Tenchi Muyo is surprisingly great. Horny, sure. Kickstarted an infamous genre, also true.
But it certainly does have plenty of heart. I prefer the Tenchi Universe continuity - it's got most of the good parts of the OVA, but tones down the more problematic aspects. Plus the episodic format has some fun plots to tell and Kiyone is certainly a fun addition to the cast.
spoiler
If Mihoshi is the Harry DuBois of the GXP (I mean, in spite of her character, she is surprisingly high ranked), then she is the Kim Kitsuragi.