The latest anime adaptation of Rumiko Takahashi’s iconic ecchi comedy Urusei Yatsura has officially revealed both its principal voice cast and the studio responsible for overseeing its production.
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First announced at the turn of the year with a full-page newspaper advertisement, the upcoming Urusei Yatsura anime received more details this past Saturday following the conclusion of a special countdown timer featured on the series’ official website.
Reaching ‘zero’ on January 1st, the timer eventually gave way to the series’ first preview, which treated viewers to a piece of promo art featuring Lum as well as a brief tease of Urusei Yatsura’s animation style.
Alongside these visual previews, the series also unveiled its principal voice cast, which will see Hiroshi Kamiya (Gamma #1, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero) voice Ataru Moroboshi:
And Sumire Uesaka (Hayase Nagatoro, Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro) voice Lum herself:
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Further, the preview also revealed that the series will be helmed by JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind directors Hideya Takahashi and Yasuhiro Kimura for David Productions.
In celebration of the series’ announcement, original series mangaka Rumiko Takahashi shared a message and new illustration to the series’ official website.
“Happy New Year to you all,” wrote Takahashi, according to a machine translation. “In the year of the tiger, ‘Urusei Yatsura’ will be made into an anime again. The character designer is Naoyuki Asano of ‘Osomatsu-san’ fame. I love ‘Osomatsu-san’ and have been watching it without fail, so I am very happy.”
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She continued, Forty years ago, “Urusei Yatsura” was also blessed to have the best voice actors, including Toshio Furukawa and Fumi Hirano. This time, too, Hiroshi Kamiya as Ataru, Sumire Uesaka as Lum, and all the other characters have been played by leading voice actors, and I’m amazed at how gorgeous they are. We hope you will enjoy the game as much as we do.”
“The scenario is also very interesting, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the directors Takahashi and Kimura will visualize it,” she concluded. “I’m sure that people who were fans in the past and people who don’t know about ‘Urusei Yatsura’ will enjoy this work, so please watch it.“
First beginning publication in 1978, Urusei Yatsura follows the everyday exploits of Ataru, an average Earth male, and Lum, the princess of an alien race known as Oni, after a series of events leads the latter to believe the two are married.
A sensation in Japan, the series found worldwide popularity with the creation of its first anime adaptation in 1981, which ran for a total of 195 episodes across the following five years.
Produced in honor of the 100th anniversary of the manga’s publisher, Shogakukan, the Urusei Yatsura anime is set to run for four full ‘cours’ starting sometime in 2022, though no word has been given on whether or not it will run consecutively.
Are you excited for a new Urusei Yatsura adaptation? Let us know your thoughts on social media or in the comments down below!