Hi, I’ve been a big fan of Tenchi since it aired in the 90s in the US and I was wondering how much merchandise was available here during the various series were airing?
Thanks for the question!
How much? A lot. Like, A LOT, a lot. Anime in all formats, manga, t-shirts, figures, keychains, you name it, we probably got it over here.
Despite the fact that there is little to no merchandise being released over here now, (or produced worldwide really, with some notable exceptions) when Tenchi was under the Pioneer flag it was a merchandising juggernaut.
Having said that, listing every single thing that got released would be a herculean feat and somewhat out of the prospect of an article, though you can still hear some of our opinions on the more known merch releases on the Tenchicast we did on the subject.
What I’m going to do instead is list off some cool things that came out in the west that you may have missed. As well as some noticeable merch that you won’t believe got released!
Tenchi Muyo! RPG and Resource Books (Guardians of Order – 2000 to 2002)
Back in the day there was one system to rule all of anime tabletop games, Big Eyes, Small Mouth or BESM for short. Started in 1997 by Mark C. MacKinnon and produced by Guardians of Order, BESM became the de facto format for how would-be anime RPG players would create campaigns. Once Tenchi came along it was a no-brainer for Pioneer to partner with Guardians and produce books for their hit franchise.
Listed as releasing a mere two days before Tenchi would take over mainstream TV on Toonami, the Guardian’s books were in the right place at the right time, with each subsequent book releasing a year after the other.
The first Tenchi book gives a brief overview of the first two OVA series before going into how it’s BESM-adapted system works. The Tenchi Universe and Tenchi in Tokyo books are actually additions to the original book’s base rules and not standalone themselves. The Universe book even explains how to mix and match between the OVA- and Universe-centric elements.
With tabletop RPGs being more popular than ever, and shows like Critical Role pulling in millions of views, maybe now would be a good time to bring these back!
Ani-Mayhem Card Game (Pioneer / Upper Deck – 1996)
Touted as “the first anime card game”, Ani-Mayhem was Pioneer’s answer to Wizards of the Coasts’s popular Magic: The Gathering card game. Unlike the Comic Images cards that were purely collectable in nature, the Ani-Mayhem cards were made for play. The other big selling point was the crossover with other well-known anime titles at the time like Armitage III, Bubblegum Crisis, Ranma 1/2, and Dragon Ball Z. Despite their best efforts though the game did not catch on.
Ryoko Mini Bust (Palisades – 2001)
At the height of anime’s first breakthrough into mainstream American culture, Pioneer was partnering to produce or had produced many figures. Some opposable, some not, but easily the biggest detail-wise were the Palisades mini busts of Ryoko.
The standard version featured Ryoko in her episode 1 attire, while the rarer variant featured her in her classic Universe attire. According to the boxes of each, only 1002 were made of the standard version and 198 of the variant, bringing the grand total to 1200 figures. Palisades wouldn’t survive the decade, but for die-hard fans these figures are still sought after.
Now, here are some zany one’s you wont’ believe.
Momo’s Panties Glasses Wipe (Ai Tenchi Muyo – 2014)
Yes, you read that right.
When Ai Tenchi Muyo! was being released the powers that be pushed it pretty hard in the merchandise sector. One of the odder pieces released was main character Momo Kawanagare’s signature peach panties as a wipe for your glasses. Sold by Nowa Co., Ltd., these were priced at 1500 yen (or roughly 13 USD).
Otaku are weird.
Tenchi Muyo! Soap (Tenchi Muyo! Rensa Hitsuya – 1997)
Yes, you read that right, again.
Not just any soap though, “Fancy guest soap”! For that special Tenchi person in your life who needs a good scrubbing.
Little is known about this other than it’s connection to Rensa Hitsuya, a Sega Saturn game released in February of 1997. If you needed anymore proof that just putting the Tenchi Muyo! logo on literally anything would get people to buy it, here it is.
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