Washu Hakubi

Washu Hakubi is a brilliant self-proclaimed greatest scientific genius in the universe from the No Need for Tenchi manga series. Despite her childlike appearance, she is an immensely powerful and ancient being who conducts experiments aboard the Masaki household, where she lives alongside Tenchi, Ryoko, Ayeka, and the others.

Washu Hakubi made her English-language comics debut in Viz's Mangazine #34 in 1994, brought to Western readers by Shaun Henderson during the height of the manga boom that defined the Copper/Modern Age. She keeps remarkable company across her appearances — sharing pages with the likes of Tenchi Masaki, Ryoko Hakubi, Mihoshi Kuramitsu, and the Jurai royals Ayeka and Sasami — a cast that anchors her firmly in the beloved No Need for Tenchi universe. With a presence spanning Mangazine, No Need for Tenchi, and even Ranma 1/2, she touched some of Viz's most iconic early manga titles. A compact but meaningful slice of '90s manga history in the American market, she's a treat for collectors who remember when these series first landed on Western shores.