Rumiko Takahashi's popular Urusei Yatsura manga series will be getting a new anime television adaptation sometime in 2022. The announcement was made in a full-page New Year's greeting advertisement, part of the January 1 edition of the daily Sankei Shimbun paper.
The official website for the upcoming series released a teaser video alongside the series' cast and staff. The new anime will adapt various stories from the manga and is set to run for four cours, though it might not all be consecutive.
David Production will handle the series' production, with directors Hideya Takahashi and Yasuhiro Kimura spearheading the project. Yuuko Kakihara will handle the scripts while Naoyuki Asano is in charge of the character designs. Takahashi and Kimura both worked on the JoJo's Bizzare Adventure: Golden Wind anime adaptation, while Kakihara has contributed to series like Cells at Work!, and Heaven's Lost Property. Asano is best known for working on the character designs for Mr. Osomatsu and Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!.
Hiroshi Kamiya, best known for voicing Attack on Titan's Levi and the Monogatari series' Koyomi Araragi, will voice Ataru Moroboshi, with Sumire Uesaka, who many know as the voice behind Overlord's Shalltear Bloodfallen and Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro's Hayase Nagatoro, will voice Lum.
The new series is set to air on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block alongside other channels. The famed programming slot has been home to a myriad of popular titles over the years, including Eden of the East, The Tatami Galaxy, Kids on the Slope, Erased, and many more.
Urusei Yatsura was the first serialized series Takahashi worked on. The manga ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine from 1978-1987, amassing 34 collected volumes throughout its run. Urusei Yatsura was one of the most successful and influential series of its time, having inspired other popular romantic comedies such as Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo!, with over 35 million copies in circulation.
The original anime series aired from 1981-1986. It was produced by Kitty Films, with Studio Pierrot handling the animation up until the 106th episode, and Studio Deen taking over up until its conclusion. Acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii directed the series while it was animated at Pierrot, and was eventually succeeded by Kazuo Yamazaki following the switch to Deen. Oshii is best known for directing Patlabor 2: The Movie and 1995s Ghost in the Shell. Yamazaki has worked on a myriad of projects over the years, most notably Mobile Suit Gundam, City hunter, and another Takahashi series, Maison Ikkou. A film series ran between 1983-1991, with a number of OVAs released throughout the mid-80s to early-90s.
Takahashi has produced a number of successful manga series throughout her career. While still working on Urusei Yatsura, she started work on her Masion Ikkou series. The hit coming of age series ran from 1980-1987 in the Big Comic Spirits magazine. Other notable series include Ranma ½ and Inuyasha, both incredibly popular manga with lengthy anime adaptations.
VIZ Media publishes the series in English as 2-in-1 omnibus editions, while Discotek Media has recently been reissuing the film series.
Source: Anime News Network