This series took a while for me to finish since personally it just wasn't one of those series i'd binge in a week or two, but here is my personal review and thoughts on Rumiko Takahashi's classic manga adapted into an anime, Urusei Yatsura.
The story starts off with a boy named Ataru Moroboshi, a high-schooler who is very perverted and literally only thinks about women (plus he's an idiot). He is suddenly kidnapped by enforcers and is sent to his home where he and his family (and Shinobu, the one he calls his supposed "girlfriend" at this point) see a big, giant Oni monster that talks and explains their intention to invade Earth. For this to all be prevented, he has to defeat this bikini-dressed female named "Lum", the big Oni's daughter, in a game of oni tag where he wins if he grabs the horns. Which, he eventually wins after a lot of struggling and prancing, but is suddenly dragged into miscommunication madness as Lum had interpreted Ataru's intention to get married to her, kicking off the series on a chaotic note.
The plot from then on is pretty much 99% episodic comedic madness. Sure, they do have few episodes that are more serious-toned and different, but generally the lighthearted wacky atmosphere stays the same from the first episode up to the last 195th episode. Now, you may be thinking, a 195 episode comedy series? Yep. But honestly, even with the outrageous episode count, I really didn't feel the repetition catching up with me as almost every episode tries to twist and turn each and every comedic narrative and joke into something fun and entertaining. Which means the comedy pretty much is generally high-tier. Now why do I think that it almost never gets repetitive in spite of it being 99% episodic comedy combined with it's enormous episode count? Well we have to go through the part which honestly makes the Urusei Yatsura series, in my eyes, a very memorable and enjoyable thrill-ride.
The characters.
You have the male main protagonist Ataru Moroboshi, who like prior mentioned, is an idiot obsessed with women and is very perverted to the point where he has a daily routine called "girl-hunting". From trying to persistently ask for their phone numbers and addresses to chasing certain female characters down to the end of earth where literally no other human or alien species can stop him, this man defies logic and reasoning with his mere personality and presence alone to the point where surreal things are always attracted or bound up happening to him. With all those traits and the way they execute his personality traits in each and every episode, Ataru Moroboshi is pretty much a walking charisma magnet. Not charismatic as in very hot and appealing that all the ladies would get him, charismatic in a way where you are entertained and want to see more of his idiosyncrasies just because you enjoy him doing his weird, idiotic way of living.
The female protagonist Lum, who forces herself into Ataru's life by being his wife and lover thanks to the shenanigans of the first episode. She has a really iconic and simple character design, and her personality traits are on the more good-natured side, but can obviously get jealous and hot-tempered due to Ataru's insane code of life with flirting. On top of being good-natured, she also shows her occasional airheadedness like assuming her taste for really spicy foods works with humans, or the fact that she thinks she can generally cook well (which everybody except for her thinks she can't). Overall a likable female protagonist of the series.
You also have a wide, insane variety of supporting casts. some (Shinobu, Mendou, Sakura) being more prominent than others. What makes this supporting cast overall good and entertaining is their personalities and interactions meshing well with each other and the main protagonists. From Cherry's ugly-faced demeanor and snarky-gluttoneous attitude to Mendou being very scared and pussy-whipped about being inside a dark place to a big Kotatsu-neko, you could tell that these traits show life to the characters and gives us a reason to see them more.
Moving on to the OP/ED's, they are pretty good and catchy 80's styled J-Pop songs. The melodies and singing just get you into the groove and at some points can make you addicted listening to certain songs. There are also additional ones in the OVA's and Movies, which there are several of them, so if you want to see more Urusei Yatsura and listen to more of their musical catchy-pop hits, you can go watch them in whichever site or service that has them available.
OST's/BGM are pretty good and complements the series really well. Not much I can say here other than the fact that it's varied.
Moving on with some flaws I felt and noticed throughout the series, some episodes may not be as good or as entertaining as others due to the fact that it's a very long series. Plus the artstyle, while in my eyes good and appealing for an 80's series, can at times feel inconsistent. Sometimes it feels updated and fresh, and other times it kind of reverts back to the artstyle of the first episodes. A couple of jokes have also aged terribly and wouldn't fit much or at all in this society and television standards today, even if I did enjoy them.
Overall, I enjoyed this series to the core. The peak definition of comedy/slice of life in my eyes with entertaining characters and cool, catchy music combined with the serene and surreal BGM tracks. While the thought of watching 195 episodes may recoil or bring someone down to a screeching halt, and I do understand and can see why, a series like this is worth someone's time, especially if you want to have fun and be entertained by whatever comedy, shenanigans, and interactions the characters are gonna be involved in or do next.
