Tenchi Muyo! GXP
Tenchi Muyo! GXP is a Japanese anime television series animated 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 10, 2012, it began airing on Adult Swim's revived Toonami block.
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; Amane Kaunaq
; Kiriko Masaki
; Ryoko Balta
; Neju Na Melmas
; Fuku
; NB
; Airi Masaki
; Seto Kamiki Jurai
; Mitoto Kuramitsu
; Seiryō Tennan
After his humiliating "defeat" by Tenchi Masaki, Seiryō developed a personal hatred for all Earthlings, a grudge which would continue on into Tenchi Muyō! GXP. He holds a teacher's position at the Galaxy Police Academy, and immediately develops a distaste for the human Seina Yamada when he becomes a cadet.
Seina becomes Seiryō's unwitting nemesis, constantly foiling his endless idiotic plots for revenge. Having rebounded from his missed shot at Ayeka, Seiryō becomes infatuated again by childhood acquaintance Amane, despite being frequently and violently rejected; her attachment to Seina only serves to deepen his hatred for the young recruit, so much so that in Episode 6, Seiryō deliberately holds up the necessary body augmentation that Seina needed to at least survive life at the academy. However, Mikami Kuramitsu found out and punished Seriyō by assigning him to clean toilets... with her niece Mitoto supervising.
Seiryō is brash and overconfident, often severely embarrassing himself through acts of sheer incompetence. However, he is also an accomplished fighter, and is quite proficient with a lightsword. According to GP Chairwoman, Airi Masaki, "Hard to believe that, behind that boisterous, lies one of our most brilliant minds. Too bad he's a raving lunatic. At one time, he had a stellar career ahead of him. 'Even became a candidate suitor for the hand of Jurain Royal Family's Crown Princess, but, one day, his ego got the better of him, and he challenged Tenchi Masaki to a duel. He lost, of course, and has been proclaiming his hatred for Earthlings ever since".
After Amane allowed him to be captured by Kyo Komachi's pirates in Episode 9, Seiryō learns during Episode 18 that, after long haggling over the ransom, the Tennan family has instead signed a supply contract with the Daluma pirate guild; Seiryō follows his father's orders to assist the pirates and becomes the captain of the Daluma guild's new anti-Seina Good Luck Fleet, constructing the Fleet's flagship, Seiryo becomes the captain of the Daluma guild's anti-Seina Good Luck Fleet's flagship; in a stunning display of idiocy, Seriyō names his flagship "Unko" after all the other ships in the Daluma guild's anti-Seina Good Luck Fleet's flagship had taken many of the "perfect good luck names"..
After fighting the G.P. ship Kamidake II to a standstill twice, Lady Seto decides to resolve the whole situation by issuing a challenge to Seiryō in Seina's name to an official duel. However, during the duel when Seina slips on a piece of candy, his Shock Baton gets caught in Seiryō's belt and loosens it completely, causing Seiryō's pants to fall down and exposing his red fundoshi and costing Seiryō another match via embarrassment.
At the end of the series, Seiryō works as the head waiter at a space station behind Earth's moon, where Seina's wedding was being held, as the station was owned by the Tennan family. While there, he encounters space pirate and former captor Kyō Komachi, and proposes to her after revealing that it was her birthday.
; Tarant Shank
; Kyo Komachi
Minor Characters
; Alan, Berry and Cohen
; Kenneth Barl and Rajau Ga Waura
Production
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, Los Angeles based Anime Expo confirmed the attendance of Mamiko Noto, voice actress for the series, and that AIC would host a screening of GXP at the convention. Funimation later confirmed from Anime Expo New York that they had secured the licensing rights to the show.
GXP finished airing on September 24. Following a nine-month period, Funimation unveiled the official English website for the series on June 16, 2003, later confirming its release for March 4, 2004.
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.
Reception
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 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 " was 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."