Homework Time: Parodies in Urusei Yatsura

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

Now! It's finally time for the announcement. Let's ask the director, Mamoru Oshii, the answers!!

1: Star of the Giants

First of all, it's a parody scene. From the bottom of the screen, a trail of sand rises, reaching the sky. Yes! It's the pitching motion of Hiyoshi Hyuma from Star of the Giants. This is a parody that Oshii had planned from the beginning. Although it appeared so suddenly, many people seemed to notice it. ^[1]

2: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

A parody of the much talked about movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The scene of a UFO descending to Earth is replaced with Lum's spaceship. And the scene where Lum appears from the transmitted light is also from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. No one noticed this. ^[2]

3: The Castle of Cagliostro

Surprisingly, very few people noticed this. This is actually a parody of the car chase scene at the beginning of Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro, where Count Cagliostro's minions chase Clarice and Lupin. However, it's surprisingly cool to see cars racing through the alleys of a downtown area somewhere in Japan, rather than the beautiful lake in the Principality of Cagliostro. This is the only parody that Mamoru Oshii consciously created, but in fact there are many more. ^[3]

4: Parodies of other staff members

So, the correct answer is four! However, since it was discovered that there were many other parodies created by the animation staff, the correct answer for the postcard from the reader must contain these four (it can also contain other scenes).

Announcement of the correct answers - How'd you do?

● Let's summarize the correct answers.
1. Star of the Giants 2 people
2. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (the UFO) 16 people, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Lum) 0 people
3. The Castle of Cagliostro 1 person
And there was one person who wrote two, Star of the Giants and Close Encounters of the Third Kind (but only UFO), and Castle of Cagliostro, and there was one person who wrote three, which was just one step away from being the correct answer. By the way, there were 8 people who got it wrong. However, the editorial department was very excited that so many people sent in their answers. If we have another opportunity, we will consider doing something like this again.

Now, let's announce the people who will receive the prizes.

★True Consolation Prize: Masaaki Kobayashi from Machida City, Tokyo, who answered Star of the Giants, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and The Castle of Cagliostro, but only saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind as UF0.

★Effort Prize: Hiroshi Takada from Nagano City, who filled the postcard with titles, scenes, his own thoughts, and 165 other points.

★Distinction Prize: Yuichi Nagai from Fukuoka Prefecture, Toshiyuki Ogata and Atsushi Sato from Tokyo, and Akihiro Ono from Hyogo Prefecture, who noticed Star of the Giants and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

★Humor Award: Atsushi Nonaka from Chiba Prefecture even drew a picture of Lum-chan, pointing out that "In the interview scene, Egawa (who looks like him) was wearing the uniform of Tokai University," and Kazuhide Nakajima from Yokohama City uniquely posted that it was "a parody of Manga Nippon Mukashi Banashi, which features 'demons' such as Momotaro and Kintaro."

Sorry to everyone who wasn't selected. But don't let this put you off, and support Lum-chan!

Episode Summaries

Diary of Sorrowful Tomorrows (episode 37) ^[4] Lum finds Ataru's diary. Mendo bursts out laughing when he finds out that Ataru is keeping a diary. Ataru gets angry and snatches the diary from Lum. Then, in the diary, Ataru's handwriting is written about events that have not happened yet. It turns out that Lum has time-traveled and brought back a diary from a day earlier. According to it, Ataru hugged Shinobu today and felt dizzy... Ataru can't help but chuckle, but what will happen today? Whose Child is This?? (episode 38) A male student from class 6 was expelled because he had impregnated a girl next door. Ataru, who is always doing obscene things, is put in a match with this student and glared at by the girl. Then, right after that, Mendou finds something like a baby in his locker. Fearing that it might cause trouble, Mendo moves the baby-like creature, which is actually an alien, to Ataru's locker. Sleeping in Class on a Wonderful Spring Day (episode 39) Ataru's classroom is known as the scary failing classroom. When spring comes, a cherry blossom spirit called Shunmin visits and puts everyone to sleep. Spring has come again this year, and the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Everyone is snoozing in the classroom. Peach Blossom Poetry Contest (episode 40) After the cherry blossom spirit, it's time for the peach spirit to appear. Ataru and his friends were holding a poetry reading under the peach tree with Sakura-sensei and Cherry. Then, suddenly, something sinister started to drift.... Duel! Ataru vs. Ataru (episode 41) The stubborn and mean Ataru ate a manju in which Cherry sealed away the misfortunes of the world. Suddenly, Ataru split open and split into two: the good-student-like Ataru and the delinquent-like Ataru. Another big commotion at Ataru's house.

---

Footnotes

• [1] Star of the Giants (巨人の星/Kyojin no Hoshi) is a 19 volume manga by Ikki Kajiwara and Noboru Kawasaki which ran from 1966 to 1971. Ultimately it was adapted into a 182 episode anime from March 1968 to September 1971. It is considered to be one of the most influential sports series in manga and anime. Rumiko Takahashi even released a parody dojinshi of it before she debuted as a professional.
• [2] Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 American science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Richard Dreyfuss which was both a critical and commerical success and nominated for multiple Academy Awards.
• [3] Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (ルパン三世 カリオストロの城/Rupan Sansei Kariosutoro no Shiro) is the second feature film based author Monkey Punch's Lupin III franchise. It was released in 1979 and was co-written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki as his feature film debut. All of the above references take place in the first episode of Urusei Yatsura and can be seen in detail in our notes for the episode.
• [4]For the sake of creating as accurate a translation of the historical record as possible we have left the episode numbers identical to what they were listed as in the original periodical this article appeared in, however these episode numbers do not match the numbering convention that most fans and producers use in regards to Urusei Yatsura in the present day. The confusion stems from the early episodes airing two unique 15 minute episodes in one 30 minute block. The links will link to the correct episode with the number reflecting the unified numbering system.

---