Tenchi And The 1990s

Well there is no doubt that Tenchi happening when it did contributed to its success.

The 1990’s for anime was the climax for the genre because everyone from small upstart companies to giants were still making money.

Part of it is generational as well, the crop of creators around that time were getting opportunities and getting spotlighted because companies wanted new, fresh ideas, case and point Pioneer and Tenchi Muyo!

Pioneer was looking for something big, and according to Hayashi, the planets aligned just right and that happened.

*From the April Issue of Animerica 1994

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If you were to ask yourself, if Tenchi came out 10 years earlier, or 10 year later, would it have been what it was? I think all signs point to no.

“Bombed” as in didn’t do well financially? Do you mean in the U.S. or elsewhere, where it had a very limited release? Because I do believe, my good sir, Akira did extraordinarily well at the box office in its homeland: practically an overnight success (one of the few that wasn’t a casualty of the aforementioned economic slump). But at any rate, all spot-on, astute points.

To the original question: is it coincidence? I think indeed not, ML. The approach that the folks controlling companies’ purse strings took with original content, listening to pitches, and frankly taking chances directly allowed creative works like Tenchi to happen. It’s scarier for a company to go out on a limb with faith in something new, and safer to adapt something already preexisting (look at U.S. and Japanese industries right now); the potential pitfalls are very real, but when producers actually put financial stock and faith in something that’s truly got a chance, the payoffs can be phenomenal. I wish companies would take some chances now and again, because things seem to have been pretty stagnant lately….

“Bombed” as in didn’t do well financially? Do you mean in the U.S. or elsewhere, where it had a very limited release? Because I do believe, my good sir, Akira did extraordinarily well at the box office in its homeland: practically an overnight success (one of the few that wasn’t a casualty of the aforementioned economic slump). But at any rate, all spot-on, astute points.

Akira was a box office bomb at its original 1988 Japanese premiere. It was successful after some time released on home video.

Absolutely, I’d even go so far as to say it saved the OVA market for a little while.

Lets take a look at the extremely well received (According to Anime Planet’s aggregate rating out of 5 total stars) anime that came out in 1992.

Sailor Moon (TV Series) 3.22 (from 32,468 user stats)

Yu Yu Hakusho (TV Series) 4.23 (from 28,880 user stats)

Tenchi Muyo: Ryo Ohki 1 (OVA) 4 (from 12,600 user stats)

Porco Rosso (Movie) 4.13 (from 11,243 user stats)

Tekkaman Blade (TV Series) 3.65 (from 1957 user stats)

Giant Robo (OVA) 3.98 (from 1019 user stats)

It’s extremely important to note, that Tenchi was not only not adapted from prior material (YuYu, SM, Robo, Blade), but also was not from an established company (Ghibli) AND was in the top 3 numbers wise, being an OVA also means it didn’t run on mainstream television.

Comparing post-1970s Miyazaki material with conventional anime is like comparing water to Coke, which effectively puts Tenchi even higher.

I usually trust Anime News Network the most for ratings, because they use multiple averages with algorithms to remove bias and the impact of up/downvoting. Regardless, it’s consistently rated on ANN, with OVA 2 and the specials also around the same. This means many people have rated each segment rather than only rating OVA 1 in regards to the entire series.

Really? News to me, and contradictory to everything I’ve ever read. If you could please give me a link for citation, or recommend some literature (or recount your time in Japan circa 1988), I would be grateful. I find it personally gratifying to periodically update my cinematic knowledge (here would be great, but if need be PM would work too since I am admittedly getting way off topic).

Anyway, No. 4 on an aggregate rating? To quote Tenchi’s old man, “Well done, TENCHIIII!!”

From Kinema Junpo, a Japanese cinema magazine which also publishes movie industry data. It’s actually cited on Wikipedia.

The budget was 1.1 billion JPY, but only amassed 750 million at the box office. While it’s a shitload of money and makes whatever Char’s Counterattack grossed look like chump change, it still failed to break even. Using the loss estimation formula, (TWG / 2) – PB, you get 725,000,000 JPY, almost as much as it originally grossed! We’re talking about 1988 levels, too.

The 49 billion JPY number tossed around the internet is likely from post-theatrical earnings, and recently inflation-adjusted.

The 90’s seemed to be the Age of Anime’s: Awesome era. Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, 3×3 eyes, Trigun, Fist of the North Star.

Try and say it’s not.

Umm… Fist of the North Star and the original manga of 3×3 Eyes started in the 80s.

I find it illogical to associate a specific decade with the best of something, because if somebody argues, it’s bound to end in a flame war. Like all decades, the 90s had some really shitty anime. We tend (or attempt) to forget these titles, and instead focus on the excellent ones referenced ITT.

LOL, maybe this thread should be moved to the “Other Anime” section.

Wow. I guess when looking at such a fixed point in time, and comparing ‘flop vs success’ based on total production vs. short-term gross, Akira‘s promptly accumulated hundreds of millions can legitimately be viewed as having ‘bombed’ much like a Fortune 500 CEO getting a multi-million dollar severance check after stepping down is him/her experiencing unemployment. Thank you for being so obliging.

LOL, maybe this thread should be moved to the “Other Anime” section.

Agreed, as long as any sidetracks steer back towards Tenchi in the 1990s it can stay here, but otherwise there are other avenues for interesting discussions such as these.

Please do not bring politics into this discussion or onto this board.

Comparing post-1970s Miyazaki material with conventional anime is like comparing water to Coke, which effectively puts Tenchi even higher.

So basically everything Ghibli has ever done, including Nausicaa? lol I don’t see how that makes Tenchi look better

I usually trust Anime News Network the most for ratings, because they use multiple averages with algorithms to remove bias and the impact of up/downvoting. Regardless, it’s consistently rated on ANN, with OVA 2 and the specials also around the same. This means many people have rated each segment rather than only rating OVA 1 in regards to the entire series.

For shiggles, I decided to do the math and include ANN’s rating numbers, as well as Myanimelist’s, (also a point of note, for the Anime Planet ratings in my original post, I removed the ratings associated with the “Want to Watch” and the “Won’t Watch” category so that much like MAL and ANN, it was only based on user who had actually rated it and not just “seen”)

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It’s funny to note that the ratings and places associated with each anime almost doesn’t change, and in one case identical, so while you may use ANN, it is in no way better or more accurate overall than either of the other 2 sites, in fact really all it does is show that most people don’t use it.

Regardless of whether or not I (or anyone else) agrees with your statement, you made your point before making that statement, so please do not talk about politics.

I guess youre right about that, I always noticed that ANN had a low amount of scores for many series but an inordinately high amount for certain popular ones. But I do post my ratings on MyAnimeList for personal use. Its interesting to see pretty uniform ratings across the board.

ANN has a lot of different cool features, but they are either completely hidden, or they just aren’t updated regularly, and with places like MAL or Anime Planet, it’s hard to find time to compete.

But I think it demonstrates that Tenchi was a huge series, both in Japan and over here.

I don’t think so. When early licensors approached Japanese producers and distributors, they were constantly surprised about the overseas popularity and considerations for international releases of series both old (1970s and 1980s, except maybe Yamato and Macross) and new (1990s and early 2000s). Even people involved with the localization of anime were surprised about large fanbases. Of course, I’m referring to Petrea Burchard and all the fan mail she received from the very beginning.

I suppose anime releases have become like video games with more consistent global release dates, but otherwise can’t be compared.

So basically everything Ghibli has ever done, including Nausicaa? lol I don’t see how that makes Tenchi look better

And for why does Miyazaki post-1970 make Tenchi better, maybe he is saying Miyazakis work became watered down? But a funny way to beat around the bush.

Let’s say if Hamtaro was considered the number one best anime ever, with Cowboy Bebop coming in second. Would you consider Cowboy Bebop number one over a petty children’s show? I’m not saying Ghibli films are the latter, but they’re certainly different to conventional anime (shonen, seinen, and many shojo series). I don’t think you can place Tenchi in a standing with Porco Rosso, or Cowboy Bebop with Hamtaro. Each are in completely different leagues.

As for Cowboy Bebop and Tenchi… well I like Tenchi better, so sue me.

For shiggles, I decided to do the math and include ANN’s rating numbers, as well as Myanimelist’s, (also a point of note, for the Anime Planet ratings in my original post, I removed the ratings associated with the “Want to Watch” and the “Won’t Watch” category so that much like MAL and ANN, it was only based on user who had actually rated it and not just “seen”)

It’s funny to note that the ratings and places associated with each anime almost doesn’t change, and in one case identical, so while you may use ANN, it is in no way better or more accurate overall than either of the other 2 sites, in fact really all it does is show that most people don’t use it.

I guess youre right about that, I always noticed that ANN had a low amount of scores for many series but an inordinately high amount for certain popular ones. But I do post my ratings on MyAnimeList for personal use. Its interesting to see pretty uniform ratings across the board.

ANN is one of the earliest western anime sites, but the rating system in the encyclopedia came later. As I said, it’s more in depth unlike MAL and AP, where anyone can just sign up and downvote something and automatically count.