Tenchi Muyo! GXP

Tenchi Muyo! GXP
Screenshot of the title card of the TV series Tenchi Muyo! GXP
天地無用! GXP (Tenchi Muyō! Jī Ekkusu Pī)
Genre	Adventure, Harem, Comedy, Science fiction
Anime television series
Directed by	Shinichi Watanabe
Produced by	Yamashita Hiroshi Ueda Yasuo Ohashi Yutaka Inoue Hiroaki
Written by	Kuroda Yousuke
Music by	Tada Akifumi
Studio	AIC
Licensed by	NA Funimation
Network	NTV
English network	US Colours TV, Funimation Channel, Adult Swim (Toonami)
Original run	April 3, 2002 – September 25, 2002
Episodes	26
Manga
Written by	Masaki Kajishima
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Monthly Dragon Age
Original run	June 2002 – September 2002
Volumes	1
Novel series
Written by	Masaki Kajishima
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Original run	April 25, 2003 – ongoing
Volumes	9
Related series
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki

Tenchi Muyo! GXP (天地無用! GXP, Tenchi Muyō! Jī Ekkusu Pī) is a Japanese anime series created by AIC and broadcast on NTV from April 3, 2002 to September 25, 2002. It is the fourth installment of the Tenchi Muyo! line of series, succeeding Tenchi in Tokyo, localized in North America by Funimation. On November 11, 2012, it began airing on Adult Swim's revived Toonami block.^[1]

Plot

Seina Yamada is a young Japanese high school student living with his parents and younger sister in rural Okayama, Japan. One morning, following a hapless bike ride through the country, a large spacecraft crashes into the lake behind the Masaki residence, causing a violent tsunami that Seina is unable to escape from and he sinks, almost drowning. He regains consciousness shortly after, meeting Amane Kaunaq, the spacecraft's pilot, who gives Seina an application. Seina takes it, and shows it to his family at home. Mistaking it for a contest entry, his mother and sister aggressively force him to fill it out; afterwards he retreats to his room and falls asleep. The following morning, awakened aboard a vessel in orbit, Seina is informed by an official that he has successfully joined the Galaxy Police. It also revealed that the Galaxy Police originally meant to recruit Tenchi, but they got Seina instead.

Setting

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

Seina Yamada (山田 西南, Yamada Seina)

Voiced by: Shigeru Mogi (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English)

The unlikely protagonist of the series, Seina, a fifteen-year-old^[2] high school student with a supernatural penchant for bad luck, is mistakenly enlisted to the Galaxy Police after being coerced to fill out an application, which was meant to be given to Tenchi. His ultimate decision is to enroll, finding that, in 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.

Amane Kaunaq (雨音 カウナック, Amane Kaunakku)

Voiced by: Mariko Suzuki (Japanese), Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

Amane is a twenty-year-old^[2] Galaxy Police detective whose crash landing at the start of the series is solely responsible for the events that later ensue. Her mission on Earth 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, she is demoted from her position as an officer to that of an instructor in order to better supervise and train him. With a genuine crush and empathy for the boy, Amane grows to like her new responsibility, becoming a weapons specialist when the group are assigned their own patrol.

Kiriko Masaki (正木 霧恋, Masaki Kiriko)

Voiced by: Kumi Sakuma (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English)

Kiriko is a twenty-four-year-old^[3] Immigration Officer for the Galaxy Police whose double life in the agency is completely unknown to her family and peers on Earth. Having grown up around Seina and developed a sympathy for his misfortune, she is the most familiar with him and self-assigns herself the role of being his guardian and caretaker when he is accepted to the academy. Unfortunately, her pride and distinction comes with a price, and in a manner identical to that of Amane, she too is demoted.

Ryoko Balta (リョーコ バルタ, Ryōko Baruta)

Voiced by: Aya Hisakawa (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)

Ryoko is a nineteen-year-old^[4] 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. 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 ships of her fleet. Her admiration for him develops into a more passionate one however, and with her conscience run thin, Ryoko finds herself caught between her feelings and her allegiance to the guild.

Neju Na Melmas (ネージュ ナ メルマス, Nēju Na Merumasu)

Voiced by: Nana Mizuki (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English)

Neju, contrary to her stature and demeanor, is a two-thousand-year-old^[5] 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 angst of the other girls, she grows ardently fond of Seina, looking up to him as an older brother figure and even making plans to marry him.

Fuku (福, Fuku)

Voiced by: Tomoko Kaneda (Japanese), Lara Cody (English)

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 finds the strength to rise to the occasion and become a paramount member of the crew.

NB

Voiced by: Shinichi Watanabe (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (English)

NB was Originally a standard helper robot that Seina was issued when he enrolled in the G.P. Academy. However, Kiriko and Erma, not trusting Amane with Seina, added a video camera for surveillance. However, a short circuit, caused by Amane's modifications had altered the personality of the robot. NB's still the helper robot it was originally designed for, but now it has the personality of a voyeuristic pervert. NB is almost never found without its camera, hoping to catch girls in various stages of undress. However, the girls do catch it, the end result is NB getting dented.

Mitoto Kuramitsu (九羅密 美兎跳)

Voiced by: Yūko Mizutani (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (English)

Mitoto Kuramitsu is the daughter of Minami, as well as the mother of Mihoshi and Misao. Mitoto works as sanitation engineer (cleaning lady) for the Galaxy Police. She met Seina when he was first taken from Earth to the G.P. 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.

Seiryo Tennan (天南 静竜)

Voiced by: Mitsuaki Madono (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Seiryo Tennan is one of the main antagonists from Tenchi Muyo! GXP. Originally appearing briefly in the Episode 13 "Here comes Jurai," of the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki. Seiryo is a teacher at the GP academy who is prejudiced against Earthlings, in particular Seina Yamada. His hatred of Earthlings could be tied to his loss to Tenchi in a duel for Ayeka. After being captured by pirates, Seiryo eventually rises up through their ranks to become leader of their group and captain of the flagship Unko, and now challenges his "nemesis" and those who abandoned him at the GXP. He has a lust for Amane who grew up with him as kids, but when Seina came along, he became even more of a nuisance.

Minor Characters

Alan, Berry and Cohen (アラン・バリー・コーン,)

Alan Voiced by Jun Fukuyama (Japanese), Tom Fahn, (English)

Berry Voiced by Koichi Nagano (Japanese), Kirk Thornton (English)

Cohen Voiced by Yusuke Numata (Japanese), Dan Lorge (English)

Alan, Barry, and Cohen are recurring cheaters 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. From that point forward, the three would be found from time-to-time, either with the G.P. or the Daluma pirate guild. They even served on board Seriyo Tennan's ship Unko.

Kenneth Barl and Rajau Ga Waura (ラジャウ・ガ・ワウラ)

Kenneth Barl Voiced by Kenji Nojima (Japanese), Steve Staley (English)

Rajau Ga Waura Voiced by Susumu Chiba (Japanese), Tony Oliver (English)

Kenneth Barl and Rajau Ga Waura Kenneth, a human and Rajau, a Wau, were Seina's classmates at the G.P. Academy. Occasionally, the two would be featured in some point in Seina's life in the G.P., sometimes monitoring a satellite guarding Earth, mostly to protect members of the Jurai Royal family living there.

Production

Tenchi Muyo! GXP was officially announced on January 10, 2001 with a scheduled broadcast set for spring of the following year.^[6] 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".^[7]

First looks into the series was published on October 10 by Tenchi-Web.com, showcasing artwork and teaser trailer.^[8] More trailers were progressively added from November 2001^[9][10] to February 2002^[11] when it was announced on February 18 that GXP would premier on NTV on April 2.^[12] Tenchi-web then, a day later, scheduled a preview screening of the first and second episodes in Tokyo.^[12] In a similar fashion, Los Angeles based Anime Expo confirmed the attendance of Mamiko Noto,^[13] voice actress for the series, and that AIC would host a screening of GXP at the convention.^[14] Funimation later confirmed from Anime Expo New York that they had secured the licensing rights to the show.^[15]

GXP finished airing on September 24.^[16] Following a nine-month period, Funimation unveiled the official English website^[17] for the series on June 16, 2003,^[18] later confirming its release for March 4, 2004.^[19]

US Broadcast History

Tenchi Muyo! GXP aired on Colours TV's FUNimation block in 2006 from June 24 to September 17. Also aired in Hawaii on KIKU-TV starting September 2006. Airs periodically on the FUNimation Channel.

It began airing on Adult Swim's newly revived Toonami block on November 10, 2012 at 12:30am where it remained for 3 weeks until it was bumped to 1am to make way for Naruto, which claimed the 12:30am slot. 2 weeks later, it was moved to 3am due to lower than expected ratings where it remained for the rest of its run. GXP is the fourth Tenchi Muyo! series to air on Toonami (the original OVAs, Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo having been aired on the original Toonami in an edited form).

Reception

Tenchi Muyo! GXP was met with mostly positive reception. It was initially believed that the premiere would not draw noteworthy attention,^[20] but the midnight screening of the first episode on September 9 reportedly garnered a 4.0%^[21] viewing share, a figure considered double that of other premiers such as Aquarian Age and Kanon.^[22]

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.^[23] Industry aggregator Mania.com gave the commercial releases ratings A through B,^[24] citing that "the GXP series was a lot of fun" but that "[it] was over by the time you really get into it."^[25] 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."^[26]

Media

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.^[27] It was collected into a single volume and published by Kadokawa Shoten on August 29, 2002.^[28]

Novels

In addition to the manga, Kajishima also writes an ongoing light novel series retelling GXP from his perspective.^[29] The books were are published by Kadokawa Shoten and go into more detail than the anime.^[30] The first volume was released on April 25, 2003. As of January 19th, 2013 nine books have been released.

References

External links

• Tenchi Muyo! GXP at Funimation
• Tenchi Muyo! GXP (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia