TV-Series
Description
Ataru Moroboshi is a 17-year-old student in Tomobiki High School's Class 2-4. His birth was marked by a convergence of unlucky omens: occurring in April (associated with the unlucky number four in Japanese culture), on Friday the 13th, during a major earthquake, and on Butsumetsu, the unluckiest Buddhist calendar day. This established him as a rare conduit for profound misfortune, attracting supernatural phenomena and calamities that frequently disrupt Tomobiki.
Infamous for extreme lechery and tenacious womanizing, he relentlessly pursues romantic or physical encounters with virtually every woman he meets, regardless of species or origin. His behavior manifests as incessant requests for contact information, unwelcome advances, and attempts at groping, typically resulting in violent rejections. Despite consistent failures and punishments—most frequently electrocution by his alien fiancée Lum—his determination remains unshaken. He displays laziness towards academic responsibilities, often skipping classwork or sleeping during school hours. Paradoxically, beneath this obnoxious exterior lies unexpected intelligence, evident in elaborate schemes to evade Lum or outwit adversaries. He occasionally demonstrates genuine kindness and nobility, such as nurturing a disliked classroom caterpillar, compassionately accompanying the ghost of an infatuated deceased girl on a final date, or asserting that harming any woman would invalidate his identity as a man [citation:].
His life changed irrevocably when Earth faced invasion by the Oni aliens. Selected by computer lottery to represent humanity, he competed against Princess Lum in a high-stakes game of tag, requiring him to touch her horns within one week. Initially reluctant, he committed fully after his then-girlfriend Shinobu Miyake promised marriage if he succeeded. On the final day, he secured victory by stealing Lum’s bikini top, exploiting her modesty to grasp her horn. In triumph, he exclaimed, "Now I can get married!", intending it for Shinobu. Lum misinterpreted this as a public proposal directed at her and accepted immediately, binding Ataru as her "husband." Though he initially resented this imposition, viewing Lum as an obstacle to his womanizing freedom, Lum cohabitated with him and enrolled in his school [citation:].
His relationship with Lum defines much of his character arc. He openly rejects her affections, complains about her interference, and actively chases other women in her presence, triggering her trademark electric shocks. However, his actions consistently reveal deeper, unacknowledged feelings. He exhibits fierce protectiveness over Lum, such as in "The Gloves of Love and War," where cursed boxing gloves forced him to strike anyone nearby; he repeatedly intercepted blows aimed at her by placing his own face in the way. He experiences intense jealousy when other men approach Lum and shows profound despair during her absences, including ceasing his girl-chasing and weeping while clutching her doll. Critical turning points underscore this hidden devotion: in the Inaba arc, he consciously chose a future where he marries Lum over an alternative where he possesses a harem but loses her. During the final tag game—where Earth’s memory of Lum was at stake—Lum offered to concede if he verbally declared love. He refused, insisting on winning through his own effort. As exhaustion neared collapse, he shouted, "Like I’ll ever forget you!" while clutching her discarded horns, prompting her tearful surrender. In concluding scenes across all media, Lum vows to extract a proper confession someday, to which he replies, "Only on my deathbed," implicitly pledging lifelong love [citation:].
Physically, he appears as a lean teenager with dark brown hair and eyes, typically clad in his Tomobiki High uniform. Casual home attire is notably slovenly. Despite an ordinary build, he exhibits cartoonish superhuman traits: extraordinary resilience (dubbed "the life force of a cockroach and rejuvenation powers of a lizard"), electricity resistance honed by Lum’s repeated shocks, and bursts of incredible speed, especially when pursuing women or fleeing retribution. His skills include bare-handed blade-catching (developed to counter sword-wielding rivals), ninja-like evasion techniques, and exploiting opponents’ psychological weaknesses. In altered realities or dreamscapes, his willpower or libido ("h-chi") can manifest reality-warping abilities [citation:][citation:].
Other key relationships include his fraught history with Shinobu Miyake, his childhood girlfriend whose affection waned after Lum’s arrival; a bitter rivalry with the wealthy Shūtarō Mendō (though they occasionally cooperate against common threats); mutual hostility with Lum’s cousin Ten; and contentious interactions with his parents, who often express regret over his existence. His classmates, particularly Lum’s fan club, exploit him to get closer to her and rarely defend him [citation:].
His name, Moroboshi Ataru (諸星あたる), translates to "Falling star to get hit" or "to be struck by a falling star," symbolizing both his catastrophic luck and the transformative, unexpected "blessing" of Lum’s love [citation:]. Character development across the series shows gradual maturation, particularly in prioritizing Lum’s happiness over his harem fantasy and acknowledging—albeit indirectly—his commitment to her. Differences exist between manga and anime portrayals; the manga presents a more nuanced, less excessively buffoonish version, with earlier emotional depth and reduced girl-hunting frequency later in the story [citation:].
Infamous for extreme lechery and tenacious womanizing, he relentlessly pursues romantic or physical encounters with virtually every woman he meets, regardless of species or origin. His behavior manifests as incessant requests for contact information, unwelcome advances, and attempts at groping, typically resulting in violent rejections. Despite consistent failures and punishments—most frequently electrocution by his alien fiancée Lum—his determination remains unshaken. He displays laziness towards academic responsibilities, often skipping classwork or sleeping during school hours. Paradoxically, beneath this obnoxious exterior lies unexpected intelligence, evident in elaborate schemes to evade Lum or outwit adversaries. He occasionally demonstrates genuine kindness and nobility, such as nurturing a disliked classroom caterpillar, compassionately accompanying the ghost of an infatuated deceased girl on a final date, or asserting that harming any woman would invalidate his identity as a man [citation:].
His life changed irrevocably when Earth faced invasion by the Oni aliens. Selected by computer lottery to represent humanity, he competed against Princess Lum in a high-stakes game of tag, requiring him to touch her horns within one week. Initially reluctant, he committed fully after his then-girlfriend Shinobu Miyake promised marriage if he succeeded. On the final day, he secured victory by stealing Lum’s bikini top, exploiting her modesty to grasp her horn. In triumph, he exclaimed, "Now I can get married!", intending it for Shinobu. Lum misinterpreted this as a public proposal directed at her and accepted immediately, binding Ataru as her "husband." Though he initially resented this imposition, viewing Lum as an obstacle to his womanizing freedom, Lum cohabitated with him and enrolled in his school [citation:].
His relationship with Lum defines much of his character arc. He openly rejects her affections, complains about her interference, and actively chases other women in her presence, triggering her trademark electric shocks. However, his actions consistently reveal deeper, unacknowledged feelings. He exhibits fierce protectiveness over Lum, such as in "The Gloves of Love and War," where cursed boxing gloves forced him to strike anyone nearby; he repeatedly intercepted blows aimed at her by placing his own face in the way. He experiences intense jealousy when other men approach Lum and shows profound despair during her absences, including ceasing his girl-chasing and weeping while clutching her doll. Critical turning points underscore this hidden devotion: in the Inaba arc, he consciously chose a future where he marries Lum over an alternative where he possesses a harem but loses her. During the final tag game—where Earth’s memory of Lum was at stake—Lum offered to concede if he verbally declared love. He refused, insisting on winning through his own effort. As exhaustion neared collapse, he shouted, "Like I’ll ever forget you!" while clutching her discarded horns, prompting her tearful surrender. In concluding scenes across all media, Lum vows to extract a proper confession someday, to which he replies, "Only on my deathbed," implicitly pledging lifelong love [citation:].
Physically, he appears as a lean teenager with dark brown hair and eyes, typically clad in his Tomobiki High uniform. Casual home attire is notably slovenly. Despite an ordinary build, he exhibits cartoonish superhuman traits: extraordinary resilience (dubbed "the life force of a cockroach and rejuvenation powers of a lizard"), electricity resistance honed by Lum’s repeated shocks, and bursts of incredible speed, especially when pursuing women or fleeing retribution. His skills include bare-handed blade-catching (developed to counter sword-wielding rivals), ninja-like evasion techniques, and exploiting opponents’ psychological weaknesses. In altered realities or dreamscapes, his willpower or libido ("h-chi") can manifest reality-warping abilities [citation:][citation:].
Other key relationships include his fraught history with Shinobu Miyake, his childhood girlfriend whose affection waned after Lum’s arrival; a bitter rivalry with the wealthy Shūtarō Mendō (though they occasionally cooperate against common threats); mutual hostility with Lum’s cousin Ten; and contentious interactions with his parents, who often express regret over his existence. His classmates, particularly Lum’s fan club, exploit him to get closer to her and rarely defend him [citation:].
His name, Moroboshi Ataru (諸星あたる), translates to "Falling star to get hit" or "to be struck by a falling star," symbolizing both his catastrophic luck and the transformative, unexpected "blessing" of Lum’s love [citation:]. Character development across the series shows gradual maturation, particularly in prioritizing Lum’s happiness over his harem fantasy and acknowledging—albeit indirectly—his commitment to her. Differences exist between manga and anime portrayals; the manga presents a more nuanced, less excessively buffoonish version, with earlier emotional depth and reduced girl-hunting frequency later in the story [citation:].