This is not a comparison and certainly not me bashing the show for copying a manga series.
Although I will admit when I first signed up for Disney+ back in November 2019, I did grab the opportunity to watch Star. vs. The Forces of Evil but I could barely get into the show due to the puppet rigged animation. However, I did enjoy the Fan Art better. Most of the Fan Art did often change the art style to anime style but there are a few fanart of the series that did retain the art style of the show but still keep everything hand drawn.
But back to topic, the reason for this Maverick Quickie is because I was browsing through my iPhone's Photos and I happened across this meme I saw about a back in 2022 on Pinterest comparing the show to Urusei Yatsura.
Keep in mind, this meme was referencing the original 1978 version of Urusei Yatsura since 2022 saw the release of the remake but the screenshots are from the early version of Rumiko Takahashi's own series. But yeah, the similarities to both Star and Urusei Yatsura is rather uncanny. It's almost like Daron Nefcy was actually inspired by Takahashi-Sama's own work.
As a matter of fact, while I was making this blogpost, I went and read through Star's Wikipedia page but there was no information on Urusei Yatsura on the BACKGROUND AND PRODUCTION tab.
It did list Daron Nefcy saying she was inspired by Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z during the making of the show.
What's interesting is that Star vs. The Forces of Evil was originally supposed to be on Cartoon Network but The Rabbit Hole rejected the series. Instead, Star became Disney's Magical Girl.
Hmmm.... I wonder why?
But it isn't strange for Disney to buy a series that was rejected from it’s rivals. Pepper Ann was originally supposed to be a Nicktoon but The Slime Factory rejected the series so the Mouse House bought the series and the rest is history.
But while the comparisons of Star Butterly to Lum Invader and Tom to Rei is accurate, the person who made this meme sort of didn't do his homework when he was comparing Marco Diaz to Ataru Moroboshi.
Marco Diaz is a teenage heart-throb who at least wants to have a normal life while Ataru Moroboshi is a GRADE-A pervert who's ridiculously average at best and the only girl who genuinely loves him romantically speaking is Lum herself.
Lum Invader is a humanoid Oni who can control electricity while Star Butterfly is just a magical human being with somewhat inexperience wielding her wand at first but later becomes proficient.
Rei rarely has brains while Tom pretty much as some form of intelligence. Both are massively jealous of the protagonists stealing away their girls.
The other difference is Marco has a girl for a Stalker while Ataru has a rich bastard for a rival/friend. And of course, another girl who masquerades as a boy.
So with the info I've got, Star Vs. The Forces of Evil is thankfully not a carbon copy of Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura so this meme's a little overblown but that's why I like to make these comparisons because with later shows like THE OWL HOUSE, many shows regardless of network are starting to see a major increase in influence from ANIME.
Next thing I know, the next Disney show, Nicktoon, or Cartoon Network show could be heavily influenced by RANMA 1/2 or Inuyasha.
For me, My show pitch probably is more or less influenced by Ranma with several sprinkles of Haruhi Suzumiya on the side.
Speaking of anime, NETFLIX's anime adaptation of Scott Pilgrim is out. I might as well go and watch it when I get the chance.
Well, I've watched the first episode. If you want to know more about it, I have another Maverick Quickie about this anime:
https://maverickmartinezarchive.blogspot.com/2023/11/maverick-quickie-my-two-cents-on-scott.html
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