Rumic World

Rumic World (るーみっくわーるど, Rūmikku Wārudo), can refer either to a series of short manga stories written by Rumiko Takahashi or to a series of Original Video Animation's based on those stories.

Rumic World was later reprinted in Japan as Takahashi Rumiko Kessaku Tanpenshū (高橋留美子傑作短編集). Most of the stories tend to be comedies.

The Original Video Animation's (OVA's) were released in North American and United Kingdom by Central Park Media and Manga Entertainment.

Some of these stories, along with newer stories, were also animated as part of the Takahashi Rumiko Gekijou (Rumiko Takahashi Anthology) anime series.

Manga Stories

Japanese editions

The Rumic World stories were originally published separately in various Shōgakukan magazines. The complete collection was published twice in Japan. Rumic World was released twice in Japan, the first edition, Rumic World (るーみっくわーるど, Rūmikku Wārudo), utilized the tankoban format, and consisted of three volumes:

Volume 1^[1]

• Honō Torippā (炎トリッパー)
• Yami wo Kakeru Manazashi (闇をかけるまなざし)
• Warau Hyōteki (笑う標的)
• Waraete Nemure (笑えて眠れ)

Volume 2^[2]

• Sengoku Seitokai (戦国生徒会)
• Katte na Yatsura (勝手なやつら)
• The Supergirl/Chōjo (ザ・超女, Za Sūpāgyaru/Chōjo)
• Gold Finger/Ōgon no Bimbōgami (黄金の貧乏神, Gōrudo Hingā/Ōgon no Bimbōgami)
• Kaibyō Min (怪猫・明)
• Hara Hara Hōru (腹はらホール)
• Warae! Helpman (笑え！ヘルプマン, Warae! Herupuman)
• Warera Facial Pack/Gammen Nakama (われら顔面仲間, Warera Feisharu Pakku/Gammen Nakama)

Volume 3^[3]

• Fūfu (ふうふ)
• Shōkon (商魂)
• Dust Spurt (ダストスパート！！, Dasuto Supāto) (also Dust Spot!!) (consists of five chapters)

The second edition, Hozonban Rūmikku Wārudo Takahashi Rumiko Kessaku Tampenshū (【保存版】るーみっくわーるど　高橋留美子傑作短編集), in wideban format, contained the same stories, reduced into two volumes, with the stories in a different order:

Volume 1

• Katte na Yatsura (勝手なやつら)
• Hara Hara Hōru (腹はらホール)
• Gold Finger/Ōgon no Bimbōgami (黄金の貧乏神, Gōrudo Hingā/Ōgon no Bimbōgami)
• Dust Spurt (ダストスパート！！, Dasuto Supāto) (also Dust Spot!!) (consists of five chapters)
• Shōkon (商魂)
• Fūfu (ふうふ)

Volume 2

• Honō Torippā (炎トリッパー)
• The Supergirl/Chōjo (ザ・超女, Za Sūpāgyaru/Chōjo)
• Kaibyō Min (怪猫・明)
• Warae! Helpman (笑え！ヘルプマン, Warae! Herupuman)
• Sengoku Seitokai (戦国生徒会)
• Yami wo Kakeru Manazashi (闇をかけるまなざし)
• Warau Hyōteki (笑う標的)
• Waraete Nemure (笑えて眠れ)
• Warera Facial Pack/Gammen Nakama (われら顔面仲間, Warera Feisharu Pakku/Gammen Nakama)

Another collection of similar short stories not included in either of the first two editions, was titled either One or Double (１　ｏｒ　Ｗ, Wan oa Daburu), or Rumic World Rumiko Takahashi Presents "The Collection of Short Stories" (【るーみっくわーるど】高橋留美子短編集, Rūmikku Wārudo Takahashi Rumiko Tampenshū) This book also uses the wideban format,^[4] and contains the following stories:

• Slim Kannon (スリム観音, Surimu Kannon)
• Inu de Warui ka!! (犬で悪いか！！)
• Obāsan to Issho (お婆さんといっしょ)
• Gambari Masse (がんばり末世)
• Grand Father (グランド・ファザー, Gurando Fazā)
• Takarazuka e no Shōtai ~Invitation to Takarazuka~ (宝塚への招待〜INVITATION TO TAKARAZUKA〜)
• One or Double (１　ｏｒ　Ｗ, Wan oa Daburu)
• Happy Talk (ハッピー・トーク, Happii Tōku)
• Uchi ga Megami ja!! (うちが女神じゃ！！, Uchi ga Megami ja!!)

English Editions

Some of Takahashi's stories were printed in Manga-vizion magazine in a "flipped" style ^[5] and are no longer in print.

While Viz Media initially published two Rumic World stories in 1989 and 1990, it published a three volume set of the Rumic World collection in 1996, corresponding to the Japanese editions, with a different order to the stories:

Volume 1

• "Fire Tripper": A gas explosion sends young Suzuko and Shuu 500 years into the past.
• "Maris the Chojo": An alien policeman sees a kidnapped quadrillionaire as her ticket out of debt.
• "Those Selfish Aliens": Aliens, the government, and fishermen implant bombs in a poor individual.
• "Time Warp Trouble": Warriors from feudal Japan inexplicably pop into a modern high-school classroom.
• "The Laughing Target": Azusa will do anything to ensure that Yuzuru stays hers.

Volume 2

• "Wasted Minds (Dust Spot)": A five-part miniseries which follows a pair of bickering government agents.
• "The Golden Gods of Poverty": A boy's parents try to use him to make money.
• "The Entrepreneurial Spirit": A woman leads seminars for a get-rich quick scheme.

Volume 3

• "That Darn Cat": Rumiko Takahashi takes care of her neighbor's cat.
• "When My Eyes Got Wings": A couple befriend a sickly child with a secret.
• "Wedded Bliss": A wedded couple's only outlet is to fight with one another.
• "Sleep and Forget": A girl relives a past life involving her lover.
• "A Cry for Help": A fairy gives a boy a frightening split personality.
• "War Council: Student councils go to war over a stamp.
• "The Face Pack": A man can change his appearance at will.

Viz Media also published a book corresponding to the "One or Double" collection of short stories published in Japan, under the title, Rumic Theater: One or Double. It contained the following stories:

• "Excuse Me for Being a Dog!": A boxer tries to hide the fact that he turns into a dog every time he gets a nose bleed.
• "Winged Victory": A rugby team with 999 losses is cheered on by a ghostly girl .
• "The Grandfather of All Baseball Games": A man wastes the money his grandson makes playing sandlot baseball.
• "The Diet Goddess": A young girl goes through a rigorous training exercise to fit into a dress.
• "Happy Talk": A girl searches for her dead mother, who she thinks might be working as a hostess in Tokyo.
• "One or Double": An accident places the soul of a fanatic kendo coach into his favorite pupil's girlfriend.
• "To Grandmother's House We Go": A woman poses as her dead friend to claim a 500 billion yen inheritance.
• "Reserved Seat": A singer deals with stage fright and memory blackouts after his grandmother dies.
• "Shake Your Buddha": A hilarious debate between the future Buddha and an idiot yam fanatic.

Notes and references

1. ↑ るーみっく・わーるど 1 (少年サンデーブックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
2. ↑ るーみっく・わーるど 2 (少年サンデーブックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
3. ↑ るーみっく・わーるど 3 (少年サンデーブックス) (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
4. ↑ "1orW(ワン・オア・ダブル)―るーみっくわーるど" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved November 23, 2012. 
5. ↑ Text in the Japanese language reads right-to-left so manga artwork is composed right-to-left. For English editions the artwork is often mirrored - or flipped - to read left-to-right.

External links

• http://www.furinkan.com/rumictheater/