Skipping No Longer Allowed in Another World because it's still releasing new volumes regularly, which I'm buying, so I want to hold off and see if it ends in the next year or two. Instead, we'll move to a somewhat different, older manga series.
Toonami introduced me to Tenchi Muyo and the assorted cast of alien women that crash land on his doorstep and mostly fall in love or lust with him. I was always partial to Tenchi Universe, which added Kiyone as the competent, frustrated partner in a buddy cop duo with ditzy Mihoshi. Plus, it cut down on some of the excessive amounts of blood ties between characters that were in the OVAs (OAVs?). Washu isn't Ryoko's mother, Washu also isn't one of a goddess triune, another of which has bonded with Tenchi's aunt Sasami.
If I want family trees that resemble kudzu, I have the X-Men.
No Need for Tenchi! is set after the events I remember from the Tenchi Muyo! anime. Kagato (who imprisoned Washu and turned Ryoko into a weapon of mass destruction) has been defeated. Tenchi knows about his ability to command the "Lighthawk Wings" which are some incredibly powerful ability he has, I think as a result of his mixed Juraian/Earthling heritage? The girls - Ryoko and Ayeka in particular - still vie for Tenchi's affections, and Tenchi is still mostly unnerved by all the aggressive attention.
The harem thing never held much appeal to me, even back when first introduced to it, though it's clearly a trope with legs, as I still see it in series today, where some nothingburger of a protagonist finds himself surrounded by women. Heck, No Longer Allowed in Another World jokes about it, with Annette routinely driven to tears when Sensei wanders off somewhere, only to return with another woman in tow.
Tenchi's more acceptable of a main character than most, if only because he seems like a genuinely decent guy trying to roll with an insane situation where his home is routinely besieged and blown to bits. He isn't a pervert; he initially freed Ryoko out of simple curiosity to explore a cave his grandfather told him was off-limits, and things spiraled from there. He's kind, soft-spoken, not boastful or out to prove how manly he is. But when his friends - and all these women are his friends, ultimately, whatever else there might be - are in trouble, he steps up. Can even be enraged by it, which is usually when the Lighthawk Wings come out.
(Tenchi's a bit like Gohan in DBZ that way. He doesn't heat up easy, but once he does, watch out.)
I own three volumes of the 12, and have read probably 3 others at different points. In the last two, Ayeka's targeted by the prince of some (seemingly vanished) alien world, who abducts and brainwashes her to be loyal to him, and to kill Tenchi. Tenchi isn't mad that one of "his" girls got taken, he's frustrated and angry Garyu claims to love Ayeka but steals her mind and free will. The very last story in volume 12 is two alien crooks trying to use Tenchi as a hostage to force Ryoko to go steal something for them. If she refuses, they'll show him all the horrible things she did while under Kagato's control.
Tenchi pretty much breaks one of the two's face for that move.
It's not all villains emerging from the past to torment the cast. Okuda mixes in lots of one-chapter stories that are usually sillier. Sasami develops hiccups and after Mihoshi spouts some folklore nonsense about how you'll die after 100 hiccups, the cast try all the remedies they can remember to fix it. Ayeka and Ryoko take bets on what will work. In another, they're low on food, but Washu has an inter-dimensional pocket full of animals. Except Mihoshi locks them inside, and in a desperate, flailing attempt to fix it, starts mucking with the environmental controls. Or Tenchi poses as Mihoshi's fiance so Mihoshi's childhood nanny can see her in a wedding dress before passing away.
It was ultimately a series where I pick and choose volumes based on how much they focus on the characters I like best.
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