File:Urusei Yatsura characters.jpg

Source: Wikipedia

For this installment of learning Japanese through anime titles we actually have the rare Japanese anime where they kept the original title for the English adaptations.  What I find interesting is the title is never explained for the English audience.

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 September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were published 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 an anime television series produced by Kitty Films and broadcast on Fuji Television affiliates 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.

Source: Wikipedia

うる星やつら is two words うる星 (urusei) and やつら (yatsura).

Urusei is actually masculine slang for the word うるさい (urusai) and can mean:

  1. annoying, troublesome, tiresome, persistent, importunate
  2. fussy, finicky, picky, particular, nagging, fastidious, bossy
  3. shut up!, be quiet!

There is also another meaning hidden in うる星.  The word is normally written in only hiragana and should be うるせい (urusei).   The character 星 can also be read as せい (sei), but this is not a normal usage.  星 is the character used for “heavenly bodies or stars”.  This is because Lum and her family and friends are all aliens.

Yatsura is also a masculine word.  “Yatsu” means “he, she, him, her (derogatory or familiar)” and when you add “ra” to it makes it plural and it becomes “they, those guys”.

In this case you can make multiple translations but I’d probably translate the title as “Annoying People”.  If you want to capture the title in masculine English it would have more of the nuance of “Annoying Assholes”.  The phrase is something much more likely to be said by a man than a woman.

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Rumiko Takahashi, the author of this manga, is very well known in Japan and also throughout the world.  Many of the tropes and the way the series is constructed are still used to this day.  The main character is basically abused by everyone in the show.  However, because he is such a lecherous jerk when he gets abused you don’t mind.  After that each episode it just repeats the same theme of him acting like a jerk and being abused.  After you know the basics of the characters you can watch any episode in most any order without much issue.  It’s the way that long running comics and cartoons work and Rumiko Takahashi helped greatly refine this formula to what we use today.

There is now a 2022 remake of the anime.  What has been interesting is reading the various reviews of the 2022 version.  The fans of the original anime and manga are generally happy with the remake, but the usual crop of  woke reviewers are unhappy because it retains the misogyny and violence of the original work.  These are the same people that hate South Park.

I’d never had a particular interest in the long running anime or the comic, but I decided to give the new remake a shot.  It’s obviously been done lovingly by the staff.  It also has top shelf young and old voice talent.  I’m glad I decided to watch it.  It’s nothing special, but simple mindless fun with an excellent group of voice talent.