Urusei Yatsura was originally a manga series created by Rumiko Takahashi which was presented weekly in Shounen Sunday Comics for over 9 years. In all, a total of 35 volumes before coming to a close. It was also turned into one of the more popular animated television series in Japan between 1981 and 1986. It centers around the life of Ataru Moroboshi, a 17 year old boy with seriously over-active hormones and the worst luck imaginable. He's never had it easy and things only get worse once the aliens arrive and change his life forever. At the start of the anime series we meet up with Aturu as he's wandering around staring at pretty women, as he usually does, when he's suddenly abducted by some shady characters and driven away to... his house? Turns out the shady characters are from the government and Aturu is about to meet the leader of the alien invaders which have suddenly shown up with the intention of conquest. His girlfriend, Shinobu, is already waiting for him at the house. The alien race is known as the Oni, which also happens to be the Japanese word for demon, and they are not an entirely unsporting lot. They have offered Earth a chance to save itself. If Earth's champion, picked at random by the Oni's computer, can defeat the Oni's best competitor in a contest then they'll pack up and head home without so much as another word. Guess whom the computer has picked as Earth's champion. At first Aturu is understandably reluctant to participate thinking he'll surely be killed if he does, but he quickly changes his mind when his opponent turns out to be the beautiful Oni princess known as Lum. The contest they will compete in? Tag, of course. Why tag? Well, in Japan, it's known as the game of the Oni so it's only natural that aliens calling themselves Oni would consider it the ultimate in competitive sports. All Aturu has to do to win is tag Lum on her horns within ten days and, given how beautiful she is, he's more than willing to try, much to Shinobu's annoyance. There is one little problem though, Lum can fly making catching her harder than you might think. After failing for the first nine days to even come close to winning, Shinobu promises Aturu that if he can manage to win on the final day then she'll marry him. Inspired by this Aturu digs deep into his bag of dirty tricks and finds the key to winning. He manages to get ahold of Lum's bikini top and yanks it off. When she charges him in an attempt to regain her clothing he deftly manages to leap behind her and tag her horns thus saving the Earth from conquest. In his excitement he proclaims that he can now get married and Lum misinterprets this as a marriage proposal which she accepts, ensuring Aturu's life will never be the same. Lum quickly moves in to the Moroboshi household living out of Aturu's closet and making his already weird life that much weirder. Did I mention she keeps the lecherous Aturu in line by administering electric shocks? It always seems to me that women watching this series often say they wish they had the same ability.  Both the anime and the manga are available here in the States. The anime series, including all of the TV episodes, OAVs, and 5 of the six movies, are available from AnimEigo® in subtitled form. The second movie called Beautiful Dreamer, and arguably the best movie of the lot, is available from U.S. Manga Corps. in both subbed and dubbed formats. Only one tape of the TV series containing the first couple of episodes is available in dubbed format and I am unaware of how good or bad it may happen to be. The manga is available from Viz Communications in both single issues and compiled form. You may have more luck ordering these products direct from the companies putting them out than trying to find them in any local store except for the second movie, which seems to be perpetually available at the local video stores.

Les' Review:  Urusei Yatsura is closer to traditional American cartoons, at least in the earlier episodes, than most anime tends to be with regards to slapstick comedy being the order of the day. However, much as Ranma 1/2 would later do, Urusei Yatsura eventually boils down to a romance story between two people: Aturu and Lum. The animation quality from the episodes in the earlier part of the 80's isn't as nice as more recent anime, but that's only to be expected. It's still better than most American cartoons produced today. This show ranks as one of my all-time favorites and is one of the few series where I'd buy the subbed version even if there was more dubbed episodes available. The voice actress for Lum just couldn't be replaced in my opinion.

Hairboy's Review:  Rumiko Takahashi's first manga/anime series proves to be one of her best. It is still one of my favorite stories. Watching poor Artaru trying to decide if he likes Lum better than Shinobu better than anything else in a skirt can go from being a laugh riot to being suprisingly touching. If you haven't had the opportunity to check out Urusei Yatsura yet, I heartily recommend that you check out the AnimEigo release (subbed version of course, but if you have to have it dubbed I guess you could check that out) or pick up a few issues of the Viz manga translation.

Eric's Review:  Eric's review is pending...

Mirahla's Review:  Another must-see for the neophyte anime fan. The animation is great, and the interaction between the characters is funny and, don't laugh at me for saying it, heart-warming at times.   Okay, this is very shallow, but I have to say it - I wish I could get away with anime hair ! Cmon, bright green hair ! How cool would that be ? (Please don't answer - it's a purely rhetorical question ) I guess I'd like Lum's powers, while I'm at it. Some people I know could really benefit from the 'shock' of Lum's "Divine Retribution" ! (I bet every girl who's ever seen this show says that !)  A very entertaining series, and there are some movie-length features out there too, which are totally worth seeing. Maybe we'll get them on the Anime Movies page soon.

TOMOBIKI-CHO: The Urusei Yatsura Web Site is, arguably, the best of the UY websites. Just about everything you could want to know about the anime and the manga can be found here. Character descriptions, background information, music listings and even fan fiction. If you visit only one Urusei Yatsura site, make it this one.

Hurtle Hamster's Urusei Yatsura Page is another nice site for learning more on this wonderful series. This site has a nice graphic sequence to help explain the basis for the series as well.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Obligatory Copyright Notifications:
Images and music from Urusei Yatsura copyrighted by Kitty Films/AnimEigo .