I never saw it this way, because Ayeka and Ryoko are both awful people and Sakuya is comparably sweeter, more innocent, and a better match for Tenchi than either of them. I imagine many fans wanted Tenchi to finally pick between Ayeka and Ryoko, and saw Sakuya’s addition to the cast as more wheel-spinning from the writers. At the time, many anime fans disliked Sakuya, probably because of her status as a new character and outsider amongst the established female characters of the show. Tenchi also shows real character growth through his relationship with controversial character Sakuya. Several episodes later, he sticks to his convictions, even going so far as to take the train back home to visit rather than just simply use the technological shortcut to go home quickly. This unnerves and rattles Tenchi, and he demands the girls never use the portal. Eccentric genius Washu eventually creates a portal between Tenchi’s Tokyo apartment and the family house way out in the country. It signifies character growth, and I also appreciate how it is consistent throughout the series. His decision to move to Tokyo to advance his education and train in Shintoism is a very welcome change of pace for his character. He is surrounded by women who constantly fight with him, over him, and with each other, and he never does much of anything about it. In previous installments, Tenchi is more wont to go along with whatever wackiness happens in his life. The very first thing I appreciated about the show upon my re-watch was how it treated main character Tenchi Masaki. For these reasons, I can at least appreciate some aspects of the show. Why? I want to praise it simply because it is by the far the weirdest of the various Tenchi adaptations, and also a lot more mature and generally entertaining (though still bad) than it has the right to be. For today’s entry, I want to make clear that I come not to bury Tenchi in Tokyo, but to damn it with faint praise.
TENCHI MUYO CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER SERIES
CN first aired the original Tenchi Muyo! series in July 2000, following it up with Tenchi Universe immediately afterwards, and then finishing things out with Tenchi in Tokyo after that.
![tenchi muyo chronological order tenchi muyo chronological order](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E7C1sp5JUWo/URKrTv9D_jI/AAAAAAAAD44/5hHkpKxAlt4/s1600/NP2_0150.png)
Luckily, Cartoon Network aired them in chronological order (even so, there’s not really much of an order to these shows to be quite honest).
![tenchi muyo chronological order tenchi muyo chronological order](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rSXQGvJTpsg/hqdefault.jpg)
![tenchi muyo chronological order tenchi muyo chronological order](http://tenchi.astronerdboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/choushin_1024x715.jpg)
The continuity in the Tenchi series can be confusing because of all the different iterations and the amount of time that passes between each series. It is for this reason that I am subjecting myself to more Tenchi. A month ago or so, I ordered several Tenchi in Tokyo DVDs ($3 each on ) along with the Tenchi Universe DVDs I purchased (it’s really hard to pass up $3 for a DVD, even if the program is awful). Revisiting Tenchi Universe was a painful exercise for me, because without nostalgia goggles, that show is absolutely horrid.
![tenchi muyo chronological order tenchi muyo chronological order](http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/tenchi/images/c/cf/Ms.Washu-small.png)
Looking back, of course, I see how ridiculous that notion is. It was a cartoon that spoke to me at the time, and seemed to be a lot more mature and interesting than what else was airing on Cartoon Network. In my previous entry for this series, I wrote about Tenchi Universe, a television show that captured my imagination way back in 2000.