#Lum Squad #02: "Lum: The Animated Series!"

Hello darlings! Welcome back to #LumSquad, a podcast hosted by @LumRanmaYasha and @ProdTally devoted to the wonderful and wacky world of Rumiko Takahashi’s Urusei Yatsura! That’s right, we’re not a one-and-done nor were we meant to be an annual show… even though it has in fact been a year since our last episode. I apologize for that unexpected year-long hiatus, which is entirely my fault. ^^, From here on out I’m hoping to resume production on #LumSquad with AC on our originally proposed monthly schedule. It’s definitely a shame to have such a large gap between the release of the first episode and the second, but hey, it took the Urusei Yatsura manga a year and a half of irregular serialization until it became a proper long-running series, so you can think of our first episode as a pilot and this second episode onward as the real beginning of our regular podcast! Since we covered the manga on our first episode, for our second installment we’re diving deep into the anime! We explore the anime’s production history, how the show changes over its run, the incredible production staff and vocal talent on the show, and tons more! Plus, we rant about Mamoru Oshii’s influence and question common assertions made about the show’s quality, while sharing some thoughts on the show’s eclectic musical score. To top it off, we answer a ton of fan questions, and talk about our favorite episodes of the show! All in all, we spend two and a half hours discussing the anime, and we’ve barely even scratched the surface of stuff we plan to cover in future episodes! Thank you guys so much for being patient with this and looking forward to more #LumSquad! We received a lot of enthusiasm for the first episode and a lot of people asking about when the second would come out over the past months, and I hope you’ll enjoy this episode enough to forgive the wait! And hey, if you don’t want to wait another month for our third episode, check out our recent Manga Mavericks episode on the Urusei Yatsura manga with special guest Dawn from the Anime Nostalgia Podcast, which was a ton of fun and also very informative about the early days of the UY fandom in North America back in the 90s! PODCAST BREAKDOWN: 00:00 - Intro & Updates 02:32 - An Introduction to the Anime 06:19 - Lum’s Love Song 09:06 - Shinobu Miyake: A Character Analysis 15:32 - The Shift From Two-Story to Single-Story Episodes 19:33 - The Cultural Impact of the Anime 29:51 - Urusei Yatsura in the U.S. 37:18 - Specials 39:30 - How the Anime Changed Over Time 41:47 - Mamoru Oshii, Kentaro Yamazaki, and the Production Staff of Urusei Yatsura 1:07:12 - Our History with the Anime Q&A’s!! 1:26:22 - Our Thoughts on the Tachiguishi and Backdoor Pilots 1:30:40 - “Which Animation Style Do You Prefer: Pierrot or Dean?” 1:32:44 - Cindy and the Musical Talent of Urusei Yatsura 1:36:24 - “Do You Think Urusei Yatsura Would Ever Work as a Live-Action TV Show?” 1:41:35 - Urusei Yatsura Hentai 1:43:13 - “Was There Any Episode You Didn’t Like Initially, but Liked It the Second Time (or Vice-Versa)?” 1:57:00 - “Do You Guys Think the Relationship Between Lum & Ataru is Different Between the Manga and the Anime?” 2:01:05 - “Least Favorite Episode?” 2:08:00 - “What Period of the Show Do You Enjoy the Most?” 2:10:15 - “What is Urusei Yatsura’s Popularity in Japan?” 2:11:58 - Ataru Moroboshi, Ryo Saeba, and 80s Anime Protagonists 2:14:18 - Library Availability of Urusei Yatsura 2:15:40 - “What Would You Change About the Anime if You Could?” 2:21:05 - Our Favorite Episodes of Urusei Yatsura 2:34:43 - Wrap-Up & Future Plans Music Featured: “Main Motif (Theme)” from Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, by Masaru Hoshii and Keiichi Oku “Kokoroboisona” from Jam Trip: Urusei Yatsura (Vol. 1) “Uchuu wa Tai Hen Da! DA DA Mix” from Shudai-ka Best 10 Remix ~ Dance Tracks Enjoy the show, and follow us on twitter at @Lum_Squad, on tumblr at lumsquad.tumblr.com, and subscribe