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BANDWIDTH
A Popular Culture Electronic Magazine
©2000
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Urusei Yatsura

By Rumiko Takahashi

Published by:VIZ
Reviewed by: JenniferJ and Jon Minners

      Urusei Yatsura (Those Obnoxious Aliens), known in the US as Lum*Urusei Yatsura, was Takahashi's claim to fame in the A Scene from the Lum*Urusei Yatsura The Perfect Collection Copyright Takahashi/Vizmanga world. Urusei Yatsura ran in the Shonen Jump (the home to most of Takahashi's manga series) from 1978 until 1987. The series concluded with 34 tankoubons (collected anthologies), an anime series (1981 through 1986), five films, and three OAVs.

      Urusei Yatsura is the story of the unlucky Ataru Moroboshi, who was born on Friday the 13th, under a full moon. While on the way to the hospital his mother was startled by a black cat, so she and Ataru's father ducked under a stepladder to avoid it. His mother then bumped into a food cart and spilled salt, the cart then rolled into a mirror, well you get the picture. Ataru brings new meaning to the saying, "If it wasn't for bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all".

      To complicate a life of bad luck, parents who dislike you and an undying lust for women, which gets you in trouble with your girlfriend, aliens invade the Earth. Ataru is randomly picked to defend the Earth by playing a ten-day game of tag against the alien species tiger print, bikini clad, horned princess, Lum. If Ataru tags one of her horns he wins and the aliens will leave. On the tenth day after defeat, hate messages, and paranoia Ataru wins the race. He is finally a hero. His luck has finally changed!

      However, two days before the end of the race Shinobu, Ataru's girlfriend, tells him that if he wins the race she will marry him. So upon tagging Lum he screams, "I will marry her!" referring to Shinobu, but Lum believes it is she. So now Ataru is caught between two women, and while for some men this is a very nice state of affairs, Lum will not let Ataru out of her sight and Shinobu is beating the bejesus out of him.

      But if being caught between two women is not bad enough imagine having every boy at Tomobiki High School wanting to beat you because they have declared their undying love for Lum. Then there are the obnoxious aliens and humans who either want to destroy Lum and Ataru's "relationship", or "help" them make sense of their new crazy existence.

The Obnoxious Aliens and Humans

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