Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best
Review: Let me get this straight: This is an excellent series. I really do enjoy it. However, it lacks the sweetness of Rumiko Takahashi's other works. While the insanity and confusion is defintely hilarious, there is very little character development beyond that Ataru is a ..., unlucky skirt chaser, Lum is an alien completely devoted to Ataru who hates being hit on, etc. etc. whereas Ms. Takahashi's other series have more character development, actually romantic romantic comedy, stuff that makes you alternately say awwwwww and gasp with startlement, drama, and all those good things. So I subtracted a star. If you want a series to get involved in, with deep characters and emotional attachment, don't read this one. Go get Ranma 1/2 or Maison Ikkoku or Inu-Yasha. If you want a lighthearted comedy with funny characters, then this is the series for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Oyuki, Benten, and Kurama arrive!
Review: Lum and Ataru may be the stars of the Urusei Yatsura universe, but the supporting characters play an even bigger role. Mendo is to Ataru what Kuno is to Ranma-a rich playboy who wants the heroine so badly he'll sink to any level to get her. Shinobu is the long-suffering girlfriend of Ataru, who actually befriends her romantic rival Lum later in the series. Lum's younger cousin (Jari)Ten lives to make Ataru's life even more miserable than it was to start with. Lum's childhood friend Ran wants revenge on her for accidents that happened when they were young. The monk Cherry and his niece Sakura are constantly trying to exorcise Ataru, and his parents are always moaning about how he should never have been born.But in this first collection, we meet a trio of ladies that are not interested in ruining Ataru's life. Benten is one of the Cosmic gods and her people wage a yearly battle with the Oni. Ataru (like always) approaches her in his own fashion, right in front of Lum. And Benten even flirts back! Oyuki is the Snow Princess of the planet Neptune, and she meets Ataru and his friends when she has her subjects dump several tons of snow into Ataru's bedroom (not on purpose--the computer chose the spot). Her servant takes an instant dislike to Ataru and soon the boy is running for his life, much to the chagrin of the Princess, who actually wanted to get to know Ataru better. Kurama wants nothing to do with Ataru, but due to a mistake made by one of her people, she is forced to deal with the boy. So, she proceeds to try and reform him, which doesn't work (who thought it would?) These are all wonderful characters that don't get as much press as Lum and the others. They deserve recognition too! So, get the Perfect Collection! You'll like it, Takahashi fan or not!
Rating:
Summary: Lum Rocks
Review: Lum has to be one of my favorite manga titles, but then and again, I adore the works of Rumiko Takahashi. I think of Lum as the Archie comics demented. I reccomend it to everyone!
Rating:
Summary: Lum Urusei Yatsura is a Perfect Source of Fun!
Review: Lum is a totally loopy comedy in manga form. In this work Rumiko Takahashi happily combines the classic droll story themes of Boccaccio and Balzac with totally absurd and preposterous elements to delight the imp or the anarchist in all of us. The plot draws on the eternal triangle: Ataru, a perennially prurient (and thus normal) teenaged boy, Princess Lum, a gorgeous alien who sports a tigerskin bikini and cute little horns, and Shinobu, a classmate of whom Ataru was originally smitten. Ataru saves the Earth by winning a game of tag with Lum (an absolutely hilarious episode!), but in the process gives Lum the impression that he has proposed marriage. This provides the basis for a plot involving continual misunderstandings. Lum has to keep Ataru in line by occasionally giving him shocks and making him the guniea pig for her dubious culinary skills. Despite his success in saving the Earth, Ataru gets no respect but a lot of woe. Having two girls is always too many: when Lum and Shinobu are involved, it seems at times that Ataru has two too many! You see, Ataru has a permanently roving eye! Rumiko Takahashi employs incredible imagination in this work: sweet potato-eating duels, a shower of oil, a short monk, disappointed parents, a crow queen, an ex-fiancé of Lum, and a host of other characters. But the plot centers around the threesome: the fickle Ataru, the long-suffering Shinobu, and the naive yet provocative Lum. You have to like the characters; but secretly feel the most sympathy for the innocent Lum, whose qualities are not recognized by the blockheaded Ataru and who persists in being attracted to Shinobu instead (when not distracted by the babe de jour). This is about as agreeable an introduction to manga as you might find; and most people will find the story to be hilarious and entertaining, the characters to be appealing and well-drawn, and the pacing to be effective. Read this one first, and then read Ranma 1/2. Both are worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Lum Urusei Yatsura is a Perfect Source of Fun!
Review: Lum is a totally loopy comedy in manga form. In this work Rumiko Takahashi happily combines the classic droll story themes of Boccaccio and Balzac with totally absurd and preposterous elements to delight the imp or the anarchist in all of us. The plot draws on the eternal triangle: Ataru, a perennially prurient (and thus normal) teenaged boy, Princess Lum, a gorgeous alien who sports a tigerskin bikini and cute little horns, and Shinobu, a classmate of whom Ataru was originally smitten. Ataru saves the Earth by winning a game of tag with Lum (an absolutely hilarious episode!), but in the process gives Lum the impression that he has proposed marriage. This provides the basis for a plot involving continual misunderstandings. Lum has to keep Ataru in line by occasionally giving him shocks and making him the guniea pig for her dubious culinary skills. Despite his success in saving the Earth, Ataru gets no respect but a lot of woe. Having two girls is always too many: when Lum and Shinobu are involved, it seems at times that Ataru has two too many! You see, Ataru has a permanently roving eye! Rumiko Takahashi employs incredible imagination in this work: sweet potato-eating duels, a shower of oil, a short monk, disappointed parents, a crow queen, an ex-fiancé of Lum, and a host of other characters. But the plot centers around the threesome: the fickle Ataru, the long-suffering Shinobu, and the naive yet provocative Lum. You have to like the characters; but secretly feel the most sympathy for the innocent Lum, whose qualities are not recognized by the blockheaded Ataru and who persists in being attracted to Shinobu instead (when not distracted by the babe de jour). This is about as agreeable an introduction to manga as you might find; and most people will find the story to be hilarious and entertaining, the characters to be appealing and well-drawn, and the pacing to be effective. Read this one first, and then read Ranma 1/2. Both are worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: It's called the perfect collection because it is!
Review: Lum. If you've never heard the name before, then roll it round your tongue, get used to it; you'll be hearing it again in the future. Urusei Yatsura is a classic comic series from Japan, and this book is the perfect introduction. It tells how the Earth was saved from invasion by a lecherous young man called Ataru Moroboshi, and how in doing so he accidentally ends up marrying the princess of the alien race. So far so good, but what really lifts Urusei Yatsura head and shoulders above any other series is the characterisations. They are the most wonderfully creative group of dysfunctional characters I've yet encountered. Every single person in the book is a wonderfully realised, if vaguely mad, character. No one feels badly developed or two-dimensional. And because they feel like real people, the mad situations feel normal, or at least not quite so mad, and you even care what happens to them. Urusei Yatsura is a modern classic, and the Perfect Collection is the perfect place to start your collection!
Rating: 
Summary: VASTLY OVER-RATED!!!
Review: Perhaps I'm just too old, but I just didn't think too much of this book! I did not laugh once, or even smile at any of the stories. These characters are two-dimensional! There doesn't appear to be any character growth at all, and the premise is highly ridiculous! Why would Lum (or any woman) be attracted to Ataru? The only good thing about him is that he (probably) flushes the toilet! The only manga that I ever laughed out loud from reading was "3 X 3 Eyes", which has genuine comic elements (and character growth), even though it's mostly horror/action.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost (but not quite) "Perfect"
Review: Rumiko Takahashi is best known for her fantasy-adventures "Ranma 1/2" and "Inuyasha." But she got her start with a boy-meets-alien comedy, and the first volumes are contained in the "Lum Urusei Yatsura: Perfect Collection." The start of the series is a bit shaky, but Takahashi quickly gets her footing.
Teen lecher Ataru Morobishi is perhaps the unluckiest person in the world. But things suddenly get worse when the ogre/alien Oni invade, and offer the Earth a deal: if Ataru can defeat their champion in the game of tag, a sexy Oni called Lum, then they will withdraw. Ataru fails at first -- until girlfriend Shinobu offers to marry him if he wins. The next day, Ataru tags Lum and shouts out that now he can get married... but Lum interprets it as a proposal, and declares herself his "wife."
With Shinobu furious at him, and a very ugly priest trailing him, Ataru has plenty of problems. But his difficulties only multiply with the arrival of Lum's gluttonous pea-brained ex, warring spirits, a gods vs. demons battle, a sexy club-hopping Shinto priestess, a crow-girl who wants him in touch with his feminine side, and countless other "obnoxious aliens."
The first chapters of "Lum Urusei Yatsura" are a bit too abrupt and uneven by Takahashi's standards. But by the arrival of Shinto priestess Sakura and shapeshifting glutton Rei ("Will you cook for me for the rest of my life?"), Takahashi has hit her stride. It's less like a continuing story than a series of sitcom episodes.
Takahashi's wacky sense of humor is in full swing here, starting out with the idea of a traditional Japanese ogre as a sexy alien in a tigerskin bikini. There appear to be no comic depths to which she will not sink (or rise) -- physical comedy, word puns, and over-the-top lechery that causes Ataru to pursue anything in a skirt (even when his mind is that of a woman).
Ataru and Lum don't get on as well as they do later in the series -- Ataru, for some reason, is annoyed by a pretty girl who's utterly devoted to him, and Lum hasn't yet shown any real affection for him. But they are quite funny characters, and the supporting cast helps as well -- the moronic glutton Rei, take-no-guff Sakura and her inept boyfriend, the annoying priest Cherry, and the odd alien taxi driver or Abominable Snowman (or "be boy").
While it takes "Lum Urusei Yatsura : Perfect Collection" some time to start flowing smoothly, it's an entertaining extraterrestrial comedy ride.
Rating:
Summary: We still exist in a physical universe
Review: These are among the best of the classic manga: excellent comic artwork and clever plots, but what makes the Lum stories really remarkable are the inventive parodies of sex role, ethnicity, iconology and other aspects of recent Japanese culture. Much of what Takahashi works into these episodes will be missed by many readers, especially those who have no knowledge of the Japanese language originals or limited knowledge of Japan, but open-minded graphic novel fans of any background should enjoy much that lies on the surface. This particular collection seems to be a fair compendium of her work.
Why only four stars? Certainly the content deserves all five. Unfortunately, the book is poorly bound, so the cover AND the pages fall out within a couple of months of normal usage. If this book is just for you, fine, but if you're buying for a library (and what graphic novel collection would NOT have Takahashi's Lum?) or like to pass your books around to friends, it's going to fall apart.
Not unusual for good manga, unfortunately.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent, lighthearted introduction to manga.
Review: These days, many people seem to see Urusei Yatsura as Rumiko Takahashi's other major title, next to the insanely popular Ranma 1/2 series. For me, it was the first manga I was introduced to, which ultimately lead me to a delightful journey in to the world of Japanese Animation. Just looking the book now conjures up fond memories of the time I spent enjoying a form of entertainment which could be very off-the-wall on one end of the spectrum, but extremely dramatic on the other. The Urusei Yatsura series is very lighthearted, and consists mostly of slapstick style comedy. Its high point, as is true with most of Rumiko Takahashi's work, is its multitude of endearing characters. This book is a great introduction to the series. If you aren't looking for a terribly dramatic or serious storyline (the Urusei Yatsura series certainly has its share of dramatic and serious moments, they just come later), this is a great choice.
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