Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi Universe: The Complete Series

Although Tenchi Muyo! has never been accused of being profound, anime fans hold it dear. In this series reboot, ordinary 17-year-old schoolboy Tenchi Musaki is living with his widowed dad and granddad in the countryside when a succession of alien girls drop in on the household in bizarre bio-mechanical space-battlecruisers that phase back and forth into cute furry animals. Tenchi swiftly becomes a love object, torn between imperious space princess Ayeka and her childhood frenemy, Ryoko, a busty, lusty (and part cat) interstellar outlaw. Other extraordinary females also come into Tenchi's orbit, such as mismatch-partnered space policewomen, an interplanetary bounty-hunter, and a diminutive pink-haired lady who happens to be the galaxy's most notorious mad scientist. A long-popular, manga-derived fantasy, the Tenchi Muyo! story feels more elaborate in this 26 episode retelling (airing as Tenchi Universe in the U.S. in 2000). The hand-drawn art from 1995 hearkens back to pre-CGI anime (as do the karaoke-craze jokes). Presented in a dual-language set, rated TV-14, this is recommended. [Note: Tenchi Muyo! Tenchi in Tokyo: The Complete Series is also newly available.] (C. Cassady)