Forum - View topicNEWS: Viz Media to Release Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura Manga
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positronic
Posts: 31 |
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The crucial similarity is that Archie and Reggie have exactly the same adversarial relationship as Ataru and Mendou have. Archie and Ataru are ordinary (if not actually inferior) in every way, while Reggie and Mendou are superior in every way (better looking, better dressed, better at sports, having more money, more suave with the ladies). Reggie and Mendou are the bane of Archie and Ataru's existence, most particular when it comes to competing for girls. Mendou has a few distinct advantages over Reggie Mantle. His parents aren't merely well-off, they're as rich as Veronica Lodge's parents in the Archie comics, and the girls fall all over Mendou just like the guys fall all over Veronica (Reggie Mantle's egotism is far too obvious, which makes him less attractive than his physical appearance would otherwise dictate). Neither Archie nor Ataru will ever be satisfied with any one girl, no matter how pretty or desirable she is. Each of them will always be distracted or tempted by the next (or newest) pretty girl to come along. In the beginning of UY, there seems to be an attempt to set up a separate-but-equal rivalry over Ataru between "the girl next door" (Shinobu) and "the exotic one" (Lum), but it never quite gels that way. In fact, we never quite have the sympathy for Shinobu that we should. Lum's single-minded obsession with Ataru, her never-give-up attitude, her willingness to put up with his obvious lack of interest and sometimes outright hurtful rejection (and forgive him for it eventually), resembles Betty Cooper's monomania over Archie. If nothing else, above all they are both girls who know what they want, and are willing to patiently and doggedly pursue their ultimate desire in the face of all obstacles. Shinobu is much more fickle, like Veronica, and will choose whichever boy seems to treat her better as a boyfriend. Archie takes Betty for granted because she's always available, always too eager to be got. Ataru does the same to Lum. Betty and Lum only get appreciation from Archie and Ataru when it seems like Archie and Ataru are in danger of losing them for good. Otherwise they get taken for granted that they'll always be there for them. |
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positronic
Posts: 31 |
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I found this interesting quote from Rumiko Takahashi online, which I guess goes to prove that she didn't really quite understand the appeal of the character of her own creation, Lum. It appeared in Volume 1 of the 2008 shinsoban re-issue of Urusei Yatsura, accompanying a new illustration of Lum by the mangaka.
I found that quote to be very illuminating, and somewhat curious that even the creator can't always judge which characters of theirs will connect with the audience. I don't know that I should necessarily read anything into the 'free and straight' comment other that she might have meant uninhibited and direct or straightforward. But as I do find Lum to be the primary appeal of Urusei Yatsura as a whole, it does cause me to wonder whether I will find Takahashi-san's other creations quite so compelling (or at least sympathetic, to my mind). |
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EricJ2
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Ranma 1/2--although more of a straight wacky farce, without the surreal pop-cultural parody of the later UY--was Takahashi's other biggest hit, and probably bigger in the US. (Ie., since Viz had no problem with manga sales, and was able to get the anime out into the mainstream--You can even catch Viz's dub and sub for ad-supported free on Vudu VOD.) The later UY series brought in the character of Ryuunusuke, a two-fisted but slightly confused tomboy whose nutty dad had raised her as a "boy", and now has no idea how to act like one of the girls--That idea spun off "Ranma 1/2"'s idea of Ranma, an overconfident martial-arts teen with, er, "gender problems" from a Chinese curse. Some of our hero's old enemies from his Chinese training days start arriving in town, and one of them, cute Chinese warrior-girl Shampoo, is another dangerously-obsessed "free straight" character unapologetically taken from Lum. In the later UY, Ryuunusuke strikes up a platonic "girl lessons" friendship with Shinobu, who's now come to symbolize the long-suffering struggles of Tomobiki High girls dealing with Mendou, Ataru and Lum...In Ranma 1/2, our hero finds himself in an arranged engagement with Akane, another girl struggling to be sweet and feminine despite her occasional furniture-throwing temper. Maison Ikkoku is a little harder to find, since the manga was a seller, but Viz infamously buried the anime release on purpose--That one's a city-bound comic serial-romance more in the "sentimental" style of UY's more relaxed romantic moments, with Godai, a college student trying (and often failing) to romance Kyoko, the cute new manager of his apartment building...And falling victim to every conceivable embarrassing or humiliating situation a bad-luck guy can face while dating. Not to mention dealing with a familiarly rich-handsome rival, and a building full of nutty irritating neighbors trying to pull the strings on the romance for fun. No Lum equivalent in that one, although a few familiar neighbors (including a smartass waitress, a 7-yo. brat, and an eccentric chap, who all sound suspiciously like Benten, Ten-chan and Megane.) That's pretty much it for classic Takahashi: Nowadays, she's billed as "The creator of Inu-Yasha", simply because one generation remembers it running forever on Cartoon Network--But despite her style, the story's little better than your standard Fairy Tail/One Piece eternally-running-fight-serial, and Rin-Ne' reportedly fell into the same trap. When you hear folks talk about the "Rumiko Trilogy", those two are considered separate categories. |
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positronic
Posts: 31 |
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I'll check into these. I've already checked as far as availability of the manga is concerned, and the ones that seem (mostly) still in-print and available are Inu Yasha and Ranma 1/2 (at 18 and 19 volumes of the most-recent omnibus editions from Viz). The other thing still in-print (from 2008, so I'll guess it wasn't a big seller) is ONE-POUND GOSPEL (4 volumes). But see, the pop-culture surrealism and fun with sci-fi tropes are the main appeal (apart from the character of Lum herself) of Urusei Yatsura to me. It's great that it turns out to be a rom-com, but I don't know that that's the major thing for me. Or maybe it is, but only because what other pop-culture/sci-fi parody rom-com genre fusions can you name? I don't think I know of any others, and that's what making UY so unique for me, along with what I perceive as its uncanny parallelism to the American 'teen humor' comics genre, like Archie Comics. I don't know that I'm ever going to find the same sort of hilarity in the gender-swap trope that seems to be the central device of Ranma 1/2. Certainly the joke is as old as (cross-dressing) Bugs Bunny cartoons and the Three Stooges shorts (and I'm sure some scholar could probably trace it back as far as classical Greek theater), but it sure gets old fast for me, through constant repetition. The other common element (which you refer to as male-bashing, as may or may not be) is the 'let's heap constant abuse upon this guy'. I guess it doesn't bother me in Ataru Moroboshi's case because whatever bad luck he might suffer just seems like an appropriate karmic retribution for his own attitudes and behaviors. I have a bigger problem with it when the guy doesn't seem to have done anything to deserve it, but he's just arbitrarily designated as a "loser". I guess I could check out the Ranma 1/2 anime when I get some time. |
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