is a fictional character appearing in the Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series ''

Urusei Yatsura is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from September 1978 to February 1987. Its 366 individual chapters were collected in 34 ''tankōbon'' volum ...

'', created by

Rumiko Takahashi is a Japanese manga artist. With a career of several commercially successful works, beginning with ''Urusei Yatsura'' in 1978, she is one of Japan's best-known and wealthiest manga artists. Her works are known worldwide, where they have been tra ...

. The character made her first appearance in the 55th chapter of the series, which was first published in Japan in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, making it ...

'' magazine on October 22, 1980. In ''Urusei Yatsura'', Ran is portrayed as an alien with a bipolar personality who grew up as childhood friends with the

Oni An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...

alien Lum, for whom Ran developed a one-sided rivalry after years of resentment towards her. In the

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

adaptations of ''Urusei Yatsura'', the character was initially voiced in Japanese by

Yō Inoue , also known by her stage name , was a Japanese voice actress. Inoue was diagnosed with lung cancer in late 2001, underwent treatments during 2002, and her condition deteriorated rapidly in the last month of her life. At the time of her death she ...

and then by

Kazue Komiya is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Theater Echo. Filmography Anime television series *''Aim for the Ace!'' (Kyoko Otowa) *'' Ashita no Nadja'' (Johanna) *''Combat Mecha Xabungle'' (Greta Karas) *''Fullmetal Alchemist'' (Lebi) * ...

in the 1981 TV series, and by

Kana Hanazawa is a Japanese actress and singer. A prolific voice performer in anime, she has amassed several film and television credits since her debut in 2003. She won the Seiyu Awards, Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2015, and won the Newtype A ...

in the 2022 TV series, while Donna Bella Litton provides her voice in English.

Creation and development

The character of Ran was created by

, author of the ''

'' manga series, making her first appearance in its 55th chapter, titled "Sports Festival Close Call", which was first published in

's ''

'' magazine on October 22, 1980. Takahashi stated that, when creating the character, she was inspired by which in

Japanese Buddhism Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...

are the spirits of envious and greedy people who, as punishment for their vices in life, were cursed with an insatiable hunger for the life force of humans, an aspect that Takahashi embodied in Ran as the vampiric power to suck the youth and vitality out of people by kissing them. Takahashi named the character "Ran" due to its double meaning – translatable as "orchid" and "civil war", respectively – both of which the author felt suited the character's bipolar personality; this, in turn, causes Ran's behavior to continually change, going from friendly and pleasant to cruel and aggressive in an instant. Regarding Ran's design, Takahashi portrayed her as a teenage girl with pink, curly hair resembling a cloud, which the author associated with the belief that a gaki has an insubstantial form. The author also incorporated features such as fangs and

pointed ears Pointy ears or pointed ears are a characteristic of many animals, a genetic condition in humans, as well as a cliché in popular culture, particularly in the fantasy genre. They are commonly known as elf ears for their depiction in Peter Jackson' ...

into Ran's design to tie her into the image of an ''

oni An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...

''. For the character's clothing, Takahashi simply drew Ran in either a pink dress underneath a white apron or a silver

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

. During a July 2022 interview, Japanese voice actress

commented on Ran's appeal, stating: "Ran is a girl with a split personality, one where she is in an extreme flirtatious mode and another where she is extremely demanding, so I think what's really charming about her is that you never get tired of watching her!" Hanazawa also spoke about her approach to voicing Ran, relating that her goal was for her performance to suit the character's personality, saying: "She has a reason for her flirting and anger, so I thought it would be good if she could be played powerfully while staying close to her feelings, I think."

Appearances

In ''Urusei Yatsura''

Ran is an alien of unspecified race and planet. During her childhood, Ran became best friends with the

alien Lum, with whom she attended elementary school along with the fellow aliens

Benten is an East Asian Buddhist goddess who originated from the Hindu Saraswati, the patroness of speech, the arts, and learning. Worship of Benzaiten arrived in Japan during the sixth through eighth centuries, mainly via Classical Chinese transl ...

and

Oyuki The ''Urusei Yatsura'' manga series features a large ensemble cast of characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. It tells the story of Japanese teenager Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum, who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally pr ...

. Around that time, Ran was often hurt or got into trouble because of the antics of the more carefree and irresponsible Lum. The two were also both in love with

Rei Recreational Equipment, Inc., doing business as REI, is an American retail and outdoor recreation services corporation. It was formerly governed, and continues to brand itself, as a consumers' co-operative. REI sells camping gear, hiking, clim ...

, who became Lum's

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

. For these reasons, Ran comes to Earth in order to get revenge against Lum. By enrolling in Tomobiki High and pretending to be human, Ran plans to steal Lum's fiancé,

Ataru Moroboshi is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Rumiko Takahashi's manga and anime series ''Urusei Yatsura''. Appearances In ''Urusei Yatsura'' Ataru is a 17-year-old student at Tomobiki High School, Class 2-4. Born during a major earth ...

, from her, just so she can kiss him and drain his youth away. However, after finally managing to do so, it fails due to a youth potion that Ataru accidentally takes. Form then on, Ran changes tactics to getting revenge 'directly' on Lum, usually dragging in everyone nearby as well; these bouts of revenge are usually triggered by her calm and friendly reminiscing of the past leading her to remember something unpleasant. Ran lives in her spaceship that she parks on Earth and is an excellent cook, always hoping that the way to Rei's heart is through his stomach. Over the course of the series, Ran finds herself involved in various abnormal, unusual and otherworldly situations along with the rest of the manga's colorful cast of characters. These situations include: Ran hanging out with

Ryunosuke Fujinami The ''Urusei Yatsura'' manga series features a large ensemble cast of characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. It tells the story of Japanese teenager Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum (Urusei Yatsura), Lum, who believes she is Ataru's wife afte ...

in an attempt to teach her how to become more feminine, only for people to mistakenly believe that Ran is interested in girls; and Ran trying to prevent Ataru from crashing a party she – along with Lum,

Shinobu Miyake The ''Urusei Yatsura'' manga series features a large ensemble cast of characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. It tells the story of Japanese teenager Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum, who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally pr ...

Sakura The cherry blossom, or sakura, is the flower of trees in ''Prunus'' subgenus '' Cerasus''. ''Sakura'' usually refers to flowers of ornamental cherry trees, such as cultivars of ''Prunus serrulata'', not trees grown for their fruit (although ...

, Benten,

Ryoko Mendo The '' Urusei Yatsura'' manga series features a large ensemble cast of characters created by Rumiko Takahashi. It tells the story of Japanese teenager Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien Lum, who believes she is Ataru's wife after he accidentally ...

, Ryunosuke and Oyuki – were hosting in an old-fashioned ''

sentō is a type of Japanese communal bathhouse where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bathhouses have been quite utilitarian, with a tall barrier separating the sexes within one large room, a minimum of lined-up faucets on both sides ...

''.

In other media

In addition to the manga series, Ran was also featured in its 1981 anime television series adaptation, in which she was voiced by

until episode 103, with

succeeding Inoue as Ran's voice actress for the remainder of the anime. Additionally, the outfit Ran wears in the penultimate opening of the original series was based on that of the character Maris from Takahashi's

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'', a ...

manga ''

Maris the Chojo , originally titled ''Supergal'' in U.S. markets, is a one shot manga story by Rumiko Takahashi. It ran in the October 1980 special edition of ''Shōnen Sunday'' and was later made into an anime OVA. The manga was later compiled in the '' R ...

'' (1980). The character also made an appearance in the animated

theatrical film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation ...

'' Urusei Yatsura: Remember My Love'' (1985). In the 1988 "Raging Sherbet"

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

, Ran, along with Lum and Benten, decide to temporarily leave Earth in order to take a

summer vacation The term summer vacation or summer break refers to a school break in the summer between school years and the break in the school academic year. Students are off anywhere between two weeks to three and a half months. Depending on the country and ...

with Oyuki to her home planet

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

, where they learn about its native bird species Sherbet, which produce icy treats on demand. In the 2005 "Catch the Heart" OVA, Ran receives a heart-shaped candy from a mischievous spirit that causes a magical heart to appear over the head of whoever eats it. Hanazawa currently voices the character in the 2022 anime television series adaptation of ''Urusei Yatsura''.

Reception

Ran is considered to be one of the most popular ''Urusei Yatsura'' characters among fans of the series. In October 2019,

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

released the results of a popularity poll on the "Favorite Rumiko Takahashi Characters" list, with Ran ranked at 20th place. In August 2021, it was reported that a new

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

line produced by Fairytail Parfum would be launched next September, with each fragrance inspired by a character from ''Urusei Yatsura''; Ran's perfume, which cost 1,320

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

, was described as "a feminine blend of flowers and berries with a romantic last note of sandalwood and vanilla". In April 2022, Dave Carl Cutler of ''

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

'' ranked Ran 10th on the "Top 10 Rumiko Takahashi Waifus" list. Cutler commented that while Ran's "selfish and petty nature" made her seem like a "boring" character at first glance, he noted that "it is that same pettiness that makes her shine", stating: "Nothing is as tame as simply nice. That is not what ''Urusei Yatsura'' is about. The whole show is about self-centered characters constantly causing mayhem because of their personality flaws. In that framework, Ran really shines. Ran's presence requires attention and many will be happy to give it." Danny Guan of ''

Game Rant Valnet, Inc. is a Canadian media company established in August 2012 by Hassan and Sam Youssef in Montreal, Quebec. It operates primarily in the entertainment media industry, where it has sought to acquire producers of content in this space. In ...

'' praised the character's dual personality and her relationship with Lum, writing: " an'stwo-faced demeanor that switches between adorable and vicious is a sight to behold, and her dynamic with Lum is one of the funniest in the series. Out of Lum's many childhood friends, her relationship with Ran is easily the most hilarious and ridiculous."

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ran (Urusei Yatsura) Anime and manga characters introduced in 1980 Female characters in anime and manga Fictional characters with mental disorders Extraterrestrial characters in comics Teenage characters in television Teenage characters in anime and manga Urusei Yatsura characters