Tenchi Masaki is an High School Student, just an average kid. He lives with his father, Noboyuki, in Okyama. His mother, Achika, is deceased. The summers he spends with his grandfather, Kashuito, in a Shinto shrine in the mountains. Tenchi's life is totally normal until one summer where he gets the keys to open the Masaki Shrine. Adventures await him, and Tenchi may just discover his true destiny...
The situation of Tenchi Universe is mostly unchanged for Tenchi. One of the differences is his relationship to the Royal Family of Jurai. He is able to take the throne as Emperor of Jurai, but he decides not to (duh!). The differences are usually miniscule in all categories for Tenchi.
In Shin Tenchi, Tenchi is not related to the Royal Family of Jurai. Instead of the Tenchi-ken, he has a sword that is made up of seven crystals. He has no idea what these crystals are, and of his legacy as an "Earth Guardian", as his grandfather terms the Masakis. Tenchi leaves for Tokyo to be trained as a Shinto priest, and studies with a friend of his grandfather's. He attends a high school in Tokyo, and eventually goes out with a student there named Sakuya. As one might imagine, the girls in Tenchi's home do not take it well.
