The story follows Kei, a young man delivering newspapers until he is abducted by aliens. The aliens insert a tiny bomb into his body and set it to go off if it's removed. Once Kei awakens he finds that the alien space craft is being pulled into the ocean.
The ship crashes into the ocean, and is captured by Fish Men. The Fish Men decide to use Kei to destroy the air on the surface world, so they too plant a small, ultra-destructive bomb inside him. Kei awakens and escapes with a young girl named Akane who had been kidnapped by the Fish Men a year ago. After escaping in the alien craft, they crash into a city and are believed to be aliens. The government believes the only way to prevent the aliens from invading is to destroy their mothership, so they too plant a bomb inside of Kei. The Fish Men (the Dappya Men from Urusei Yatsura) start to invade Earth, and before all hell breaks loose everyone realizes what they've done. The destructive power of the three bombs inside Kei will not only destroy Earth, but the entire universe as well! The Aliens, Fish Men, and Government Agents decide to protect Kei for the rest of his life, for should he die, the bombs will detonate.
Published In:
Shonen Sunday 1978 Volume 28
Rumic World Vol. 2
Publication Date: June 20, 1978
Pages: 32 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:
Those Selfish Aliens was released in 1978 and was Rumiko Takahashi's first published work. For it she won Shogakukan's "Best New Comic Artist Award" (or more specifically she won the honorable mention for the 2nd New Comic Artist Award in the "Shonen" category.
The judges of the New Comic Artist Award that year were Fujiko Akatsuka (赤塚不二夫), Kazuo Umezu (楳図かずお), Jiro Saito (斎藤次郎), Fujio Fujiko (藤子不二雄) and Leiji Matsumoto (松本零士). Included below are their comments on Takahashi's submission:
"The picture is very well drawn. I appreciate the strange ideas and humor. The pacing is good, and the idea of the ending is clever."
-Fujio Akatsuka
"The artist's spontaneous drawings are very lovely. I can also buy the artist's boldness, which I don't think is typical of a female artist. The main character needs to be more convincing in his actions."
-Kazuo Umezu
"The setting of the story itself is interesting, but the characters are not well drawn. I would have liked to have seen a coherent tone in the work."
-Jiro Saito
"I think it's an interesting story on a large scale. The characters such as the invaders, undersea men, etc., could be drawn better.".
-Fujio Fujiko
"The originality of the characters is obvious. The finishing of the images was neat and tidy. She creates suspenseful and dramatic climaxes."
-Leiji Matsumoto
Many ideas and plot-devices in this story prefigure those that would later be featured in Urusei Yatsura.
Newspaper delivery in Japan has fallen off in the 21st century much as it has elsewhere in the world. But in 1978 it was a big business. Newspaper delivery was done in the pre-dawn hours by people known as "Shimbun Haitatsu". Most large newspapers in Japan at the time had two editions a day, one in the morning and another in the evening.
The first group of alien invaders have a chest wrap around their waist which resembles a haramaki (腹巻). This is a "belly warmer". In the works of Rumiko Takahashi this is most strongly associated with Urusei Yatsura's Mr. Fujinami, Fujio Akatsuka's character of Bakabon's father in Tensai Bakabon and Tora-san in the long-running film It's Tough Being a Man (男はつらいよ) film series. By the 1980s haramaki were seen as old-fashioned and it became visual shorthand for characters depicted as wearing them to seem buffoonish. Additionally, the aliens are likely based on the Xilien race from the sixth Godzilla movie, Invasion of Astro-Monster (怪獣大戦争).
“Mr. Toyota, Mr. Honda, Mrs. Suzuki, Mr. Kawasaki, Mr. Yamaha...” - The actual names are different here in the English translation by Viz versus the original Japanese. In the Japanese Kei says "Abe-san, Itou-san, Ueda-san, Egawa-san, Ozawa-san..." while Viz goes with last names that are also tied to Japanese corporations that manufacture motorcycles.
Sometimes known as Dappya Men, the fish aliens are called 半魚人 (Hangyojin) in Japanese, which quite literally means "half-fish man".
In one scene we can see the Hangyojin striking the "mokugyo" (木魚) often called the "wooden fish" appropriately enough. It creates a hollow sound when struck and is used in religious ceremonies.
One of the alien invaders is performing two Buddhist mudra. The fingers held together is the "vitarka mudra" which indicates the transmission of the teachings of Buddha. The open hand is the "varada mudra" which indicates compassion.
The bowl that is used to make a sound is called a "singing bowl," "standing bell," or "rin gong". They are used for religious purposes and meditation.
The beads rubbed by the alien on the left are called "juzu" (数珠 / counting beads) or "nenju" (念珠 / thought beads). The sound made by rubbing the beads together is thought to help with focus during meditations and prayers.
