History Manga / UruseiYatsura

* AlienInvasion: The main premise of the series. At first.

* BookEnds: [[spoiler:In the last arc, Ataru is challenged by Lum to grab her horns in the span of ten days, which is the way they got [[AccidentalProposal "engaged"]] in the first place. This time, however, it's Ataru who has to declare his love to Lum if he wants to win the race.]]

* TheMovie: Six of them (the most of any Takahashi series to date).

* NiceGuy: Inaba. Possibly the only truly nice guy in the series.

* TalkingAnimal: Kitsune

* {{Fanboy}}: Lum also has a group of fanboys called Lum's Stormtroopers. Both groups are equally horrified when it seems that Lum and Mendou are going to get together; they actually turn to Ataru for help, because (a) Lum is the one girl Mendou shows serious interest in throughout the whole story (in the Destiny Production Bureau Arc, one future shows him and Lum happily married, with Ataru as their retainer) and (b) outwardly, Mendou is close to perfection in looks, intelligence, and money, making it harder to point out how unsuitable he is for Lum. Again, this proved to be [[NotWhatItLooksLike a misunderstanding]].

%%* {{Jerkass}}: Pretty much everyone in the series at some point.
%%* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ataru and Lum in many episodes, though Lum is a NiceGirl compared to Ataru. Some others characters like Ten or Mendo have their moment too.

* {{Salaryman}}: Mr. Moroboshi (even though we never see him working).

* SignedWithAKiss: PlayedForLaughs. Some of Ataru's classmates write a fake love letter for him and Kousuke (Megane in the original anime) leaves a kiss mark next to the signature of "Otoko Kumino". Hilariously, Ataru kisses the kiss mark and Kousuke becomes grossed out that this counts as an IndirectKiss with him.

%%* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Ataru, most of the time.

* WinterRoyalLady: Oyuki literally.
%%* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Jariten. [[ZigZaggedTrope Sometimes.]]

* WouldNotHitAGirl: Ataru, Shutaro Mendou, [[spoiler:and Nagisa]].
** In the anime, well really Movie 4, Ataru really doesn't want to hit anybody. In the manga and its equivalent anime episode, he somehow managed to KO ''himself'' to prevent himself from hitting Lum.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:Let's put weird and weird together / and make it even weirder! / Weird, weird space is / su-u-pe-er-weird!]]-]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/urusei_yatsura_anime.png]]
[-[[caption-width-right:345:Let's put weird and weird together / and make it even weirder! / Weird, weird space is / su-u-pe-er-weird!]]-]

* HeirClubForMen: This is why Ryuunosuke Fujinami was RaisedAsTheOppositeGender; her father was obsessed with the idea that only a ''boy'' could be a worthy heir to his family legacy of... running a ratty little beachside store. This is used for roughly equal parts comedy and to paint Mr. Fujinami as [[AbusiveParents creepy and insane]].

* AccidentalKiss: In the "Indelible Lipstick Magic" story, Lum makes a lipstick that causes people who paint their lips with it to be pulled like a magnet to anyone else who has the lipstick on. Lum's plan was using it to make Ataru kiss her, but shenanigans happen and Ataru ends up kissing ''[[HandsomeLech Mendou]]'' while both are trying to kiss girls with the lipstick. The guys briefly go to a CornerOfWoe afterwards. The 1981 anime expands on this with pretty much every boy in class 2-4 kissing another boy when they also try to take advantage of the lipstick. It also has Ataru kissing Cherry.

%%* HyperspaceMallet: Ran often pulls out one of these. So does Ryoko.

* MaybeEverAfter: In the final story, Lum tries to force Ataru into a LoveConfession for her and if he doesn't give in, everyone on Earth will forget about the aliens. However, Ataru keeps refusing because saying he loves Lum under those circumstances could make her think he's lying. [[spoiler:Although he doesn't verbally confess, Lum seeing that Ataru kept her horns with him is more than enough proof for her to know he does love her. The series closes with Lum swearing to make Ataru admit he loves her one day, but he claims he'll "say it on his deathbed".]]

* POVBoyPosterGirl: Certainly not the first or last series to do this, but one of the best examples. Ataru is the main character, but note how he's only somewhat prominent on that poster at the top of this page. Lum was originally intended to be the ''antagonist'' but ended up becoming the Deuteragonist and the face of the franchise.

%%* ShelteredAristocrat:
%%** Both Mendou kids.
%%** The Mizunokoji kids even more so.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** Mendo/Mendou (pronounced like the former, official subs consistently use the latter).
** Ran/Lan (subtitles ''always'' use "Ran", but official merch in Japan often used "Lan" for some reason)
** Lum. Some background shots in the anime show the Romanized katakana: "Ramu" or "Lamu" or even "Rum". Creator/StudioPierrot, the show's animation studio from 1981 to 1984, spells her name "Lam." She is in fact called Lamu in the French and Italian dubs of the anime, as well as in Animax's English dub (where it's pronounced "Lamoo"), although she's still Lum in Spanish.
%%* SpoiledBrat: Mendou, Ten, and most of all, Ryoko.

%%* SqueakyEyes: Lum and Ataru do this at least once.

* RemakeCameo: Creator/ToshioFurukawa and Creator/FumiHirano, Ataru and Lum in the original anime, now play Ataru's father and Lum's mother in the ''All Stars'' remake.

* CausticCritic: When Class 2-4 is holding a Talent Show, Lum brings an oval-shaped alien (who makes anyone who doesn't live up to his standards vanish) to act as a judge. [[spoiler:But only the guys; he gives the girls preferential treatment.]]

* {{Catchphrase}}: Played with. In the 1981 anime, at least, many characters initially seem to be set up to have a signature phrase, but most of these catchphrases actually only get used a handful of times across the entirety of canon. So this trope overlaps heavily with CommonKnowledge.

Ataru has one on each of his fingers.

* EdibleThemeNaming: The Spice Girls — Sugar, Pepper, and Ginger.

* EpunymousTitle: Takahashi replaced "urusai", which means annoying or loud, with "urusei", writing it with the kanji for "star". That makes the title mean something like "Those Obnoxious Aliens" or "The Annoying Space Guys". The former translation was used as the subtitle for [=AnimEigo's=] release.

%%* LackOfEmpathy: Mr Fujinami, Oyuki, and Ryoko.

** Sakura and Tsubame would probably be already married if the rest of the cast would keep their noses out of the couple's business and perhaps let them have some private time.
** This happened to Ataru and Lum on at least one occasion.

* MorphicResonance: Kitsune transforms into the other characters by essentially becoming slightly more human-like, putting on the same outfit and hairstyle as the person he wants to turn into. It never fools anyone (since he often doesn't lose the tail), but everyone plays along since he's so cute.

%%* NoAccountingForTaste: Ataru's parents and both of his girlfriends. To be fair, he does have his PetTheDog moments.

** We never learn Mr Fujinami's given name. Or the first names of Ataru's parents. Or Lum's mother.

*** "Megane" ("Glasses")
*** "Chibi" ("Tiny")
*** "Paama" ("Perm")
*** "Kakugari" ("Crew Cut")

%%* RedStringOfFate: Ataru has one on each of his fingers.

%%* SnapBack: Expected from a long-running Takahashi romantic comedy.

%%* ThemeNaming: The Spice Girls. Pretty much any Oni, for that matter. Also, Lum's Stormtroopers.

%%* TransformationRay: And a transforming Rei [[IncrediblyLamePun just for grins]].

%%** Don't forget the Dappya Monsters!

* {{Bishonen}}: Rei, Lum's former fiance, draws squees from every female who sees him (his human form anyway). Mendou also qualifies, which is basically his most obvious difference from Ataru.

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: No-one seems to understand why Lum is in love with Ataru, particularly her many admirers. For the record, Ataru has no idea either. [[spoiler:Likely, its because Rei is even worse than Ataru.]]

* WhatDoesSheSeeInHim: No-one seems to understand why Lum is in love with Ataru, particularly her many admirers. For the record, Ataru has no idea either.

An anime remake by Creator/DavidProduction that more faithfully adapts select stories from the original manga premiered on October 14, 2022, on Fuji TV's Creator/Noitamina block. It is split into two 23-episode seasons.

An anime remake by Creator/DavidProduction that more faithfully adapts select stories from the original manga premiered on October 14, 2022, on Fuji TV's noitaminA block. It is split into two 23-episode seasons.

* KansaiRegionalAccent:
** Lum refers to herself as ''uchi'' instead of the standard ''atashi'', a feature of Kansai-ben.
** Jariten also often displays features of Kansai-ben.

** Several characters from popular series at the time are also snuck in from time-to-time: [[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Kenshiro]], [[LightNovel/DirtyPair Kei and Yuri]], Series/{{Ultraman}}'s lobster rival, and [[Manga/MaisonIkkoku Kyoko]] -- and that's just in one episode! A couple of those are voice actor jokes -- Creator/AkiraKamiya (Shuutaro) voiced Kenshiro and Creator/SaekoShimazu (Shinobu) voiced Yuri. Episode 82 also has a reference to another Creator/StudioPierrot production with cameos from [[Anime/CreamyMamiTheMagicAngel Yuu Morisawa and Creamy Mami]].

* ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex: Shutaro is happy to go out on a date with Azusa until he comes to the realization that Asuka is incredibly strong, being able to easily bend steel with her bare hands, and she can barely control her super strength. He then decides their date will must consist in sitting -not too closely- together and have a conversation, lest he gets killed by hugging.

* {{Catchphrase}}: Played with. In the 1981 anime, at least, many characters initially seem to be set up to have a signature phase, but most of these catchphrases actually only get used a handful of times across the entirety of canon. So this trope overlaps heavily with CommonKnowledge.

* CausticCritic: When Class 2-4 is holding a Talent Show, Lum brings an oval-shaped alien (who makes anyone who doesn’t live up to his standards vanish) to act as a judge. [[spoiler:But only the guys; he gives the girls preferential treatment.]]

** Shinobu, [[{{Retcon}} once Lum arrives]] (in Movie 3, she loses her power after Lum leaves Earth). Also Asuka, though she inherited this from her mother and is able to run 100 meters in a few seconds while wearing 200 kgs worth of medieval armor.

* {{Chiaroscuro}}: Oshii used it to achieve an otherworldly effect in the first two movies (''especially'' Beautiful Dreamer), as well as some of his final TV episodes.