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For the Tigers, Takahashi-san says "Next year..."

Translation by: Harley Acres

Rumiko Takahashi Next year they'll be Japan's best daccha! Urusei Yatsura is the ever-popular series by manga artist Rumiko Takahashi, whose dream has already collapsed 30 days into the season, but she still has plenty of love and support for her team. [1] In 2003 this newspaper featured her "Tigers Version Lum-chan Countdown Design" where she featured the magic number needed for them to reach the division championship along with a special illustration from the comic world's biggest Tiger's fan. [2] In 2015 she still has high hopes for her team.

And yet they have been defeated. Still, Takahashi-san says, "This fall, it's still fun to send my good thoughts their way. I didn't expect them to make the CS (Climax Series) Final Stage, but it was still a lot of fun to watch." In a series against the Giants the Tigers won four consecutive victories.

Eleven years ago in this newspaper the Tigers version of Lum-chan was drawn for Senichi Hoshino's Hanshin Tigers. "I was really happy with that piece. That season they were really determined." However there was still disappointing results in 2003, the season of "Let's Go to the Max".

It was the Tigers of 43 years ago that first caught her attention. In her second year of junior high school the Hanshin Tigers came to her hometown of Niigata to play against the Taiyo Whales and she fell in love with the "cool" catcher Koichi Tabuchi. In 1973 they suffered a 0-9 defeat at the hands of the Giants, "I was really crushed by that," and consequently broke away from the Tigers, but returned for the 1992 V Rivalry against the Yakult Swallows, "now let's go," she thought. "So I missed out on the 1985 championship season," she says frankly.

2003 and 2005 in the Japan Series were also unfortunate, especially in 2005 when they lost in four games while Takahashi held a ticket for the fifth round game at Koshien. With a bitter smile she says, "Because of that I have no memory of 2005."

She also bought the 2005 Championship Commemoration DVD despite its heartbreaking conclusion. "Nevertheless it taught me that a happy ending is always needed in the end. This is something I've carried over into my own work." And so even in defeat the Tigers have influenced "Takahashi Rumiko World".

This year, Uemoto-san and Umeno-san are likely the breakout stars. It is the experience of these young players that gives us some source of encouragement." Hopefully 2014 is the prelude to next year's happy ending.


Footnotes
  • [1] Rumiko Takahashi has been a fan of the Hanshin Tigers since her childhood and has ardently supported them for many decades. Two of Takahashi's manga, Tiger and This Year a Championship both address her fondness for the Tigers.
  • [2] Rumiko Takahashi's Hanshin Tigers illustrations are difficult to find as they have rarely been reprinted. Some of these illustrations can be seen in our article on her support for the Tigers. These illustrations were eventually collected in the artbook that was including in the final boxset of the 2023 republication of the Urusei Yatsura tankobon collection.


Cover

Daily.co.jp
Published: October 31, 2014
Interviewer: ---
Translated by: Harley Acres
Translation date: February 6, 2015
ISBN/Web Address: http://www.daily.co.jp/ gossip/2014/10/31/0007464245.shtml
Page numbers: ---