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What is Rumic World?

The short work is where Takahashi experiments: the one-shots and mini-series she has published alongside the long runners since 1978, collected across five volumes.

It starts with the debut itself. Katte na Yatsura (“Those Selfish Aliens”), her 1978 contest one-shot about an alien invasion played for laughs, became the seed of Urusei Yatsura. Through the 1980s three more of the shorts, Fire Tripper, Maris the Chojo and Laughing Target, were each adapted into OVAs, an unusual honor for one-shot manga.

Mermaid Saga (1984–94) is the dark pole of her work: chapters published sporadically across a decade, a Seiun Award in 1989, OVA adaptations in 1991 and 1993, and a TV anime in 2003. One-Pound Gospel, about a boxer and a nun, ran sporadically from 1987 to 2006 and became a live-action TV drama. Rumic Theater, her short-story slot in Big Comic Original, has run since 1987.

In 2003 TMS Entertainment animated thirteen of the short stories as Rumiko Takahashi Anthology. Five years later the It’s a Rumic World exhibition (Matsuya Ginza, July 30 – August 11, 2008) premiered brand-new half-hour OVAs of Ranma ½ and Inuyasha and a new Urusei Yatsura special; the three were collected on DVD on January 29, 2010.

Rumiko Takahashi Masterpiece Short Stories volume 1 cover

Takahashi Rumiko Kessaku Tanpenshu, Vol. 1

The first Masterpiece Short Story collection, the book line that carries the Rumic World name, gathering her 1978-1980 one-shots.

THE SHORT WORK, DOCUMENTED

Five collection volumes, 1978–2015

The Debut · 1978

Katte na Yatsura: an honorable mention in Shogakukan’s new-comics contest, and the direct ancestor of Urusei Yatsura.

The OVA Three

Fire Tripper (December 16, 1985), Maris the Chojo (May 21, 1986) and Laughing Target (March 21, 1987): three one-shots, three anime.

Mermaid Saga · 1984–94

Her horror strain: mermaid flesh that grants immortality or monstrosity. Released in two wide-ban volumes first, complete in shinsoban in 2003.

One-Pound Gospel · 1987–2006

Four volumes across nineteen years of sporadic chapters; adapted into a live-action television drama.

Rumic Theater · 1987–

The continuing one-shot slot in Big Comic Original: domestic comedies and quiet ghost stories, six collected volumes.

The Anthology · 2003

TMS’s Rumiko Takahashi Anthology adapted thirteen shorts, from The Tragedy of P to The Executive’s Dog.

The Artist Maison Ikkoku Collecting Takahashi

What is Rumic World?

THE SHORT WORK, DOCUMENTED

THE FIRST WORD