Sasami Masaki Jurai
Encyclopedia
is a fictional character in the anime
series Tenchi Muyo!
and its various spin-offs.
of Jurai
. Within the family group Sasami usually takes on the dual role of younger sister/mother. She may be the most responsible of the group and takes care of all the cooking duties. She has a rarely-seen mischievous streak within her however, and takes great delight in fooling the older girls. She has teal
-colored hair tied in long pigtails with melon pink
eyes (though, throughout most of the original OAV and the TV series (called 'Tenchi Universe'), Sasami had blue hair).
Sasami has a huge fanbase following across the globe and is the inspiration for what VIZ editor Carl Gustav Horn called 'The Sasami Effect', in that any young cute girl within a cast of characters will inevitably become the most popular. Possible examples of this include the Sailor Moon character, Chibiusa, Takamachi Nanoha of Triangle Heart, plus many other "young" female characters in Japanese, French, and American series.
Sasami's personality is more mature in the OVA than in the other continuities, and more aggressive in the second TV and the Pretty Sammy spin offs.
. In almost every incarnation her personality, background, primary outfits, relationships and abilities change. In some incarnations her art style is altered more than others, though her basic coloring and structure remaining the same.
are the daughters of Emperor Masaki Azusa Jurai
and the second of his two wives, second Empress Misaki Masaki Jurai
. On her mother's side, Sasami's grandmother is Seto Kamiki Jurai
and her grandfather is Utsutsumi Kamiki; on her father's side, Sasami's grandmother is Masaki Amame of Jurai and her grandfather is Yotsuga Kazuki. Sasami has a half-brother called Yosho Masaki Jurai
- son of Emperor Azusa and his first wife, Funaho. Shortly into the series, Sasami and Ayeka take to living on Earth with Tenchi's family (Tenchi, his father Nobuyuki, and his mother's father Yosho, now named Katsuhito Masaki), along with the catlike creature Ryo-Ohki
and three other women staying in the house. Sasami arrived on Earth
by 'accident', stowing away on her sisters ship when she went looking for Yosho. She quickly became close friends with Ryo-Ohki and even Ryoko, despite that Ryoko held a blade to Sasami's throat almost as soon as they met.
Sasami holds a dark secret within her past. Seven hundred years ago, during Ryoko's attack on Jurai, Sasami was playing around in the Royal Arboretum and took a very dangerous fall, and as a result was mortally injured, and she believed that she died that day, that she was now a copy of the 'real' Sasami. The truth is that Sasami survived her injuries when Tsunami-kami-sama
, in the form of Tsunami-no-ki, assimilated her. Tsunami-no-ki absorbed and re-created Sasami's body in order to heal her... and merged her spirit with Sasami's. In effect, they are now one being with two souls, and as they grow older their spirits will merge. This may account for her personality in this series. This also grants Sasami several powers that she does not possess in any other series. She now commands the most powerful ship in existence - Tsunami-fune - and can summon it from sub-space at will. Through her link to Tsunami-kami-sama she is linked to every Juraian Ship and their owners, and can sense their location and status. She also has precognitive
abilities, but unfortunately these manifest as horrible, disturbing and sometimes even bloody nightmares.
Sasami hid her secret from those around her - including herself - because her greatest fear was that she would be rejected by those she loved. When it was finally revealed, though, Ayeka said she didn't care about it and still loved Sasami just the way she was; Tenchi, Yosho and the other girls also accepted the fact.
It should also be noted that, if needed, Sasami is an accomplished combatant, most likely taught by her mother, who is the Supreme Commander of the Royal Bodyguard, and enhanced by the link with Tsunami-no-ki, easily defeating Mashisu Makibi, who was a trained Galaxy Police officer. One of the cherry-like hair bands she wears is capable of becoming a battle staff.
of Jurai, but there is no mention of her parents, and Yosho (along with his grandson Tenchi) appears to be only a distant relative. Tsunami does not appear in this series, so Sasami has no alter-ego (other than Pretty Sammy). Sasami is still an accomplished cook. She has a much more happy, innocent outlook on life and does not use any special powers. She does - or did - own her own ship, but it was soon destroyed, stranding her on Earth
. She is an expert games player, especially fighting video games, and takes the revived Azaka as her pupil. During the three part special episodes 'Time and Space Adventures', which seem to be homages to various genres or specific shows/films, Sasami is usually side-lined away from the main story, except of course in her own in which she once again plays the role of 'Pretty Sammy'. It is worth noting that even in her own story she starts off as a background character, only taking center stage once she has transformed.
companion to the second movie, Tenchi Muyo! in Love 2: Eternal Memory, shows what was supposedly happening to Sasami 'off-screen' and introduces Tsunami-kami-sama to the Universe continuity, but it is unknown if this is an official account to be considered as taking place in the same continuity as the movie. The manga implies that Sasami & Tenchi will one day have a child named Izumi, but Sasami will die soon after her birth. However, according to Sasami's narration, that was only one possible future. With every choice they make they can change their fate. It's also told that Tenchi might not choose Sasami but she'll still care for Tenchi the same as always.
she is the daughter of a failed singer turned record-store owner named Chihiro Kawai and sister to Tenchi Kawai; in the Tv version her parents are Ginji & Honoka Kawai, also record-store owners and she has no siblings.
An ordinary young girl, Sasami was granted magical powers by Tsunami
, who is in line to become queen of a magical realm (planet in the TV version) called Juraihelm. She battles an enemy called Pixy Misa
, who is secretly Sasami's best friend, Misao Amano. The Pretty Sammy series was originally created as a parody of the Magical Girl
genre, particularly Sailor Moon
.
in this film) genetically engineered daughter. She quickly develops a strong bond with Mayuka.
series have been created by Hitoshi Okuda
- No Need For Tenchi and Shin Tenchi Muyo! (aka The All-New Tenchi Muyo!). Based on the OVA series and branching off after episode 13.5. The manga series generally has a lighter attitude than the anime series and the characters personalities reflect this. Sasami has a much more open relationship with Tsunami-kami-sama, who herself is more breezy than her own OVA counterpart, possibly due to Sasami's influence, but more likely by Okuda-sensei wanting to write her that way. Sasami is the only person, in the manga
or the anime, that Tenchi has said the words "I love you" to. In volume 5 of the second manga series, Sasami's age is given as 709 years; however, Sasami's age was returned to 708 in volume 7 of the second manga series for unknown reasons. Possibly a mistranslation in either volume.
anime Sasami: Magical Girls Club again reworked Sasami as . Although superficial changes to her include the total absence of the mark on her forehead, and her freckles, she is still fairly recognizable. (In fact, rather than Chisa Yokoyama
, child voice actress Mana Ogawa
plays the voice of the character to make her sound more like a child.)
In this anime, Sasami is a fifth-grader who has magical powers since birth. But she has been forbidden by her parents to use those powers since age three; she still practices it, but in secret. It is after she and her new friend Misao find out about the secret of her new teacher Washu Kozuka
that she becomes a member of the latter's magical girl club and maximize the use of her magical power.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series Tenchi Muyo!
Tenchi Muyo!
, is a Japanese anime, light novel, and manga series created by Masaki Kajishima and Hiroki Hayashi.The generally accepted translation of the title is No Need for Tenchi or Useless Tenchi, though at the time of its appearance it was also translated variably as No Heaven and Earth and This Way Up...
and its various spin-offs.
Personality and series role
In most series, Sasami is the younger sister of Ayeka and so is also a princessPrincess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
of Jurai
Jurai
is a planet in the AIC anime Tenchi Muyo!, and also the name of its royal family. The planet and royal family of Jurai appear mostly in the Ryo-Ohki OVA and Tenchi Universe series and briefly in Tenchi in Tokyo...
. Within the family group Sasami usually takes on the dual role of younger sister/mother. She may be the most responsible of the group and takes care of all the cooking duties. She has a rarely-seen mischievous streak within her however, and takes great delight in fooling the older girls. She has teal
Teal (color)
Teal is a medium blue-green color. It is named after the Common Teal, a member of the duck family, whose eyes are surrounded by the color.Teal is one of the initial group of 16 HTML/CSS web colors formulated in 1987, shown below....
-colored hair tied in long pigtails with melon pink
Pink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
eyes (though, throughout most of the original OAV and the TV series (called 'Tenchi Universe'), Sasami had blue hair).
Sasami has a huge fanbase following across the globe and is the inspiration for what VIZ editor Carl Gustav Horn called 'The Sasami Effect', in that any young cute girl within a cast of characters will inevitably become the most popular. Possible examples of this include the Sailor Moon character, Chibiusa, Takamachi Nanoha of Triangle Heart, plus many other "young" female characters in Japanese, French, and American series.
Sasami's personality is more mature in the OVA than in the other continuities, and more aggressive in the second TV and the Pretty Sammy spin offs.
Appearances
Sasami has appeared in every Tenchi Muyo! series, including several based around her as the central protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
. In almost every incarnation her personality, background, primary outfits, relationships and abilities change. In some incarnations her art style is altered more than others, though her basic coloring and structure remaining the same.
Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki
In the original series, Sasami and her sister AyekaAyeka Masaki Jurai
is a key character in the various Tenchi Muyo! anime series by AIC. While details of her character differ between the various series, Ayeka is typically shown as the beautiful first princess of the planet Jurai who has fallen in love with the title character, Tenchi Masaki...
are the daughters of Emperor Masaki Azusa Jurai
Azusa Jurai
is a fictional character in the anime Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki, emperor of the planet Jurai.-Episode appearances:Azusa only appears in OVA episode 13 and briefly in two episodes of Tenchi Muyo! GXP. Azusa is the father of Yosho, Ayeka, and Sasami. He strongly disapproves of Ayeka's interest in Tenchi,...
and the second of his two wives, second Empress Misaki Masaki Jurai
Misaki Jurai
is a fictional character in the anime Tenchi Muyo!, an empress of the planet Jurai. She is canon to the Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki OVAs, also appearing in its television spinoff Tenchi Muyo! GXP....
. On her mother's side, Sasami's grandmother is Seto Kamiki Jurai
Seto Kamiki Jurai
is a fictional character in the Tenchi Muyo! series, as well as a brief part in Hitoshi Okuda's The All-New Tenchi Muyo! manga series, published in the U.S. by VIZ Media....
and her grandfather is Utsutsumi Kamiki; on her father's side, Sasami's grandmother is Masaki Amame of Jurai and her grandfather is Yotsuga Kazuki. Sasami has a half-brother called Yosho Masaki Jurai
Katsuhito Masaki
is a fictional character in the anime Tenchi Muyo!.-OVA:In the OVA, Katsuhito, also known as , fled Jurai over 700 years ago to "retire" on Earth. He was once the greatest swordsman on Jurai. Currently Katsuhito is a Shinto priest who is not only training Tenchi to be a Shinto priest but also...
- son of Emperor Azusa and his first wife, Funaho. Shortly into the series, Sasami and Ayeka take to living on Earth with Tenchi's family (Tenchi, his father Nobuyuki, and his mother's father Yosho, now named Katsuhito Masaki), along with the catlike creature Ryo-Ohki
Ryo-Ohki
, is a fictional character in the Japanese anime series Tenchi Muyo! and its spinoffs. Ryo-Ohki's appearance is similar to a cross between a cat and a rabbit, and for this reason Ryo-Ohki is commonly referred to as a cabbit...
and three other women staying in the house. Sasami arrived on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
by 'accident', stowing away on her sisters ship when she went looking for Yosho. She quickly became close friends with Ryo-Ohki and even Ryoko, despite that Ryoko held a blade to Sasami's throat almost as soon as they met.
Sasami holds a dark secret within her past. Seven hundred years ago, during Ryoko's attack on Jurai, Sasami was playing around in the Royal Arboretum and took a very dangerous fall, and as a result was mortally injured, and she believed that she died that day, that she was now a copy of the 'real' Sasami. The truth is that Sasami survived her injuries when Tsunami-kami-sama
Tsunami (Tenchi Muyo!)
is a fictional character in the Tenchi Muyo! universe.Tsunami appears in the OVA version of the anime series Tenchi Muyo!, as its novels and the manga series written by Hitoshi Okuda. In Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and related works she is one of the Chousin, three Goddess-sisters and powerful beings in...
, in the form of Tsunami-no-ki, assimilated her. Tsunami-no-ki absorbed and re-created Sasami's body in order to heal her... and merged her spirit with Sasami's. In effect, they are now one being with two souls, and as they grow older their spirits will merge. This may account for her personality in this series. This also grants Sasami several powers that she does not possess in any other series. She now commands the most powerful ship in existence - Tsunami-fune - and can summon it from sub-space at will. Through her link to Tsunami-kami-sama she is linked to every Juraian Ship and their owners, and can sense their location and status. She also has precognitive
Precognition
In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...
abilities, but unfortunately these manifest as horrible, disturbing and sometimes even bloody nightmares.
Sasami hid her secret from those around her - including herself - because her greatest fear was that she would be rejected by those she loved. When it was finally revealed, though, Ayeka said she didn't care about it and still loved Sasami just the way she was; Tenchi, Yosho and the other girls also accepted the fact.
It should also be noted that, if needed, Sasami is an accomplished combatant, most likely taught by her mother, who is the Supreme Commander of the Royal Bodyguard, and enhanced by the link with Tsunami-no-ki, easily defeating Mashisu Makibi, who was a trained Galaxy Police officer. One of the cherry-like hair bands she wears is capable of becoming a battle staff.
Mihoshi Special
In this one-off episode - written as a 'pilot' for both Tenchi Universe and Pretty Sammy - Sasami appears as herself, possibly her OVA version, but in the story told her name and image is used for the role of a Galaxy Police cadet, and has a secret identity as Pretty Sammy, along with her pet Ryo-Ohki. She is also known as the best tea maker in the GXP.Tenchi Universe
In the first TV series Sasami is still Ayeka's sister and princessPrincess
Princess is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or his daughters....
of Jurai, but there is no mention of her parents, and Yosho (along with his grandson Tenchi) appears to be only a distant relative. Tsunami does not appear in this series, so Sasami has no alter-ego (other than Pretty Sammy). Sasami is still an accomplished cook. She has a much more happy, innocent outlook on life and does not use any special powers. She does - or did - own her own ship, but it was soon destroyed, stranding her on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
. She is an expert games player, especially fighting video games, and takes the revived Azaka as her pupil. During the three part special episodes 'Time and Space Adventures', which seem to be homages to various genres or specific shows/films, Sasami is usually side-lined away from the main story, except of course in her own in which she once again plays the role of 'Pretty Sammy'. It is worth noting that even in her own story she starts off as a background character, only taking center stage once she has transformed.
Tenchi Muyo in Love 1 & 2
These two movies are set in the Universe continuity and Sasami's personality remains the same. A mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
companion to the second movie, Tenchi Muyo! in Love 2: Eternal Memory, shows what was supposedly happening to Sasami 'off-screen' and introduces Tsunami-kami-sama to the Universe continuity, but it is unknown if this is an official account to be considered as taking place in the same continuity as the movie. The manga implies that Sasami & Tenchi will one day have a child named Izumi, but Sasami will die soon after her birth. However, according to Sasami's narration, that was only one possible future. With every choice they make they can change their fate. It's also told that Tenchi might not choose Sasami but she'll still care for Tenchi the same as always.
Tenchi in Tokyo
As with most of the characters, Sasami's personality became much louder than before. Her moods are more erratic, given to bouts of juvenile anger and sulking. She becomes friends with Yugi, before learning Yugi's true nature, but remains her friend until the end of the series. At the end of the series Sasami visits the now-sleeping Yugi everyday. Ryo-Ohki is also her pet in this series.Pretty Sammy/Magical Project S
The OVA and TV versions of Pretty Sammy have a completely re-worked Sasami. Now she is ; in the OAVOriginal video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
she is the daughter of a failed singer turned record-store owner named Chihiro Kawai and sister to Tenchi Kawai; in the Tv version her parents are Ginji & Honoka Kawai, also record-store owners and she has no siblings.
An ordinary young girl, Sasami was granted magical powers by Tsunami
Tsunami (Tenchi Muyo!)
is a fictional character in the Tenchi Muyo! universe.Tsunami appears in the OVA version of the anime series Tenchi Muyo!, as its novels and the manga series written by Hitoshi Okuda. In Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki and related works she is one of the Chousin, three Goddess-sisters and powerful beings in...
, who is in line to become queen of a magical realm (planet in the TV version) called Juraihelm. She battles an enemy called Pixy Misa
Pixy Misa
is a fictional character in the anime Pretty Sammy , a spinoff of Tenchi Muyo!. An evil magical girl, she is the rival and dramatic foil of the series' protagonist, magical girl Pretty Sammy...
, who is secretly Sasami's best friend, Misao Amano. The Pretty Sammy series was originally created as a parody of the Magical Girl
Magical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
genre, particularly Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
.
Hasegawa novels
A series of books written by Naoko Hasegawa, a former scriptwriter for the OVA. The novels branch off after episode 6 of the OVA series. These novels were never translated however, so little is known about the character development in this time-line.Manatsu no Eve/Daughter of Darkness
The Hasagawa novel Manatsu no Eve was made into a movie, and is the only contact most non-Japanese fans have had with this continuity. Sasami's connection to Tsunami-kami-sama from the OVA is not mentioned in the film. Sasami has more screen-time as she befriends Mayuka, Tenchi and Yuzuha's (the antagonistAntagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
in this film) genetically engineered daughter. She quickly develops a strong bond with Mayuka.
Okuda manga
Two official mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series have been created by Hitoshi Okuda
Hitoshi Okuda
is a Japanese manga artist, most famous for his characterizations and stories set in the world of Tenchi Muyo!.Okuda got his start as a doujinshi artist before debuting professionally, studying under Nobuteru Yūki and Yutaka Izubuchi....
- No Need For Tenchi and Shin Tenchi Muyo! (aka The All-New Tenchi Muyo!). Based on the OVA series and branching off after episode 13.5. The manga series generally has a lighter attitude than the anime series and the characters personalities reflect this. Sasami has a much more open relationship with Tsunami-kami-sama, who herself is more breezy than her own OVA counterpart, possibly due to Sasami's influence, but more likely by Okuda-sensei wanting to write her that way. Sasami is the only person, in the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
or the anime, that Tenchi has said the words "I love you" to. In volume 5 of the second manga series, Sasami's age is given as 709 years; however, Sasami's age was returned to 708 in volume 7 of the second manga series for unknown reasons. Possibly a mistranslation in either volume.
Sasami: Magical Girls Club
The magical girlMagical girl
belong to a sub-genre of Japanese fantasy anime and manga. Magical girl stories feature young girls with superhuman abilities, forced to fight evil and to protect the Earth. They often possess a secret identity, although the name can just refer to young girls who follow a plotline involving magic...
anime Sasami: Magical Girls Club again reworked Sasami as . Although superficial changes to her include the total absence of the mark on her forehead, and her freckles, she is still fairly recognizable. (In fact, rather than Chisa Yokoyama
Chisa Yokoyama
is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo. She is founder and head of her own voice company called Banbina after leaving Arts Vision. When she was a high school student, she was an assistant of Jump Broadcasting Station of Weekly Shōnen Jump...
, child voice actress Mana Ogawa
Mana Ogawa
is a Japanese singer, voice actress, fashion model and former child actress. Her debut album was released on July 21, 2010. The album charted at No. 100 on the Oricon album charts...
plays the voice of the character to make her sound more like a child.)
In this anime, Sasami is a fifth-grader who has magical powers since birth. But she has been forbidden by her parents to use those powers since age three; she still practices it, but in secret. It is after she and her new friend Misao find out about the secret of her new teacher Washu Kozuka
Washu Hakubi
, the self-proclaimed greatest scientific genius in the universe, is a fictional character in the anime and manga Tenchi Muyo!. Her character differs depending on the continuity, though she sometimes displays a number of innate powers which she rarely uses, preferring to solve problems with reason...
that she becomes a member of the latter's magical girl club and maximize the use of her magical power.