Tenchi Universe director Hiroshi Negishi will return to direct the new series.
A few days ago, a Kickstarter campaign was launched by Armiger Entertainment to fund the pilot episode of an anime titled “Tenchi Galaxy”. This is not just any new series, but a spiritual successor of the 1995 anime Tenchi Universe, and part of the larger Tenchi Muyo! franchise.
Within just 48 hours of the Kickstarter launch, the project reached its campaign goal. It looks like after 31 years, the Tenchi Muyo! anime franchise is finally coming back in 2028!
Tenchi Galaxy
Director: Hiroshi Negishi
Premiere window: TBA
Streaming service: TBA
What do we know about the Tenchi Galaxy anime project so far?
The Kickstarter campaign by Armiger Entertainment set a goal of US$400,000 for a 30-minute long pilot episode with English audio and English, Japanese, French, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese subtitles. The pilot episode will receive a Digital Download release with a downloadable version, a Basic standard Blu-ray Disc version, and a Special Edition release in a SteelBook case with new artwork. The main goal of the pilot project is to greenlight a brand new Tenchi Muyo! anime series.
The Kickstarter campaign reached its goal in just 48 hours and has been getting even more traction since. With 54 days to go, the campaign has already amassed over US$530,000 from 3589 backers. This means not only will the pilot episode get a Japanese dub, but also a 4K upgrade, and a making-of documentary to boot!
The Tenchi Galaxy pilot episode will be directed by Hiroshi Negishi, who was the director of the original Tenchi Universe anime, as well as the Tenchi the Movie - Tenchi Muyo in Love, Tenchi Forever!: The Movie, and Ai: Tenchi Muyo! The campaign has also stated that the Tenchi Muyo! franchise creator Masaki Kajishima has personally blessed the project. Ikuko Kagiso is listed as a co-producer, with Phil Dragash as the character designer and Stephen Davis as the composer.
But that’s not all!
Back in August 2021, a civil lawsuit was filed by Anime International Company (AIC) to demand a return of its share from AIC Rights. On 3 July, AIC announced that it has won the lawsuit against AIC Rights and producer Yoshikazu Maeda. This means AIC is now an official shareholder of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise and other anime legacy properties. The Tenchi Galaxy Kickstarter project lists AIC as the main rights holder, with AIC President Tōru Miura acting as the executive producer of the project. This will ensure a smooth production process which might result in the pilot episode being released in 2028 as planned.
The Kickstarter campaign has also listed the cast of the Tenchi Galaxy pilot episode, which includes:
- Petrea Burchard as Ryoko
- Matt K. Miller as Tenchi
- Cristina Vee as Ayeka
- Sherry Lynn as Sasasmi & Detective Kiyone
- Rebecca Forstadt as Mihoshi
- Kate T. Vogt as Washu
- Debi Derryberry as Ryo-Ohki
- Julia Fletcher as Nagi
- VTuber Nerissa Ravencroft as Rise, the Space Pirate
The Kickstarter campaign gave a short history of this project, which states:
Many years ago, Tenchi Muyo! director Hiroshi Negishi wrote a draft for a would-be sequel to his beloved TV series. It has never seen the light of day...until now.
With the help of fans from around the world, including Japan, Armiger Entertainment is ready to bring these ideas to life in the form of a collaborative spiritual sequel.
The campaign also describes the story of the pilot episode of Tenchi Galaxy as:
TENCHI GALAXY follows the Tenchi gang as they travel to the planet of the space pirates, MIKUNI, in search of an artifact that was stolen from Jurai. In order to get it back, they must face NIIMI, the queen of the space pirates. What dangers await them? What connection does Niimi have to Ryoko? And whose side is Nagi on?-
The Tenchi Muyo! franchise began in 1992 with an OVA series. Since then, many other OVA, manga, light novel, and anime series have been released as part of the IP. The main Tenchi Universe anime came out in 1995.