# Urusei Yatsura (1981)

> A lecherous high school boy becomes the unwitting magnet for an alien princess and a parade of extraterrestrial troublemakers in the small town of Tomobiki.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/31446

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 218
- Episode runtime: 26 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy, science fiction
- Network: Fuji TV
- Cast: Toshio Furukawa, Fumi Hirano, Akira Kamiya, Saeko Shimazu, Kazuko Sugiyama, Machiko Washio, Ichiro Nagai, Noriko Ohara
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081954/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: breezy, comedic, whimsical, playful, chaotic

## Synopsis

Urusei Yatsura (1981-1986) is a Japanese television anime sitcom series created for Fuji TV, produced by Pierrot and Studio Deen and based on the manga by Rumiko Takahashi. Ataru Moroboshi (Toshio Furukawa), a lecherous tenth grader in the small town of Tomobiki, accidentally proposes to the alien Oni princess Lum (Fumi Hirano) instead of his sweetheart Shinobu (Saeko Shimazu). From that moment he becomes a conduit for visiting extraterrestrials, and his days fill with havoc involving his friends, rivals and an endless procession of aliens. The engine is pure situational mayhem: Lum's jealous affection, Ataru's schemes to escape it, and the neighborhood's escalating chaos, all played out in standalone episodes with recurring cast. The show runs 218 episodes in one long stretch, so its overall shape is episodic comedy rather than a single story. Set in an ordinary Japanese high school town, it blends romcom banter with science fiction spectacle and a breezy, affectionate tone. Fans of Ranma ½, Kimagure Orange Road and Mahoromatic will find similar resonance in its cheerful romantic absurdity.

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