Ranked #580

Urusei Yatsura

Back in my "Maison Ikkoku" review, I mentioned that it seems that fans have a tendency to neglect some of the old classics that made the creators they love big in the first place. Either that or they turn a blind eye to them, seeing as they're "old". I'll probably get some flack for all that, but it's just so prominent in today's anime fandom that the latest things out there are "the best anime ever" one day, and when "one year later" rolls its way by and/or when the series ends, it would be a thing of the past.

And the cycle goes on and on. This is the way everything in the media and life is unfortunately. But there are still series out there that can still be remembered by the vetran anime fans and are held in high esteem as being influential to many manga artists (Like "Dragonball" for example. Eiichiro Oda, one of the people influenced by DB went on to make "One Piece", which is freakishly popular in Japan), and "Urusei Yatsura" is no different. Heck, reruns of it still play on Japanese primetime and the manga gets reprinted constantly!

The story is about Ataru Moroboshi, who, as normal as he looks, is the unluckiest and most girl-crazy being in the entire universe. His mere existance attracts unnatural bad luck towards himself and the people around him.

But one day, Ataru comes home to see that the leader of a race of alien oni is sitting in his house. It turns out that he has been randomly selected by computer to race in the major sport of the Oni's planet: the game of tag. He's challenged to race the leader's daughter, the beautiful, tiger bikini-clad Lum. Ataru has to chase Lum for ten days and grab her horns, or else the race of Oni aliens will take over Earth.

This seems easy to Ataru at first...that is, until he finds that Lum can fly, taking the difficulty level way higher than he expected. On the night before the last day, Ataru's childhood friend Shinobu promises to marry him if he is able to win. Full of a new burst of confidence, Ataru grabs Lum's horns in the final minutes of the game and shouts, "NOW I CAN MARRY HER!!" Unfortunately, Lum misunderstands what he means and takes his victory cry as a marraige proposal to her, which she accepts promptly and starts calling him "Darling".

At first UY may seem like another "Love Hina" type of anime, where the show lives to only show fan service and nudity. Other then some little things and unexplicit nudity, the show's pretty clean, depending on which episode it is (there's only two I know of that featured nudity), but seeing the art quality and film quality making them look less detailed, I doub it'll infect anyone. Other than that, it's nothing else than what you would see on BayWatch: four alien chicks in bikinis.

Though it's definitely a good example of 80s anime. Sure, it's incredibly cheezy and the kind of funny that makes you laugh because of how dumb (in a good way) the show is, but it plays like a dream.

Another thing I might want to bring up is that some sites cite this series as a "harem anime". Sure, there's a bunch of women in it and a central male loser character, but keep in mind that most of the women in UY hate Ataru. Despite his barely controlable libido, Lum loves him no matter what. D'awwwww.

The story is very lighthearted and wacky, with all sorts of bizzare references to Japanese mythology and cheesy puns on the language. The artwork is colorful and very cartoon-esqué, but the main target that the show wants is plain fun. It creates a happy mood for the viewers and freely takes you on a random and crazy ride through all the characters.

"Urusei Yatsura" has probably one of the biggest casts out of Rumiko's other stories (next to "Ranma 1/2"). We have Lum's fire-breathing cousin Ten, who hates Ataru with a purple passion and will do whatever it takes to make Ataru look bad, Ran, a redheaded alien with a split personality, the noble Oyuki, the motorbiking Benten, and an assortment of many other weird monsters and aleins.

There's a good balance of humans too, like Shinobu, who can come across as sincere but can get so angry that she's able to lift ridiculously heavy objects and throw them, Lum's fanclub at Tomobiki High, consisting of a bunch of nerds that are ready to reprehend Ataru if he commits a misdeed related to Lum, Ryuunosuke, a girl raised to be a boy by her sexist father, the rich and handsome Shuutaro Mendou, and Ataru's (REALLY) whiney parents who do hardly anything but mourn that the wish they never had Ataru.

Take all these characters and put them in a regular environment, and it's one wacky romance-comedy thoughout all 195 TV episodes, 4 movies, and 6 OVAs.

But one thing that can strike someone funny is Ataru's character. He's a far cry from the meek yet determined Yusaku Godai, and Ranma Saotome and Inuyasha, who are characterized with bravery and great fighting skills.

However, as much of an idiot and a pervert that Ataru makes himself out to be, he's actually a very caring person, and an intelligent one at that. His legendary bad luck and resistence to injury has convinced him to be otherwise and that's the reason why he acts the way he does. And as much as he dismisses it, he truly loves Lum as much as she loves him.

With a strong amount of sotries and characters, along with loads of laughs and catchy songs and BGM, "Urusei Yatsura" is an anime that is particularly hard series to get bored of. read more

As a general rule, people usually forget what has come before. For anime fans, particularly those who aren’t Japanese, this is all too often the case as new shows are hailed as the best ever, groundbreaking, or original while completely ignoring what influenced them in the first place. Urusei Yatsura may not be (it's not) the greatest series in the history of anime but it ranks right up there in the top five most influential of all time.

Urusei Yatsura is the first of Rumiko Takahashi's work to receive an anime adaptation. It centers on what is today a tried and true anime concept, a beautiful alien girl, Lum, falls in love with a rather ordinary and none to bright boy, Ataru. While this may or may not have been the first time this had ever been put to film, you can be sure this was the first time it was done so successfully and thus spawning decades of future imitators. Add in a cast of gorgeous girls and other zany and outrageous characters and a memorably stupid and lecherous leading man, you have the framework for an amusing series.

However for modern fans a few things that are missing from the show will likely effect their overall enjoyment. For starters, Urusei is almost a completely episodic anime with absolutely nothing in regards to an overriding storyline. Once characters have been introduced into the series canon they change little if at all. Because of the nature of this format it makes many of the episodes completely predictable and annoyingly repetitive. A basic episode revolves around Ataru chasing girls, Lum becoming angry, followed by Lum electrocuting him. Additionally quite a few characters are nauseatingly annoying or generally grate on your nerves and outstay their welcome.

All that being said, when Urusei Yatsura is good, it’s REALLY good. But any viewer determined to take the leap into this series would be wise to savor it slowly over time. Over the several years I spent watching this series I found a few episodes at a time was the best I could manage in any given sitting. I would suggest that pace for anyone as well. If you are interested at all in the history of anime, UY should be near the top of your list. While most fans may not be familiar with most if not all of its characters, everyone is familiar with them as they live on today after being pioneered in this series.

The alien girl Lum remains today even thirty years later as one of the most iconic figures of anime. It’s pretty much impossible to dislike Lum. Most people think of her as a tsundere type character but she’s not. Lum is honest with her feelings and incredibly jealous. Add her electrocuting powers, she makes for a girl I don’t think any man with a brain would dare defy or cheat on. Since Ataru is an idiot he doesn't ever learn though. Despite her jealousy and frequent use of her power she never comes across as a bully or a bitch. More often than not you find yourself feeling a little sorry for her that she has fallen for such an unfaithful and idiotic man. Love is blind they say...

For Ataru, he is an unrepentant louse and womanizer in addition to being a complete idiot. You might think that because of his personality that he would not be a likable character either but that’s not the case at all. Despite his odious character defects he remains a charming and likable character throughout the series. Whether you just like his antics or like watching him in pain or being punished. While it becomes obvious that Ataru really does care for Lum, his womanizing and rejection of Lum's advances seem to be out of a desire to not be tied down or in liking being chased. Even though he is completely and totally unsuccessful in wooing any woman other than Lum he never seems to give up.

The supporting cast is enormous, as one would expect from a series of this length. The results are mixed. Because many characters have extreme personalities I often found that they became annoying if they were featured too often. Shinobu starts as Ataru's girlfriend and vies for his affections in the early parts of the series. She is one of the rare exceptions to change over the course of the series. I was glad to see her not pine over Ataru for the entire series though she took a rather strange turn from being an ordinary Japanese girl to being a super strong girl. Mendou also shines as the super rich boy who is adored by all the girls, except the one he most wants (Lum). But in actuality he is just as much of a womanizer as Ataru is. He makes for an excellent foil. Others like Jariten, Ran, and Megane are generally amusing but tend to get on your nerves if they get too much screen time. Cherry and Ryuunosuke's father are ALWAYS annoying and generally made me swing from the desire to punch a hole through my television and projectile vomiting.

From an artistic standpoint, due to its success it’s likely to have influenced character designs for an entire generation and eventually lead to what we have today. I think you can probably trace the origins of "moe" back to at least this series as the thin, lanky, and elegant body types of the 70's give way to younger, chubbier, and cuter looking ones. Despite its age though and the peculiarities of animation from this era its still looks fabulous. The characters are extremely expressive and have enough dissimilarity that they are easily distinguishable from each other, with only a few exceptions.

The seiyuu performances are first rate and each brings out their characters to perfection. Whether it be Lum's anger or Ataru's perverted giggling you can’t help but be drawn into Urusei's universe. The series features many different OP/ED themes that vary from your standard J-Poppy tunes that wouldn't be that out of place today and the very dated engrish disco tracks. It’s old enough now that you may just have some 80s nostalgia.

I my opinion everyone should give this series a watch. While it certainly isn't an easy viewing experience, getting through it will give you an appreciation for the history of animation in Japan and an insight on Japanese pop culture. Not to mention it's also pretty damn funny.
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i just saw the beginning of the review for this anime saying how this is a classic. now i did not continue reading since it might influence my review of this anime. now i found it hard to watch this anime because of the character reason a not the fact that it is old. even though it was old the animation did not suffer since i really like that anime style that they use.

the story of this anime follow Ataru who is the biggest pervert in an anime i have ever seen who marries an alien name Lum because of a misunderstanding of words. after this it then follows the day to day life of Ataru who is has the worst of luck as he runs into aliens everyday. even though i enjoy watch these episode i really wish it would try focus on the development of Ataru relationship with Lum.

now the character are another thing i dislike about this series as i will be talking about two that i hate the most.maybe they design the characters to be douches cause it worked. first Ataru since he is the main protagonist. now i hate him because of the bullsh#t he pulls. even though i see he has feeling for Lum, he is mean to her in almost every episode. i don't see why Lum would put up with him for so long. he evens try to get with every girl even though he has Lum who is so Loyal and fateful that it just hurt me to see her with this guy. even though i hate him there were like 4 or 5 time so far where he actually is nice and i appreciate it since it show how there is a speck of hope for this scum.

another character i want to rant on is Mendo as he is also a pervert but a totally different one that Ataru. now Mendo is more of a playboy who also like Ataru trying to get with all the girls but at least he has some pride. what i don't like about him is his personality as he thinks the is better than everyone else and feels like he too self absorb about his look.

in the end i am still watching it hoping that it they don't just mess around for 170 episode and then serious at the last 4 episodes.

overall even though it is a classic as they say i wouldn't say it is the best.
i give this anime a 8/10 read more

ANIME NOSTALGIA SERIES
Full list of the review series can be found on this page, 3rd post from bottom:
http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?uid=251338&show=userpage&do=blog&blogid=29009&page=0

TEASER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um9dqygxEog

The early 80’s found the anime industry before a new challenge: THE SECOND ANIMEFAN GENERATION! It is reasonable to imagine how the first generation was all now adults, workingmen who pretty much left behind this hobby and centered on working and working and … um … working? Hell, this is Japan; they don’t do anything else.

So the industry now had to win the hearts of the newer generation of youngsters and to do that it had to adjust to their demands, which were drastically different from those of their fathers and mothers. In fact, the 80’s found Japan going through a huge generation gap which dissolved the major importance social norms like family and traditions played up until then. Furthermore, the newer generation pretty much didn’t care about the high ideals of the 60’s when Japan was still recovering from the war and teamwork was important and the country needed hope and the like. In fact, many didn’t give a rat’s ass about all that; they grew up in a restored country during times where everybody had a job, peace, money, and a million different things to spend them on.

The dread of war and high ideals meant a lot less to them and that was in fact the element which many 80’s anime focused on. Slapstick and ridicule! And Urusei Yatsura is one of the oldest, funniest, most famous examples. Made by female mangaka Takahashi Rumiko, the entire story is essentially a mockery of ideals and social norms.

Its style of animation is of course very simple and old today but it will stay adorable no matter how many years pass. Rejecting the series because of the old graphics and sound is NOT an excuse. You can consider yourselves shallow people that only judge a book by its cover, if you do. This series has memorable character figures, distinguishable voices and behaviors, a huge heart-warming variety in backgrounds and humor that still gets to you without needing realism, CG graphics or unbelievable visual effects. Plus, most episodes make several image and sound references to very known movies, traditions and myths (of the 80’s and before, that is) making most episodes a parody of every renowned title you can think of. The rest are funny, every day situations, with the characters experiencing new pleasures or taking part in weird games and contests. So, this department has no significance over the real value of the series.

A common trademark of most comedies is the stale and unfinished scenarios. The series begins with a story, spends a few episodes introducing the characters and then stops having continuity. All episodes are stand-alones and only those introducing recurring characters or another attempt at a given situation can be called to have an on-going scenario. Beyond that, no matter what happens in the end of an episode, it will have no effect in the beginning of the next. So, the series is focusing on one-episode story arks and not on an evolving story with a beginning and an end.

A major plus of the series is its characters, hilarious folks who easily become memorable in a few episodes.

Lum: A cult anime babe, Lum is a skimpy dressed alien, part of a race that resembles the mythical Oni of Japanese mythology. She is unfamiliar with Earth traditions and constantly invents contraptions that cause world-changing situations. And all just to please, she thinks at least, her “Darling” boyfriend-wanna-be Ataru. She can be seen as the opposite of the perfect Japanese woman stereotype, as she tries to please her man, without caring about rules, tradition or morality.

Ataru: The epitome of sleaziness, Ataru is a sex fiend that doesn’t care about manners if he can grope some girly skin. He constantly chases beautiful women and ends up being chased by the women who are in love with him and the boys who envy him for having so many women in his life. His action also cause world-changing situations and is world-wide known as the most hated and unlucky person in history. The one theme which stays constant in the series is the true love between Lum and Ataru, despite his flawed nature. In many episodes they have opportunities to part ways, but always the two come back to each other. Some of the best dramatic moments in the series are in these episodes.

Shinobu: The epitome of the perfect Japanese woman stereotype, until she gets angry and brakes mens’ faces with throwing desks. She is supposed to marry Ataru but constantly tries to have a romantic and happy relationship with a handsome man. She only ends up being disappointed and desk-throwing angry.

Cherry: A Buddhist priest that is supposed to help Ataru become an enlightening man but only ends up stealing food and causing trouble with his selfish misconceptions.

There are a dozen other beautiful women that circle Ataru from time to time, giving the series a hint of harem anime. We have a nurse exorcist, a snow queen, a crow princess, a cute Lolita with murdering tendencies, a cross-dresser girl raised as a boy, a motorcyclist gang member and many others. There are a hundred more secondary characters that spice up the story even more, from the ashamed-for-their-son Ataru’s parents, to Lum’s ex-fiancé, to Ataru’s geek classmates.

To sum it up, most characters are essentially reverse stereotypes of the ideal images of Japanese people. You must be well aware of Japan’s traditions if you want to “get the joke” but even if you are not, they are still very funny most of the time. If some actual character development had taken place, this section would be a solid 10.

Anime-wise it is a must-series for all otakus with a taste for quality. It still is amongst the longest and best comedies around. Its humor is a parody of the Japanese culture and its stereotypes, becoming a sort of self-criticizing essay on Japan’s history. Every romantic comedy anime in the last 20 years owes something to this series. The most famous Love Hina, for example, offered nothing new in the comedy genre. Urusei Yatsura on the other hand FOUNDED most stereotypes and allowed other series to build their fame on those. And although we get dozens of comedies today, each making fun of something, very few ever manage to reach the variety, perkiness, quality and memorability of Urusei Yatsura.

The series has a pretty high rewatch value, since you can start at any episode and you are almost guaranteed a good laugh without spoiling any story continuity (because there isn’t any). To be honest, 1/5 of the episodes are not funny at all. But the rest made me laugh hard; a feat quite hard.

SUGGESTION LIST
Haunted Junction, Ranma ½, Slayers, Mahoujin Guruguru are famous old slapstick comedies. read more

I know this is going to sound like epic hyperbole, but please bear with me in the course of this review. My life has been subjected to a number of happy coincidences, so crazy in their randomness and so profound and wonderful in their effects. One of them was the one-in-a-million chance in which I met my girlfriend (we kinda "met cute," and now we're preparing to live together), and another was a chance meeting during one summer with someone who would go on to become my first full-time employer, a great help in getting into law school, and a treasured personal mentor.

Chancing upon AND deciding to give Urusei Yatsura - Those Obnoxious Aliens - was just another such astronomical, happy coincidence. Again, I don't mean to make it sound so overly dramatic, but when I found it randomly flipping through AniDb.net, I was strongly tempted to shrug and move on. I had been serially burning through anime and manga series for over a year, and I needed a real diamond in the rough to rekindle my interest in Japanese media.

I don't remember what ultimately pushed me to go ahead and actually watch my first episode, but that first episode was all I needed to get hooked. I loved the satirical, esoteric Japanese humor. I felt like I was watching a Japanese Simpsons, and somehow I feel like I've learned quite a bit about classical Japanese culture despite never having taken a class, and surely more than I've felt I learned from previous series. I also loved the general tone of the series, especially in the first hundred or so episodes (directed by Mamoru Oshii), because it reminded me of American cartoons from the '50s and '60s if they had been willing to be a little more daring with their bawdy and scatalogical humor.

There's a WHOLE ton of stuff I want to say about this series that could span volumes, but I want to make this review relatively brief, so I will simply say that if you want a more in-depth breaking down of my thoughts on UY, please check out my blog, which has a link to my OTHER blog, where I've written a full review. But why, if I've already written that, would I write a review here? Well, there were a couple of thoughts I left out while writing that one, because I was only about 1/6th of the way through the series at the time. Now I'm done with the TV series proper and working on the OVAs and the last couple movies, and I have a few new observations I want to share now that I've seen all 195 episodes.

Man, 195 episodes. The only show I've ever watched that was even AS long was Friends, and no cartoon series I've watched ever came close! So suffice it to say that my life for an entire month has consisted of Ataru, Lum, Shinobu, Mendou, and the rest of the wacky denizens of Tomobiki. Having finished the series, now more than ever I can say that the characters actually are the strongest factor the show has going for it, despite what many may say about the lack of character development. For a series that totally screwed around with the chronology of the original manga, they manage to flesh out and grow the characters to a surprising degree, all while maintaining at least a loose semblance of chronological progression. And although I hated troublemakers like Lum's cousin Ten or her rival Ran - at first - I was amazed to find that by the end, they had all grown on me. As much as I groaned at how creepy and cruel Megane and Lum's Stormtroopers were in the beginning, I now consider them some of my favorite characters in the entire series. They are hilarious, and UY would not be the same without them, just as much as can be said for its two leads.

I mentioned in my blog review that one of UY's strong selling points with me was the art style. It's not always consistent (although it does get consistently better over the years), but I found it refreshing, and now that I'm done I can say this with even more certainty. I love shows like Clannad, Haruhi Suzumiya, and Shining Tears x Wind, but I feel like anime art styles have become increasingly homogenous since the '90s. UY's art style grabbed me immediately because it reminded me of the original Dragon Ball, a very nostalgic series for me and among my all-time favorites. And I was not disappointed; from the silly to the epic, the animators proved themselves very versatile, but also very fresh (probably why they burned out towards the end though). If you need a break from modern anime (and don't get me wrong, 99% of my favorite anime was from the last decade or so), I urge you to try an episode or two.

Also fascinating, now that I've seen the entirety of the main series, is I've realized what a seminal work this is. I know they didn't pull things out of thin air and I'm sure even the original source material was building off of old tropes, but since finishing the main body of the series, I took a break from UY to sample a couple of more recent shows. I nearly died of surprise and amusement as I realized just how many modern anime tropes stemmed from characters, plots, and situations implemented in UY. The ridiculously wealthy family with its own private army and a property containing half of Japan? The Mendou clan. (Semi-)ecchi harem comedy? Willful harem seeker Ataru and every attractive female in the known universe. Magical girlfriend? Why, Lum of course. Moe and tsundere traits in a female lead? Lum again. Bishounen played for laughs? Mendou Shutaro and Ataru both have their moments. It's also very cool to see what I imagine are some older tropes that fell out of fashion after the period during which this series had its run. It's kinda like watching an old time movie, where you can get a sense for an entirely different set of cultural circumstances because the stuff they're making fun of is hardly mentioned in contemporary series.

Don't get me wrong; this series is not perfect, and not always totally enjoyable. One thing I got tired of pretty early on was the music. Not that the music was bad or anything, and actually there was quite a bit of variety, but that variety is almost for naught considering how many episodes they stretch them out for. Maybe that indicates it's more a symptom of the series being extremely long than anything to do with the music, but take it as you will. There are also definitely points (and unfortunately sometimes streaks) at which the episodes do drag on, because the humor doesn't work or it feels incongruent, or hey, maybe you're tired of Ataru giving Lum sh*t or Lum putting up with his sh*t. Luckily these are usually followed by marathons of episodes that are leagues better, and on the whole I would say UY's enjoyment factor and overall worth is greater than the sum of its parts. It's an experience I will never forget, and to which I hope to return again and again.

Thank you for reading my review. Please, please watch this series. As another reviewer said, it's a crying shame that otherwise open-minded anime lovers and general lovers of entertainment will pass on this one just because it's older. The modern stuff is great and is sure to get better with time, but classics like these deserve to be remembered and treasured, because 'classic' is a title well-deserved for Urusei Yatsura. Happy (girl) hunting! read more

This is a 1978 romantic comedy anime by Rumiko Takahashi. The story is about aliens that come to destroy Earth by before they do that they select a random person who lives on earth to complete a challenge and if they complete the challenge then earth won't be desroyed. The human selected is Ataru a peverted japanese boy in high school. The challenge is to touch the horns of the alien king's daughter.Her name is Lum.BTW she can fly. Ataru ends up completing the challenge and yells out that he will marry her. Lum thinks Ataru meant her but Ataru actually directed this at his classmate, Shinobou. Lum ends up living with Ataru shortly after and insanity ensues. For the time this plot was really original but now its pretty common. Plots like this are in animes like Tenchi Muyo, To love ru and may others. So this was kind of the first anime for its genre.
The art is also good for its time. But compared to todays animation standard it sucks. But later in the series the tv episodes reach the 80s OVA animation qualitysince the show was so popular in Japan.
The music is okay. Some of the songs are kind of catchy.
And the characters. They are probably the best part of the series. Ataru is so retarded and peverted. He is always hitting on others girls and wants to get away from Lum. But deep down inside he actually loves her. Lum can also be really funny because since she only just came to earth she has the view of a kindergartener. There are also a lot of other wacky and zany characters that you meet later in the series like Ataru's ex GF, this super rich guy named Mendou and a ghost cat that haunts people that don't let him stay in their house(BTW he ends up fighting the dude from Fist of the North Star). So overall this anime is classic. It may not be considered an anime classic to anmerican anime fans but it is in Japan. If you like Ranma 1/2 you'll love this read more

This was my very first anime, which I began watching in the early summer of 1983. I figured it would be appropriate to post this here, since this marks my 30th year of anime. I'm fairly certain I was one of the only kids in the States in the early 80's who knew that Japan also made cartoons...oh crap...does that make me some kind of anime hipster?! *sigh* Anyhoo, I'm a huge fan of Rumiko Takahashi, and I'm quite happy that she introduced me into a wild world of fantasy, fun, romance and amazing storytelling. Kudos.

this has got to be one of my most favorite anime's. this is the show that got me into watching anime. so if you are new to watching anime i suggest that you watch it.

*This is an archive from my Anime-Planet account*

Critic's Log - Earthdate: July 15, 2012. Review #11: Urusei Yatsura

If you want to know why I always start my reviews with "Critic's Log" and all that other technical stuff, it's because I like the franchise Star Trek, I believe every episode of the show starts off with the captain saying "Captain's Log, Stardate" something. I'm sort of making fun of that, I admit it... I am a Trekkie, not only am I a Trekkie, I'm also a Browncoat (fan of Firefly), a Gamer, a Brony (fan of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), and OBVIOUSLY an Otaku (you know what an Otaku is... A fan of Anime. Duh!) So what does this have to do with this review? it doesn't... This is completely irrelevant to the review I'm doing but this is relevant for an intro to warm up the start of a review of an anime like the one I am about to discuss, here is Urusei Yatsura!

Ataru Moroboshi is the unluckiest and most lecherous young man alive. When aliens decide to invade Earth, Ataru is randomly chosen to defend the planet Earth by playing a game of what the aliens consider a national sport... Tag. Should he win, the planet Earth will be saved. However, Ataru's motivation is for much far less noble reasons as the one he's up against is a curvaceous alien princess named Lum. The game goes on for 10 days, and on the last day... Ataru is motivated by his girlfriend assuring him marriage (and consequently... A marriage night one can think of) He finally catches Lum, however he gives his cry of joy for the coming marriage that he is assured of, which is misinterpreted by Lum as a marriage proposal, Lum promptly agrees, beginning the two's (quote-unquote) "Marriage" together.

To be technical, the animation was from Studio Deen and Studio Pierrot, but the production of Urusei Yatsura was by Kitty Films. This is an 80's anime and at the time I wrote this review, it is almost been made 31 years ago. This is an anime that was immensely popular in Japan, and this is also an anime adaptation of the first manga that Rumiko Takahashi wrote and drew. This is also an influential anime on some levels, for having a lot of Japanese cultural elements in terms of fashion, events that occur in the show, and even avant-garde artistic expression. If you wonder what the name "Urusei Yatsura" even means, it means "Those Obnoxious Aliens"

The animation in Urusei Yatsura itself needs to be excused from grading, this was an 80's anime, so don't expect the greatest animation in Urusei Yatsura, for an 80's anime... The animation is not terrible by all means, yeah it's a little dated but some people might even appreciate the old-school animation that Urusei Yatsura has to offer.


The music by... Anzai Fumitaka (not a big composer for anime) is okay for Urusei Yatsura but also is appropriate for the show as well, the music isn't at all fantastic and it's not even impressive or even worth listening without the show, it contemplates the show well because the music sounds very zany which contemplates the zany plotlines for 90% of the entire show. The first opening is cute but really zany.

The Voice acting on the other hand will be a somewhat short topic, the original Japanese cast is not bad at all. The English dub of Urusei Yatsura is atrociously bad... It is so bad that they dubbed a few episodes and stopped because it was that bad. I never listened to the dub but I have read a couple sources saying that the dub was atrocious. It's also interesting to note that Michael Sinterniklaas was the English voice of Ataru (even though the dub didn't last long, he was credited as voicing Ataru in the dub). He had much better roles later in his career. To make a long story short... Urusei Yatsura is only available in subtitled form

This show also has way too many characters but since the premise and everything that Urusei Yatsura consists of, it is excusable that there are so many characters in this anime.

If there is one thing that still works is that this show can get really funny when you least expect it...

This anime really blends some elements well, it has humor, action (in a humorous way), it has comedy, and it has family dilemmas, relationship dilemmas, friendship dilemmas, Japanese cultural references. We can all say that the anime adaptation of Urusei Yatsura has led to Rumiko Takahashi's success and led her to make later titles that most of us already know. Let's face it, she's a very talented Manga artist, and she also makes most of her characters lovable.

It's also interesting to note that Mamoru Oshii was the director of this anime for Seasons 1 through 8 (The First episode through Episode 106), if you don't know who Oshii-san is, let me give you a hint... Does the anime film Ghost in the Shell ring a bell? Kazuo Yamazaki takes Oshii-san's place for the remainder of the series

The biggest question is... will everyone like Urusei Yatsura once they see it? the best answer I can give is... it all depends on what the viewer likes in their anime. On a critical note. This is an influential anime even though some people overlook this fact sometimes.

Urusei Yatsura was available by AnimEigo and it is so out of print, it is also a hard anime to find DVD volumes of. The manga from Rumiko Takahashi was available by Viz Media and unfortunately the manga was cancelled in the U.S. (apparently due to low sales in the U.S. and only 9 volumes of the manga were released in the U.S.) There are several movies and OVA's based off the series and they are also were available by AnimEigo and they are also out of print as well, The second movie called "Beautiful Dreamer" was from Central Park Media and the only Urusei Yatsura release not to be licensed in the US by AnimEigo, that movie is also out of print.

With that said, Urusei Yatsura is a one of a kind classic anime series, it may not be for everybody and I was originally going to not give a rating for this show since I thought that this show can be graded on any number. But since it is considered an influential anime at its time, I really had to think that this was a big show for Japan for the time it came out. This may have not been a big hit in the US and it probably doesn't have to be. But for its influence in animes to come at the time.

I give Urusei Yatsura a 10 out of 10. In a way... It is a MASTERPIECE!

Feel free to leave a comment, and guys... beware of aliens wearing tiger-striped bikinis read more