9 Horror Movie References You Never Noticed In Anime
6. Urusei Yatsura
Though it never garnered the
international acclaim that her later work, Inuyasha would receive,
Takahashi Rumiko's first series, Urusei Yatsura, was one of the
first works to receive major western publication. Urusei Yatsura
follows teenage slacker Ataru in his battle to save earth from the
alien princess, Lum. Not only does he not want to be Earth's savior,
but he only wins by being lecherous – because of course he does.
Anyway, Lum mistakes his flirtatious mannerisms as a marriage proposal and moves in with him – devoting herself to ruining his life so that he'll have no choice but to marry her. The anime adaptation of Takahashi's manga garnered 195 episodes, 6 films, and a dozen OVAs (original video animations).
A regular running gag of the series is weird things being in the background, including Sherlock Holmes, Batman, and the Lone Ranger with less opaque references to some characters in certain episodes.
Also appearing in the background are some classic monster movie staples such as Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolfman. With over 100 hours of animation, one can only imagine the background references you could miss.