Urusei Yatsura TV 9/10

The anime that preceded Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, and InuYasha. After having now seen the whole series I can safely say that Urusei Yatsura better than all of them.

Running a total of 195 episodes from 1981-1986 this is a pretty old show, from the days before the insanely high production values of current anime fare. Of course the quality is still not great on it's best day but there are some really crappy looking episodes. The look of the show also changes over time but for the better as the character designs evolve and look a lot better as the series goes on. The character designs are fantastic even if they're animated poorly, I mean a girl in a tiger fur bikini with long green hair, fangs, and horns? You've gotta love that. The music is quite good throughout the series with new background themes added over time. Since this show has 15 OP and EDs total there is a lot to choose from but there are only a couple of bad ones. My favourite of the lot would have to be the seventh ED “Open Invitation” which is really catchy with it's tropical feel.

The VA's for this show deserve special mention. There are so many classic voices here it's difficult to list what's so great about each of them. Ataru's lecherous laugh and ability to switch to his super serious voice in mid-sentence. Megane's ability to scream at the top of his lungs. Mendou's switches from cool rich boy to screaming maniac. Shinbou and Ran's quiet girly voices capable of changing to angry shouting in a flash. Onsen Mark's cries of frustration. And of course Lum's irreplaceable “DAAAAAALING!” as she administers her electroshock lynch hell to Ataru. This show has the best cast ever and I suppose that's one of the biggest parts of it's charm. Also once you learn some Japanese and are as familiar with it as I am the performances take on a whole new level of greatness.

UY doesn't really have a overall plot, it's mostly just a comedy with the occasional serious bit thrown in for good measure. The main male lead is Ataru Moroboshi, girl chaser extraordinaire who agrees to represent the human race against invading aliens in exchange for the chance to marry his classmate Shinobu. The battle is a game of tag against the flying princess of the aliens, our female lead Lum. Ataru wins and in a huge misunderstanding he ends up engaged to the electric shock administering alien girl who ends up living at his house.

The characters are what make the show and I'll list a few of them:

Mendou: Ataru's classmate and heir to the richest family in Japan. He's in love with Lum, handsome, rich, has a private army, and carries a sword to school.

Jariten (Ten): Lum's little flying cousin with fire breath, a quick temper, and a penchant for the ladies second only to Ataru and Mendou.

Shinobu: Ataru's classmate and a quiet kind girl, until she gets mad then she develops super strength and throws things.

Ran: Lum's childhood friend who lives in her pink spaceship and is all sugar and spice. Then she gets mad and attacks with alien robots and gadgets.

Sakura: The beautiful school nurse who's also a Shinto priestess. She's got a huge appetite and a quick temper.

Megane: Ataru's classmate and head of Lum's Stormtroopers, her fanclub. His soliloquies on his wasted youth and unrequited love are in dispersed between bouts of screaming madness.

Cherry: Sakura's uncle and a Buddhist monk with a huge appetite and a knack for always appearing out of nowhere.

The episodes usually involve some new alien, spirit, alien technology, or mysterious place the cast go to and hilarity ensues and when I say that I mean it. The majority of the episodes of UY are very funny and pretty original, you just have to see past the age of the show.

I can easily recommend this show but it's a lot to take in. So much of the show involves Japanese cultural themes it may be too much work for the average anime fan to bother even trying to understand it. I have to say this is one of my top ten shows of all time, every anime fan should at least know who Ataru and Lum are.