[7][8] Ataru is kidnapped by men dressed in black and escorted to his house where he meets an Oni named Mr. Invader, who comes from beyond the Galaxy to take over Earth.

Later on, TV news informs its viewers there is only one more day left to catch Lum; if Ataru fails he and his family will be lynched.

Unfortunately, he subsequently runs into Sakura, a gorgeous-but-sickly woman, and is tasked with returning her to a local temple to exorcise the demons possessing her.

Cherry gives Ataru some magical yellow ribbons which, when tied on Lum's horns, render her unable to fire electric shocks.

Having been awakened from her long sleep by Ataru's kiss, Kurama, a temperamental crow demon, tries her best to reform him by making him undergo strenuous training to be her husband and trying to cure his lechery.

Lum, Ataru and the gang go out to a disco, and chaos ensues when Sakura's boyfriend Tsubame starts to demonstrate his magic abilities.

Shutaro Mendo, the adolescent heir to the wealthiest corporation in Japan, enrols at Tomobiki High and proceeds to woo every girl (with the notable exception of Lum) in Class 2B with his suave and 'chivalrous' demeanor, much to Ataru's ire.

Shutaro brings in an antique camera to Tomobiki High that, upon taking a photo of Ataru, transports him to a different dimension.

After eating a lollipop that Lum makes for him and a bun Cherry intended to bury as it is evil, Ataru splits into two beings, one representative of his more chivalrous and moral traits and the other an abstraction of his impulsivity and lechery.

Megane deals with a tough, fast-eating "fast-food costumer dragon" named Ryuu at the noodle shop he works at, who criticizes others' inferior foods and eats for free if not satisfied.

Ataru and Mendou get locked in the latter's giant safe, where they slowly go mad when the place starts flooding and they try to out-survive each other.

Ran gets video tapes "highlighting" her unhappy childhood, as well as previous episodes' events, via clips.

Ten learns the difficulties of being the righteousness of the universe when he gets powers from a salary-man superhero, whom Ran and Lum have a grudge against.

[32][33] In 1987, 6,000 laserdisc box sets of the anime series costing ¥330,000 each were sold out, generating ¥1.98 billion ($18 million) in retail sales.

[42][43][44] An improvisational gag dub of the first and third episodes was broadcast on now-defunct BBC Choice channel on 5/6 August 2000, as part of a Japan TV Weekend block special as "Lum the Invader Girl".

[49][50] Each DVD and VHS contained Liner notes explaining the cultural references and puns from the series.

[51] In February 2011, AnimEigo announced that it would not renew their license to the series and that their DVDs would fall out of print on September 30, 2011.

A fan group known as "Lum's Stormtroopers" convinced the San Jose public television station KTEH to broadcast subtitled episodes of the series in 1998.

[63][64] A 2019 NHK poll of 210,061 people saw Urusei Yatsura named Takahashi's fourth best animated work, with Beautiful Dreamer in fifth.

They summarized the series as "a delight from beginning to end" that "absolutely deserves its fan favorite status.

[67] In a feature on the series for Anime Invasion, McCarthy recommended it as being "the first, the freshest and the funniest" of Takahashi's works and for its large cast, stories and use as a cultural and historical resource.

Napier contrasted the series to Western shows such as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie, highlighting their harmonious resolution to the chaos in comparison to Urusei Yatsura's "out of control" ending to each episode.

[69] Fred Patten writing in Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews credited the series with being the first program to inspire translations from fans.

[70] Patten also credited the series for introducing the phenomenon of using anime to advertise pop songs, claiming it was a deliberate decision by Kitty Films.