Theory

So here I go again with yet more thoughts on my favorite anime. See what happens when I'm home all week with nothing to do?

Nine years ago I was introduced to a show called Tenchi Muyo!. I watched it religiously on Toonami and taped all of the (edited) episodes. I bought the movies. I started two fanfics (granted they were both crossovers, but I digress...). Then I forgot about it. For some random reason I started watching it on You Tube a few months back (I have the DVDs but they were in storage at the time). Then I started doing research and learned A LOT. So although I was always geared towards a certain pairing, K-sensei apparently was always intending for him to end up with all of the girls. Just look at his other series GXP and his various other works. Harem endings. In ep. 13 of TM!R, we are introduced to Ayeka and Sasami's mom, dad, and aunt Funaho, Yosho's mom. Funaho expresses to Washu that Jurai is worried about such a concentrated group of powerful beings living together. Mihoshi=granddaughter of the GP head marshal and apparently very lucky and indestructible. Ayeka=first princess of Jurai's most powerful royal house. Sasami=Tsunami and Ayeka's sister. Ryoko=Washu's daughter and the only one to ever successfully attack Jurai. Ryo-ohki=ship created by Washu and only one successful in attacking and destroying Jurai's defenses. Washu=Choushin, greatest genius in the universe, and the one who created Ryoko and Ryo-ohki. Tenchi=can create 3 Light Hawk Wings and use material conversion. Not hard to see why she was worried. With the addition of Noike (who I really don't like along with many English version fans) this makes them even more of a threat.

Since Jurai does allow the practice of a man taking many wives and since Tenchi marrying all of the girls (even the cabbit in human form hopefully at least) for political reasons would make a lot of people happy and assure Jurai is fairly safe as the ruling power, this outcomes seems plausible to me now. There is also the fact that Tenchi loves each of the girls and would never hurt or leave any one of them. They're a family, unconventional as it is. I still don't see the Tenchi from OVAs 1 and 2 wanting to be ruler of Jurai, but his character changes a lot by GXP. (Personally I like to ignore GXP and the 3rd OVA.) So say he does eventually become ruler and have relationships with the girls. The only confirmed kids in the future are his son and daughter, born in the same year. No mother is given, but there is a picture of his son, who looks very much like Washu (what ever you want to make out of that). Ryoko also has a daughter who looks somewhat like Tenchi, but (conveniently here too) no father is named.

Maybe he does marry all of the girls for political reasons. Marriage doesn't necessarily mean that kind of love. I mean, yeah, he loves them all, but it is almost explicitly stated that by the third OVA he still loves them all as family. It could change where he loves them all to be life partners, and they all accept that and don't mind. Or he could bow to politics and marry them all so as not to anger Jurai or split up his family. Either way, two kids are the result somewhere along the line.

My idea (which has nothing to do with anything official, I just thought of it on my own earlier) is that a political marriage makes sense given history and how he feels about everyone. At the same time, if he still does view any of the girls as family, it seems unlikely he would have a physical relationship with them. Sasami does eventually grow up and assimilate with Tsunami, but I feel the two have a more big brother/little sister relationship. Noike just sucks and shouldn't even be a competitor :-P I never knew what a Mary Sue was until she came along and I looked it up. So unless Washu used one of her "samples" from him with her cells (or even Ryoko since she's her mom and it would make sense genetically speaking if he inherited his looks from his grandma) for Tenchi's son and Ryoko was with someone else not Tenchi thus producing the girl shown with Ryo-ohki junior, then he was with at least one of the girls.

Wow, somewhere along the line my point got lost. Apologies.