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Here’s something we haven’t seen on my blog in a while––a guest post! This week’s guest blogger is Christopher Meharg of Anime Science 101. Christopher’s blog takes an anime he enjoys and proceeds to explain the accuracy or inaccuracy of the science behind one concept featured in the anime. Whether it’s about time travel or even the color of an anime character’s hair, Christopher likes to break his topics down for anime fans looking for a more scientific approach to anime. I may not have been the best science student in the world, but his posts are really fascinating to read and I learn something new in the process. Today’s post talks about the science behind the light hawk wings from Tenchi Muyo. Check out Christopher’s blog for more anime and science related posts from him. Follow him on Twitter or like his Facebook page.

For any old school anime fan, today’s show needs no introduction: Tenchi Muyo first came out in Japan back in 1992. Since then it has spawned 5 different TV series, 3 movies, and an additional 5 spin off TV series. Beyond the harem hijinks, one of the other core aspects of the show is the light hawk wings, which grants Tenchi, and anyone else who can use them, tremendous power.

For the purpose of this lesson, I will be focusing on the original series (Tenchi Muyo and Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki) as that is where the most information on the light hawk wings is given. The light hawk wings are the manifestation of power from a higher plane of existence. Specifically, the light hawk wings are the same power of the Chousin, the goddesses that created the universe and all of its dimensions (22 in the show).

The light hawk wings can be used for a multitude of purposes, including energy beams, energy shields, energy swords, and they can be turned into matter. This can be seen in the video clip below.

Energy in 1 Light Hawk Wing

It is this energy to matter conversion that will allow us to determine the amount of energy contained in a single wing, and by extension, how powerful Tenchi actually is. In the video clip, Tenchi turns a single wing into what appears to be a long sword. The typical weight for a long sword is about 2kg. By using part of Einstein’s famous theory of relativity, or E=mc², you can determine how much energy it would take to make a sword. For the purpose of this explanation, we are going to assume there is 100% efficiency and there is no energy lost in the conversion.

E = mc²

M = mass of the sword = 2kg

C = speed of light 3×10⁸ m/s

 

E = 2kg * 3×10⁸ m/s

E = 1.8 x 10¹⁷ joules

As a reference point, the Tsar bomba, the largest nuclear device ever detonated, released 50 megatons or 210 x 10¹⁵ joules, which is just a bit more than the energy in 1 light hawk wing.

Energy in multiple wings

Tenchi is not the only character who can use the light hawk wings, and he can use multiple wings. Light hawk wings are not all the same, and each wing has more power than the previous wing. Specifically, the Tenchi Muyo Wiki states that they grow in power exponentially with each wing having twice the power of the previous wing. Mathematically, this comes out looking something like this:

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + 256 + 512

So the last wing has 512 times the power of the first wing. To calculate multiple wings, I will simply add up the numbers and then multiply by the power in one wing. For those of you who saw my presentation at Otakon 2016, you will notice I am doing this a bit differently because I was not entirely correct then and I am trying to rectify it now.

Tenchi – 3 wings

1 + 2 + 4= 7

7 x energy in 1 wing = total energy

7 x 1.8 x 10¹⁷ joules = total energy

Total energy = 1.2 x 10¹⁸ joules

With that much energy, Tenchi is using a little less energy than the entire country of South Korea circa 2009.

Z – 5 wings

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16= 31

31 x energy in 1 wing = total energy

31 x 1.8 x10¹⁷ joules = total energy

Total energy = 5.58 x 10¹⁸ joules

When he is using 5 wings, Z is using more energy than all of South Korea circa 2009.

Tsunami, Tokimi, and Washu individually – 10 wings

1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + 32 + 64 + 128 + 256 + 512 = 1023

1023 x energy in 1 wing = total energy

1023 x 1.8 x10¹⁷ joules = total energy

Total energy = 1.8 x10²⁰ joules

On an individual basis, each Chousin goddess has more power than the entire world generated circa 2008.

All three goddesses combined

Energy of an individual Chousin x 3 = combined energy output

1.8 x10²⁰ joules x 3 = combined energy output

Combined energy output = 5.5 x10²⁰ joules

When working in a group, the Chousin can generate more energy than the entire world did circa 2010. In all honesty, they seem a bit weak for the goddesses that supposedly created the entire universe, given that amount of energy in the entire universe is estimated at 4×10⁶⁹ joules.