kiriko Masaki reassigned as an instructor at the Academy in order to train Seina to become a man. She enjoy teasing Seina (by sending her handmaidens to romantically harass him and once even offering to scrub his back!) but also has a great respect for him and seems to enjoy that Seina is a constant surprise to her: first, in their initial encounter by rounding up a huge batch of pirate ships that the Juraian fleet hadn't been able to capture for months; next, by dealing with the Daluma pirate guild's Good Luck Fleet in the first encounter (after it had escaped from her own fleet); finally, by bringing back the mecha that he found on the Wau planet, which turned out to contain a first generation Juraian seed and which meant that since the seed had bonded with Seina, he was now part of the Jurai royal family and third in line for the throne. Seto is suspected of being aware of her handmaidens' true loyalties when they kidnap Seina and prefers to see how the chase turns out rather than interfere. ; : :Mitoto Kuramitsu is the daughter of Minami, as well as the mother of Mihoshi and Misao. Mitoto works as an extremely enthusiastic sanitation engineer (cleaning lady) for the Galaxy Police. She met Seina when he was first taken from Earth to the GP Academy, and was taken by Seina's hair, which she constantly pets. Since then, Mitoto would be occasionally popping into Seina's life from time-to-time, often helping him out during certain events in the boy's life. ; : ''(Toonami version; the redub was necessary due to Seiryo's original English voice sounding tooMinor characters
; : (Alan) : (Berry) : (Cohen) :Alan, Barry, and Cohen are recurring characters in Tenchi Muyo! GXP. These three made their appearance in the second episode. All three of them were on board the G.P. cruiser that had picked up Seina to transport him to the G.P. Academy. It was during the trip that they ran into Ryoko Balta's ship, where they immediately "surrendered". It turns out that the three are rabid fans of the space pirate, but were crushed when she took a liking to Seina. When Seina was given command of the original ''Kamidake'', they became part of his crew, but were later reassigned to another GP ship. When that ship was captured by pirates, they gave themselves up as hostages to save the rest of the crew, but because of the gorgeous pirate girls switched their allegiance to the Daluma pirate guild, even eventually serving on board Seriyo Tennan's ship ''Unko''. ; : (Kenneth Barl) : (Rajau Ga Waura) :Kenneth Barl, a human, and Rajau Ga Waura, a Wau, were Seina's classmates and roommates at the GP Academy. Occasionally, the two would be featured in some point in Seina's life in the GP, sometimes monitoring a satellite guarding Earth, mostly to protect members of the Jurai Royal family living there. Rajau became enamored of Erma, never realizing that Erma was one of Ryoko Balta's guises.''Paradise Shidō-hen''
; Tsukiko Masaki : ; Miki Steinbeck : ; Kirche : ; D : ; Jovia Jovis : ; Tenchi Masaki : ; Washū Hakubi : ; Mikami Kuramitsu : ; ZinvProduction
''Tenchi Muyo! GXP'' was officially announced on January 10, 2001 with a scheduled broadcast set for spring of the following year. When asked to direct the series, Shinichi Watanabe, though welcome to the opportunity, was cited as saying that he was unsure why he had been chosen, and that after watching previous ''Tenchi'' episodes, found the task of envisioning ''GXP'' to be "tough". First looks into the series was published on October 10 by ''Tenchi-Web.com'', showcasing artwork and teaser trailer. More trailers were progressively added from November 2001 to February 2002 when it was announced on February 18 that ''GXP'' would premier on NTV on April 2. ''Tenchi-web'' then, a day later, scheduled a preview screening of the first and second episodes in Tokyo. In a similar fashion,Broadcast history
''Tenchi Muyo! GXP'' aired on Colours TV'sReception
''Tenchi Muyo! GXP'' was met with mostly positive reception. It was initially believed that the premiere would not draw noteworthy attention, but the midnight screening of the first episode on September 9 reportedly garnered a 4.0% viewing share, a figure considered double that of other premiers such as '' Aquarian Age'' and '' Kanon''. The localization of ''Tenchi Muyo! GXP'' was met with generally positive reception as well. In a report by Right Stuf International on February 28, AIC became flooded with so much mail from American fans about its release that the company requested fans stop. Industry aggregator ''Mania.com'' gave the commercial releases ratings A through B, citing that "the GXP series was a lot of fun" but that " twas over by the time you really get into it." ''Animefringe.com'', an online magazine, published a positive review as well, citing a "well balanced storyline" and that ''GXP'' "still has plenty of potential to go forward and compete in today's booming anime world after its long absence from the spotlight."Media
Anime
Manga
Masaki Kajishima, original creator of the ''Tenchi'' series, wrote and illustrated a manga for ''GXP'', serialized in ''Comic Dragon'' (now ''Monthly Dragon Age'') from June to September 2002. It was collected into a single volume and published by Kadokawa Shoten on August 29, 2002.Novels
In addition to the manga, Kajishima also writes an ongoing light novel series retelling ''GXP'' from his perspective. The books were published by Kadokawa Shoten and go into more detail than the anime. The first volume was released on April 25, 2003. As of June 11, 2021, 17 books have been released.Notes
References
External links
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