Well, I plan to read all of Takahashi's works in chronological order next year, so it was fit to start by the oldest.

Urusei Yatsura (those obnoxious aliens!) is a romcom manga written by Rumiko Takahashi following the misadventures of Lum and Ataru, who become engaged due to a inter-galactic misunderstanding. Although there was a little of early installment weirdness at first, I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. By the time this review has been written, I've watched four out of the six movies and I'm currently watching the remake.

Do not expect much of a cohesive plot or arcs as it goes other than certain relationships being estabilished - it's a very episodic manga whose main charm is it's comedy, but there are moments in within the manga where the characters are allowed to be honest with themselves that are really tender both in the manga and in the anime (DavidPro adaptation is excellent).

The cast is huge and loveable - even Ataru as chauvinistic and annoying as he can be tends to get into your heart (when he isn't pissing me off by how he treats Lum, of course). I think that one of the reasons why he works and other male fantasy MC's do not is because the narrative treats his nonsense as a flaw and he tends to be punished and considered a pest more than anything. Even the few girls that have "interest" in him like Kyoko (just annoy her brother) or Ran (to fuck with Lum) is with ulterior motives, the only person that loves him for who he is is well...Lum.

The minor characters down to Kyoko and even Lum's alien homegirls (Benten and Oyuki) are all loveable and with different personalities that you get glad to see when they show up on your screen. The more regular ones such as Sakura Mendo and Shinobu and even little Ten are all dear to me, and Cherry is hilarious.

I didn't read Urusei Yatsura expecting a 70 chapter long final arc - but I was kind of dissapointed when it started with a character that only showed up at the final arc - surprisingly enough the first movie, _Only You _did this plotpoint better, but it was saved by the Lum and Ataru dynamic - it showed up both their flaws like Lum's insistence (even to the point to harm others) and Ataru's pride, but also showed that despite everything and that ~~she's too good for him~~ they love each other in their own way.

UY is not really a binge manga - I would advice to watch the anime and other content while reading it, as well as taking breaks as sometimes it can get a little tiring on a binge. It took me almost 2 months to finish it while taking breaks and I did not get tired. I loved it and I'm glad that I don't have to fully say goodbye to Lum and co yet as I got the anime and the rest of movies to go.

My favorite characters.

1. Lum
2. Ran
3. Ryuunosuke
4. Ten

5.Mendo