Urusei Yatsura was a very popular weekly Japanese comic which ran for 34 volumes over 9 years and went on to become Japan's wackiest animated television comedy airing from 1981 to 1986. In total the animated UY had produced 195 TV episodes, 6 movies, 9 original animated videos, and a few other releases to boot. In Japan it was, and still is one of the most beloved anime series of all time. One that speaks to my generation in a way few other anime can.

The comedy was originally created by renowned female manga-ka Rumiko Takahashi and featured in Shounen Sunday Comics. It is probably the most bizarre and arguably the funniest show there has ever been. Like with most of Takahashi-sensei's manga titles, it is chock full of slapstick and physical comedy. But also as is with all of her series, she blends this edgy comedy with ludicrous situations, lovable characters, a unique brand of drama and lots of punnery. Takahashi went on to create other great hits such as Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2. UY was her first big hit and consequently her most ingeniously creative body of work.

Over here on western shores, the manga series is being translated by Viz Comics using the title"The Return of Lum*Urusei Yatsura" and the television series, movies and OVAs are being released in North America by AnimEigo.

Urusei Yatsura concerns the tempestuous relationship between two focal characters: Ataru Moroboshi who is possibly the most unfaithful, unlucky and lecherous idiot to have ever been born...and there's Lum, a tigerskin-bikini clad alien package of sex appeal, jealousy and electricity who's fallen for him. The series chronicles the misadventures of these two stubborn teenagers along with a veritable entourage of weird characters. Among these characters is the richest boy on the planet, a superhuman schoolgirl, a fire-breathing baby, a powerful priestess/school nurse, a cute and psychotic alien vixen with a split personality, a gender-bending martial artist, an alien biker chick, an ice queen of Neptune, a deranged monk, a giant ghost cat and hundreds of other lunatic personalities; aliens, humans and inhumans alike interact in endless hysteria in a town named Tomobiki (the namesake of this site if you haven't figured it out.)

The series includes a lot of parody of the science-fiction genre. But more than just sci-fi, Urusei Yatsura pokes fun at everything under the sun, from film and television clichés to ancient legends and lore. It is a melting pot of love triangles, fantasy, Japanese and Chinese mythology, high school life, pop-culture and so much more. It's the type of show where literally anything will happen so there's something for everyone to enjoy. The anime undergoes a dramatic changes throughout it's long run as it starts out with fairly simple animation and slowly builds towards an exceptional level of quality unmatched by any other TV show from its era. Yet it is consistent in the way that it is always well worth watching. It's silly and whimsical but at the same moment it's not juvenile at all, it actually has a kind of sophistication to it. I honestly believe that it is the greatest anime and manga series to have ever come out of Japan and after exploring this expansive web site I call Tomobiki-cho, I hope you too will come to realize the sheer brilliance of Urusei Yatsura.