Okuda Hitoshi 奥田ひとし

Tenchi Muyou! Ryououki [No Need for Tenchi]
天地無用！魎皇鬼
serialized on Dragon Comics Jr,
12 volumes @ Y560
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A manga adaption from the well-known anime series. The manga continues where the first OAV series stops. So it continues after Kagato. The new characters that appear after this point have no counterpart in the anime versions. For those who don't know the story: Tenchi Masaki thought he was a normal Japanese teenager. But one day, he freed the space pirate Ryouko from the cave where she was imprisoned. Not long after that, more and more aliens (almost all female) began to intrude in his life: Aeka, the princess of the planet Jurai, her little sister Sasami, Mihoshi the ditzy galaxy police officer. It was then that Tenchi discovered that he himself was a member of the royal family of Jurai. After this, Ryouko is abducted by Kagato. He is an evil genius and has used a manipulated Ryouko before. Tenchi wins the battle against Kagato by creating the Light Hawk Wings and at the same time frees Washuu, the greatest genius in the universe and the former teacher of Kagato. She is also the creator of Ryouko and Ryoouki. It is from this point on, that the manga continues. Okuda's drawings are very cute. {PVH}

Special feature:
In volume 7, half of the book is filled with a manga adaptation of the movie: Tenchi Muyou In Love.
Some color artwork is featured in each book.

TRA:(E)Viz Communications
Click to buy English translated volume 0 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 3 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 4 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 5 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 6 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 7 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 8 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 9 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 10 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 11 at Amazon.
Click to buy English translated volume 12 at Amazon.
APG:(TV)(26)950402-950924(AIC)The Tenchi Universe
APG:(TV)(26)970401-970923(AIC)Tenchi in Tokyo
APG:(OAVs)(06)920925,921025,921125,921210,930225,930325
APG:(OAV)930925

APG:(OAVs)(06)940925,941025,950225,950325,950625,950925
APG:(OAV)940325

APG:(FILM)960420

APG:(FILM)970802

Detatoko Princess
でたとこプリンセス
published by Kadokawa Shoten, 1994-present
6 volumes @ Y900
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Slapstick comedy about a princess in a magical land.

Completely insane, possibly to the point of incoherence, comedy series done by an artist best know for adaptions of other people's work most notably the Tenchi manga. Shades of Tenchi run all through the design here, but it's purely a concoction of his sick mind, even if I can't work out what the hell is going on. This is mainly because he seems to have forgone the inclusion of a dramatic storyline in favor of baseball and naked little girl plants. {EIR}

Radical Guardian
ラジカルガーディアン
published by Kadokawa Shoten, 1995
3 volumes @ Y580
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The overriding impression I have with RG is, "Hmm... reminds me of Sazan Eyes." Or Kuradharma, or lots of other mangas where an ordinary guy meets an extraordinary girl in trouble, tries to help her, and end up in more trouble which the girl has to bail him out at the end of each episode. The girl's name is Satori, an otherwise average waitress in a coffee shop, and the guy, whose name is Noboru, is the bartender. Satori inherits spiritual powers which, among other offensive powers, enables her to read other people's thoughts, and her mission is to protect mankind from various demons. So happens the demon activies been on the rise of late (Tis the time of Demon Arrivals (ie Bad News)), so Satori has to work overtime. Noboru of course falls for her when he finds out her secrets. As more characters joins in the fray, mysteries are answered by even more questions, and world as we know in gets in deeper trouble. And naturally, in stories such as this, the girl will get into some serious trouble which only the guy can save her, and the 3x3 paradigm is complete....

Which is not to say this is a bad story. In fact I like it better than Sazan Eyes; at least the story hasn't gone stale on me yet. While Satori resembles Kahm of Outlanders, at least Okuda is capable of drawing her in continuous perspectives, unlike George. The art is solid and consistent, although in vol.2 he's showing signs of cutting corners with backgrounds (a la 3x3), the manga has above average character designs. While the premise is generic, the plot itself isn't. The characters and their interactions are very interesting, which I consider the strength of Radical Guardian. This is a nice manga. On feel scale 1-5, 5 being furious page turner, 1 being dog food or Australia package stuffer, RG is rated pleasantly above average, and is certainly head and shoulder better than the recent Sazan Eyes. {MOU}

Ranto
ＲＡＮＴＯ 魔承録
written by Akahori Satoru,
serialized on Dragon Junior,
3 volumes @ Y580
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The complete title is "Yin Yang Detective Takanashi RANTO mashoroku". Very much series about the bizarrely costumed title character, who solves mysteries rooted in Shinto/Buddhist lore. Which involves lots of explosions and flying shikigami, of course. And screwball comedy. Most of the mysteries revolves around his girlfriend, Tenko. {EIR}

Shin Tenshi Muyou! Ryououki [New No Need for Tenchi]
新・天地無用！魎皇鬼
4 volumes @ Y?
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This series is also in the OVA continuity of Tenchi Muyou.