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Lum! Yum!


Michael Hopcroft

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Has anyone done a 5e updated writeup for the heroine of Urusei Yatsura, Lum the Invader? aka "The poster Child for What happens when you Fall in Love with the Wrong Man"?

 

I personally found Lum adorable. Of course, I can see why alvoer who uncotnrollably emitted electric shocks when angry, enthusastic or otherwise emtional would intimdiate Ataru. But still, I sometimes think Moroboshi is blind as a bat to other people's emotions.

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

Lum was cute but a bit psychotic. I think Moroboshi would have her as a Hunted 14-. Lum would probably have Psych Lim: Possessive of Moroboshi and Distinctive Features: horns and bikini. She'd also be Hunted 8- by Rei and a Stun-only HA: Electric Shock without STR bonuses.

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

Lum could also shock people from a distance, as Ataru can testify. her shocks behave just like normal electricity, and are conducted by water Once she tried to shock someone while she was in the middle of a swimming pool and ended up electrovcuting everyone in the pool -- Ataru commented that the reason eh wasn;t incapacitated was that he was "used to it".

 

Which acutally bodes well for his future with Lum -- maybe if he's inured enough he wil be able to survive acceindal discharges in certain, er, emotionally charged situation that might occur in the future. That is, fi Ataru ever comes to his senses and realizes that unconditional love (even if ti is posessive) is the best thing that could ever happen to him.

 

Come to his senses? ATARU? Who am I kidding? :)

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

IIRC, in the last movie (whose name eludes me at the moment) Lum decides to leave and make everyone forget she was ever there... except Ataru doesn't quite forget. And wants her back. And somehow manages to get her back. Hey, we showed these things about ten years ago at the anime club I belonged to, after around eight hours of other anime; I almost never managed to stay awake through the features.

 

Regardless, he does end up admitting he loves her. I seem to remember another "game of tag" where he is trying to get to her, and everyone else on earth is trying to stop him, and in the end Lum catches him as he pretty much passes out and brings his hand to her horn.

 

At the time, I really loved Urusei Yatsura. Not that I don't now, but I've seen more anime since. :D Now I really love Ranma Nibunnoichi.

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

Flight, 0 END; Electrical EB with Variable Advantage; both are Restrainable by putting pressure on her horns. 1 pt or 1/2 die HKA for fangs and horns. Vehicle: UFO. Effectively, Lum's got Diplomatic Immunity thanks to the UN not wanting to tick her alien race off. And she's got a high social rank at home, though what little we see of her home society indicates that this doesn't really count for a lot. She speaks Japanese with an accent, has Cooking at a high level, but only in her native cuisine, and is an adequate UFO pilot. Lum demonstrates various one-off abilities/gadgets, most would be considered GM plot devices.

 

On the Disadvantages side: Phys Lim: Unusual Alien Physiology (which cuts both ways; substances harmless to her have bizarre effects on humans.) DF: Horns & fangs, easily concealable (the green hair is evidently one of those things only the audience sees.) Psych Lim: In love with Ataru. Psych Lim: Doesn't really understand human culture. Rivalry: Any attractive woman around Ataru. Enraged: When Ataru is particularly unfaithful, 8-, 14-.

 

It's worth noting that Lum's personality shifted quite a bit over the course of the series; she starts as a fairly horrid girl, who's quite willing to fake a pregnancy if it will get her what she wants. By the end of the series, she's quite likable and much more soft-spoken.

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On the Disadvantages side: Phys Lim: Unusual Alien Physiology (which cuts both ways; substances harmless to her have bizarre effects on humans.) DF: Horns & fangs, easily concealable (the green hair is evidently one of those things only the audience sees.) Psych Lim: In love with Ataru. Psych Lim: Doesn't really understand human culture. Rivalry: Any attractive woman around Ataru. Enraged: When Ataru is particularly unfaithful, 8-, 14-.

 

 

Unfamilaiity with Earth Culture, when it shows up in other genres, is usually listed as a Physical Limitation. it's a quirk in the rules -- you can exercise your will to overcome your Psych Lims if you really want to. but no amount of willpower will make you understand humans. Only experience (and buying off the disadvantage) will do that. By the end of the series, Lum might well have bought off that disad: she did attend Tomobiki High School and probably would end up graduating from there.

 

what I'm wondering is how notoriously poor student Ataru will eventually earn a living. I can;t see him getting into a good college (or any college at all) and he doesn't have a large personal fortune like Mendou does. And he's very proud, which indicates to me that he would probably resist the temptation to simply take an allowance and live off Lum's family. (this pride and his laziness would be in conflict here.) Also, while Ataru is The Most Lecherous Being in the Universe, he is an extremely unsuccessful letch. He will try to bed every woman he meets except his mother, but only Lum wants to be anywhere near his bedroom. In fact, he has to fight her off with a stick -- she makes herslef that available -- possibly out of fear that sex with Lum might kill him.

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

It's worth noting that Lum's personality shifted quite a bit over the course of the series; she starts as a fairly horrid girl' date=' who's quite willing to fake a pregnancy if it will get her what she wants. By the end of the series, she's quite likable and much more soft-spoken.[/quote']

The most interestiong example of that is her relationship with Shinbu, Ataru's ex-girlfriend. At the beginning to the series there was enough mutual jealosy between the two girls to generate spontaneos black holes. (Yes, that acually happened.) Lum would have been very happy if she could have found a way to kill Shinobu. Once Shinobu focused her romantic attentions on someone other than Ataru (which she did the first chance she got, first Mendou and later Inaba) their relationship warmed considerably and by end end Shinobu was probably Lum's best female friend on Earth.

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Something I've heard: Lum was originally supposed to be a one-off character, with Shinobu as the main love interest. The fan interest in Lum ended up changing this, however.

 

In Ranma 1/2, a similar thing looked to be happening with Shampoo. . . and so the mangaka immediately started turning her into Evil Psycho Bitch Lady.

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

Something I've heard: Lum was originally supposed to be a one-off character, with Shinobu as the main love interest. The fan interest in Lum ended up changing this, however.

 

In Ranma 1/2, a similar thing looked to be happening with Shampoo. . . and so the mangaka immediately started turning her into Evil Psycho Bitch Lady.

 

Funky, I didn't know that.

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Guest Major Tom

Re: Lum! Yum!

 

Something I've heard: Lum was originally supposed to be a one-off character, with Shinobu as the main love interest. The fan interest in Lum ended up changing this, however.

 

In Ranma 1/2, a similar thing looked to be happening with Shampoo. . . and so the mangaka immediately started turning her into Evil Psycho Bitch Lady.

 

Oh, yes... Shampoo. A very-aptly named psycho-hottie, considering what

her major attack was in Ranma 1/2.

 

As for Lum, I too remember the feature-length pieces that were run during

the Friday night Anime club sessions (when I was a member of one, that

is), and I remember thinking that Uresei Yatsura was even more

psychotic than Ranma or Lupin the Third.

 

BTW, were there any episodes of any of the aforementioned shows that made

anyone cut loose with one or more atrocious jokes?

 

Major Tom :lol:

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

and I remember thinking that Uresei Yatsura was even more

psychotic than Ranma or Lupin the Third.

 

 

That shoulden't be such a surprize, considering that this was Rumiko Takahashi's first series (and her second major work...her first one, Thoes Obnoxous Alieans was a one shot parody of many sci-fi stuff, including a hero who was inplanted not with just one, not two, but three small doomsday devices which are to explode when his heart beat goes away, reducing the Earth to rubble easly, which she made for a contest which she won).

 

As you can easly tell, she has a wicked sence of humor. And as time goes on, she gets better at storytelling.

 

And if you think humor is the only thing she can do...check out the entier Mermaid Saga.

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That shoulden't be such a surprize' date=' considering that this was Rumiko Takahashi's first series (and her second major work...her first one, [i']Thoes Obnoxous Alieans[/i] was a one shot parody of many sci-fi stuff, including a hero who was inplanted not with just one, not two, but three small doomsday devices which are to explode when his heart beat goes away, reducing the Earth to rubble easly, which she made for a contest which she won).

 

As you can easly tell, she has a wicked sence of humor. And as time goes on, she gets better at storytelling.

 

And if you think humor is the only thing she can do...check out the entier Mermaid Saga.

 

I may be misreading what you said, but as far as I know (and according to the tapes upstairs) Urusei Yatsura and Those Obnoxious Aliens are the same thing.

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I may be misreading what you said' date=' but as far as I know (and according to the tapes upstairs) Urusei Yatsura and Those Obnoxious Aliens are the same thing.[/quote']

 

Opps. My bad...I just forgot what VIZ named her first piece when thay released it...I am shure it was Thoes...something...Aliens. Prehaps the something was Shelfish? I'm not shure, but I AM shure it was published in the good old USA in the first ishue of Manga VIZion (VIZ's first atempt at a mounthly antology manga).

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Re: Lum! Yum!

 

I quite enjoy watching Super Gal. It's funny when you see that leopard print clothing and green hair, and you just know it's Lum. If you haven't seen it, I reccomend Takashi's Rumik World stuff, it's quite good, and if you watch Fire Tripper you will quickly see that it was the precursor to Inu Yasha.

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