Frequently Asked Questions
THE QUESTIONS
- What does the title mean? How is it pronounced?
- For what years did the manga run? The anime? How much of it was there?
- On what time, day, and station did the TV show air?
- How do I get Urusei Yatsura anime and manga in North America?
- Why is the manga in black and white?
- How far did Viz translate the manga? How many volumes have they put out? Which manga stories have been skipped by Viz?
- What has AnimEigo released so far? How often are the tapes released? Have they released any dubs? Why can't I get movie 2 from them?
- Ogre, demon, devil, oni? Just what race is Lum?
- Why do Lum, Rei, Ten and all other Oni wear tiger-stripes?
- Was it me, or did I see Lum in a music video?
- Why do many of Lum's sentences end in "-tcha"?
- Why do the Oni play tag in the first episode and the final movie?
- What are those bug-eyed red fish creatures in a spacesuits ?
- Does Ataru really love Lum? If so, why does he keep trying to get away from her? Why can't he admit that he loves her?
- Why does Lum love Ataru?
- What happened to Ataru and Shinobu's relationship?
- What is beefbowl (gyu-don)?
- Why is movie 5 called Kanketsuhen (Final Chapter) if there's another movie after it?
- I hear that most of the character's names have a deeper meaning. What exactly do the various names signify?
- What's the Urusei Yatsura Complete Music Box? Does it include all the music of the series? Can I still bUrusei Yatsura it?
- Why can't I find any fansubs?
- Did Rumiko Takahashi do anything else after Urusei Yatsura?
- Could there possibly be a remake of Urusei Yatsura in the future? Why or why not?
- I've heard of a rock group calling themselves 'Urusei Yatsura.' Who is this band and what is their connection to the Urusei Yatsura manga and anime?
- In what ways is the anime different from the manga?
- What were the names and order of the Urusei Yatsura volumes released in English by Viz?
THE
ANSWERS
1 - What does the title mean? How is it pronounced?
The title "Urusei Yatsura" is a Japanese play on words. There isn't any English equivalent to this complex multi-leveled pun, so we must explain it in detail to understand it.
The first word urusei is a mispronunciation or dialectic slurring of the Japanese word urusai which means "annoying," "noisy" or "obnoxious" yatsu is an informal way of saying "person" while -ra is simply one way of making a word plural. With that in mind, the title seems to say "obnoxious guys" but it still doesn't account for the fact that it's written as urusei and not urusai. Well read on and you'll see why.
Uru is also the name of a fictional planet from which the alien race of the Oni come from. In Japanese writing where each syllable is a different character, it is written as: u-ru-hoshi ya-tsu-ra, where hoshi is the kanji (Chinese ideological character) for "star." An alternative pronunciation for that character, used only in a compound word when describing the name of a planet, is sei. So with all of that in mind, Urusei Yatsura can mean "noisy-star guys" or perhaps "annoying fellows from planet Uru" or even AnimEigo's translation that is given as "those obnoxious aliens"
Using English
phonetics, the name is pronounced
"oo-roo-say yat-soo-rah." (don't pause at the dashes, just say
it in quick succession like they were two words).
2 - For what years did the manga run? the anime? How much of it was there?
The manga started in rather sluggishly in 1978, started up again in 1979 and continued on until 1987. In total Takahashi had created 34 volumes of Urusei Yatsura which comes up to around 374 manga stories. See About the Manga to learn more
The TV series started on October 14, 1981 and ended on March 19th, 1986. It had 195 separate TV episodes including an hour long year-end special. From then on many video and films were produced which kept coming out until 1991 when it stopped being made completely. Of the non-TV show releases there have been 6 movies, 8 OVAs, 2 TV specials, and many other miscellaneous video releases. See About the Anime for more info.
3 - On what time, day, and station did the TV show air?
From 1981 to 1986 the show aired on Fuji TV every Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Frequently the show was preempted by baseball games or other sporting events.
4 - How do I get Urusei Yatsura anime and manga in North America?
The manga can be ordered from Viz, the American manga publisher of all of Rumiko Takahashi's works. The indented paragraph below is no longer the case, but we shall leave it here just for historical context. Animeigo currently no longer holds the rights to the anime series, Discotek is now the license holder and have released the series in high definition on Blu-Ray using Animeigo's subtitles.
The manga
was partially translated and reprinted by Viz Comics. Back issues and
graphic novels can still be found in most comic shops that sell manga.
Otherwise they can be ordered straight from Viz
themselves. But Viz no longer produces new English language Urusei Yatsura
manga. They suddenly stopped publishing the series several years ago because
they didn't quite know how to market the series and as a consequence weren't
able to sell enough to justify it's continued release. It's a shame since
they were finally getting to the point in the manga where things really
start getting good and the art style becomes more refined.
The
more daring of you may want to try finding the Japanese language editions
if you want to see the continued adventures of the Urusei Yatsura gang.
The anime series was translated and released by AnimEigo. The tapes can often be found in video stores but since Urusei Yatsura isn't in high demand, they're hard to come by. The surest way to find their tapes is to contact AnimEigo's mail order service and order the tapes. They also sell videos online.
To find the original Japanese manga and anime without having to travel to Japan, there are online shops that deal in such imports.
While some Urusei Yatsura goods are particularly tricky to fid, the key is to keep hunting. Urusei Yatsura merchandise is not easy to find outside Japan, but there's lots of it out there. If you are persistent, you will eventually prevail.
5 - Why is the manga mostly black and white?
You must be new to manga if you're asking this question. This has more to do with the standard practice in the Japanese comics industry than Urusei Yatsura specifically. In Japan most widely circulated comic series are produced at a rate of one chapter per week, which is far more demanding than the monthly schedule of American comics. Given that coloring is one of the more time-consuming aspects of doing a comic, Japanese comics tend to omit coloring so that each comic can meet its weekly deadline. For this reason, comics like Urusei Yatsura are drawn with a very stark blackline style using solid blacks, crosshatching and patterns. The series did sometimes have a color pages done in watercolors (Rumiko Takahashi's coloring method of choice), but these are mostly done as an occasional bonus for readers of the original weekly run. The tankobon (trade paperbacks) reproduced these in black and white.
Comics done completely in color do exist in Japan, but they tend to be more expensive, come out less frequently and have a smaller distribution. Thus they're less popular than weekly publications like Urusei Yatsura. For this reason, most comics in Japan are black and white.
6
- How far did Viz translate the manga. How many volumes have they put
out? Have they skipped any chapters?
Like the above question the answer to this has thankfully changed. For over 20 years Urusei Yatsura's manga release in English was unfinished and had missing chapters (noted below). However this is no longer the case. As of 2019 Viz began to republish the series with a fresh translation and a commitment to publish the entire series for the first time. The below answer is no longer accurate but will be left here for those curious about the past challenges Urusei Yatsura faced in its initial English publication run.
Viz stopped
releasing Urusei Yatsura around the point of tankoban volume 11 (wideban volume 5)
of the manga series. For the most part the they are available in graphic
novel or comic book form, except for vol. 3.5 to vol. 4.8 which were serialized
in Animerica magazine and are only available as a graphic novel.
Viz has skipped three manga stories. vol 2.2 "The Mysterious Egg," vol 2.5 "Kidnapped by Kappa," and vol. 3.1 "Father, you were strong."
One story, vol. 1.9, "The Great Kiss War", was skipped in the original run of Lum*Urusei Yatsura, but was included in the graphic novels. Another, vol. 3.4, "Ain't He Sweet" only appeared in the graphic novel.
7 - What has AnimEigo released so far? How often are the tapes released? Have they released any dubs? Why can't I get movie 2 from them?
How things change... when this was originally written Animeigo were pushing through the series with a great deal of it still left in sight. Since then nearly two decades have passed, Animeigo completed the translation and release of the entirity of Urusei Yatsura, sold it for many years until keeping the license must have no longer made sense and then liquidated their remaining stock. As of 2020 only Beautiful Dreamer is licensed in the United States. The television series currently has no license holder.
So far AnimEigo
has released 25 TV volumes, with four episodes per tape so they're up
to episode 98 (including a 1 hour TV special). They've also released 5
of the movies, and 6 OVA volumes which include all 8 OVAs episodes, the
Inaba the Dreamaker TV Special, Ryoko's September Tea party, and I'm the
Shuu-chan Memorial Album. They're in the process of rereleasing their
TV tapes on DVD. By my last check, they were up to volume 10.
AnimEigo releases Urusei Yatsura rather erratically since it's never been their biggest money maker. When they started making the subs in 1992 they came out once a month, but then they started coming out bimonthly, then on a quarterly basis and now there is no telling when the next will come out.
All of their current Urusei Yatsura releases are Japanese language with English subtitles, excepting an English dub of the first two episodes labeled as "those obnoxious aliens." Years later they're going to try to dub the series again. Reportedly, an English dub of the first movie is in the works.
However, movie 2: Beautiful Dreamer cannot be obtained from AnimEigo because it was released by U.S. Manga Corps. AnimEigo did the translation, but somehow they rights for the movie belong to USMC. They later released an English dubbed version of the movie as well as their original subtitled version.
8 - Ogre, demon, devil, oni? Just what race is Lum?
Although many translations are given for what race of alien Lum is, the only correct term would be Oni. To make it more accessible to the western world, many American translators have tried to translate the name into something that we could comprehend such as ogres and devils. But in actuality Oni nothing like those types of creatures. Oni were are a traditional Japanese demon of mythology that was said to be a product of bad karma in humans. They take on many forms, but the traditional view of an Oni is an evil and ugly giant with horns, a mouth that stretches around his face, fangs and often carries a large club and has many frightening powers which often includes possession. The traditional woman Oni is beautiful and seductive, but can suddenly turn into a frightening demon. The Oni from Urusei Yatsura are a modern alien version of the traditional Japanese variety.
9 - Why do Lum, Rei, Ten and all other Oni wear tiger-stripes?
The mythological Oni were said to have worn tiger-skin underwear. Urusei Yatsura plays on this by combining traditional Oni garb with outfits out of a sci-fi show.
10 - Was it just me, or did I see Lum in a music video?
Clips of Urusei Yatsura that feature Lum appear in an American music video by rock artist, Matthew Sweet called "I've Been Waiting." Lum also makes a very brief cameo appearance in Matthew Sweet's "Ugly Truth Rock" video as a keychain, as well as a cameo in the framed picture hanging on the wall in the beginning of "Sick of Myself."
Lum attaches "-tcha" to most of her verbs which happen to be at the end of a sentence. Her speech is patterned after a very cute saccarine-laden style used in Japan by little girls who are trying to be cute, almost sickeningly so.
12 - Why do the Oni play tag in the first episode and the final movie?
The word for Tag in Japanese is Onigokko which literally means "game of the Oni." So it would be suitable for Oni to have tag as a favorite sport. In both cases, they use a competition of tag to decide the fate of earth.
13 - What are those bug-eyed red fish creatures in a spacesuits?
Those are Dappya Monsters. Called as such because they end every sentence with "dappya" These humorous little cameo characters were originally from Takahashi's first published work called Katte na Yatsura. The big joke with them is that they're from another series so they don't belong in Urusei Yatsura but still make a habit of constantly interfering with the show.
14 - Does Ataru really love Lum? If so, why does he keep trying to get away from her? Why can't he admit that he loves her?
Ataru loves Lum more than anything but he tries to convince himself and those around him that he doesn't. But often times he lets his guard down. Whenever Lum is in some kind of danger or it seems that he may lose her, that's when Ataru's true self comes out and he shows his true feelings towards Lum. But why does he run from her?
It would almost seem that Ataru would want to keep a platonic relationship with Lum for the time being, but she keeps pressuring him into a deeper relationship which makes him feel trapped. Similarly he is a very independent person who isn't comfortable having his life suddenly taken over by such an overbearing girl who keeps trying to change his ways. Ataru wants to be free to do whatever he wants, which includes girl-chasing and more, but Lum keeps following him, yelling, nagging and giving him an electrical punishment every time he defies her. All of those things make Ataru feel like a prisoner and so he constantly flees from her. But more so he's actually running from having to face his true feelings, which may be the underlying reason behind it all. That brings us to the question of why he has such a problem with admitting his love.
At the beginning Ataru had a bit of a physical attraction to Lum, just like with all girls. But during the Tag Race, he decides he wants nothing to do with her. Ataru's negative feelings towards Lum became worse after Lum decides to move in with him, become his loyal wife and he quickly finds out that she won't let him cheat on her. After getting over the initial "shock" of Lum being around him all of the time (pun intended), he unknowingly begins to fall for her. Eventually he comes to grips with that fact and accepts his love for her, but finds it impossible to show his feelings after he acting like he disliked her for so long. So Ataru finds it to difficult to show her how he feels, but he makes things worse by evading the situation and repeating the same horrible behaviour that makes Lum mad. It's a truly vicious circle.
15 - Why does Lum love Ataru?
Well a woman's feelings are a mysterious thing. Only Lum could explain why. Still, there are many reasons that become obvious over the series. One is that Lum sees through Ataru's affectations and knows that he is really a good natured person. A good soul is something that Lum seems to prize over everything else. Also Lum seems to only like men with interesting personalities, which accurately describes Ataru. Early on in the show Ataru is obviously a clutzy loser, but as the series progresses, he actually becomes a pretty cool dude. Maybe Lum was also attracted to this potential coolness he posessed. But this is still speculation because for the most part it's a complete mystery.
16 - What happened to Ataru and Shinobu's relationship?
Shinobu really wanted Ataru as a boyfriend at the beginning despite his behavior. But soon after Mendo shows up, she seems to have forgotten all about persuing Ataru and instead wants Mendo as a boyfriend. Even then Shinobu still has some romantic feelings for Ataru since she does let him get close on a few occasions, but it doesn't last long and begins to grow into fondness as a friend as opposed to a love interest. In short they become friends, although Ataru still tries to get fresh with her.
17 - What is beefbowl (gyuu-don)?
An inexpensive fast-food meal which consists of a bowl of rice topped with a mix of vinagered sprouts and cabbage with strips of cooked beef in a savory sauce. Often extra toppings are added to it. This happens to be a favorite of students like Ataru and Megane who eat mountains of beefbowl since they're both cheap and tasty. It's sort of what pizza is to an American student. It happens to be one of my favorite Japanese dishes as well which should give you a clue as to what kind of culinary sophistication I have. I once asked my Japanese language teacher if she liked gyu-don, and she told me that she rarely eats at gyu-don places because they're filled with construction workers, truckers and other low-level laborers. It's a truly blue-collar dish. All I know is when I was in Japan, half of the restaraunts I visited I usually ordered a donburi meal like gyuudon. I couldn't get enough of the stuff. If that means I'm slumming it, so be it.
Gyuudon is only one variety of 'donburi' meal of which there are countless types. Besides gyuudon other popular variations include 'tendon' (with tempura) 'katsudon' (with fried pork cutlet) and 'oyakodon' (chicken and egg).
18 - Why is movie 5 called Kankestuhen (Final Chapter) if there's another movie after it?
The fifth movie "Kanketsuhen" signals the official conclusion of Urusei Yatsura. However, about three years later another movie came out which doesn't seem to fit into the storyline of the series. Although AnimEigo calls it movie 6, it was really only a 10th anniversary comeback special in the form of a feature film. Many fans tend to think of the sixth movie kind of like an extended OVA because of the treatment that the animators gave it.
19 - I hear that most of the character's names have a deeper meaning. What exactly do the various names signify?
| NAME | MEANGING OR SIGNIFICANCE |
|---|---|
|
Ataru
Moroboshi
|
to get hit by a falling star |
|
Lum
|
name of a 70's bikini model / modified version of Takahashi's kid nickname / etc. |
|
Shinobu
|
to endure or patience |
|
Mendo
|
trouble or complications |
|
Sakurambou
|
cherry / deranged monk |
|
Sakura
|
cherry blossom |
|
Ten/Jariten
|
the heavens / bratty Ten |
|
Megane
|
glasses |
|
Paama
|
perm |
|
Kakugari
|
buzz-cut |
|
Chibi
|
runt |
|
Rei
|
zero |
|
Ran
|
civil war / orchid flower / a cute sound one makes when happy |
|
Benten
|
same name as one of the seven oriental gods of luck |
|
Oyuki
|
honourable Snow / psudonym of the legendary Yuki-onna. |
|
Ryuunosuke
|
a man's name |
|
Onsen-mark
|
the Mark of the Hot Spring |
|
Kotatsuneko
|
footwarmer-table cat |
|
Tsubame
Ozuno
|
swallow of Oz |
|
Kurama
|
reference to Kurama mountain, which was the location of several Tengu legends |
|
Kitsune
|
fox |
|
Inaba
|
reference to a children's story about a rabbit |
20 - What's the Urusei Yatsura Complete Music Box? Does it include all the music of the series? Can I still bUrusei Yatsura it?
The Urusei Yatsura Complete Music Box is comprised of a huge set of 15 compact disks filled with background music and vocal songs from the TV show, movies, OVAs and more. While it doesn't feature every single Urusei Yatsura sound that ever was, it comes pretty close to being truly "complete." It isn't easy to find, but it is still available for purchase. I haven't heard of any new ones being produced in recent years, but you might be able to find them by checking with the higher-end stores like Nikaku Animart. Be warned that since this boxed set is so huge, and because Japanese CDs are almost double the price of CDs in America, it's incredibly expensive at well over $375-$500 in American dollars.
21 - Why can't I find any fansubs?
The fact is that very few fansubs of Urusei Yatsura were ever made. Those few fansubs were done long ago and are now so rare that they're considered to be non-existent. Since AnimEigo already releases the series and most fansub groups only subtitle new anime, no-one has bothered to go on to create any other fansubs of the series.
22 - Did Rumiko Takahashi do anything else after "Urusei Yatsura"?
Indeed she did. Ranma 1/2 was one of the most popular series in the early days of anime and manga fandom in America. Maison Ikkoku is another classic romantic comedy series. Inuyasha became a phenomenon in the United States thanks to the anime airing on Adult Swim. After this she serialized the supernatural comedy Kyokai no RINNE. Mao, a drama with some thematic similarities to Inuyasha is her latest work. Why not check out the rest of Rumic World and discover some of the other series that she's created during and since Urusei Yatsura.
23 - Could there possibly be a remake of Urusei Yatsura in the future? Why or why not?
This depends on what you're hoping for. A one-off special? That's always possible. In fact to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Rumiko Takahashi's career a new OVA was commissioned for Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha respectively. Urusei Yatsura recieved the "Obstacle Course Swim Meet" OVA, which reunited the voice cast (though was animated and directed by Sunrise who were handling Inuyasha at the time). Surpringly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Shogakukan, Rumiko Takahashi's publisher, a remake of Urusei Yatsura was commissioned for a two season series with a new cast beginning in 2022.
24 - I've heard about a rock group calling themselves 'Urusei Yatsura'. Who are they and what is their connection to the Urusei Yatsura manga and anime?
There's a band from Glasgow, Scotland that call themselves Urusei Yatsura. The name aparently came to them when some members had a passing fancy with the anime, and decided to use it as a band name. Other than that, they have no connection to Urusei Yatsura whatsoever. They're not a tribute or novelty band. They don't play anime music. They're just a typical rock group that happened to choose the name of an anime show. I personally don't mind and say more power to them. At least they're using a name that's cool.
The only
problem is that internet searches often tend to confuse Urusei Yatsura anime and manga
fans when they go looking for Lum, and are disappointed to find a bunch
of musicians who look nothing like her.
25 - In what ways does the manga differ from the anime?
In a lot of ways. There are too many differences to point out but there are some glaring ones.
The most obvious difference would be Lum's Bodyguards (Megane, Perm, Kakugari and Chibi) being used as prominent characters. In the manga they were only briefly used early on as nameless members of Lum's fan club. By the time Mendo shows up, they vanished from the manga never to be seen again. The anime on the other hand extrapolated upon their brief appearance and made them into four very distinct personalities in co-starring roles. Especially in the case of Megane who becomes a notorious scene-stealer, they practically impose themselves on the story and interfere with the triangle between Lum, Ataru and Mendo. Megane for example is given so much screen time, that he often takes emphasis away from Mendo's role which is extrememly important to the manga. The characters may have been entertaining, but they were in essence spare baggage. Megane and the others became a favorite tool of the animators for expressing their bemusement at otaku culture.
The style of humor would be another big difference. Although it's difficult to describe in words..
Most of this
applies to the first half of the TV series and movies rather than the
later half, which is more similar to the manga.
26 - What were the names and order of the Urusei Yatsura volumes released in English by Viz?
Viz attempted to release Urusei Yatsura in English in 1989 and then tried once again in October, 1994. Of the two attempts they made at translating the series they called the initial release "Lum: Urusei Yatsura" and the revival of their release "The Return of Lum: Urusei Yatsura".
Marketing research suggested that named volumes sold better than numbered releases (this was especially apparent in Viz's anime releases of Ranma ½ and Maison Ikkoku during this time period), and so Viz gave individual names to the collected graphic novels they released. The titles were:
Beginning in 2019 Viz once again released Urusei Yatsura this time in a more familiar format- no special names for volumes, nor subtitles, it was a straightforward, numbered edition release of the series.