This is URUSEI YATSURA Characters.

CAST

This is only the main characters as the characters mentioned in the Manga is of unimaginable numbers.

Name Description

Ataru Moroboshi
Meaning: To be hit by a falling star
The unluckiest guy in the universe and possibly the most lecherous, the mere fact that he lived to be 17 is a miracle in itself. Born on Friday 13th, the day of a major earthquake and on Butsu-metsu (the unluckiest day on the Buddhist calender), it was pure fate that he attracted every type of demon and bad luck imaginable. He spends his time chasing women - any type of women; even though nearly all women find him unbearably attractive, he never gives up. Call it mule-headed stubborness, call it perseverence, his unfaithfulness is actually the source of his charisma; there is no one episode where he doesn't run around in the street asking strangers for their phone numbers. Branded as an idiot, to live up to the title he hides his true nobility and intelligence under a blank look, and though he denies it vigorously, does have true feelings for Lum. He has some very special abilities; he is the only one able to recover instantly from any type of injury, fatal or not. He also exceeds Superman in his ability to escape a dire situation. I suppose that if anyone was capable of living with Lum (ie. without being killed), it's Ataru.
Ataru: Every girl will be mine! (maniacal laughter then chokes)
Voice by Furukawa Toshio

Lum
Meaning: No particular meaning, but she is an Oni
Charming and attractive, Lum is the princess of Planet Oni, and sports a variety of wacky technology from beyond the solar system which she uses to wreck havoc (not intentionally). Lum fell seriously in love with Ataru, which is a bit of a waste, and claims to be his wife; which becomes the butt of the humour in this series. Lum is extremely short-tempered and jealous, and to keep check on her "Darling", she puts 50,000 volts of electricity through his head whenever he tries anything on innocent women walking past. At first, Ataru nearly dies from it, but after a while it appears that he soon developed an immunity and an agility able to dodge her thunder bolts. There is not an episode without Lum flying after Ataru down the main street hurling electricity and missing. Lum moved in to live with Ataru at the beginning of the series, and though they spend many a day fighting, he had become used to her company (and of everything else that lived in his room) and would go to the extreme to save her if anything does happen.
Lum: Darling, where are you?
Voice by Hirano Fumi

Shutarou Mendou (aka Mendou)
Meaning: "Mendou" means "trouble"
His family being possibly the richest family in the world being descendents of a samurai family, the Mendou family symbol is an octopus. The Mendou family grounds and technology will put a superpower to shame; they even have their own secret police, weapons arsenal and uses military helicopters as transport. It is not uncommon to be lost in a jungle all day to find that you are in the Mendous' backyard. As a result (or not), Mendou is suave, handsome and a sumurai sword-weilding mega-playboy, his current interest being Lum as she takes no interest in him while every other girl does. A rival of Ataru, the two does nothing but fight, but Ataru always get the upper hand with his giant wooden hammer. Mendou also has a fear of confined dark spaces; one of Ataru's favourite tricks is to enprison Mendou in a big shrine bell, but Mendou has trained himself to be able to break the bell with his bare hands. A bunch of professional-looking, black suit and sunglasses wearing idiots acts as his bodyguards, which means he still has to do everything himself.
Voice by Kamiya Akira

Shinobu Miyake
Meaning: "Shinobu" means "Patience"
As the ex-girlfriend of Ataru, she needs plenty of patience, but rarely has any. She was a bitter rival with Lum until Mendou arrives, but when she saw he was just as idiotic and a playboy as Ataru, she searched for other guys and in the process developed incredible strength. Normally afraid of everything, her strength allows her to throw desks at whatever scared her, which later becomes Shinobu's trademark. Nevertheless, her search for true love was well rewarded at the end with Inaba, a rabbit suit-wearing worker from the future-making part of sub-space.
Voice by Shimazu Saeko

Sakura
Meaning: Cherry-blossom
The Shinto shrine priestess and school nurse, this beautiful teacher is greeted morning, noon and night by hordes of stampeding male students claiming they feel sick (just to get a glimpse of her). She is more capable of undertaking this role more than anybody; she is notorious for her unimaginable strength and never-ending appetite. One punch from her means certain death to all except Ataru. Also an exorcist, she feels it is her duty to exorcise Ataru whenever he needs it.

Sakuranbo
Meaning: Cherry-blossom or Deranged priest
The uncle of Sakura (she is just as annoyed by him as anyone else), he has the tendency to appear out of nowhere and sending everyone reeling nauseously from his ugliness. He is a highly-learned monk, who is always predicting doom, which always come with his assistance. Like Sakura, he loves food, and would look for every occasion to have a free meal, usually at the Moroboshis', when he is not camping on an empty block. He also insists on being called "Cherry" (erk).
Voice by Nagai Ichirou

Jariten
Meaning: "Jari" means "bratty" and "Ten" means "sky"
Ten is the fire-breathing cousin of Lum, who came to stay to keep an eye on Ataru, whom he sees as not worthy of Lum. Ataru spends much of his free-time at home wielding a frying pan which used as a shield and tennis raquet against Ten who seems intent on burning the house down. The two still has a lot in common; Ten is only a child but he already has a big crush on Sakura (and also lots of other elder women), but he and Ataru manages to reach a truce in the middle of the series.

Ran
Meaning: orchid, confusion or civil war
Ran is Lum's childhood friend, who was the butt of all Lum's pranks and soon came to despise her. She vowed revenge when Lum became engaged with Rei, whom she was in love with, but the fact that there is now Ataru made no difference to her. Mean, veangeful and bad-tempered, Ran has a strange case of a split personality and switches from her real spiteful self to her sweet, cutesy facade. Ran's attempts to suck Ataru of his youth through her kiss failed many times, but their rivalry cooled off later when Rei paid more attention to Ran's cooking than Lum.
Voice by Inoue You
Benten
Meaning: Name of the Japanese/Chinese goddess of luck
Probably Lum's best friend from childhood, Benten is from a planet where everyone seems to own an airbike and wears metal clothing and chains. Benten's planet holds an annual fight with Lum's planet on New Year's Day, which is a good excuse for Benten to wreck havoc at Tomobiki-cho high school. Benten is violent, picks fights, swears like a sailor and is wildly inaccurate with her bazooka, but she can also be very loyal and will always help a friend stuck in a rut. As you can imagine, Benten doesn't take Ran's crap.
Voice by Mita Yuko

Oyuki
Meaning: Honourable snow, modelled on the Yukina
The Queen of Neptune, she has the ability to wield ice, usually for encasing people who has annoyed her in. Also a childhood friend of Lum, Lum is the one who she gets along with best; Ran is terrified of Oyuki and Benten calls her a "stingy metal rooster". Generally mild-tempered and placid, Oyuki's expression never wavers, not even when she is angry which is equally as terrifying because the next thing you know, you are in a frozen petrified state. Oyuki also has admirable business acumen, trading her planet's raw products with the rest of the universe, but she is still unwilling to share her profits with anyone.
Voice by Ohara Noriko

Rei
Meaning: Spirit, soul but in this case, "zero"
Rei is the most handsome man in the universe, and Lum's former fiancee. But as beauty is only skin deep, his shape-shifting abilities cause him to turn into a giant bull-tiger when agitated or excited, which is what turned Lum off. Also having limited intellectual capabilities (very limited), he is only able to utter monosyllables, and does nothing but eat with an appetite bigger than Sakura. He does care about Lum, until he started to care more about Ran's cooking, but whenever he comes to earth he often causes a lot of trouble. This guy had broken up countless couples just by walking past them.

Ryuunosuke Fujinami
Meaning: Dragon (a definate boy's name)
Ryuunosuke is the ideal young man; athletic, handsome and an accomplished martial artist, he attracts even more girls than Mendou without even trying. One problem; it's a she, not a he. Poor Ryuunosuke had been brought up by her sexist father as a boy; taught to behave, dress and speak like a boy-she doesn't know how to act like a lady even though she desperately wants to. People know she is a girl, but it still doesn't stop attracting girls, and Ataru is able to tell a mile away. There is no episode involving her without her hitting her father with a right uppercut, sending him into geostationary orbit and screaming "I'M A WOMAN!" in sloppy man's language.
Voice by Tanaka Mayumi

Mr Fujinami
Meaning: "Fuji" means "cane" and "nami" means "wave"
The sexist father of Ryuunosuke, he had wanted to bring his "son" up to be a man among men so "he" can be strong enough to inherit his seaside cafe, which is his dream. Due to continuous cash flow problems and having wrecked the store in a fight with his daughter, he moved to become the student store owner at Tomobiki-cho high school. He bashes his daughter up whenever she tried to act like a woman, and has the same annoying habit as Sakuranbo with his appearances. Being a "sea-lover", he often has emotional outbursts with a big tidal wave crashing behind him for effect.

Ryouko Mendou
Meaning: No particular meaning; ryouko is a common Japanese girl's name
Trouble-maker Ryouko entertains herself with practical jokes such as throwing grenades and encasing people in cement, her favourite target being her brother Mendou. There is no limit to what rich people do for entertainment. In order to annoy her over-protective brother, she often flirts with people Mendou hates; such as Ataru and Tobimaru, the eldest son of a family the Mendous has a feud with. To carry out her elaborate plans, she has the Kuroko, which are faceless Kabuki stagehands who appear to be more competent than Mendou's assasins. All this seems to attribute to Ryouko being an actor; she would tenderly ask you to escape to safety while holding a machine gun at your chest.
Voice by Koyama Mami

Kotatsu Neko
Meaning: Cat of the Japanese table/heater
Long ago, a cat refused the warmth of a heater and died of cold became a spirit that vowed to haunt those who refused him shelter. As a result, Kotatsu neko is attracted to sources of warmth, especially the kotatsu, which is a Japanese table/heater rolled into one with a mattress on top. On cold nights, people can be seen fighting for space under the table. Kotatsu neko only serves as a prop, often seen sitting with a kotatsu in the background doing nothing, which is funny enough. In the day, he is seen with the principal of Tomobiki-cho high school, while by night he haunts Ataru's room. His prescence is another thing Ataru had grown used to.

Sound files on this page are from Tomobiki Cho's Urusei Yatsura page and Pherio's Sound O'Joy.

HOME STORY ANIME MUSIC LINKS

Name	Description
	Ataru Moroboshi Meaning: To be hit by a falling star The unluckiest guy in the universe and possibly the most lecherous, the mere fact that he lived to be 17 is a miracle in itself. Born on Friday 13th, the day of a major earthquake and on Butsu-metsu (the unluckiest day on the Buddhist calender), it was pure fate that he attracted every type of demon and bad luck imaginable. He spends his time chasing women - any type of women; even though nearly all women find him unbearably attractive, he never gives up. Call it mule-headed stubborness, call it perseverence, his unfaithfulness is actually the source of his charisma; there is no one episode where he doesn't run around in the street asking strangers for their phone numbers. Branded as an idiot, to live up to the title he hides his true nobility and intelligence under a blank look, and though he denies it vigorously, does have true feelings for Lum. He has some very special abilities; he is the only one able to recover instantly from any type of injury, fatal or not. He also exceeds Superman in his ability to escape a dire situation. I suppose that if anyone was capable of living with Lum (ie. without being killed), it's Ataru. Ataru: Every girl will be mine! (maniacal laughter then chokes) Voice by Furukawa Toshio
	Lum Meaning: No particular meaning, but she is an Oni Charming and attractive, Lum is the princess of Planet Oni, and sports a variety of wacky technology from beyond the solar system which she uses to wreck havoc (not intentionally). Lum fell seriously in love with Ataru, which is a bit of a waste, and claims to be his wife; which becomes the butt of the humour in this series. Lum is extremely short-tempered and jealous, and to keep check on her "Darling", she puts 50,000 volts of electricity through his head whenever he tries anything on innocent women walking past. At first, Ataru nearly dies from it, but after a while it appears that he soon developed an immunity and an agility able to dodge her thunder bolts. There is not an episode without Lum flying after Ataru down the main street hurling electricity and missing. Lum moved in to live with Ataru at the beginning of the series, and though they spend many a day fighting, he had become used to her company (and of everything else that lived in his room) and would go to the extreme to save her if anything does happen. Lum: Darling, where are you? Voice by Hirano Fumi
	Shutarou Mendou (aka Mendou) Meaning: "Mendou" means "trouble" His family being possibly the richest family in the world being descendents of a samurai family, the Mendou family symbol is an octopus. The Mendou family grounds and technology will put a superpower to shame; they even have their own secret police, weapons arsenal and uses military helicopters as transport. It is not uncommon to be lost in a jungle all day to find that you are in the Mendous' backyard. As a result (or not), Mendou is suave, handsome and a sumurai sword-weilding mega-playboy, his current interest being Lum as she takes no interest in him while every other girl does. A rival of Ataru, the two does nothing but fight, but Ataru always get the upper hand with his giant wooden hammer. Mendou also has a fear of confined dark spaces; one of Ataru's favourite tricks is to enprison Mendou in a big shrine bell, but Mendou has trained himself to be able to break the bell with his bare hands. A bunch of professional-looking, black suit and sunglasses wearing idiots acts as his bodyguards, which means he still has to do everything himself. Voice by Kamiya Akira
	Shinobu Miyake Meaning: "Shinobu" means "Patience" As the ex-girlfriend of Ataru, she needs plenty of patience, but rarely has any. She was a bitter rival with Lum until Mendou arrives, but when she saw he was just as idiotic and a playboy as Ataru, she searched for other guys and in the process developed incredible strength. Normally afraid of everything, her strength allows her to throw desks at whatever scared her, which later becomes Shinobu's trademark. Nevertheless, her search for true love was well rewarded at the end with Inaba, a rabbit suit-wearing worker from the future-making part of sub-space. Voice by Shimazu Saeko
	Sakura Meaning: Cherry-blossom The Shinto shrine priestess and school nurse, this beautiful teacher is greeted morning, noon and night by hordes of stampeding male students claiming they feel sick (just to get a glimpse of her). She is more capable of undertaking this role more than anybody; she is notorious for her unimaginable strength and never-ending appetite. One punch from her means certain death to all except Ataru. Also an exorcist, she feels it is her duty to exorcise Ataru whenever he needs it.
	Sakuranbo Meaning: Cherry-blossom or Deranged priest The uncle of Sakura (she is just as annoyed by him as anyone else), he has the tendency to appear out of nowhere and sending everyone reeling nauseously from his ugliness. He is a highly-learned monk, who is always predicting doom, which always come with his assistance. Like Sakura, he loves food, and would look for every occasion to have a free meal, usually at the Moroboshis', when he is not camping on an empty block. He also insists on being called "Cherry" (erk). Voice by Nagai Ichirou
	Jariten Meaning: "Jari" means "bratty" and "Ten" means "sky" Ten is the fire-breathing cousin of Lum, who came to stay to keep an eye on Ataru, whom he sees as not worthy of Lum. Ataru spends much of his free-time at home wielding a frying pan which used as a shield and tennis raquet against Ten who seems intent on burning the house down. The two still has a lot in common; Ten is only a child but he already has a big crush on Sakura (and also lots of other elder women), but he and Ataru manages to reach a truce in the middle of the series.
	Ran Meaning: orchid, confusion or civil war Ran is Lum's childhood friend, who was the butt of all Lum's pranks and soon came to despise her. She vowed revenge when Lum became engaged with Rei, whom she was in love with, but the fact that there is now Ataru made no difference to her. Mean, veangeful and bad-tempered, Ran has a strange case of a split personality and switches from her real spiteful self to her sweet, cutesy facade. Ran's attempts to suck Ataru of his youth through her kiss failed many times, but their rivalry cooled off later when Rei paid more attention to Ran's cooking than Lum. Voice by Inoue You
	Benten Meaning: Name of the Japanese/Chinese goddess of luck Probably Lum's best friend from childhood, Benten is from a planet where everyone seems to own an airbike and wears metal clothing and chains. Benten's planet holds an annual fight with Lum's planet on New Year's Day, which is a good excuse for Benten to wreck havoc at Tomobiki-cho high school. Benten is violent, picks fights, swears like a sailor and is wildly inaccurate with her bazooka, but she can also be very loyal and will always help a friend stuck in a rut. As you can imagine, Benten doesn't take Ran's crap. Voice by Mita Yuko
	Oyuki Meaning: Honourable snow, modelled on the Yukina The Queen of Neptune, she has the ability to wield ice, usually for encasing people who has annoyed her in. Also a childhood friend of Lum, Lum is the one who she gets along with best; Ran is terrified of Oyuki and Benten calls her a "stingy metal rooster". Generally mild-tempered and placid, Oyuki's expression never wavers, not even when she is angry which is equally as terrifying because the next thing you know, you are in a frozen petrified state. Oyuki also has admirable business acumen, trading her planet's raw products with the rest of the universe, but she is still unwilling to share her profits with anyone. Voice by Ohara Noriko
	Rei Meaning: Spirit, soul but in this case, "zero" Rei is the most handsome man in the universe, and Lum's former fiancee. But as beauty is only skin deep, his shape-shifting abilities cause him to turn into a giant bull-tiger when agitated or excited, which is what turned Lum off. Also having limited intellectual capabilities (very limited), he is only able to utter monosyllables, and does nothing but eat with an appetite bigger than Sakura. He does care about Lum, until he started to care more about Ran's cooking, but whenever he comes to earth he often causes a lot of trouble. This guy had broken up countless couples just by walking past them.
	Ryuunosuke Fujinami Meaning: Dragon (a definate boy's name) Ryuunosuke is the ideal young man; athletic, handsome and an accomplished martial artist, he attracts even more girls than Mendou without even trying. One problem; it's a she, not a he. Poor Ryuunosuke had been brought up by her sexist father as a boy; taught to behave, dress and speak like a boy-she doesn't know how to act like a lady even though she desperately wants to. People know she is a girl, but it still doesn't stop attracting girls, and Ataru is able to tell a mile away. There is no episode involving her without her hitting her father with a right uppercut, sending him into geostationary orbit and screaming "I'M A WOMAN!" in sloppy man's language. Voice by Tanaka Mayumi
	Mr Fujinami Meaning: "Fuji" means "cane" and "nami" means "wave" The sexist father of Ryuunosuke, he had wanted to bring his "son" up to be a man among men so "he" can be strong enough to inherit his seaside cafe, which is his dream. Due to continuous cash flow problems and having wrecked the store in a fight with his daughter, he moved to become the student store owner at Tomobiki-cho high school. He bashes his daughter up whenever she tried to act like a woman, and has the same annoying habit as Sakuranbo with his appearances. Being a "sea-lover", he often has emotional outbursts with a big tidal wave crashing behind him for effect.
	Ryouko Mendou Meaning: No particular meaning; ryouko is a common Japanese girl's name Trouble-maker Ryouko entertains herself with practical jokes such as throwing grenades and encasing people in cement, her favourite target being her brother Mendou. There is no limit to what rich people do for entertainment. In order to annoy her over-protective brother, she often flirts with people Mendou hates; such as Ataru and Tobimaru, the eldest son of a family the Mendous has a feud with. To carry out her elaborate plans, she has the Kuroko, which are faceless Kabuki stagehands who appear to be more competent than Mendou's assasins. All this seems to attribute to Ryouko being an actor; she would tenderly ask you to escape to safety while holding a machine gun at your chest. Voice by Koyama Mami
	Kotatsu Neko Meaning: Cat of the Japanese table/heater Long ago, a cat refused the warmth of a heater and died of cold became a spirit that vowed to haunt those who refused him shelter. As a result, Kotatsu neko is attracted to sources of warmth, especially the kotatsu, which is a Japanese table/heater rolled into one with a mattress on top. On cold nights, people can be seen fighting for space under the table. Kotatsu neko only serves as a prop, often seen sitting with a kotatsu in the background doing nothing, which is funny enough. In the day, he is seen with the principal of Tomobiki-cho high school, while by night he haunts Ataru's room. His prescence is another thing Ataru had grown used to.