Lum Urusei Yatsura Perfect Collection [Paperback]

Anyone who is even mildly into the manga and anime scene will probably be familar with the character of Lum. Sometimes, that familiarity will lead to curiousity (or infatuation as is some cases), and sometimes the curiousity will lead to interest in the source manga. If you are one of these people (and you probably are if you are reading this), then congratulations! You've made the right choice, and fellow UY fans welcome you. Welcome to the wacky world of Urusei Yatsura! Drop your bags and forget about 'em, because chances are you ain't leavin'.

"Urusei Yatsura" is, as you might have guessed, a product of comedy genius Rumiko Takahashi. And with that, you can certainly expect to see her trademark brand of comedy slapstick. "Urusei Yatsura" isn't as action based as "Ranma 1/2" or "Inuyasha", but it has aces on the brand of slapstick that "Ranma 1/2" fans are sure to love. Bizarre occurances and weird antics happens almost round-the-clock -- alien tag races, outer space taxi cabs, Snow Princesses from Neptune, and hibernating Crow Princesses are just a small sample of the things you'll encounter with this series. Intrigued by all this? Good, this is definitely the manga for you.

I won't expand too much on the plot, since I believe that one of the strongest aspects of Urusei Yatsura is its wonderful characters (besides, you can find summaries on the net). If you are male, there's a good chance that you'll fall in love with Lum -- beautiful, exotic, young, and full of sex appeal, Lum is essentially what every man dreams of in a perfect woman. For the ladies, there's the man-beast Rei, who looks like he should be in a boyband when he's under his normal form; but once he gets angry and/or hungry, he transforms into a huge tiger-bull creature with big round eyes. Adorable? I wouldn't know. Rei gets two stories in this collection, and some cameo appearances here and there. And of course, who can forget about Cherry the short Buddhist priest? Male or female, everybody loves the deranged monk from hell. Well, they should, anyway.

Last but not least, there's our protagonist, Ataru Moroboshi. At first glance, he appears to be your everyday teen -- average looks, average height, insecure girlfriend, and even a nagging mom. Someone you could relate to... or not. As the manga progresses, we come to see that he's exactly the opposite -- lecherous, perverted, full of bad luck, and as Lum would say, a "philanderer!" Ataru is normally seen flirting (unsuccessfully) with any attractive female within a 10 feet radius, and he usually ends up paying for it by means of Lum's electrical surges of lightning ZAK ZAK. But don't be fooled by his supposedly repulsive ways -- Ataru is far more complicated a character than he lets on. While he appears to lack a brain most of the time, Moroboshi can be quite the calculating manical genius when he needs to be.

There's so much more that I'd love to say about this series, but I'll stop here. If you enjoy manga with odd instances, eccentric characters, a dash of sci-fi, and a sugary bowl of slapstick comedy, then "Urusei Yatsura" is perfect for you. Or if you find yourself enjoying the comedy featured in Takahashi's later works ("Ranma 1/2"; "Maison Ikkoku"; "Inuyasha") and wondering if UY will work the same charms for you, think no more and pick up a volume NOW! It is, after all, Takahashi-sensei's first and best comedy series.

Welcome aboard, mate.

Urusei Yatsura is my favorite series created by Rumiko Takahashi, and it is even more amazing when one considers that Takahashi-sensei started this series when she was only 20 years old back in 1977. This series is the perfect conglomeration of Takahashi's talents she mixes folklore, japanese lliterature, and almost everything else in an insane mixture of pure chaos. Try this series Ranma and Maison Ikkoky might be better known but this series will blow your pants off. Viz give us more Lum!!!

These are among the best of the classic manga: excellent comic artwork and clever plots, but what makes the Lum stories really remarkable are the inventive parodies of sex role, ethnicity, iconology and other aspects of recent Japanese culture. Much of what Takahashi works into these episodes will be missed by many readers, especially those who have no knowledge of the Japanese language originals or limited knowledge of Japan, but open-minded graphic novel fans of any background should enjoy much that lies on the surface. This particular collection seems to be a fair compendium of her work.
Why only four stars? Certainly the content deserves all five. Unfortunately, the book is poorly bound, so the cover AND the pages fall out within a couple of months of normal usage. If this book is just for you, fine, but if you're buying for a library (and what graphic novel collection would NOT have Takahashi's Lum?) or like to pass your books around to friends, it's going to fall apart.
Not unusual for good manga, unfortunately.

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