As an older series, there aren’t a lot of people chomping at the bit to binge watch Tenchi Muyo. However, whether you are looking to recapture some nostalgia or just want to enjoy a true classic series, jumping into Tenchi Muyo is difficult. Tenchi Muyo isn’t just one series. It is a lot of them. It is a lot of different timelines, too.
Tenchi Muyo Watch Order
The Recommended Order to Watch Tenchi Muyo
The main thing to remember is that there are two major timelines in Tenchi Muyo, the Ryo-ohki Timeline and the Universe Timeline. The Ryo-Ohki timeline is considered the primary timeline and is comprised of many OVA releases while the Universe timeline is based off the beginning to Ryo-ohki (the first six episodes), then branches off. You also have a bunch of standalone series that can technically be watched anytime, but may benefit from prior knowledge of the series.
Recommended Order for Watching Tenchi Muyo:
Ryo-ohki Timeline Start
- Tenchi Muyo OVA 1
- Tenchi Muyo Before The Carnival
- Tenchi Muyo OVA 2
- Tenchi Muyo OVA 3
- Tenchi Muyo OVA 3+1
- Tenchi Muyo: Daughter of Darkness
- Tenchi Muyo GXP
- Tenchi Muyo War on Geminar
- Tehcni Muyo 4th Season
- Tenchi Muyo 5th Season
- Tenchi Muyo GXP: Paradise Starting
Universe Timeline Start
- Tenchi Muyo OVA 1 (If you already watched this for the Ryo-ohki Timeline, you can ignore this)
- Tenchi Universe
- Tenchi Muyo in Love
- Tenchi Muyo in Love 2 (Tenchi Forever)
Standalone Series
I recommend watching at least the main timeline, Ryo-Ohki, before watching any side stuff.
Tenchi in Tokyo
Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
Tenchi Muyo Galaxy Police Mihoshi’s Space Adventure**
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy**
Magical Project S**
Sasami: Magical Girls Club
**These series should be watched in order.
Theoretically, it is possible to put Tenchi Muyo in chronological order, but there is really no reason to watch it that way unless you suffer from some sort of psychopathy. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be too much different from the order above aside from moving Dual Parallel Trouble Adventure to the beginning because it technically happens before anything else and watching the Daughter of Darkness movie after the first OVA.
Is watching the first OVA series really an opinion in the Tenchi Universe timeline?