Customer Reviews

Urusei Yatsura, TV Series 1 (Episodes 1-4)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

American anime fans who were not familiar with the comics printed in English more than a decade ago have probably spent the past 10+ years wondering what the fuss was about. (Well it certainly wasn't trying to explain the spelling and pronunciation of the title to people!) I'm sure there are as many answers to this mystery as there are fans, but the series would never have captured such a large international following if it weren't for the clownish personality found in the invading "space-demon" Lum. Much of the conflict in the story (especially this early on) seems to spring from her selfishness and her amoral world view. Here's a girl that puts the "I" back into ideology! If you can dig that kind of protagonist well then, there is another hero in the story to help you in those moments when you just can't take Lum's side; high school underclassman Ataru. As the unwilling object of Lum's desire he counter acts her histrionic antics with indignation and a comical inability to see the error of his own selfish machinations. And let's not forget Ataru's girlfriend Shinobu; You see Lum doesn't like Shinobu, not that it would matter if she did.

Those of you wondering how this television series differs from the original manga will find that the character designs in these early episodes are simpler and less divergent from what was Rumiko Takahashi's emerging style as an illustrator. You will also find the key events from the manga series' initial installments intact; but you will be treated to some original detours, most notably a farcical time travel storyline.

In order to introduce the series properly the first episode includes the infamous game of "tag" that American reviewers in the 1980s mischievously used to portray the series as a being raunchy comedy. Little did they know that it would soon be translated and people would learn that nothing (well maybe not nothing) could be further from the truth. In fact, hard core Urusei Yatsura fans insist that the series has only one innuendo-laced scene(and guess what, it's on this disc).

Another key aspect of this volume is the introduction of two supporting characters. After all, it is in this stage of the story that we see the conflict between Shinobu and Lum erupt for the first time. From here on out it takes the form of an anticlimactic running gag. We also get to see Sakura, the school nurse introduced for the first time.

I hate to tag a high school finish to this thing, but I might as well keep with the theme. So in conclu . . . er, uhm, . . .I mean in other words, Urusei Yatsura's transition into a television series is a Takahashi franchise that lives up the original material.

Well that might not fit all series, but it certainly fits this series. The series first aired on television in Japan back in the year 1981, and soon became a massive success spawning 196 television episodes, 6 movies, and 11 OVAs. The manga series created by the extraordinarily talented mangaka Rumiko Takahashi lasted from 1977-1986 and was collected in 34 volumes. The series itself is one of the oddest series ever created in my own humble opinion. The first DVD involves the main character Ataru Moroboshi playing tag with an Oni, a japanese demon or in this case an alien from outer space, meeting another Oni named Ten who arrives in a peach like Momotaro in japanese folklore, a crazy Buddhist monk named sakuranbou, or cherry, another japanese figure from folklore: Kintaro, the gluttenous Oni, Rei, among many many others. The show is a good introduction to many aspects of Japan especially folklore and the lives of modern, middle class Japanese, but that might the series less appealing to others because it might be too japanese, but give it a shot any fan of anime should.

This story is about an alien oni race vent on conquering Earth, but to give Earthlings a chance they randomly choose a person, Ataru, to grab the very provocative Lum's horns. If Ataru manage to grab Lum's horns, Earth is spared and the Aliens will return home. From the moment I saw this TV show as a little girl in Japan, I was hooked. This show was so popular in Japan, every girl in Japan started calling their boyfriends "Darling". This story is a very funny romantic comedy that is a must for any Ranma 1/2 fan. Many colorful characters grace this show from the monstrously strong girl, Shinobu, to the very jealous rival of Lum, Lan, and this show have enough twists to keep you laughing. Buy this for any Anime fan and you won't be sorry.

Urusei Yatsura is one of the earliest animes from the brilliant and hillarious writer/artist, Rumiko Takahashi (also of Ranma1/2 fame). It features the misadventures of one Ataru Moroboshi, a libidinous young man with the bad fortune to draw the affections of an alien girl, Lum, with a penchant for tiger-stripe bikinis and a personality as electric as the bioshocks she can deliver. Now, his regular girlfriend won't talk to him, his classmates want him out of the way so that they can have Lum all to themselves, and her fire-breathing cousin, Ten, has arrived to keep him in line.
The DVD case includes liner notes to help explain the in-jokes and verbal puns of the Japanese language. The only real drawbacks are that the sound is a bit tinny at times, and there is no English dub for the series, so if you don't like subtitles, you'll be a bit put off here...unless you actually take the time to learn Japanese, that is.

Urusei Yatsura is based on the manga by Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Inuyasha. U.Y. was Takahashi's first success, and one of the most beloved series of the 1980's. Tiger bikini-clad Lum is still a popular character at cosplay conventions. However, the series is not as voraciously watched as Inuyasha. Whether this is because people think it is old, or dated, or the animation is not slick, they are missing out on true zany hilarity.

A little naughty, with a little nudity, the story is about an unlucky teen named Ataru who lives with his parents and becomes the love target of a sexy alien girl named Lum. There are so many crazy characters, most based on Japanese mythology, and an anything-goes "plotline." Ms. Takehashi has a wonderful imagination, and this series is strictly a steady stream of laughing gas.

Urusei Yatsura Vol.1 is pretty funny and engaging. The drawings not that good, but that can be expected from a 1981 anime show with a low budget.But I must say that this is a very odd tv show, for the charaters and people and aliens. But, if you can get past the poor drawing and oddness, as I did, then I am sure you will enjoy it.

I think that this is one of the greatest anime series of all time. It's a blend of mad-cap comedy, occasional pathos, Japanese folk tales , Japanese pop culture references, and surrealism. I fell in love with it many years ago when I saw the second movie, "Beautiful Dreamer." Since then I have managed to see most of the series and have read all of the manga. All the characters are memorable and well-developed. I'm very glad that it's coming out on DVD because now I don't have to worry about my VHS tapes wearing out.

Well, what to say about this. I can imagine a lot of people will think this just some other old stuff and disregard it and it IS quaint to be honest.

I bought this at a whim and I was rather scared after seeing the first few seconds of the intro. What was this old-looking and rather below-average animation, which wasn't that well transferred to DVD either doing here. Why did I buy this!?

Well, luckily I did view the rest and boy was I surprised. For a 20+ year old show this is top stuff. So what is so good? The animation is old-fashioned looking but VERY good for those times for a TV series. Very fluid and consistent. The voice acting is excellent and they really bring the characters alive. And of course the episodes themselves are hilarious.

I was hooked quickly :). Of course there are bad things too. Not all episodes are excellent, some are merely average or good and a few are just plain bad (just a few in my eyes so far and I've seen the first 15 DVDs so far).

The DVD quality is average usually, sometimes bad with bleeding, shimmering and after-images. I don't know if this is due to my player but I don't think so because I have a ton of other dvds that play just fine.

Sound is decent, after all it IS 20 years old Mono quality.

Biggest downside: NO extras, NO english dub, NO anything.
You get just the japanese version with english subtitles, that's it, excepting a morse code subtitle on the first dvd and some commercials on nr 6 or 7 I think.

Well that's fine with me of course, because I prefer japanese with subtitles, but some might not.

Anyway, if you like Ranma or series like Ranma (comedy with action) you should try hiring this dvd or one of the others and maybe, like me, you'll like it.

There really are no (English) words adequate to describe Urusei Yatsura- it's an animated absurdist romantic-comedy from outer space, it's a work of art which helped form the famed avant-garde anime director Mamoru Oshii's career, a groundbreaker which pioneered anime aimed at a more mature audience and popularized many of the now-standard anime gags; the list could go on for a VERY long time.

Before I go on with the review, I'd like to make a few corrections of misunderstandings from other reviews- for one, the DVD does indeed have a menu from which you can access the individual episodes (you just have to press the "Menu" button on your remote) and the transfer is top-notch for a show that, bear in mind, is from nearly thirty years ago. Originally a dub was created for the first four episodes, but due to its general atrociousness it was discontinued. I doubt many of the people buying this anime (generally being pretty hardcore anime fans) could care that much. The animation, while not as shiny as the later episodes or modern anime, was some of the best from the period. And Ataru is indeed likable- but I'll get to that later.

Urusei Yatsura (the title is a Japanese pun which is much too hard to explain in a limited format, but could rougly translate as "Those Obnoxious Aliens") was a breakthrough for several different giants of the manga and anime worlds. For one, it was the debut series of Ms. Rumiko Takahashi, the world's most popular female comic artist and multi-multi-multi-millionaire creator of some of the most loved and very best manga ever, and which helped her to cement that position. But if the manga was Takahashi's breakthrough, the anime was twice that for many of the most acclaimed directors, artists, and writers of the anime world, especially Mamoru Oshii, directors of such films as "Ghost in the Shell". But enough history.

The plot has been described in detail elsewhere, so I won't go that far into it, but suffice it to say that yes, it is just as weird and crazy as it sounds. What else could it be when the plot is centered around the most luckless, lecherous, nerdy loser on the face of the earth who just happens to be the exclusive, passionate love interest of a green-haired, tiger-skin bikini wearing and pheromone-exuding space princess with the sensual name "Lum" (pronounced "luhm", or in Japanese, even "ramu", not "loom" as I originally believed)?

For some reason, and I am no exception, many fans of Takahashi's work originally feel a little hesitation to pick up Urusei Yatsura, probably mostly from misinformed or biased reviews which describe the animation as outdated, etc. But trust me- its really hard, if you're a fan of anime, to NOT become hooked on this show. The comedy is much more wacky than what you can find in Ranma 1/2, but besides that, the show really has heart, with extraordinarily likeable characters and enjoyable situations. It's easy to fall in love with Lum, but Ataru is another story- many complaints say that, unlike Godai or InuYasha or Ranma, Ataru has no strong points. I disagree; yes, he may be a loser compared to the characters just mentioned, and yes, he really is an a**hole most of the time, but he has something that not many other male anime characters have- identifiability. He's just a normal, if very persistent, high-school age loser, who is thrust into the weirdness mostly against his will. Besides, I know it sounds cheesy, but the character has an ultimately good heart, and it comes out even in some of these earlier episodes.

The only reason I give 4 stars instead of 5 is that this first season is hardly the best, featuring the most dated animation and less interesting character development than the second season and onward(Oshii had yet to take the reigns). Indeed, many picking up the first four episodes might even be turned off- leaving us Urusei Yatsura veterans to only say "Please, hold out a little longer". The series really is a classic and a gem, but you have to give it a chance. I would suggest picking up one of the later volumes first, to get a sense of the series' potential, and then coming back to the first season.

This tale of an alien princess, Lum in love with the worlds biggest lecher, Ataru, could only come from the wild mind Rumiko Takahashi. This comedy/sci-fi/romance is full of memorable characters like Ten, Sakura, Mendo, Shinodu, Ryunosuke, Ran, Cherry, and a lot of others. The stories will have you busting laughing and the animation is pretty good for 80's standards.