It was only just recently that I finished watching Urusei Yatsura after chipping away at it for about half a year (or at least it was recently when I started this draft back in January). And while it was ultimately not something I would say I consider a ‘must-watch retro anime’ in the vein of other classics like Gunbuster, it was something that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hold Urusei Yatsura in increasingly higher esteem every time it crosses my mind.

One thing that really stuck out to me through the experience was seeing how much of an inspiration Urusei Yatsura was for To Love-Ru. People love to hate on it because lol ecchi harem, but the To Love-Ru franchise is one of my long-time favourites. I may have reservations about the direction the series took in Darkness, but even still it has some of my most beloved slice of life elements and events in the medium. The “oddball live-in alien fiancee” story beat makes for a very cozy narrative and setting, and I love how character dynamics progress at an organic pace – things like Mikan and Yami’s friendship developing believably, or the cast just coming to accept that once Celine’s enters the picture she is now their collective daughter. So to observe the interaction between these two series simultaneously deepened my appreciation of both.

For simplicity’s sake all screenshots will be in the order of Urusei Yatsura first, To Love-Ru second. With that out of the way then:

It begins right from the setting. To Love-Ru’s overall style of episodic slice-of-life antics and the weirdness that ensues from living with an alien/their strange alien technology is heavily paying homage to Urusei Yatsura which laid the original framework for this idea in the animanga scene.

Lum (Urusei Yatsura) & Lala (To Love-Ru)

In a nutshell, the stories of Urusei Yatsura and To Love-Ru are the troubled tales of the alien princesses Lum and Lala trying to win the affections of the human boy they’ve fallen in love with, despite how fervently said boy seems to reject them. Both narratives start with a similar initial premise, the protagonist Ataru/Rito having their confession stolen via Lum/Lala’s misunderstanding, with their subsequent relationships being betrothal rather than simple dating.





The Devilukeans are a rowdy race, with their king Gid being the main force behind quelling the intergalactic war that had been raging for centuries. This rough nature can be seen as similar to the Oniboshi who are a war-mongering race of planet-conquerers.

Beyond that, indeed the Deviluke are a reference to the Oniboshi on the whole. Oni are a traditional kind of Japanese devil, with its horns and fangs being reflected in the Oniboshi character design framework. In lieu of this, the Deviluke obviously incorporate ‘devil’ into their name and physical characteristics like the tail and devilish wings.

It doesn’t take long for the self-proclaimed fiancee to bargain their way into living together with Ataru/Rito. After Ataru accidentally racks up an intergalactic taxi fare more expensive than the entire world economy Lum was only willing to cover the cost if he agreed to let her stay, and Lala pitches something similar when Rito asks her to use an emergency warp to escape his raging classmates.

Lum and Lala both enrol in the same school in order to spend more time with their beloved.

Lum and Lala both fly as one of their primary modes of movement.

Lala shoots a thin beam out of her tail much like Lum often channels her electricity into a thin beam shot out of her fingers.

Both girls are of the mindset that they’ll do anything for the sake of their love. It’s what they value highest. Any other concerns about their livelihood are secondary to that.

The princesses are both out of touch with Earth’s standards and traditions, facing many instances where their own preferences cause trouble for the earthlings. One immediate example is Lum’s super spicy cooking and Lala’s super spicy dark matter flavouring, having a penchant for extreme tastes that cause the boys much grief over the course of the story.

They’re also outside the sphere of Earth’s fashion. Lum spends most of her time flying around in a skimpy tiger-print bikini, and Lala starts off by wearing her strange Devilukean attire in public. Although both later adjust to this and can often be seen in Earth dress.

Another example is them always causing trouble with their alien gadgets. Lum and Lala both enjoy building robots and other devices, but more often than not there’s some kind of caveat that causes it to go comically wrong for anyone caught in the crossfire.

When Lala is happy about Rito endangering himself to protect her, this is somewhat reminiscent of Lum’s joy at Ataru jumping in harms way during the ‘possessed boxing gloves’ episode.

When it seems like bad weather is going to cancel their school trip Lala screams out “Typhoon you idiot! (typhoon no baka)”, much like Lum’s signature phrase “Darling you idiot! (darling no baka)”.

Throughout both series Lum and Lala are occasionally called back home or off-world for important parties and official duties due to their position as royalty.

In both series the alien characters are shown to be reckless and highly destructive, such as when the Urusei Yatsura girls destroy an ancient temple, or when Lala accidentally destroys the Tenjouin holiday mansion.

Because of this recklessness, it’s common to see scenes in which Ataru/Rito are panicking while Lum/Lala are just having fun amidst the ruckus.

And if you want it to be, the moment where Lala catches Rito out of the air by pinning him against the wall with her breasts is kind of a similar vibe to when Lum catches Ataru out of the air by kissing him.

As illustrated, the two alien princesses have a lot of aesthetic similarities linking them. But there are a few major differences that distinctly separate them. Lum and Lala fill the role as main female deuteragonist and fiancee, but outside of that Lala is made to directly contrast Lum in a lot of ways.

Where Lum is quick to anger, Lala doesn’t have a mean bone in her body. Ataru constantly laments over Lum’s violent nature, but Lala is extremely forgiving and offers unconditional positivity.

Sure enough the Lum-Ataru relationship features much more banter between both parties, rather than Lala-Rito where the complaints come almost exclusively from Rito since Lala is so supportive.

Urusei Yatsura makes the point of mentioning that outside of her lightning powers Lum is just a normal girl, but Lala is shown to have innate physical super-strength.

However what is easily the most significant difference, is that where Lum is constantly mad at Ataru for being unfaithful, Lala welcomes the idea of Rito sharing his love between multiple girls.

Ataru (Urusei Yatsura) & Rito (To Love-Ru)

Indeed To Love-Ru itself is made to be somewhat of an inverse Urusei Yatsura. Urusei Yatsura is a romcom about an unfaithful boy who wants to make every woman in the world love him, although the only one who ever pays him any mind is Lum. To Love-Ru is about a boy that (initially at least) only wants the sole affections of his long-standing crush, yet he ends up attracting an entire harem of girls without meaning to.

Ataru/Rito are constantly telling Lum/Lala “Don’t stick to me!”

Because Ataru is the world’s most unfaithful man and Rito is clinging to his crush on Haruna, neither one would usually be receptive to Lum/Lala’s advances. One of their biggest complaints informing this aversion is about how reckless and violent the girls are. Yet both of them still get properly flustered in the moments where they act more gentle like a normal human.

Of course, Rito is much quicker to let it be known that he reciprocates Lala’s feelings. However that’s not to say that Ataru completely rejects Lum, there are plenty of instances throughout the series where he displays that on the inside he does indeed hold affection for her – crying out for her when he thinks she’s left, rejecting the dream of a harem because she wasn’t present, trying to protect her without her realising when it seems a pair of magical earrings are going to force her to return to Rei, etc.

Whenever Rito has his personality reversed by the effects of a plant or device he begins to act much like Ataru does – excessively shallow and perverted, yet with a limitless well of confidence.

Nana refers to Rito as “the most perverted beast in the universe”, which is much like Urusei Yatsura Movie 6: Itsudatte My Darling making a plot point out of Ataru being “the most lecherous being in the universe”.

The classmates are quick to swoon over the hot new alien babe on the scene, and equally quick to channel their frustrations and jealousy onto Ataru/Rito.

Both series have cases where Ataru/Rito are genderbent.

Their houses look similar.

Ran (Urusei Yatsura) & Run (To Love-Ru)

Lala and Run directly call back to the relationship between Lum and Ran. It’s quite easy to note that To Love-Ru simply switched the pink and green hair between the two. For what it’s worth, To Love-Ru isn’t the only Urusei Yatsura homage to do this, as Star Twinkle Precure has also done so (the Lum homage there is also called Lala, interestingly enough).

Run and Ran are similar characters, even down to their names. Their bond is that of childhood friends who despite being of different alien race were introduced to one another by their parents.

But the truth beyond that is they secretly harbour intense resentment due to all the trouble Lum/Lala’s carelessness got them into as a child.

However they do turn to Lum/Lala in times of need.

And there are occasional moments where it seems like they’re going to forgive Lum/Lala. But then they do something dumb that just reinforces their disdain.

They both project an ultra cutesy outwards image, despite the fact that they’re pretty twisted on the inside. There are of course times when this mask breaks and their true personality shows through.

Both are equally manipulative.

Both have moments where they shortsightedly plan to take revenge despite knowing that they’re at a physical disadvantage against Lum’s shocks and Lala’s super-strength.

Both girls flirt with Ataru/Rito. Though in Ran’s case it’s simply a way for her to get back at Lum, whereas Run is legitimately in love with Rito because duh it’s a harem.

They both reside in their own UFO located independently off in the woods.

Run and Ran both often buy things from shifty salesman or galactic mail-order for their schemes, usually backfiring almost immediately.

Likewise, they’re also the type to pay attention to questionable rituals such as dream interpretation, spells, and horoscopes.

Other Character Homages

Run’s green hair and two ahoges are potentially a reference to Lum’s green hair and two horns. And as a more general reference there is the obvious that Run and Ren’s genderswap issues are drawing upon another of Rumiko’s famous works, Ranma 1/2.

Both series begin by establishing this setup of just the fiance and fiancee, yet soon introduce relatives (Ten, Nana and Momo) to complicate the issue. The trio living arrangement of Ataru-Lum-Ten is similar to Rito-Mikan-Lala.

Rei and Ren fill similar roles as the past lover/friend of Lum/Lala who compete with Ataru/Rito for their affection. Urusei Yatsura’s Ran is in love with Rei so To Love-Ru combining Run and Ren into one being is potentially a reference to that.

The early Rito-Ren dynamic is reminiscent of Ataru and Mendo’s relationship, in the sense of them both being quick to jump at each others’ throats and constantly trying to screw the other over.

The school nurse in both series (Sakura and Mikado) is considered to be especially beautiful.

Tenjouin Saki and Mendo Shutaro are both rich, high-class zaibatsu heirs that attend the commoner school. Both with a tendency to try and show off even though they always end up being ignored.

Momioka has a habit of calling call Rito “darling” while she teases and flirts with him.

The side character Motemitsu-senpai (To Love-Ru) is a self-proclaimed ladies man in possession of his highly valued ‘Mote Note’ that lists information about the girls in the school. This is much like Ataru’s own notebook that he’s constantly trying to fill with the names, phone numbers and addresses of the girls he hits on.

The To Love-Ru Darkness ‘Venus Momo Club’ is much like Urusei Yatsura’s ‘Lum Stormtroopers’.

Lupica is referred to as “the princess of the universe”. To Love-Ru’s Gid Lucione Deviluke is similarly considered the “king of the universe”.

Other Episodic Homages

To Love-Ru’s first season anime-original ending is reminiscent of Urusei Yatsura’s oni tag events. They both feature the Oniboshi/Deviluke king hovering in the sky aboard his massive UFO and playing a game that requires Ataru/Rito to run towards a goal (Lum/the Deviluke UFO) in order to secure the safety of their planet. The To Love-Ru version’s conclusion with Lala trying to erase memory of herself from Earth is likely a reference to Urusei Yatsura Final Chapter where Lum threatens to erase all memory of aliens from Earth if Ataru fails the game of tag.

During this event Benten and Mikado both say something to the effect of “I’ve grown fond of this planet” when their habitation is threatened.

For whatever reason, they both feature an episode where the group insult a sentient giant watermelon and it aggressively rolls at them.

In the watermelon incidents, both Mendo and Ren try to act cool by attempting to cut it down, yet it immediately backfires as they get rolled over instead.

To Love-Ru’s Sainan Sports Festival features an event full of traps, much like Urusei Yatsura’s swim meet.

The Tenjouin Christmas party shenanigans are a parallel to Ryoko’s troublesome Christmas party.

In one of the To Love-Ru anime’s filler episodes Ren strikes the same ‘I love the sea!’ pose that Mr Fujinami is known for. The episode is all about highlighting Ren’s masculinity, which is parallel to Mr Fujinami’s excessive attempts to raise his daughter as a hyper-masculine son.

Ataru himself explicitly namedrops a ‘harem plan’ in one instance, much like To Love-Ru Darkness’s highly vaulted Harem Plan.

Both anime feature an episode where the cast play out roles from classic Japanese history.

The aforementioned To Love-Ru filler episode also sees Yami waving around the same kind of Edo-era firefighting pole thing that Ten’s mother uses.

The first of Lala’s robots shown off during her initial meeting with Rito was a Mendou-style octopus.

Both feature an event where a homeroom teacher comes to visit the home for parent-teacher interviews, but it ends up going wrong.

Run trying to use the love pheromones on Rito but then regretting it is like Lupica in Urusei Yatsura Movie 6: Itsudatte My Darling where she eventually decides against using the love potion flower on her childhood friend.

At one point Yui remarks that “the universe is lacking in common sense” which is kind of a throwback to Urusei Yatsura’s common motif of “weird space is super weird” if you want it to be.

And so hopefully I’ve made enough of a case to display the links running between these two franchises. Indeed it could be argued that many of these are just To Love-Ru adhering to the harem tropes that Urusei Yatsura pioneered, but examples such as the confession-stealing alien princess Lala and secretly-resentful childhood friend are definitely paying homage to Lum and Ran, and the ‘Devil’uke are a clear reference to the ‘Oni’boshi. There is no question about that. Considering the presence of live-in alien fiancee Lala that makes To Love-Ru’s setup so obviously an intentional throwback to Urusei Yatsura I think it’s fine to call many of them direct homages. I adore both of these works on their own individual merits, and I find that this relationship between the two of them only strengthens my appreciation for each one.

As an addendum, I’ll also point out just a few potential inspirations from the early 2000s sci-fi romcom Onegai Teacher. Like To Love-Ru and Urusei Yatsura, Onegai Teacher fits the same bill as a ‘forced into marriage with an alien’ story, though of a much different style to the aforementioned two. Some possible homages are:

Both of their first encounters with the alien fiancee involve an emergency teleportation into the bath.

Both Mizuho (Onegai Teacher) and Lala (TLR) are accompanied by an advanced AI mascot, with similar sounding names – Marie (Onegai Teacher, pronounced ‘mari-ay’) and Peke (TLR, pronounced ‘pek-ay’).

The ending to both anime adaptations feature the attempted memory erasure of the human groom, yet the groom either retains or recovers his memories anyway.