Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (魔法少女プリティサミー Maho Shojo Puriti Sami) is an anime based on the magically transformed version of the Sasami character from the various Tenchi Muyo! series. The Pretty Sammy OVAs have been dubbed into English by Pioneer USA (before it became Geneon), while the television series (which is also known as Magical Project S) is only available subtitled. The OAVs and the television series take place in different continuities, although they are similar in many respects.
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy originated not in animation but in voice drama, beginning in 1993 with the release of Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki CD Special 1 (Creation of the Universe Journey Across Space-Time). Here, Washu's newest invention, the Dimensional Controller, is glitched by the girls, creating several parallel Tenchi! worlds. Stories from the drama would later be adapted for Tenchi Universe's "Time and Space Adventures" arc (episodes 11-13). A second CD release, Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-ohki's Christmas, incorporated ideas revisted again in the series, drawing on Tsunami as the source of Pretty Sammy's magical powers.
The music video for "Pretty Sammy, the Magical Girl", originally part of the Tenchi Muyo! Soundfile, marked Pretty Sammy's anime debut. After having a kiss between she and Tenchi interrupted by the villainous Kiyone, Sasami must transform into her magical alter-ego to save her love and teach his kidnappers a lesson. Though the Soundfile was never released officially in the U.S., this short can be seen during the end credits of the Mihoshi Special.
The Mihoshi Special OVA was the first time Sammy was ever featured as a full-fledged character in the animated medium, and after her appearance in Episode 12 of Tenchi Universe (Tenchi Muyo! TV: Time and Space Adventures Part 2) in a costume that more resembles Sailor Moon's than her original outfit, the magical girl would go on to star in OVA specials and television series of her own.
In the series, Sasami Kawai (河合 砂沙美 Kawai Sasami) is a cute young Japanese girl who is asked by magical queen-to-be Tsunami of Juraihelm to become Magical Girl Pretty Sammy (プリティーサミー), a champion of justice. She is constantly harassed by Pixy Misa (ピクシィミサ), an evil magical girl created by a rival candidate for queen of the magical world, Ramia. Sasami is unaware that Pixy Misa is actually her best friend, Misao Amano (天野美紗緒 Amano Misao), who herself is unaware of the transformation forced on her via hypnosis by Ramia's brother, Rumiya.
Collectively, the various Pretty Sammy vehicles spoof the magical girl (maho shojo) genre of anime (particularly Sailor Moon, with the "bishoujo senshi"/"champion of justice" theme), using the characters from AIC's popular Tenchi Muyo! series (where Sasami is known as Sasami Jurai Masaki). Ryo-Ohki (who is a male in both of the Pretty Sammy Series) is Pretty Sammy's assistant and plays the same role that Luna, (of the Sailor Moon series) had done, including keeping the fact he could talk a secret.
There were actually two Pretty Sammy series: A three-episode OVA, followed by the 26-episode TV series Magical Project S. Aficionados of the Tenchi Muyo! OVA series often disparage Magical Project S as being for children, citing such reasons as an episode where Tokyo is attacked by a giant cheesecake. However, Magical Project S has a deeper storyline than the OAVs, especially in the final episodes.
Both the OVAs and the TV series are notable for the quality of the musical tracks. Many of the tracks are hilarious parodies of popular karaoke tunes.
The other major characters of Tenchi Muyo; Tenchi, Washu, Tsunami, Ryoko, Ayeka, Mihoshi, and Kiyone, also appear in different roles in the Pretty Sammy OVAs and (Magical Project S) series.
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