Urusei Yatsura, TV Series 1 (Episodes 1-4) | 
| Directors: Kazuo Yamazaki, Mamoru Oshii
Actors: Yuko Mita, Kazuko Sugiyama, Shigeru Chiba, Mindi L. Lyons, Kazuhiko Inoue
Studio: ANIMEIGO
Category: DVD
List Price: $24.98
Buy Used: $9.49
You Save: $15.49 (62%)
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Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 79226
Format: Animated, Color, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), Japanese (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 100 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.6
UPC: 737187003301
EAN: 0737187003301
ASIN: B00005ASUS
Theatrical Release Date: 1982
Release Date: March 27, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This disc offers the first four installments of the 195-episode TV series based on Rumiko Takahashi's popular manga series, Urusei Yatsura ("Those Obnoxious Aliens"). In Japanese mythology, oni are hideous demons; Takahashi turns them into aliens. To save the Earth, high school lecher and nerd Ataru Moroboshi is pitted against the lovely, curvaceous Lum in a game of tag. When he wins, Lum believes he's proposed and moves in with his long-suffering parents. Shinobu, Ataru's girlfriend, objects and a skewed romantic triangle develops. Lum's friends and relatives begin arriving and complicating life further: cute little Ten breathes fire; staggeringly handsome Rei transforms into a tiger-monster. No wonder the neighbors want to run the Moroboshi family out of town. This slapstick comedy-romance anticipates Takahashi's Ranma 1/2, but Ataru, who has virtually no redeeming qualities, is less likable than Ranma. Unrated; suitable for ages 12 and up: Risque humor and brief nudity. --Charles Solomon
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Belly laughs abound, 5 stars (hmmm . . . stars . . .) March 19, 2001
nonicknamewhatsoever (Fountain Valley, CA)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
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.
Old anime= Good Anime October 29, 2001
Michael Ward (Athens, Georgia)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
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.
One of the best anime ever made August 5, 2001
Naikel (Caracas, Venezuela)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Like ever anime of Rumiko Takahashi, Urusei Yatsura is one of the best anime ever made. It is from early 80s, actually from 1981. It consist of 196 TV episodes, 8 OVAs and 6 movies of extremely funny stories.Rumiko Takahashi has made excellent works beside this one, like Maison Ikkoku, her best: Ranma 1/2, and her lastest superb work Inu Yasha. This DVD contains the first 4 episodes. Unfortunately, AnimEigo is releasing the DVDs bimonthly, so it's going to take a while (like hmm 8 years?) to watch all the episodes. They should release all the DVDs, they have made them all, because they have sold them in boxsets first.
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