Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter

Urusei Yatsura (うる星やつら) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday from August 1978 to January 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were collected in 34 tankōbon volumes. It tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum, who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally proposes to her. The series makes heavy use of Japanese mythology, culture, and puns. It was adapted into two anime television series that aired on Fuji TV affiliates. The manga series was republished in different formats in Japan. Viz Media released the series in North America in the 1990s under the names Lum * Urusei Yatsura and The Return of Lum, but dropped it after nine volumes. The company re-licensed the manga and released an omnibus edition under its original title with new translations from 2019 to 2023. The first television series, produced by Kitty Films, was broadcast from October 1981 to March 1986, with 194 half-hour episodes. Twelve OVAs and six theatrical films followed, and the series was released on various home video formats. A second anime television series adaptation of 46 episodes produced by David Production aired on the Noitamina programming block from October 2022 to June 2024. It is licensed by Sentai Filmworks and is streamed on Hidive. The original television series, OVAs, and five of the films were released in North America with English subtitles, as well as a dub for the films by AnimEigo. They provided extensive notes on the series to allow people to understand the many cultural references and jokes in the series that would not normally be understood by non-Japanese. The remaining film, Beautiful Dreamer, was released bilingually by Central Park Media. Five of the films, as well as the OVAs, are available from MVM Films in the United Kingdom. The series was released on television in Southeast Asia as Lamu the Invader Girl. The series and films have been license rescued by Discotek Media for a Blu-ray release. Urusei Yatsura launched Takahashi's career and received positive reception in and out of Japan from fans and critics alike. The manga has over 35 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. In 1980, it received the 26th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōnen category, as well as the 18th Seiun Award for the Best Comic category in 1987.