The Guest-Star is an Alien?!

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

A Massively Successful Gathering with Fans

Even though there were signs of this, the popularity of Urusei Yatsura lately is almost insane. The viewership rate exceeds that of the "Giants vs. Chunichi" showdown, and when the fan club is formed and members are recruited, 15,000 applications are received in no time. ^[1] Because of this, the fans' request to "adapt it into a movie" was easily accepted, and the same staff as the TV version is currently working at full speed to make it for release in February next year. So, what is the content of the movie? It is said to be an original story, but what kind of story is it? What about original characters? As a fan, there are many things I want to ask and know. I also want to meet the staff and voice actors involved in the production in person. An event that answered all of these desires at once was held at Chiyoda Public Hall in Tokyo on the 16th of last month.

This was a gathering of Urusei Yatsura fans. 800 fans who had won a lottery with odds of 10 to 1 gathered from all over Japan for this event, which also served as the production announcement for the film, and an eerie atmosphere existed inside the venue even before it started. The event finally began a little later than the scheduled 5 o'clock. The cast began with an introduction of the voice actors.

"I want to do something refreshingly cute and fun" (Lum, Fumi Hirano),
"I'm an introvert by nature, so I'll turn up the voltage during the performance" (Ataru, Toshio Furukawa Toshio),
"Just as women like men, men should like women too. Is that what you mean?" (Ten-chan, Kazuko Sugiyama Kazuko),
"I wish they'd bring me out a bit more, but... I'll do my best (laughs)" (Cherry, Ichiro Nagai).

After each of them spoke about their aspirations for the film, a dubbing demonstration was held on stage, with famous scenes from the TV series playing in the background. The audience erupted in cheers at the superb performance. Following the voice actors, the original author, Rumiko Takahashi, appeared on stage. The cheers got louder. "I'm leaving the anime to the staff. I'm looking forward to seeing it," she said. After that, there was an introduction of the production staff, a character costume show, a theme song corner, a mini-concert of Virgin VS., a TV preview screening, and finally a lottery with luxurious prizes, and the fun two hours came to an end. ^[2]

The FC is still accepting new members! If you want to join, please send the 100 yen joining fee and 600 yen for 8 months to

Kitty Film,
"Urusei Yatsura" Fan Club,
P.O. Box 29,
Shibuya Post Office,
Tokyo 150, Japan

Episode Listings

• After You've Gone (10/13)
  Today, a party is being held for Lum, so Lum went out with Ataru. However, at the party, Ataru said some nasty words to Lum. Lum, who had been listening to it in silence, suddenly stood up and said, "Am I in the way?" and left.
• Lum-chan's Class Party (10/20)
  In class 2-4, the teacher is teaching English, but Ten flies around the ceiling, and Confused Boy and Sakura come and disrupt the lesson. Just when you think the three have finally disappeared...
• Lunch is a Battlefield! (10/27)
  
• Shiver! Mystery in the Odd of Fossil Land (11/3)
  
• Princess Kurama - A New Challenge! (11/10)

I Want to Know.

Q. Please tell me about Helen Sasano, who sings the ending theme, and the records she has released so far. Kazumi Iwakura, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo (14 years old)

A. Born in Mississippi, USA, her birthday is September 7th. After that, she came to Japan due to her father's work (military work) and graduated from the American School in Zama in 1979. Currently, she lives in a US military camp with her father (Polish American), mother (Japanese) and siblings. She made her record debut in 1981 with "Kyun! to Kataomoi" (Unrequited Love). Since then, she has released "ROMANTIC SUMMER", "DO YOU LOVE ME?", "First Love Comrades" and now "Kokorobasoi na". (Kitty Artist) ^[3]

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Footnotes

• [1] Much had been made of Urusei Yatsura's ratings being higher than the recent Tokyo Giants vs Chunichi Dragson game. It was previously mentioned in Animage 1982 Volume 10.
• [2] Virgin VS performed was the new theme song "Hoshizora Cycling" for Urusei Yatsura at the event.
• [3] Helen Sasano would contribute the songs: "Margarita" and "Kokorobasoi na." In 1970, she moved with her family to Sagamihara Camp, a housing facility for the US army in Sagamihara, Kanagawa. This was her first time in mainland Japan.

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