Gintama Manga Author Wittily Apologizes For ‘Stealing’ Rumiko Takahashi’s Ideas
Hideaki Sorachi drew Lum-chan to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Urusei Yatsura’s publication and included a sneaky little surprise!
The popular manga Urusei Yatsura by Rumiko Takahashi celebrated the 45th anniversary of its serialization in the 39th issue of Weekly Shōnen Sunday, which went on sale on August 23rd. To commemorate this, the magazine published congratulatory illustrations drawn by a total of 33 manga artists from the Weekly Shōnen Sunday serialisation team and other active manga artists, including One Piece’s Eiichiro Oda.
Hideaki Sorachi, the author of Gintama manga, was also one amongst them who drew an illustration of Rumiko Takahashi’s work featuring Lum-chan!
“Urusei Yatsura” illustration drawn by Hideaki Sorachi (C) Rumiko Takahashi, Shogakukan / Animation “Urusei Yatsura” Production Committee
But there’s a sneaky little twist. As you can see above, this illustration by Sorachi depicts Elizabeth from Gintama (carrying a sign that reads “Sorry for stealing!”) and Genma from Takahashi’s other work “Ranma 1/2“ getting electrocuted by Lum from Urusei Yatsura.
Under the illustration, the Gintama author expressed his witty-ness by saying how he has made his career by “copying” others works and he should be punished for almost a century:
“A petty thief of a writer who is paid in pocket change from other publications has come to [Weekly Shonen] Sunday to be punished while under the influence of Rumiko’s World. Lum-chan, Rumiko-sensei, please punish all of us terrible Atarus throughout Japan for another 50 or 100 years and not just for 45 years!”
The comment is hardly unexpected given that Sorachi is responsible for the Gintama series, which is widely recognized for its parodical and sarcastic humor, among other things.
On August 23, 2023, it has been officially confirmed that Urusei Yatsura Season 2 will begin airing on January 2, 2024.
Studio David Production is working on the new adaptation, and HIDIVE is streaming the show.
The anime is based on Rumiko Takahashi’s manga, Urusei Yatsura. It was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine from September 1978 until February 1987.
The first anime adaptation had 195 episodes and aired from October 1981 to March 1986. Studio DEEN animated the series in collaboration with Studio Pierrot. The first season was broadcast from October 2022, after 36 years, as a completely new four-cour television animation. The second season will start broadcasting from January 2024.
The manga can be read digitally on Viz Media’s website, and it describes it as:
Revisit the acclaimed romantic comedy about an unlucky human boy who meets a beautiful space alien princess in this large, trim size edition with all-new translations and new cover designs.
In the series, Ataru Moroboshi’s supernatural encounters with the feminine kind all start when he’s chosen to play tag with an alien princess named Lum, who invades the earth on her UFO.
Ataru has ten days to touch Lum’s horns, or aliens will take over the Earth!
As it turns out, the game of tag is only the beginning of Ataru’s troubles, as he continues to attract strange encounters with otherworldly beings like the beautiful snow spirit Oyuki and the sexy crow goblin Princess Kurama!
Source: Oricon Japan
