Urusei Yatsura the Movie: Secret Big News

Translated by: Dylan Acres
Thanks to Mitchell for scans and transcriptions.

Wait, Ataru had another fiancée?!

"Elle", an original character not found in the original work, was Ataru's fiancee 11 years ago. (Comment from Rumiko Takahashi)

"Elle" is a character created based on the image of a rose flower.

"Elle is an active girl, and her personality is somewhere between Lum and Ran. When I read the script, I thought that if she were a flower, she would be like a rose, so I created her with a rose in mind. There are no plans to have her appear in the original work, so she is a completely original character for the movie. I participated in the movie adaptation by being in charge of the original character ideas for Elle and the inhabitants of her planet. Other than that, I trust the movie staff and leave it all to them. I think it's fine as long as the movie is fun, and I hope they don't kill the flavor of the original characters."

What is your impression of director Oshii?

He's a person who is quietly passionate (smile). I'm looking forward to the movie."

The story is original. Ataru goes into space in search of Elle. What will happen to his relationship with Lum? (Comment from Mamoru Oshii) ^[1]

"I want this film to be something that allows the viewer to understand the essence of Urusei Yatsura by watching this one movie. It can be said to be the definitive version that is packed with all the fun from the past. And, personally, I want to settle the relationship between Ataru and Lum. Even though I say "resolution," I don't mean that I've decided on a certain relationship between the two. While I was working on the TV series Urusei Yatsura, I wanted to find out exactly what kind of relationship Ataru and Lum had, and while I was drawing the storyboards for the movie, I wanted to somehow bring out the ideas I had in mind in a way that could be digested. A catchphrase would be "A story based on the love story between Ataru and Lum". However, even though it is a love story, I personally wanted to try a story in which women are the ones with more vitality in a world where women are superior. I wanted to portray a lively female protagonist seen through a man's eyes. The story of the movie begins with the discovery that Ataru actually had another fiancée. That fiancée is Elle, and the two were supposed to have been engaged a year ago. What on earth happened in Ataru's past? To find out, the story goes back to Ataru's childhood. It turns out that Elle is also an alien living on "Planet Elle" (working name), and Ataru sets off for Planet Elle in search of her. That is the general story. I believe that stories that are best suited for animation are adventure dramas. I wanted this movie to follow that basic style as much as possible, but to what extent that is the case is unclear. Urusei Yatsura is a drama based on "everyday life" from start to finish, and it cannot stray even one step from that. Rather, there is a sense of power that the everyday world is forcibly drawn into an extraordinary world. That is what makes Urusei Yatsura interesting, something that is not found in science fiction, but I think the challenge is how to create an adventure story within that.

Ataru and Lum are also newly created for the movie. (Comment from Akemi Takada) ^[2]

The TV series is a living thing, and the characters change over time. There is a discrepancy between the character sheets for the series and the actual characters being broadcast, so the new settings for the movie were created to correct that and match the current characters. Therefore, there is no difference from the characters currently being broadcast. However, for those who are drawing Urusei Yatsura for the first time in the movie, I drew eight character sheets just for Lum. I also put a cape on Elle when I was cleaning up. The staff composition is decided. Masahito Yamashita also participates as a mecha animation director.

Comment from Yuichi Endo: ^[3]

After working at Mushi Productions and Madhouse, he is now freelance. He was in charge of the key animation for episode 4 of the TV series, "Ten-chan's Love." My part is when Ataru is still on Earth, and the drama progresses with the characters from the TV series as the focus. Oshii's direction is fun, with its eccentricity and fun. Among the characters, I like Mendo. His chaotic nature is what gives him his original charm."

Comment from Katsumi Aoshima: ^[4]

"As a freelance key animator, I participated in "Marco", "Bot", "Nils", "Haguregumo", etc. ^[5] From what I saw in the storyboards for the TV series, the key animation for a few episodes was more elaborate than I expected, and there was a lot of movement. I think the number of drawings will be much more than planned. My part focuses on Ataru arriving at the planet Elle. Among the characters, I like Princess Kurama, because I drew her myself."

Comment from Masahito Yamashita: ^[6]

He may already be well known to Urusei Yatsura fans. "Even though I was the key animator and mecha director for episode 7 of the TV series, "Mendo Arrives With Trouble!", there were no intense battle scenes. So I'm just a supporting actor. I will be in charge of about 40 key cuts, and in the second half of the movie, mecha will appear, so I will be in charge of some of those designs as well. Ochi (Hajime), who was with me on "Mendo," will also be participating as a key artist."

What about the theme song?

Izumi Kobayashi (nicknamed Mimi-chan), who composed the theme song for the TV series, will be in charge of four roles: lyrics, composition, arrangement, and singing. The title is "I, I, You and I." At the fan gathering on September 18th, a demo tape was played, and unlike the theme song for the TV series, it is a cute song with a very pop feel.

Bonus information:

A new ending will be used from the first week of October.

The ending song will change from story 67 of episode 44, "After You've Gone," which will air on October 13th. The new song is titled "Hoshizora Cycling." It will be performed by Virgin VS, led by Morio Agata. It was also performed at the fan gathering on September 18th. This song has actually been played in the TV series. Do you remember the disco scene in story 60 of episode 37, "Appearance of the Red Phantom"? This is the song that was playing in the background of the scene where the revived Red Cape dances with Lum-chan. The original title was "Cosmic Cycler." It was an instrumental song, but after the episode aired, there were many inquiries about this song, so it was decided to revive it as the ending song. The arrangement was changed, lyrics were added, and the music was revised. "Hoshizora Cycling" was completed. The ending picture will also be changed to coincide with this change. Kōji Minamiya's storyboard has just been completed, and is currently being produced at a furious pace in order to be ready for the October broadcast. ^[7] This new ending will be introduced in next month's issue in detail.

800 people gather for the 9/18 fan gathering.

On Saturday, September 18th, 800 fans gathered at the Chiyoda Public Hall in Kudan, Tokyo, which was exactly the capacity of the venue. 80% of them were boys, mostly junior and senior high school students. These happy "Urusei" fans were selected from 800 applicants. The fans enjoyed live voice-overs by the voice actors, an advance preview of the TV series "The Terror of Meow," and a Q&A corner with the original author, Rumiko Takahashi. On this day, Takahashi performed a masterpiece that was generously put together by her two assistants and her editor, and every time a gag scene was played out, the audience greeted her with thunderous applause. In addition, there was a costume show by volunteers from "Arcadian," and the introduction of new records and figure models, making it a huge event that went beyond the scheduled time.

Fan club newsletter completed.

The fan club newsletter "Urusei Club" has been completed. It has a stylish design where when you open the folded newsletter, a calendar (see photo on the left) appears. It is distributed only to members and is not sold commercially. ^[8]

To join the FC, please go to the "Animage" section of the "Urusei Yatsura" FC,
P.O. Box 29,
Shibuya Post Office,
Tokyo 150.

Please send a small postal money order or registered cash for a total of 2,000 yen, consisting of 400 yen for the membership fee and 1,600 yen for the membership fee. Come to Yamagata for "Urusei Yatsura" on November 14th!

Date and time: 13:00-15:00, Sunday, November 14th
Place: Yamagata Broadcasting Hall
Performers: Akira Kamiya, Fumi Hirano
Fee: 800 yen
Contents:
① Episode screenings
② Guest Q&A corner
③ Quiz corner
④ Song stage
⑤ Fun lottery

How to apply: The newsletter will be on sale from October 15th at Yamozuya Bookstore in Yamagata City. Only the first 500 people will be accepted, so apply early. Inquiries/Yamojiya Bookstore 0236 (22)2150.

Episode Summary by Yuji Nunokawa ^[9]

Studio News: Last month's episode, "The Terror of Meow," was written and directed by Director Oshii, and the background art was especially well done by Director Arai. The scene where a cat possesses Misuzu and the boxing parody scene were well worth seeing. The first episode of October was directed by Yamazaki, his second in the series, and was a powerful work in terms of both animation and photography. ^[10] After this, "Lum-chan's Class Party" will bring together all the guest characters that have appeared so far, and Kurama is scheduled to begin a new challenge once again. The ending theme will also be new beginning in October. The song used in the main story of Red Phantom has been rearranged, including the lyrics, so please look forward to it.

Highlights:

Episode 44 After You've Gone

Megane's group holds a party to celebrate the first anniversary of Lum's arrival on Earth. Ataru, who was not originally invited, also attends. At the party, Ataru was harsh to Lum. Lum left early and placed her doll on Ataru's desk. "I'll let Darling take care of her instead of me," Lum said as she left.

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Footnotes

• [1] Mamoru Oshii (押井守) got his start as a director on Urusei Yatsura but would go on to direct numerous famous anime films and series. We have numerous interviews archived with him here at the website.
• [2] Akemi Takada (高田明美) is a prolific character designer for Studio Pierrot. Her collaboration with Mamoru Oshii and Kazunori Ito continued in Mobile Police Patlabor (機動警察パトレイバー). After episode 27 she handled the character designs for Rumiko Takahashi's follow-up anime, Maison Ikkoku. We have numerous interviews catalogued for her, the longest of which can be found here.
• [3] Yuichi Endo (遠藤裕一) was mostly known as a key animator for many Naruto movies as well as OVAs like Key the Metal Idol (キィ・ザ・メタル・アイドル), but also handled character designs for the Justy (ＣＯＳＭＯ ＰＯＬＩＣＥ ジャスティ) OVA.
• [4] Katsumi Aoshima (青嶋克己) worked as a key animator for many Black Jack anime as well as Urusei Yatsura's lead-in Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball. He also worked as the character designer for the One-Pound Gospel OVA.
• [5] Marco", "Bot", "Nils", "Haguregumo" are respectively Animated Travels: Marco Polo's Adventures (アニメーション紀行 マルコ・ポーロの冒険), Botchan (坊っちゃん), The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (ニルスのふしぎな旅), and Haguregumo (浮浪雲).
• [6] Masahito Yamashita (山下将仁) has had an illustrious career in the world of Japanese animation. He would continue to work as a key animator with Mamoru Oshii on works like Dallos (ダロス) and Innocence (イノセンス), as well as American/Japanese co-productions like Mighty Orbots and Silverhawks. Kazuhiro Ochi (越智一裕) worked as a key animator on Urusei Yatsura before making a name for himself on numerous super robot anime. An interview with Ochi can be found on Edition 88's website. Fore more information on all the animators mentioned in this article, we highly suggest reading The Kanada School's Collective Masterpiece: Urusei Yatsura on Animetudes.
• [7] "The Urusei Yatsura Fan Club" would go on to be re-named the "Kitty Animation Circle." Their bi-monthly newsletter eventually became the quarterly, then monthly, magazine Movement before renaming itself to We'll. For an in-depth look at Kitty Animation, please see our article.
• [8] Koji Minamiya (南家こうじ) is also known as Kōji Nanke. He is well known for the opening and ending animation for Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku as well as Ranma 1/2 Nettohen and The OVA Goat and Cheese. Some of his works are animated using techniques other than traditional animation, such as colored pencils , colored paper , and crayons. In the January 1987 issue of Animage Mamoru Oshii commented that "He has a keen sense for matching timing with music and creates extremely high-quality works, so I trust him as a professional I can entrust with work. However, his techniques are so diverse that I can't see what world he really wants to create."
• [9] Yuji Nunokawa (布川ゆうじ) is the founder of Studio Pierrot, and you can read a more in depth interview with him here.
• [10]The "Yamazaki" mentioned here is Kazuo Yamazaki (やまざきかずお). Yamazaki will go on to become the Chief Director of Urusei Yatsura beginning with episode 107 after Mamoru Oshii's depature from the series. The episodes mentioned here are Yamazaki's first episode,Episode 35: Darling's Had it This Time! and Episode 44: After You've Gone.

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