often leading to comic results. After misinterpreting Ataru's words as a marriage proposal, Lum quickly agrees to marry the human. When Ataru unwittingly racks up an insurmountable amount of debt to an alien taxi driver who starts plundering oil from all over Earth, Lum agrees to pay off the debt in exchange for being allowed to live at the Moroboshi house. Although she is extremely popular with men, Lum's only dream in life is to be with Ataru, whom she calls her "Darling". If her and Ataru get into a fight, Lum may retreat to her spaceship that she keeps above the Moroboshi home. While generally good-natured, sweet, faithful, and innocent, Lum also has a very hot temper that is usually directed at Ataru when he leches on other women. She has a unique way of speaking, similar to that of young Japanese girls who are trying to be overly cute. Humans Shinobu Miyake is Ataru's childhood friend and classmate. At the beginning of the series she is also Ataru's girlfriend, but Lum's arrival strains the relationship. Shinobu claims that if Ataru wins the game of tag, she would marry him, which encourages Ataru to win, but his victory cry leads to a misunderstanding where Lum agrees to marry him. Shinobu is a neat, sweet and petite young lady. Despite these feminine characteristics, she often displays super-human strength, able to easily throw the school desks or any other large/heavy object as needed; however, this strength tends to only show itself in anger involving either Lum or Ataru. When Shutaro Mendo arrives at their school, Shinobu, like all the other girls in class, develops a crush on him at first sight. This causes her to question her feelings for Ataru, and turns the love triangle of her, Ataru and Lum, into a four-way entanglement. As the series progresses, however, Shinobu gives up on both Ataru and Shutaro and ends up meeting Inaba, whom she eventually goes steady with. She is voiced by Saeko Shimazu (first series) and Maaya Uchida (second series) in Japanese, and Katherine Burten (Those Obnoxious Aliens) and Danielle Sullivan in English. Shutaro Mendo is heir to the Mendo conglomerate with staggering wealth and its own private army. Upon his transfer to Tomobiki High, he and Ataru immediately become enemies. Although very handsome, charming and intelligent, on occasions Mendo succumbs to lechery and resembles Ataru, just more respectful and