Fan Club Letters - November 1986
Translation by: Harley Acres
The Space
Information from all over the country, gathers here! The Space's antenna will broadcast your opinions!
●Thanks to everyone, I am happy to report that the "tea party" was held safely on August 24th.
Now, I've realized something. What I realized after running around Yamaguchi City with a video deck, 13 video cassettes and a radio cassette player with 16 audio tapes in both hands is that tea parties require physical strength (power)! From now on, I'll focus on exercising every day again, and build up enough physical strength to rival the Urusei Yatsura characters, so that I can hold a second tea party. Yoshiki District, Hiroaki Ishida (石田裕昭) 113373▲Sympathy! Sympathy! Events require physical strength. Let's continue to work hard together!
●From KP [Kitty Press] Vol. 6, I agree with the proposal by Shinohara-kun from Matsudo City!
As Shinohara-kun says, we should exchange information and cooperate with each other as one circle! There may be some trouble when it comes to borrowing or renting, but we are all good-hearted members of K・A・C. [1] It is also possible for members to communicate with each other. Higashi Osaka City, Shigekazu Inui (乾成和) 183772●I totally agree, but how should we share video tapes? How about we gather ideas, everyone? Nagoya City, Toshimitsu Araki (荒木俊光) 211151
▲Many opinions in favor from all over the country!
●It's been half a year since I joined K・A・C without doing anything significant.
So I thought I'd try something! And I decided to participate in this corner. Since I'm participating, I want to aim to become a regular contributor, so I hope you will support me, even though I'm a humble person. Ebetsu City, Sadaho Wada (和田貞穂) 116061▲It's good to think about trying something and then do it!
●I left the FC after the final tour in March, and became a member of K・A・C after the opening tour in September.
Since Maison started, my friends who didn't even know the first thing about "Rumic World" started telling me "Maison is so funny!" It makes me so much happier when someone else says "That's funny" than when I think it myself. I think all of the members of the K・A・C have had that experience. I joined the circle again so that we could share that feeling. The people I mean in the word "each other" are... all of the members of K・A・C! I hope that one day we can make this a circle where we can play catchball anywhere in Japan, or even anywhere in the world. Please support us. Fukuoka City, Shiratani Mori (白谷守), 215939●What, a monthly magazine? That's amazing.
Even Uchuusen (宇宙船) has only been going for two months (I've been so stupid lately!) I guess three weeks was too much, right? I'm not one of those idiots who just wants to see it and read it, I'm not a fanboy (I'm not talking about Captain ○ hahaha). [2] I'm definitely a member of K・A・C, but I honestly think of it as a continuation of Urusei Yatsura (I don't think that's right). But it's still just self-satisfied and there's no progress. I want to see Urusei Yatsura 5 made, but at the same time I'm very worried. [3] Try and fail next time. Don't make a comeback! (seriously) Do you have the luxury of saying "all anime are brothers" these days? Idiot! There's already a lot of insects running around in the happy-looking anime and the muscular hypocrite manga. Prussian Blue (プルシアンブルー) was good (what's Kadokawa worth?) [4] Yokohama City, Takahiro Otsubo 182261●I'll probably get criticized for writing this, but I'll write it anyway.
In K.P.7, Ochiai said that the creators didn't care about the fans, but I think we fans underestimated the general public. Some people say that the fans' opinion is all about [the characters having] "one more kiss" or "the gags are just a bonus", but the general public who only see Urusei Yatsura as a manga don't care if Lum and Ataru kiss or not. They watch it because it's interesting, and it's mostly these people who get the ratings. If you just want to see Urusei Yatsura as an object of self-satisfaction, that's fine, but if you really love Urusei Yatsura(which is almost like loyalty...), shouldn't you present a proposal to K.A.C that will gain support not only from fans but also from the general public? Watarai-gun, Tadasu Kataoka (片岡督) 309633●I joined two years ago (back when Urusei FC was still around) but I've never sent out a postcard like this.
So I'm not in a position to say anything arrogant, but I think there have been a lot of picky fans recently (though it's true that the sponsors and staff do have some to blame...) I think Maison Ikkoku is more of a drama than a manga for young people. But that doesn't mean we can narrow it down to just young people. It's obvious when you look at the shows that are said to be long-running. You'll notice that almost all of these are aimed at a wider age range. So in the case of Maison, they have to lower the age range. Naturally that would mean changing parts of the content of the work. So I don't think we should complain, in order to avoid repeating the same mistakes as Layzner (レイズナー). [5] Mitoyo-gun, Junji Fujiwara (藤原準治) 122648●Some of the opinions I will post here are my own, but I think they also include opinions that everyone has in the back of their mind.
When reading KP, there are people who always count the volumes of Maison, but to be precise, Maison is not counted as "volumes" but as "collections," such as Maison Ikkoku volume 1. I'm glad that there are so many people who want a 5-star movie. I support it too. However, I don't think a truly good movie can be made by fans being self-satisfied. I think an anime movie is no good if it has the power to make people who don't usually watch anime say, "I don't really get it, but it was really interesting." That's why I hope that Urusei Yatsura, which has many fans, will return to the origins of anime and not become something that only enthusiasts can enjoy, but that it will be fun for everyone to watch. To put it in extreme terms, I hope a work is crafted that even an old lumberjack living deep in the mountains in some faraway country can enjoy. [6] Yaizu City, Masashi Tomita (富田昌志) 320473●I've been thinking about this since the days of Urusei FC, but there are a lot of events and tournaments these days. [7]
However, most of them are held in Tokyo or in the Kansai region, such as Osaka, so there are no events that I can go to.Even if I think "Oh, this is nice," I can only go to the fan tournament." It's not good for only city folk to have a good time! So I'd like to suggest that even now, people who have been to events and other events sometimes post about the content and the situation. Why not officially solicit these on a large scale? K・A・C is also changing its second round and newsletter format, so I think it would be good to include such a project. For example, the image of the opening tour should be slightly different depending on where you go, so I think it would be interesting to let each other know about it through the newsletter... What do you think? Kurashiki City, Teika Ueda (上田帝佳) 148130
▲Yes, I am thinking about it. Since we have friends all over the country, why don't we all report to each other as special correspondents? "The Space" is waiting for your reports every issue!
●Why are you doing the signature campaigns separately?
I think there are many people all over the country who are willing to make any and all efforts on behalf of Urusei Yatsura. However, if each person acts independently, we cannot expect results. Unfortunately, K.A.C. as it is now cannot carry out truly meaningful activities as a "circle made up of individual fans". Why don't we create a system in which "people who can be active" can create branches all over the country, and each branch can communicate with each other and work together as one nationwide? We've said something quite selfish: "We want to recruit people who can be active, create branches quickly, complete a communication network, and use it as a foothold for our activities." I think there are many others who think the same way. So please think seriously about this matter. Asahikawa City, Hayato Sugiura (杉浦勇人) 108530▲I think we need to think seriously about this, but a national network can't be created by just one or two people. I'd love to hear everyone's opinions. Send them to "The Space"!
●This is the back story of Please Open the Door.
The setting of this story is actually a world about 1000 years after the nuclear war. An animal called a "Carrier" appears there, and it is an immortal animal that humans created before the war by combining the genes of an elephant and a giraffe. Also, the reason why the culture of the western country is more advanced is because there was an immortal god (Gene Recombination Experiment Group 26) who inherited the knowledge of humans. And another thing, the source of Neko-chan's energy (?) "the red demon moon" is a space colony. All of this is written in Motoko's work Labyrinth (ラビリンス [迷宮]). If you haven't read the original Please Open the Door yet, please do so. It is published by Shueisha Bunko and CBS Sony Publishing. Hmm, most of Motoko-hime's works are connected in this way. ...But there are not many postcards of Door. I feel like there are a lot of hidden Motoko fans out there. [8] Chiba City, Nobushi Nomura (野村延史) 100974▲That's right! We have a variety of opinions!
This is Ikkoku-kan
●While traveling, I found an apartment with this name. It was called "Maison Nikkoku." It was located on the Kajiya Line in Hyogo Prefecture. Unlike Ikkoku-kan, it was a two-story building made of reinforced concrete.... Given the name, the manager must be a Maison fan, too? Ota Ward, Ken Motoyama (本山健) 162826
●Hahahahaha. I found it too!
In my Niigata city of Shibata, there is a coffee shop called "Ikkoku-kan"! Shibata City, Kazuhide Aida (相田一英) 134601●To be honest,
in my Ibaraki prefecture, there is also a stylish western-style coffee shop called "Ikkoku-kan" in Shimoichi, Mito city. Hahaha, now Ibaraki is a step ahead in the number of Maisons. Naka District, Yuichiro Suzuki (鈴木祐一郎) 319590●A word to Kenta Suzuki, Hamamatsu City, in KP 7
I don't think any true Maison fan would want Maison to continue for another 10 years. A great work also has a great ending. No matter how interesting it is, if the series is extended beyond the author's expectations, I think the content will deteriorate. Kyoko will be 27 years old this fall in the magazine, Mitaka will be 3 years old, and Godai is two years younger than Kyoko. Suzuki, I don't think Maison is over yet because there is still the issue with Kozue-chan, but let's hope for a great ending!! Nobeoka City, Kenichi Inagaki (稲垣健一), 319152●I agree with Suzuki Kenta in KP 7!
Maison is eternal! Even if they get married, there are many things to consider, such as Godai's indecisiveness, failures at work, troubles with Kyoko's parents, and interactions with the members of Ikkoku-kan. Please, Takahashi-sensei, keep drawing as long as you live. Yokosuka City, Hideki Watanabe (渡辺秀樹) 306290●A word to KP 6 Kajiwara-kun and KP 7 Suzuki-kun.
I disagree with that opinion. It's time for a conclusion. It's already been six years since they met, and if the love triangle continues any longer, it would be too unnatural. Godai-kun should marry the manager and Mitaka-san should marry Kujo-san (I think) for a happy ending, and as for Maison... I am completely against Suzuki-kun's story about his marriage. If Godai-kun suffers any more misery, it will be too tragic, and in our hearts, he will live a happy life. Nishio City Yoichi Okouchi (大河内陽一) 309583●I was shocked when I saw the October issue of an anime magazine.
There were drawings of the characters from the new Maison. I knew that character designs would change thanks to KP 7, but wasn't convinced that they would change the character settings so much. It was a bit bad. Kyoko looks like an older woman who works in the nightlife industry, and Godai and Mitaka, especially Mitaka, look like they're middle-aged. Why did they have to change them like that? [9] Okayama City Suzuki Moriyuki (鈴木盛之) 306779●When Urusei changed from Pierrot to Dean, I couldn't accept Yamazaki's Urusei for a while (about a year) and I just wanted the old staff to go back.
Maison seems to be going in the opposite direction to Urusei, but as an Urusei fan, I'm very happy to see Kazunori Ito and Akemi Takada, who could be said to be the parents of the TV version of Urusei, participating. However, for Maison fans who love Yamazaki's or Dean's Maison, this incident is probably not a very welcome development. Urusei and Maison are different works, but as a fellow member of the same KAC, I would like to say that you should not close your heart to the new Maison. You will lose sight of what you can see (like me). Matsudo City, Kanehiro Shibata (柴田兼宏) 170027●At first, I thought Kyoko's eyes were just like that.
But as the story progressed, they started to sparkle more and more. Now they're so sparkly that it's hard to look at them properly! Please do something about it. Abu District, Teruki Hanaoka (花岡輝樹) 167429●Please stop using those sentences as subtitles.
The first two sentences are for kids, for kids. Please make them shorter and more poetic. Adachi-ku, Susumu Ishizuka (石塚晋) 109520●KP 7 Arai-kun!
Other Maison members have appeared in Urusei Yatsura, but it's not just in episode 151. In episode 6, Grandpa Otonashi's and Ikuko-chan appear, and in episode 90, Ataru's mother wears Kyoko-san's piyo piyo apron, and in the storyboards there is a scene where Kyoko-san and Akemi-san are playing with Ataru... but in episode 88 wh-wh-what, Akemi-san and Yotsuya-san, played by Futamata-san, have a love scene... Hiroshima City, Akemi Sato (佐藤朱美) 304659●Nuuwanto! Part 3, Remember My Love
Almost all the residents of Ikkoku-kan are in it!! There is a scene in Marchen Land where the rabbit runs through the crowd screaming "It's terrible!! It's terrible! It's terrible!!..." and Godai and his friends (Kyoko wasn't there) were in that crowd. Kurayoshi City, Mi Yamamatsu (山松実) 314112●I also saw Ms. Ichinose
riding the viking when Ataru and Nozomi went on a date to the amusement park in episode 180 of Urusei Yatsura. Chita District, Yuji Takeuchi (竹内勇二) 323055●Nuwanto Urusei Tankobon Volume 1 P 4
Isn't that Yotsuya-san appearing in the panel on the left center? When I found him, I was so surprised that I almost choked on my momiji manju. Let's all look carefully! Maybe he's still there... Aki-gun, Katsunori Hamano (浜野勝則) 166686Welcome to Tomobiki-cho
●At the beginning of September, I traveled to the Tsugaru area of Aomori Prefecture. The reason was the same as with Megane in Remember My Love...
I went around the northernmost area, thinking that if Megane was here, he would have stood there for hours, and would have surely screamed out Lum's name. And the background music playing in my mind was "Loneliness." But I couldn't become Megane. Because Urusei Yatsura isn't over yet. Even after I get back from the trip, I won't burn my memories of Urusei Yatsura, but I'll send out an even more passionate love call than before. I had intended this trip to be a sentimental one like Megane, but in the end, it seems to have become a trip that made me decide that I am an Urusei Yatsura fan to the core, and that I will continue to be one. Kawasaki City, Shigeto Ota (太田重人) 112375●I'm pissed!
The reason is that a certain company has released an arcade/TV game called Momoko 120% (モモコ120%) that uses "Lum no Love Song" as the game's background music. For some reason, it makes me feel uncomfortable! [10] Matsuto City, Hiroshi Ogasawara (小笠原洋) 324202●After six months of hardship, those who believe will be saved.
After reading the KP Issue 7's Editor's Note, I couldn't help but let out a strange cry. When I saw the ending of Urusei Yatsura 4, I realized for the first time that it was over, but that dark period will soon be over. It feels like Lum-chan's face is now 2 meters 2 centimeters (one step forward). Yokohama City, Masaki Watanabe (渡辺正樹) 302414●Everyone, I'm honestly just too angry.
Because when it comes to Urusei, it's always Lum that gets written about. Haven't you all forgotten that the main character of Urusei is Ataru? Is it only Lum that everyone wants to see again or see on the big screen? What about Ataru, Mendo, Shinobu, and Megane and his friends? Lum is an indispensable part of Urusei, but Ataru is even more indispensable to Urusei! (Everyone will think this is selfish, but it's my true feelings. Please don't ignore me.) Odate City, Yuko Sato (佐藤祐子) 326629●The title of Part 5 is "RAINBOW-CHASER" →
レインボー・チェイサ (Rainbow Chaser) → 虹追人 (Rainbow Chaser), which means someone who pursues an unreachable dream. How about that? Tanaka-kun from Kitakyushu is good too... right? Kuwana City, Takuma Kawaguchi (川口琢磨) 215020●A long time ago, I remembered Chiba-san saying in an anime magazine,
"Many people were crying at the Urusei fan convention, but everyone is starving for love." So I'd like to say something. From the creator's point of view, we certainly appear to be receivers, but since the cathode ray tube is a one-way window from our world to the Urusei world, only we can show our love, so in that sense, it can also be said that we were sending it in the opposite direction. So, it's not that we were starving for love, but that we were looking for someone to love, and I think the sadness of losing Urusei is exactly the same as the sadness of losing a loved one. Recently, I've noticed a lot of KP that seems to be about Urusei vs. Maison, but I want Maison fans to understand this too. Maybe this is what I'll be like tomorrow. Frankly, there's no point in Maison fans and Urusei fans being at odds. Yokohama City, Kenichiro Matsuura (松浦健一郎) 133199●The other day, I watched the 218th episode of Urusei Yatsura (definitely not the final episode)
on VTR for the first time in a while and was moved by it, then went outside to play. At that time, I was walking while listening to "Lum for the World" on my Walkman, and when the "bye-bye" sounded at the end of "Hoshi no Memory", I blurted out "No" without thinking. It's a sad story, but it's true. Believe me. Kusatsu City, Masahiro Fukada (深田正弘) 315747▲We believe!←There's a guy with glasses (Megane) in the editorial department too.
●DON'T FORGET (poem)
I won't forget, I don't want to forget youI love you more than anyone else
You're a woman
I won't forget your blue eyes/I won't forget your green hair
Since the moment I saw you,
I decided to protect you
So when I look back, you always call me
"darling"
I won't forget, I won't forget you
You fly through the starry sky
Even if one arm is blown away, I want to protect you
So I won't forget you
Time has passed, but I won't forget you
You'll come back someday, won't you?
Fall through the starry sky
Open the window of my room...
And once again
"darling!"
Kashima-gun, Katsuhiro Watanabe (渡辺活広) 204479
▲On that day, you may not be able to see because of the tears!
Urusei Yatsura Part 5 Title and structure suggestions wanted!
We are receiving many voices saying that we should definitely solicit scenarios! Or, if there are not enough pages in the magazine, we should solicit original ideas again! Our Tomobiki-cho has decided to take a positive approach to these voices and solicit title and structure suggestions. We would like to inform you that this solicitation is a project supported by the voices of our readers who say, "We want to know as much as possible about each person's view of Urusei Yatsura." (Akira Hanaoka from Yokohama City, Yukiko Yanagawa from Setagaya Ward, and many others from around the country who agree). How to solicit: Title and structure suggestions should be no more than one page of 400-character manuscript paper. Deadline: Must arrive by November 25th. A gift will be given to those whose stories are published in the magazine. Send to: K.A.C. "Tomobiki Town, Part 5".
