Urusei Yatsura
Encyclopedia
is a comedic manga
series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi
that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum
who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally proposes to her. The series makes heavy use of Japanese mythology
, culture and puns. The series was adapted into a TV anime
series produced by Kitty Films
and broadcast on Fuji Television
affiliates from 1981 to 1986 over 195 episodes. Eleven original video animation
s and six theatrical movies followed, and the series has been released on VHS
, Laserdisc
and DVD
in Japan.
The manga series was republished in several different formats in Japan. Viz Media
licensed the series for English publication in North America under the names Lum and The Return of Lum, but the series was dropped after nine volumes were released. The television series, OVAs and five of the films have been released in North America with English subtitles by AnimEigo
who provided extensive notes on the series to allow people to understand the many cultural references and jokes in the series that would normally be impenetrable for non-Japanese. The remaining film Beautiful Dreamer was released by Central Park Media
. Five of the movies as well as the OVA's are available from MVM Films
in the United Kingdom
.
The series has received positive reception inside and outside of Japan from both fans and critics. In 1981, the series received the Shogakukan Manga Award
. The television series is credited with introducing the format of using pop songs as opening and ending themes in anime. In 2008 the first new episode in 17 years was shown at the Rumiko Takahashi exhibition It's a Rumic World.
with the intention of invading the planet. Instead of taking over the planet by force, the Oni give humans a chance to fight for the rights to the planet by competing in a competition. The competition is a variant of the game of tag
(literally "the game of the Oni" in Japanese), in which the human player must touch the horns on the head of the Oni player within one week. The computer selected human player is Ataru Moroboshi, a highly lecherous, very unlucky and stupid high school
student from the japanese city of Tomobiki, and the Oni player is Princess Lum
, daughter of the leader of the attempted Invasion.
Despite his initial reluctance to take part in the competition, Ataru becomes extremely interested in the game when he meets Lum. When the competition begins, Lum surprises everyone by flying away and Ataru finds himself unable to catch her. Before the last day of the competition, Ataru's girlfriend Shinobu Miyake encourages Ataru by pledging to marry him if he wins. On the final day of the competition, Ataru wins the game by stealing Lum's bikini
top, which prevents her from protecting her horns in favour of protecting her modesty. In celebrating his victory, Ataru expresses his joy at being able to get married; however, Lum misinterprets this as a proposal from Ataru and accepts on live television. Despite the misunderstanding, Lum falls in love with Ataru and moves into his house.
Despite Ataru's lack of interest in Lum (due of immense shame that the tag game brought to him) and attempts to rekindle his relationship with Shinobu, Lum frequently interferes and eventually Shinobu loses interest in Ataru. Still, Ataru's high flirtatious nature persists despite Lum's constant attention. Lum attempts to stop him from flirting, which results in Ataru receiving powerful electric shock attacks from Lum as punishment. Two characteristics of Ataru are particularly strong: his bad luck that draws to him all possible weirdos of the planet, the spirit world and even galaxy, and his prodigious ability to support extreme physical wounds without a scratch, beyond doing incredible physical performances like ninja tricks and catching a katana with the bare hands.
Later Lum begins attending the same school as Ataru despite his objections (he strangled himself with the food he was eating when he heard the news), and Lum develops a fanbase of admirers among the boys of the school, including Shutaro Mendou, the rich and handsome heir to a large corporation all the girls from Tomobiki are crushing on ( who is in truth not so different from Ataru ). Despite their romantic interest, none of Lum's admirers would risk upsetting Lum by trying to force her and Ataru apart, although this doesn't stop them from trying to get Ataru punished from his own behavior, and interfering every time they get closer.
As the series continues Ataru develops his own feelings for Lum but, for reasons never explained, he denies them even to himself and acts brashly towards her. Only when he is almost certain to lose her, he showe how much he values her, sometimes even putting his life in peril almost to a suicidal level. After the danger passes, his idiocy and blasé attitude resumes. Most visibly in the Destiny Production Arc, he had the opportunity to construct his ideal future, were he is the master of an harem. However while visiting this future he discovered that Lum dumped him because of the ill-treatment that his future-self (to keep the harem, set in a mere six tatami mat appartment, he sold all of her things, made her find a part-time job, sleep on the roof and even stopped feeding her) the present Ataru didn't think twice before throwing this future aside. Similarly, seeing how happy Lum was in a future where they were getting married, he did all he could to save it.
The stories are mostly unconnected and very few of them actually told events with later effects in the plot, the majority of the stories concluding without explaing how the things setled, as in the next story all is back to normal.
The manga plot differes from the anime/movies plot in some details. First many characters, that appeared only a couple of times in the manga, became regulars in the anime. The best examples of this are the Lum Strormtroopers: Megane, Chibi, Perm and Kakugari. While in the manga they appeared only in the first two volumes, later replaced by Shuutaro Mendou, in the anime they are among the main characters ( particularly Megane), filling they roles alongside Mendou. Anoter example is Ten, the arsonist cousin of Lum, that in the manga appeared from the seventh volume, but in the anime he appeared since the third episode, so many tales are modified to include him. Many of the anime episodes are based on two or more tales put together, others are entirely new tales, and others are expanded single chapters. Also the tales composed of more chapters are compressed in single episodes. Finally the order in which stories are told is different from the one of the manga.
Also, Ataru and Lum are closer in the anime, sharing many more romantic moments and even properly kissing each other a couple of times (somenthing that never happened in the manga). However their relationship in the anime is also more complicated because the order of episodes is different by the original manga order and so the evolution of the characters isn't linear. So in some episodes Ataru is extremely (but subtly) attached at Lum, but in the next he tries to get rid of her forever. The same concept is appled to the other characters. For this reason the love square beetween Shinobu, Lum, Ataru and Mendou never came to an end while in the manga Shinobu has a storyline devoted to her moving on from her crush to Mendou in favour of Inaba, a trans-dimensional man dressed as a bunny, that in the anime appeared only in the first OVA and in the fifth movie.
instead of hiragana
to create a Japanese
pun
. In 1977, Takahashi created Those Selfish Aliens, a "wacky boy meets alien" romantic comedy. Urusei Yatsura was developed from similar concepts, and published when Takahashi was twenty-one years old. Takahashi said that she had been dreaming about the overall universe of Urusei Yatsura since she was very young. She said that the series "really includes everything I ever wanted to do. I love science fiction because sci-fi has tremendous flexibility. I adopted the science fiction-style for the series because then I could write any way I wanted to". The series was her first major work, having previously only published short stories. Takahashi considers Ataru to be the main character. When Takahashi ran out of ideas she would create new characters.
Takahashi had difficulty meeting deadlines to begin with, so chapters were published sporadically until 1980. She shared a small apartment with two assistants, and often slept in a closet due to a lack of space. While writing Urusei Yatsura she also began work on Maison Ikkoku
.
In 1994, Takahashi stated that she will not produce any more content for the series. Bewitched
is credited as being an inspiration for Takahashi. Lum's use of the English word "Darling" was to emphasise her status as a foreigner.
The characters of Megane, Perm, Kakugari and Chibi are recurring characters throughout the anime adaption, however in the manga they are nameless fans of Lum who are never seen after Mendou is introduced. In contrast the character Kosuke Shirai plays a large role in the manga, but does not appear in the anime series. His role is often performed by Perm. The second half of the anime is closer to the manga than the first half.
and ended in 1987's eighth issue after publishing 374 chapters over almost 6000 pages. A total of 34 individual volumes with 11 chapters each were released in tankōbon
format between 1980 and March 1987. After the tenth anniversary of start of the series, it was printed in 15 "wideban" editions between July 1989 and August 1990. Each volume contained around 25 chapters, and were printed on higher quality paper, with new inserts. A bunkoban edition of the series was released over 17 volumes between August 1998 and December 1999. Each volume contains forewords by other manga creators discussing the influence the series had on them. A "My First Big" edition was printed between July 2000 and September 2004. This edition was similar to the tankōbon but used low quality paper and were sold at a low price. A shinsoban edition over 34 volumes was released between November 17, 2006 and March 18, 2008. This edition was also similar to the tankōbon but used new cover artwork and included a section that displayed artwork from current manga artists.
After requests from fans, Viz Media
licensed the series for release in English across North America under the title of Lum * Urusei Yatsura. Despite a strong start, the series was dropped after 7 issues. The series was then reintroduced in the monthly Viz publication Animerica
and because of the long gap the series was retitled The Return of Lum. The English release finished in 1998 and is now out of print. The first 11 volumes of the Japanese release were covered, but several chapters were excluded and a total 9 English volumes of the series were released.
into a 195 episode TV series that aired from October 14, 1981 to March 14, 1986 on Fuji Television
. With the exception of episodes 10 and 11, the first 21 episodes contained two stories. The first 106 episodes were directed by Mamoru Oshii
and the remainder by Kazuo Yamazaki
. Six opening theme songs and nine closing themes were used during the series.
On December 10, 1983, the first VHS
release of the series was made available in Japan. The series was also released on fifty Laserdiscs. Another VHS release across fifty cassettes began on March 17, 1998 and concluded on April 19, 2000. Two DVD
boxsets of the series were released between December 8, 2000 and March 9, 2001. These were followed by fifty individual volumes between August 24, 2001 and August 23, 2002.
During 1992, the series was licensed for a North American release by AnimEigo
. Their VHS release began in October of the same year and was among the first anime titles to receive a subtitled North American release. However the release schedule was erratic. AnimEigo later released the series on DVD. The series was available in box set form as well as individual releases. A total of 10 boxsets and 50 individual dvds were released between March 27, 2001 and June 20, 2006. Each DVD and VHS contained Liner notes explaining the cultural references and puns from the series. A fan group known as "Lum's Stormtroopers" convinced the Californian public television station KTEH to broadcast subtitled episodes of the series in 1998. Unfortunately, AnimeEigo has confirmed that the series is out of print as of September, 2011.
and began showing in Japanese cinemas on February 11, 1983. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer was also directed by Mamoru Oshii and was released on February 11, 1984. Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on January 26, 1985. Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever was directed again by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on February 22, 1986.
After the conclusion of the television series, two more films were produced. A year after the television series finished, Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter was directed by Satoshi Dezaki
and was released on February 6, 1988 as a tenth anniversary celebration. It was shown as a double bill with a Maison Ikkoku
movie. The final film, Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling was directed by Katsuhisa Yamada
and was released on August 18, 1991.
In North America, "Beautiful Dreamer" was released by Central Park Media
. The remaining five films were released by AnimEigo in North America and MVM Films in the United Kingdom.
who released them individually over 6 discs.
On December 23, 2008 a new special was shown for the first time at the It's a Rumic World exhibition of Rumiko Takahashi's works. Entitled The Obstacle Course Swim Meet, it was the first animated content for the series in 17 years. On January 29, 2010 a boxset was released featuring all of the recent Rumiko Takahashi specials from the Rumic World exhibition. Entitled It's a Rumic World, the boxset contains The Obstacle Course Swim meet as well as a figure of Lum.
s were released after the series began broadcasting. The first soundtrack album was Music Capsule which was released on April 21, 1982, and a follow up Music Capsule 2 was released on September 21, 1983. A compilation The Hit Parade was released in July 1983, and The Hit Parade 2 was released on May 25, 1985. A cover album by Yoko Matsutani, Yoko Matsutani Songbook was released on May 21, 1984. Lum's voice actress Fumi Hirano
also released a cover album, Fumi no Lum Song which was released on September 21, 1985.
Many games have been produced based on the series. The first game to be released was , which was released by Jaleco
for the Nintendo
Family Computer on December 23, 1986, exclusively in Japan. The game was a port of the arcade game Momoko 120%. In 1987, Urusei Yatsura was released by Micro Cabin for the Fujitsu
FM-7
and was released for the MSX
computer. was released by Hudson Soft
for the NEC
PC Engine CD on June 29, 1990 with an optional music cd available. was released by Yanoman for the Nintendo Game Boy
on July 3, 1992. was released by Game Arts
for the Sega
Mega CD on April 14, 1994. was released for the Nintendo DS
by Marvelous on November 20, 2005.
The manga received the Shogakukan Manga Award
in 1981. The series is considered an excellent source for references to Japanese culture and mythology.
In Manga: The Complete Guide
, Jason Thompson
referred to the original manga as "A slapstick combination of Sci-Fi, fairy-tale and ghost-story elements with plenty of cute girls". He also notes that Lum is "the original Otaku
dream girl". He awarded the series four stars out of four. Christina Carpenter of THEM Anime praises the characters and humour and notes the influence the series had on other series over the years. Carpenter summarises the series as "Original and unapologetically Japanese classic that earns every star we can give" and awarded the series five stars out of five. In an interview with Ex.org, Fred Schodt expressed a surprise at the popularity of the English release of the manga as he believed the cultural differences would be a problem.
In The Anime Encyclopedia, Jonathan Clements
and Helen McCarthy
viewed the series as "a Japanese Simpsons
for its usage of domestic humour and make note of AnimEigo
's attention to providing notes for those unfamiliar with Japanese culture. They summarise the series as "a delight from beginning to end" and that the series "absolutely deserves its fan favourite status". Writing in Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, Susan J. Napier
dedicates several pages to discussion of the series, regarding it as "a pioneering work in the magical girlfriend
genre
". Napier contrasts the series to Western shows such as Bewitched
and I Dream of Jeannie
, highlighting their harmonious resolution to the chaos in comparison to Urusei Yatsura's "out of control" ending to each episode. Napier later compares the series to other magical girlfriend series such as Ah! My Goddess and Video Girl Ai
. Fred Patten
writing in Watching anime, reading manga: 25 years of essays and reviews credits the series with being the first program to inspire translations from fans. Patten later credits the series for introducing the phenomenon of using anime to advertise pop songs, claiming it was a deliberate decision by Kitty Films
. Like Napier, Patten compares the series to Bewitched, but also to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The series received two awards from the magazine Animage
as part of their reader-voted Anime Grand Prix. In 1982, the theme song "Lum no Love Song" was voted best anime song. In 1983, the sixty-seventh episode was voted best episode.
In 1992, the singer Matthew Sweet
released the single "I've been waiting", the video of which features images of Lum from the series. In 1993, a band from Glasgow
formed under the name "Urusei Yatsura" as a tribute.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum
Lum Invader
is a fictional character and the female protagonist from Rumiko Takahashi's manga and anime series Urusei Yatsura. She is often believed to be the main protagonist of the series due to her iconic status. However, Takahashi has stated that Ataru Moroboshi is the main character. She is named Lamu in...
who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally proposes to her. The series makes heavy use of Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology
Japanese mythology is a system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculturally based folk religion. The Shinto pantheon comprises innumerable kami...
, culture and puns. The series was adapted into a TV anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series produced by Kitty Films
Kitty Films
Kitty Films is an anime production company established in 1972 in Japan. The company also operates a record label under "Kitty" or "Kitty Records" .-History:...
and broadcast on Fuji Television
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
affiliates from 1981 to 1986 over 195 episodes. Eleven original video animation
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
s and six theatrical movies followed, and the series has been released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in Japan.
The manga series was republished in several different formats in Japan. Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
licensed the series for English publication in North America under the names Lum and The Return of Lum, but the series was dropped after nine volumes were released. The television series, OVAs and five of the films have been released in North America with English subtitles by AnimEigo
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...
who provided extensive notes on the series to allow people to understand the many cultural references and jokes in the series that would normally be impenetrable for non-Japanese. The remaining film Beautiful Dreamer was released by Central Park Media
Central Park Media
Central Park Media was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York, that was active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga and manhwa titles in North America prior to its bankruptcy in 2009...
. Five of the movies as well as the OVA's are available from MVM Films
MVM Films
MVM Films is a British distributor of Japanese animation. The company sublicenses anime titles from US Anime companies such as Media Blasters, Geneon, Nozomi Entertainment, Urban Vision, AnimEigo, and US Manga Corps, which do not have a UK presence, and releases them on Region 2 DVD...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
The series has received positive reception inside and outside of Japan from both fans and critics. In 1981, the series received the Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
. The television series is credited with introducing the format of using pop songs as opening and ending themes in anime. In 2008 the first new episode in 17 years was shown at the Rumiko Takahashi exhibition It's a Rumic World.
Plot
An alien race known as the Oni arrive on EarthEarth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
with the intention of invading the planet. Instead of taking over the planet by force, the Oni give humans a chance to fight for the rights to the planet by competing in a competition. The competition is a variant of the game of tag
Tag (game)
Tag is a playground game played worldwide that involves one or more players chasing other players in an attempt to tag or touch them, usually with their fingers. There are many variations...
(literally "the game of the Oni" in Japanese), in which the human player must touch the horns on the head of the Oni player within one week. The computer selected human player is Ataru Moroboshi, a highly lecherous, very unlucky and stupid high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
student from the japanese city of Tomobiki, and the Oni player is Princess Lum
Lum Invader
is a fictional character and the female protagonist from Rumiko Takahashi's manga and anime series Urusei Yatsura. She is often believed to be the main protagonist of the series due to her iconic status. However, Takahashi has stated that Ataru Moroboshi is the main character. She is named Lamu in...
, daughter of the leader of the attempted Invasion.
Despite his initial reluctance to take part in the competition, Ataru becomes extremely interested in the game when he meets Lum. When the competition begins, Lum surprises everyone by flying away and Ataru finds himself unable to catch her. Before the last day of the competition, Ataru's girlfriend Shinobu Miyake encourages Ataru by pledging to marry him if he wins. On the final day of the competition, Ataru wins the game by stealing Lum's bikini
Bikini
The bikini is typically a women's two-piece swimsuit. One part of the attire covers the breasts and the other part covers the crotch and part of or the entire buttocks, leaving an uncovered area between the two. Merriam–Webster describes the bikini as "a woman's scanty two-piece bathing suit" or "a...
top, which prevents her from protecting her horns in favour of protecting her modesty. In celebrating his victory, Ataru expresses his joy at being able to get married; however, Lum misinterprets this as a proposal from Ataru and accepts on live television. Despite the misunderstanding, Lum falls in love with Ataru and moves into his house.
Despite Ataru's lack of interest in Lum (due of immense shame that the tag game brought to him) and attempts to rekindle his relationship with Shinobu, Lum frequently interferes and eventually Shinobu loses interest in Ataru. Still, Ataru's high flirtatious nature persists despite Lum's constant attention. Lum attempts to stop him from flirting, which results in Ataru receiving powerful electric shock attacks from Lum as punishment. Two characteristics of Ataru are particularly strong: his bad luck that draws to him all possible weirdos of the planet, the spirit world and even galaxy, and his prodigious ability to support extreme physical wounds without a scratch, beyond doing incredible physical performances like ninja tricks and catching a katana with the bare hands.
Later Lum begins attending the same school as Ataru despite his objections (he strangled himself with the food he was eating when he heard the news), and Lum develops a fanbase of admirers among the boys of the school, including Shutaro Mendou, the rich and handsome heir to a large corporation all the girls from Tomobiki are crushing on ( who is in truth not so different from Ataru ). Despite their romantic interest, none of Lum's admirers would risk upsetting Lum by trying to force her and Ataru apart, although this doesn't stop them from trying to get Ataru punished from his own behavior, and interfering every time they get closer.
As the series continues Ataru develops his own feelings for Lum but, for reasons never explained, he denies them even to himself and acts brashly towards her. Only when he is almost certain to lose her, he showe how much he values her, sometimes even putting his life in peril almost to a suicidal level. After the danger passes, his idiocy and blasé attitude resumes. Most visibly in the Destiny Production Arc, he had the opportunity to construct his ideal future, were he is the master of an harem. However while visiting this future he discovered that Lum dumped him because of the ill-treatment that his future-self (to keep the harem, set in a mere six tatami mat appartment, he sold all of her things, made her find a part-time job, sleep on the roof and even stopped feeding her) the present Ataru didn't think twice before throwing this future aside. Similarly, seeing how happy Lum was in a future where they were getting married, he did all he could to save it.
The stories are mostly unconnected and very few of them actually told events with later effects in the plot, the majority of the stories concluding without explaing how the things setled, as in the next story all is back to normal.
The manga plot differes from the anime/movies plot in some details. First many characters, that appeared only a couple of times in the manga, became regulars in the anime. The best examples of this are the Lum Strormtroopers: Megane, Chibi, Perm and Kakugari. While in the manga they appeared only in the first two volumes, later replaced by Shuutaro Mendou, in the anime they are among the main characters ( particularly Megane), filling they roles alongside Mendou. Anoter example is Ten, the arsonist cousin of Lum, that in the manga appeared from the seventh volume, but in the anime he appeared since the third episode, so many tales are modified to include him. Many of the anime episodes are based on two or more tales put together, others are entirely new tales, and others are expanded single chapters. Also the tales composed of more chapters are compressed in single episodes. Finally the order in which stories are told is different from the one of the manga.
Also, Ataru and Lum are closer in the anime, sharing many more romantic moments and even properly kissing each other a couple of times (somenthing that never happened in the manga). However their relationship in the anime is also more complicated because the order of episodes is different by the original manga order and so the evolution of the characters isn't linear. So in some episodes Ataru is extremely (but subtly) attached at Lum, but in the next he tries to get rid of her forever. The same concept is appled to the other characters. For this reason the love square beetween Shinobu, Lum, Ataru and Mendou never came to an end while in the manga Shinobu has a storyline devoted to her moving on from her crush to Mendou in favour of Inaba, a trans-dimensional man dressed as a bunny, that in the anime appeared only in the first OVA and in the fifth movie.
Production
The title of the series roughly translates to "Those Obnoxious Aliens". The title is written using specific kanjiKanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
instead of hiragana
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
to create a Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
. In 1977, Takahashi created Those Selfish Aliens, a "wacky boy meets alien" romantic comedy. Urusei Yatsura was developed from similar concepts, and published when Takahashi was twenty-one years old. Takahashi said that she had been dreaming about the overall universe of Urusei Yatsura since she was very young. She said that the series "really includes everything I ever wanted to do. I love science fiction because sci-fi has tremendous flexibility. I adopted the science fiction-style for the series because then I could write any way I wanted to". The series was her first major work, having previously only published short stories. Takahashi considers Ataru to be the main character. When Takahashi ran out of ideas she would create new characters.
Takahashi had difficulty meeting deadlines to begin with, so chapters were published sporadically until 1980. She shared a small apartment with two assistants, and often slept in a closet due to a lack of space. While writing Urusei Yatsura she also began work on Maison Ikkoku
Maison Ikkoku
is a Japanese seinen manga written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi and serialized in the manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1980 through 1987. Maison Ikkoku is a bitter-sweet comedic romance involving a group of madcap people who live in a boarding house in 1980s Tokyo...
.
In 1994, Takahashi stated that she will not produce any more content for the series. Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
is credited as being an inspiration for Takahashi. Lum's use of the English word "Darling" was to emphasise her status as a foreigner.
The characters of Megane, Perm, Kakugari and Chibi are recurring characters throughout the anime adaption, however in the manga they are nameless fans of Lum who are never seen after Mendou is introduced. In contrast the character Kosuke Shirai plays a large role in the manga, but does not appear in the anime series. His role is often performed by Perm. The second half of the anime is closer to the manga than the first half.
Manga
The series began sporadic serialisation in 1978's 39th issue of the manga anthology Shonen SundayShonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
and ended in 1987's eighth issue after publishing 374 chapters over almost 6000 pages. A total of 34 individual volumes with 11 chapters each were released in tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
format between 1980 and March 1987. After the tenth anniversary of start of the series, it was printed in 15 "wideban" editions between July 1989 and August 1990. Each volume contained around 25 chapters, and were printed on higher quality paper, with new inserts. A bunkoban edition of the series was released over 17 volumes between August 1998 and December 1999. Each volume contains forewords by other manga creators discussing the influence the series had on them. A "My First Big" edition was printed between July 2000 and September 2004. This edition was similar to the tankōbon but used low quality paper and were sold at a low price. A shinsoban edition over 34 volumes was released between November 17, 2006 and March 18, 2008. This edition was also similar to the tankōbon but used new cover artwork and included a section that displayed artwork from current manga artists.
After requests from fans, Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
licensed the series for release in English across North America under the title of Lum * Urusei Yatsura. Despite a strong start, the series was dropped after 7 issues. The series was then reintroduced in the monthly Viz publication Animerica
Animerica
Animerica is a quarterly digest published by Viz Media. It initially started as a monthly magazine featuring reviews of anime and manga titles, as well as related works. After a preview issue was released in November 1992, the magazine's first issue was released in February 1993 with a March 1993...
and because of the long gap the series was retitled The Return of Lum. The English release finished in 1998 and is now out of print. The first 11 volumes of the Japanese release were covered, but several chapters were excluded and a total 9 English volumes of the series were released.
Anime
The series was adapted by Kitty FilmsKitty Films
Kitty Films is an anime production company established in 1972 in Japan. The company also operates a record label under "Kitty" or "Kitty Records" .-History:...
into a 195 episode TV series that aired from October 14, 1981 to March 14, 1986 on Fuji Television
Fuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
. With the exception of episodes 10 and 11, the first 21 episodes contained two stories. The first 106 episodes were directed by Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
and the remainder by Kazuo Yamazaki
Kazuo Yamazaki
Kazuo Yamazaki is a former Japanese professional wrestler, who is known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling and UWF International.-New Japan Pro Wrestling :...
. Six opening theme songs and nine closing themes were used during the series.
On December 10, 1983, the first VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
release of the series was made available in Japan. The series was also released on fifty Laserdiscs. Another VHS release across fifty cassettes began on March 17, 1998 and concluded on April 19, 2000. Two DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
boxsets of the series were released between December 8, 2000 and March 9, 2001. These were followed by fifty individual volumes between August 24, 2001 and August 23, 2002.
During 1992, the series was licensed for a North American release by AnimEigo
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...
. Their VHS release began in October of the same year and was among the first anime titles to receive a subtitled North American release. However the release schedule was erratic. AnimEigo later released the series on DVD. The series was available in box set form as well as individual releases. A total of 10 boxsets and 50 individual dvds were released between March 27, 2001 and June 20, 2006. Each DVD and VHS contained Liner notes explaining the cultural references and puns from the series. A fan group known as "Lum's Stormtroopers" convinced the Californian public television station KTEH to broadcast subtitled episodes of the series in 1998. Unfortunately, AnimeEigo has confirmed that the series is out of print as of September, 2011.
Films
During the Television run of the series, four theatrical films were produced. Urusei Yatsura: Only You was directed by Mamoru OshiiMamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
and began showing in Japanese cinemas on February 11, 1983. Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer was also directed by Mamoru Oshii and was released on February 11, 1984. Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on January 26, 1985. Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever was directed again by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on February 22, 1986.
After the conclusion of the television series, two more films were produced. A year after the television series finished, Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter was directed by Satoshi Dezaki
Satoshi Dezaki
is an anime director, producer, and screenwriter. After graduating from Tokyo Metropolitan North High School, he attended Hosei University. His younger brother was the late anime director Osamu Dezaki.-Brief history:...
and was released on February 6, 1988 as a tenth anniversary celebration. It was shown as a double bill with a Maison Ikkoku
Maison Ikkoku
is a Japanese seinen manga written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi and serialized in the manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1980 through 1987. Maison Ikkoku is a bitter-sweet comedic romance involving a group of madcap people who live in a boarding house in 1980s Tokyo...
movie. The final film, Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling was directed by Katsuhisa Yamada
Katsuhisa Yamada
is a Japanese animator. He is most noted for directing such memorable anime series as Genesis Climber Mospeada, Gatchaman, Mazinger Z, Devil Hunter Yohko and Record of Lodoss War.-External links:...
and was released on August 18, 1991.
In North America, "Beautiful Dreamer" was released by Central Park Media
Central Park Media
Central Park Media was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York, that was active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga and manhwa titles in North America prior to its bankruptcy in 2009...
. The remaining five films were released by AnimEigo in North America and MVM Films in the United Kingdom.
OVA releases
On September 24, 1985, the special Ryoko's September Tea Party was released consisting of a mixture of previously broadcast footage along with 15 minutes of new material. Almost a year later on September 15, 1986, Memorial Album was released, also mixing new and old footage. On July 18, 1987 the TV special Inaba the Dreammaker was broadcast before being released to video. It was followed by Raging Sherbet on December 2, 1988, and by Nagisa's Fiancé four days later on December 8, 1988. The Electric Household Guard was released on August 21, 1989 and followed by I Howl at the Moon on September 1, 1989. They were followed by Goat and Cheese on December 21, 1989 and Catch the Heart on December 27, 1989. Finally Terror of Girly-Eyes Measles and Date with a Spirit were released on June 21, 1991. The OVA's were released in North America by AnimEigoAnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...
who released them individually over 6 discs.
On December 23, 2008 a new special was shown for the first time at the It's a Rumic World exhibition of Rumiko Takahashi's works. Entitled The Obstacle Course Swim Meet, it was the first animated content for the series in 17 years. On January 29, 2010 a boxset was released featuring all of the recent Rumiko Takahashi specials from the Rumic World exhibition. Entitled It's a Rumic World, the boxset contains The Obstacle Course Swim meet as well as a figure of Lum.
Other media
A large number of LP albumLP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
s were released after the series began broadcasting. The first soundtrack album was Music Capsule which was released on April 21, 1982, and a follow up Music Capsule 2 was released on September 21, 1983. A compilation The Hit Parade was released in July 1983, and The Hit Parade 2 was released on May 25, 1985. A cover album by Yoko Matsutani, Yoko Matsutani Songbook was released on May 21, 1984. Lum's voice actress Fumi Hirano
Fumi Hirano
is a Japanese voice actress and essayist who is best known for voicing Lum Invader in the anime series Urusei Yatsura. Fumi attended Tamagawa University in Machida, Tokyo where she graduated with a degree in Theatre from the Department of Fine Arts in the College of Humanities...
also released a cover album, Fumi no Lum Song which was released on September 21, 1985.
Many games have been produced based on the series. The first game to be released was , which was released by Jaleco
Jaleco
is a Japanese video game publisher and developer established in 2006.The original Jaleco Ltd was founded in 1974. In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and splitting its video game operations into a newly created subsdiary that took its former name...
for the Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
Family Computer on December 23, 1986, exclusively in Japan. The game was a port of the arcade game Momoko 120%. In 1987, Urusei Yatsura was released by Micro Cabin for the Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
FM-7
FM-7
FM-7 is a home computer released in 1982 in Japan.The Fujitsu FM-7 was Fujitsu's first entry into the Japanese home computer market, and for their debut computer, they chose to come out with a 6809-based personal computer very similar to Radio Shack's Color Computer.-Hardware:*Two MC 68B09 CPUs @...
and was released for the MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
computer. was released by Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
for the NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
PC Engine CD on June 29, 1990 with an optional music cd available. was released by Yanoman for the Nintendo Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
on July 3, 1992. was released by Game Arts
Game Arts
is a Japanese video game software developer located in Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1985 as a computer software company, they have since expanded their enterprise to produce for a number of game console and handheld systems...
for the Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Mega CD on April 14, 1994. was released for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
by Marvelous on November 20, 2005.
Reception
Takahashi stated that the majority of Japanese Urusei Yatsura fans were high school and university students. The series' peak readership figures were with 15-year-olds, but the distribution of readers was skewed towards older males. She said that this was "very easy" for her since the ages of the readers were similar to her own age; Takahashi expressed happiness that people from her generation enjoy the series. Takahashi added that she felt disappointment that Urusei Yatsura did not gain much interest from children, believing that the series may have been too difficult for children. She believed that "manga belongs fundamentally to children, and maybe Urusei Yatsura just didn't have what it took to entertain them".The manga received the Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
in 1981. The series is considered an excellent source for references to Japanese culture and mythology.
In Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide
Manga: The Complete Guide is a 2007 encyclopedia written by Jason Thompson and published by Del Rey which provides basic details and short reviews of over 1000 Japanese manga titles that have been translated and released in English in North America...
, Jason Thompson
Jason Thompson (writer)
Jason Thompson is a manga critic, journalist, writer and comics artist.-Life and career:...
referred to the original manga as "A slapstick combination of Sci-Fi, fairy-tale and ghost-story elements with plenty of cute girls". He also notes that Lum is "the original Otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
dream girl". He awarded the series four stars out of four. Christina Carpenter of THEM Anime praises the characters and humour and notes the influence the series had on other series over the years. Carpenter summarises the series as "Original and unapologetically Japanese classic that earns every star we can give" and awarded the series five stars out of five. In an interview with Ex.org, Fred Schodt expressed a surprise at the popularity of the English release of the manga as he believed the cultural differences would be a problem.
In The Anime Encyclopedia, Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements
Jonathan Clements is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shihuangdi , as well as monthly opinion columns for Neo magazine...
and Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy
Helen McCarthy is the British author of such anime reference books as 500 Manga Heroes and Villains, Anime!, The Anime Movie Guide and Hayao Miyazaki: Master of Japanese Animation. She is the co-author of The Erotic Anime Movie Guide and the exhaustive The Anime Encyclopedia with Jonathan Clements...
viewed the series as "a Japanese Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
for its usage of domestic humour and make note of AnimEigo
AnimEigo
AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...
's attention to providing notes for those unfamiliar with Japanese culture. They summarise the series as "a delight from beginning to end" and that the series "absolutely deserves its fan favourite status". Writing in Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke, Susan J. Napier
Susan J. Napier
Dr. Susan Jolliffe Napier is Professor of the Japanese Program at Tufts University. She was formerly Professor of the Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, and a visiting professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University...
dedicates several pages to discussion of the series, regarding it as "a pioneering work in the magical girlfriend
Magical girlfriend
A magical girlfriend is a female character often associated with romantic comedy anime series, and is sometimes considered a genre of its own, or as the leading lady of the "fantastic romance" genre, which combines the fantasy and romance genres.As Thomas LaMarre states, "Anime fans become...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
". Napier contrasts the series to Western shows such as Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
and I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
, highlighting their harmonious resolution to the chaos in comparison to Urusei Yatsura's "out of control" ending to each episode. Napier later compares the series to other magical girlfriend series such as Ah! My Goddess and Video Girl Ai
Video Girl Ai
is a manga series created by Masakazu Katsura and published by Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump. It also has an anime adaptation. The manga is published in English by Viz Communications...
. Fred Patten
Fred Patten
Frederick Walter Patten is known for his work as a historian in the science fiction, anime, manga, and furry fandoms, where he has gained great distinction through a substantial contribution to both print and online books, magazines, and other media....
writing in Watching anime, reading manga: 25 years of essays and reviews credits the series with being the first program to inspire translations from fans. Patten later credits the series for introducing the phenomenon of using anime to advertise pop songs, claiming it was a deliberate decision by Kitty Films
Kitty Films
Kitty Films is an anime production company established in 1972 in Japan. The company also operates a record label under "Kitty" or "Kitty Records" .-History:...
. Like Napier, Patten compares the series to Bewitched, but also to Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
The series received two awards from the magazine Animage
Animage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was serialized in Animage from 1982 through 1994...
as part of their reader-voted Anime Grand Prix. In 1982, the theme song "Lum no Love Song" was voted best anime song. In 1983, the sixty-seventh episode was voted best episode.
In 1992, the singer Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet
Sidney Matthew Sweet is an American alternative rock/power pop musician. He was part of the burgeoning Athens, Georgia music scene in the early and mid-1980s before gaining commercial success during the early 1990s...
released the single "I've been waiting", the video of which features images of Lum from the series. In 1993, a band from Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
formed under the name "Urusei Yatsura" as a tribute.
External links
- AnimEigo - United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
distributor of the Urusei Yatsura anime. - Lam, the Invader Girl
- Urusei Yatsura
- Furinkan.com
- The World of Urusei Yatsura's Lum