Tenamonya Voyagers DVD

Ayako just got her teaching certificate and traveled across the galaxy to take her first job at a school on the distant planet Meldonia. The school promptly goes bankrupt on arrival. Wakana is a student there on an athletic scholarship that no longer exists. They are stranded, nearly broke, extremely far from Earth, and have no obvious way home. Their situation deteriorates when a mecha crash-lands on their school and the pilot staggers out — Paraila, a girl their age who introduces herself as a former executive in the Jaokai, an interstellar crime syndicate. Former, because she has just been deposed and is currently running for her life. Paraila decides, for reasons of her own, to travel to Earth with them. The police are now after all three of them. The syndicate is also after all three of them. They have no money, no ship of their own, and a series of increasingly chaotic planets to navigate through before anything resembling home comes into view.

Tenamonya Voyagers is a four-episode OVA directed by Akiyuki Shinbo — the same director as The SoulTaker, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and later the entire Shaft studio aesthetic — and written by Ryoe Tsukimura, whose credits include El-Hazard, Tenchi Universe, Sol Bianca, Magic User's Club, and Noir. It was released in Japan in 1999 directly to DVD — cited in marketing materials as one of the first anime produced specifically as a direct-to-DVD release rather than a theatrical or broadcast production. The series is a fast-paced space comedy in the tradition of Sol Bianca, featuring three broke women trying to get home through a galaxy that keeps making that harder.

Released in North America on a single DVD by Bandai Entertainment on November 7, 2000, collecting all four episodes with both English and Japanese audio, an image gallery, and animated interactive menus. The DVD also came with a poster and registration card in original pressings. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Akiyuki Shinbo (The SoulTaker, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, later Shaft studio — Madoka Magica, Monogatari)
Screenplay: Ryoe Tsukimura (El-Hazard, Tenchi Universe, Sol Bianca, Magic User's Club, Noir)
Character Design: Makishi Ishihama
Studio: J.C. Staff

Japanese Cast:
• Miki Takahashi as Ayako Hanayagi
• Tomoko Kawakami as Wakana Nanamiya (Battle Athletes, A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, Gate Keepers)
• Ikue Ohtani as Paraila (Pokémon — voice of Pikachu)
• Mika Doi as additional cast (RG Veda, Fruits Basket)

DVD Features

• All 4 Episodes on Single Disc — Complete Series
• Interactive Animated Menus
• Image Gallery
• Poster & Registration Card included in original pressings
• Bandai Entertainment Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: てなもんやボイジャーズ (Tenamonya Boijāzu)
Runtime: ~100 Minutes (Complete OVA, 4 Episodes)
Director: Akiyuki Shinbo
DVD Release Year: 2000 (U.S. Release, November 7 — Bandai Entertainment)
Original Release Date (Japan): 1999 (Direct-to-DVD release)
Publisher: Bandai Entertainment
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Note: Cited as one of the first anime produced specifically as a direct-to-DVD release. Original pressings include poster and registration card.
Genre: Sci-Fi, Comedy, Action
Themes: Stranded in Space, Fugitive Road Trip, Interstellar Crime Syndicate, Broke Women Getting Home, Direct-to-DVD Pioneer

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.