Ataru's Previous Fiancee Elle Appears

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

A mysterious beautiful girl named Elle, who calls herself Ataru's fiancee, will be appearing as a new character in the movie Urusei Yatsura, scheduled for release in February 1983. Who is she?

What is the new character Elle?

Elle is a new character, and as you can see from the setting on the right page, she is a beautiful girl. Even if you're not a womanizer, you'll fall in love with a girl like this. Moreover, she appears in front of Ataru as his fiancee, so there's no doubt that there will be a big commotion. Now, this Elle says that she got engaged to Ataru 11 years ago, and to keep that promise, she kidnaps Ataru to her own planet. "Elle's personality is somewhere between Lum and Ran," says the original author, Rumiko Takahashi. This means that she is a girl who has both Lum's devotion and Ran's fiery temperament. Takahashi says that she took the image of Elle from a rose flower. ^[1] Roses are flowers that represent passion, so is Elle also passionate?

Where will Lum's love go?

Meanwhile, Lum is surprised when Elle suddenly appears and says that she is Ataru's fiance. What's more, she is shocked again when she takes Ataru to her planet. Will Lum give Ataru away because he was her fiance? No, Lum is devoted to Ataru, so she will surely board Elle's planet to get him back. In spite of that, where will Ataru's feelings go? Elle, the "pretty girl" from space, comes and asks him to marry her. This is what Ataru wants. But will Lum and Ataru, who have been together for a long time, really break up? I'm looking forward to the ending.

Lum and Ataru have new designs!

Since it's a movie, it seems that the purpose is to create a more powerful screen composition and to express the dialogue and movements between the characters. According to general director Mamoru Oshii and screenwriter Tomoko Konparu, most of the characters that have appeared on screen so far will appear, and the story will be an all-star cast. I can't wait for the release in February to see how the characters will appear.

Urusei Yatsura is my treasure!! (Comment from Rumiko Takahashi)

Urusei Yatsura is my treasure, and just like when it was made into a TV series, I was very happy when I heard about this movie. When I read that Konparu-san had turned my ideas into a wonderful story, I was so grateful that he had grasped it to this extent. Konparu-san, you're amazing!! I often had late-night phone calls with Konparu-san, discussing details and characters. When we were deciding on the design for Elle, Konparu-san wasn't there, so it was a struggle. The staff is great, so I'm looking forward to the movie's release. I hope all the fans will also watch it.

Look forward to the love story between Lum and Ataru. (Comment from Tomoko Konparu)

When I was first asked to compose the movie version, I was really happy. Because I'm also a huge fan of Urusei Yatsura. The characters that appear are all unique and entertain me, but I especially love Lum. Okay, so I decided to make it a love story between Lum and Ataru. After that, I had a late-night phone meeting with Rumiko Takahashi. It seems that we talked a lot about unrelated things. I wrote about 300-400 pages of manuscript. I worked so hard that my shoulders were sore. The highlights are the new character El, the fact that all the cast members play an active role, and the sudden ending. Please watch it.

Find a character you can entrust yourself to. (Comment from Mamoru Oshii)

If I were to talk about the story of the anime, it would become boring and bland, but the structure of the story is a love story, or rather, a battle between two women (Lum and Elle) over Ataru. Urusei is a world of character dialogue, so I won't change that. Since it's for the theater, Elle's planet will be the setting for the artistic highlights, but I want to make the story stand up to the setting. In addition to Elle, a guest character exclusive to the movie, all the main characters from the TV series will also make an appearance. I hope that you will cry, laugh, get sweaty, and enjoy the movie. And I hope that when you leave the theater, you will remember that you found at least one character that you can relate to. On September 18th at 5pm, Kitty Film hosted the Urusei Yatsura movie production announcement event at Chiyoda Public Hall in Tokyo. On the day that a typhoon was about to hit Japan, Typhoon Lum had already landed at the venue!

Fans were delighted by the re-recording of the Urusei Yatsura movie!!

The venue was filled with excitement even before the show started. It was no surprise, as the fans at the venue, who were able to meet the voice actors and production staff up close, including the original author of Urusei Yatsura Rumiko Takahashi, were all happy to be there, as they were all lucky boys and girls who had overcome more than 10 times the difficult competition out of more than 8,000 applicants, despite the venue's capacity of 800. First, the theme song of Urusei Yatsura played in the venue, and the opening of the TV version began. Next, the voice actors of the TV anime appeared on stage with a comical introduction by the MC, and the stage was filled with excitement as people called out for the voice actors. Fumi Hirano, Toshio Furukawa, Kazuko Sugiyama, Machiko Washio, Ichiro Nagai, Akira Kamiya, Kenichi Ogata, and Natsumi Sakuma, all familiar members of Urusei Yatsura were gathered together. The audience was excited as the dubbing scene was recreated while looking at the slides set up on the stage. Every time a famous line like Ten-chan's familiar "I'm a good kid," Cherry's "It's fate!", or Shutaro Mendo's "A man's face is what makes him who he is" popped out, the audience erupted in laughter and applause. The first year since the Urusei Yatsura TV anime began, the voice actors are in perfect sync. Then Rumiko Takahashi appears. Takahashi, who is known for her shyness when she takes to the stage, still answers the host's questions promptly. The fans in the audience are desperate not to miss a single word, and some even bring along tape recorders... At that time, handmade fan works were displayed, including a modified plastic model doll by Masaki Kobayashi from Shizuoka, and a Hakata doll by Kazuhisa Koyanagi from Fukuoka. The film production announcement and a costume show of the characters by the show-goers were followed by a cool performance by Virgin VS, and the announcement of a new ending that will begin in October, and the gathering came to a close on a high note.

Members of the Urusei Yatsura production staff and Rumiko Takahashi all gathered together and gave a speech from the stage! (Staff Comments)

Hidenori Taga: "When I read the script, I was rolling in laughter. There are also cute girls in the film." ^[2]

Shigekazu Ochiai: "I think this film will test whether a man is judged by his looks, his intelligence, or his financial resources. Right now, my head is full with the plans for the second film." ^[3]

Tomoko Konparu: "I was a big fan of the original work, so when I got the offer to write the script for Urusei Yatsura I was happy and it was a fun job." ^[4]

Yūji Nunokawa: "For a 30-minute screening, 40,000 to 50,000 drawings are needed, so the staff are working day and night." ^[5]

Mamoru Oshii: "I will do my best to fulfil what I left undone in the TV version. Please look forward to it!" ^[6]

Rumiko Takahashi: "Many people have had a hand in the film, and I am merely the original author. It was made into a film thanks to your efforts, so I hope all the fans will go to the cinema and check it out."

The film's theme song is sung and composed by TV star Izumi Kobayashi's "Mimi-chan"!

The theme song for the film was also announced in conjunction with the announcement of the film's production. Singer Mimi-chan was unable to attend on the day due to circumstances. This disappointed fans, but the resulting theme song is a bright pop song, Fans are enjoying the light-hearted rhythm and are very satisfied!!

First issue of the FC magazine!!

The first issue of the fan club magazine "Urusei Club" is now complete. It is the size of a folding paperback book, and the front 16 pages are filled with articles full of movie information. The back is an all-character calendar, a deluxe edition in full color. The office is currently very busy with membership applications, which have now exceeded 15,000, but they are still accepting applications. Those who wish to join should send the initial joining fee plus 2000 yen (equivalent to 8 months' membership fee) by registered cash or money order to the address on the left.

Post Office Box 9,
Shibuya Post Office,
Tokyo 150,
Hello Kitty Films Inc.
"Urusei Yatsura" Fan Club Section

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Footnotes

• [1] Animage Staff. "Urusei Yatsura the Movie: Secret Big News" Animage Vol. 11, 1982. https://www.furinkan.com/ features/interviews/animage198211.html.
• [2] Hidenori Taga (多賀英典) is the executive producer of the Urusei Yatsura films and would also go on to produce other Kitty Animation projects such as Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2 as well as the Legend of Galatic Heroes (銀河英雄伝説/Ginga Eiyū Densetsu) franchise.
• [3] Shigekazu Ochiai was a producer for Kitty Animation, who got his start as an assistant to Kazuo Koike (小池 一夫) and helped manage Gekiga Sonjuku, the training school run by Koike that Rumiko Takahashi attended prior to her debut. Eventually Ochiai left Koike and found himself working for Kitty Music as they transitioned into the anime business. Because of his connection with Takahashi prior to her debut he was able to use those connections to bring her on board with Kitty Animation. This proved to be a very fortuitious partnership as Kitty went on to produce Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku and Ranma 1/2. Ochiai passed away in 1999.
• [4]Tomoko Konparu (金春智子) has a long association with the works of Rumiko Takahashi. She is the scriptwriter for many episodes of her television series from Urusei Yatsura through Ranma 1/2 and additionally wrote the scripts to many films based on Rumiko Takahashi's series. Additionally, Rumiko Takahashi illustrated her series of books The Young Lady Novelist - Haruna's Casefiles (お嬢さま作家・春菜の事件簿).
• [5]
• [5] Yuji Nunokawa (布川ゆうじ) was a producer, animator and director. He is also the founder of Studio Pierrot and was a producer on Urusei Yatsura An interview with Yuji Nunokawa can be found archived here on the site. He passed away in 2022.
• [6] 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.

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