Quick Look: Tenchi Muyo OVA Collection (2017)

When MVM Entertainment announced that they would be re-releasing the original Tenchi Muyo OVA Series, the series which initally made it’s UK debut on Cartoon Network UK’s Toonami anime block alongside Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing, on DVD and Blu-ray the entire anime community were overcome with joy; especially those who grew up watching the series on UK TV and missed out on MVM Entertainment’s previous releases of the series.

Unfortunately however the news may not be as exciting as once initally thought as after reciving the sample discs of the ‘DVD Version’ of the series it seems that MVM Entertainment are simply re-releasing the original 2004 masters in a new box; something which they have already done previously with the complete collection that was released in 2005. This 2005 Collection boxset also included the Mihoshi Special, an OVA episode dedicated to Mihoshi and her space cadet adventures, a disc which will also be included in the UK Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack release. The only new piece of content then is the Tenchi Encyclopedia; a DVD disc which originally came with MVM Entertainment’s DVD release of Tenchi The Movie: The Daughter of Darkness (as well as the Tenchi Muyo Movie Collection) and features an ‘extensive’ amount of bonus content relating to the TV Series and films; such as promotional trailers, artwork, concept drawings and house designs.

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So what exactly does this mean? Well the good news is that we get a re-print of the original ‘Complete Collection’ release, meaning we recieve all of the original on disc content, such as all thirteen episodes with remixed 5.1 Japanese Audio (as well as English and Japanese audio tracks), the Mihoshi Special and a selection of promotional assets for older MVM Entertainment releases (such as Sailor Moon) in addition to the Tenchi Encyclopedia with it’s extensive selection of bonus content.  The bad news however is that these discs (excluding the Tenchi Encyclopedia disc) are encoded to PAL standards and as such will use the original Standard Definition masters as opposed to the new NTSC High Definition upscale encodes that FUNimation used for their US DVD discs included with their Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack.

Additionally it means that any ‘additional’ bonus content that was included on the US DVD relrease will not be included in the UK DVD release but ironically these bonus features ‘may’ be included on the Blu-ray discs in our UK Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack release of Tenchi Muyo OVA Collection. It all depends on which disc masters MVM Entertainment opt to use; but for now at least the DVD’s are exactly the same as those released in 2005.

So what is the result of all this? Well the result means that the DVD discs included with the UK Collector’s Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack, and in turn the future stand-a-lone DVD, release of Tenchi Muyo OVA is exactly the same as the previous 2005 collection release with the added Tenchi Encyclopedia disc as an extra. The Blu-ray on the other hand should (based on assumptions) be the same as the US Blu-ray release and as such will contain all new content and remastered / upscaled High Definition picture quality and (potentially) new subtitle tracks.

In short we get the ‘complete’ Tenchi Muyo experience from 2005 brought back in to the current generation with the added bonus of having Tenchi Muyo on Blu-ray with its updated picture and audio quality; the downside however is that the DVD discs are all in PAL standard which – by todays standards at least – is not the ideal way to produce a DVD as the ‘new’ standard is now NTSC discs. It is a win-lose scenario but at least we get given all of the original content, contnet which can now be hard to track down, as well as all new content in the form of the Blu-ray Discs.

Of course naturally the most important question is do we get all of the episodic content we deserve and is it any good? and to that I answer Yes. Not only do we get all thirteen episodes of the original OVA series, which sees Tenchi accidentially uncover the demon Ryoko and enter his own harem with people from other planets to which he learns of his true origins, but we also get the Mihoshi special which extends the storyline of Mihoshi’s Police adventures in space; all of which are presented in both English and Japanese with English subtitles. Even by today’s standards the English Dub holds up exceptionally well so much so that it will not only provide newcomers an entertaining ‘retro’ experience but it will also give older fans the nostalgia their deserve.

From our perspective the Limited Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack release, which will contain both original (DVD) and new (Blu-ray) variations of the series, will be the best way to experience the series; as you’ll be able to experience it both in it’s original PAL and more recent NTSC HD release – it’s the best of both worlds – even though having a new NTSC DVD release may have been the better choice; just like FUNimation did with their US release.

MVM Entertainment’s Tenchi Muyo OVA Collection will be available as a Limited Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack from the 7th August 2017, of which will contain both the Mihoshi Bonus feature and Tenchi Encyclopedia, while the stand-a-lone DVD and Blu-ray will be available from the 11th December 2017.