title: Iz*One

text: Iz*One began their first headlining tour titled "Eyes on Me" at the Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul, South Korea. After tickets for the first two initial dates–June 8 and 9–were sold out, Off The Record added an additional concert date on June 7. During the tour, they performed two new songs, "Ayayaya" and "So Curious", as sub-units. Overall, the group visited eight cities in five territories, with 81,000 attendance in total. On July 6, the group participated in the annual music festival KCON, held at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, their first U.S. performance.


title: Iz*One

text: The group released their second Japanese single, "Buenos Aires", on June 26. The single debuted atop on both Japanese domestic charts–the Oricon Singles Chart and the "Billboard Japan" Hot 100. It received its Platinum certification by the RIAJ in July 2019. On September 25, Iz*One released their third Japanese single titled "Vampire". Like the previous release, the single topped on both domestic charts in Japan with its first week sales exceeding 200,000 copies; leading to its Gold certification by the RIAJ. It is also the group's only Japanese release to chart on "Billboard" K-pop Hot 100, peaking at number 52. Following their commercial success, the group became Oricon's best-selling new artist for the first half of 2019, accounting an estimated earning of ¥510 million (₩5.5 billion) of total sales in Japan between December 10, 2018, and June 9, 2019. Iz*One participated in the 2019 Tokyo Girls Collection events held in three consecutive cities, the first guest performer to do so.


title: Iz*One

text: The group was scheduled to release their first studio album on November 11. However, the release was postponed due to the Mnet vote manipulation investigation. Investigations revealed that the "Produce 48" producer Ahn Joon-young had selected the twelve members of Iz*One from the top 20 just before the airing of the finale. As a result, Iz*One's showcases, promotions, and several guest appearances were cancelled or put on hold, which included the release of their concert film, "Eyes on Me: The Movie", and their Japanese promotions.


title: Iz*One

text: On January 6, 2020, Iz*One members' agencies and CJ ENM reached an agreement that the group would resume their activities. On February 17, they released their first studio album "Bloom*Iz" and its single "Fiesta". On February 23, the album broke the then-record for the highest first-week sales on Hanteo for an album by a girl group with 356,313 copies; it is also the first album by a girl group to surpass the 300,000 copies mark in Hanteo's history. "Bloom*Iz" was certified Platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) on April 9 after selling more than 390,000 shipment figures. In addition to domestic achievements, "Bloom*Iz" also topped Oricon Overseas Album Chart, following their previous two EPs.


title: Iz*One

text: On June 15, Iz*One released their third EP, "Oneiric Diary", and its lead single "Secret Story of the Swan". The single's music video was originally scheduled to be released on the same day, but was postponed to June 16. The group held a comeback showcase to promote the EP on Mnet's second channel "M2". "Oneiric Diary" peaked at number 2 and has recorded over 510,000 sales on the Gaon Album Chart. It is one of the first two albums by a girl group to be certified Double Platinum by the KMCA, the other the one being Twice's "More & More". On September 13, Iz*One held their first online concert titled "Oneiric Theater". On October 21, the group released their first Japanese studio album "Twelve". The album debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart. On December 7, Iz*One released their fourth EP, "One-reeler / Act IV", accompanied by its lead single "Panorama". The EP debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart.


title: Iz*One

text: On January 26, 2021, Iz*One released a promotional single titled "D-D-Dance" for Universe, a mobile application. On February 11, the group announced that they would hold their final online concert named "One, The Story" on March 13 and 14 ahead of their contract expiration in April, but the announcement on its extension was not yet announced. On February 15, 2021, 5 selected Iz*One members (Kwon Eun-bi, Sakura Miyawaki, Kim Min-ju, Jo Yu-ri and Jang Won-young) participated in the release of a promotional single, “Zero:Attitude” alongside the artists Soyou (who previously trained the group in Produce 48) and pH-1. The song was released in collaboration with Pepsi and Starship, as a part of their PEPSI X STARSHIP campaign. Iz*One participated in the compilation album "Rewind : Blossom" and remade Roo'ra's popular song 3!4!.


title: Iz*One

text: On April 29, 2021, Iz*One officially disbanded after the end of their contract. When the group's disbandment was announced, the official fanbase of the group, WIZ*ONE, started an initiative called Parallel Universe on April 21, 2021, in an attempt to prevent the group from disbanding. The name "Parallel Universe" was chosen to pay homage to a song with the same title that was released during the One, The Story concert. The initiative raised ₩1,000,000,000 (roughly US$900,000), its funding goal, but despite the support from the entire WIZ*ONE community, the initiative failed, and Iz*One disbanded as planned.


title: Iz*One

text: On June 19, CJ ENM confirmed that negotiations were underway to potentially relaunch the group, in consultation with the agencies which manage the members. Despite having initial discussions of the relaunch, the group's relaunch has fallen through as of July 6, and the group's re-debut has been cancelled.


title: Iz*One

text: Prior to debut, Iz*One had endorsed and collaborated with multiple brands including Overhit, Salewa, and Skoolooks. After debut, brands Iz*One endorsed and collaborated with include G-Market, Fever Basket, Olive Young Colorgram:TOK, Sudden Attack, Miche Bloomin', and PepsiCo. The group had also featured in magazines such as "Non-no" and "Elle".


title: Iz*One

text: Members are listed in Korean name format, except for Japanese members. For Japanese members, their names are listed in Western order and both their Japanese and Korean names are listed.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British romantic comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It is the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant, and follows the adventures of Charles (Grant) and his circle of friends through a number of social occasions as they each encounter romance. Andie MacDowell stars as Charles's love interest Carrie, with Kristin Scott Thomas, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah, Charlotte Coleman, David Bower, Corin Redgrave, and Rowan Atkinson in supporting roles.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: The film was made in six weeks, cost under £3 million, and became an unexpected success and the highest-grossing British film in history at the time, with worldwide box office total of $245.7 million, and receiving Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Additionally, Grant won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, and the film won the BAFTA Awards Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Scott Thomas. The film's success propelled Hugh Grant to international stardom, particularly in the United States.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: In 1999, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was placed 23rd on the British Film Institute's 100 greatest British films of the 20th century. In 2016, "Empire" magazine ranked it 21st in their list of the 100 best British films. A 2017 poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers, and critics for "Time Out" magazine ranked it the 74th best British film ever.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Curtis reunited director Newell and the surviving cast for a 25th anniversary reunion Comic Relief short entitled "One Red Nose Day and a Wedding", which aired in the UK during Red Nose Day on 15 March 2019.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: At the wedding of Angus and Laura in Somerset, the unmarried best man Charles; his flatmate Scarlett; his friend Fiona and her brother, Tom; Gareth and his partner Matthew; and Charles's hearing-impaired brother, David, endure the festivities. At the reception, Charles is smitten with Carrie, a young American who has been working in England. They spend the night together. In the morning, Carrie, who is returning to the U.S., laments they may have "missed a great opportunity".


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Three months later at the London wedding of Bernard and Lydia – who met at the previous wedding – Charles is excited to run into Carrie, who has returned to the U.K. He is quickly disappointed after meeting the snobbish Hamish, Carrie's much older Scottish fiancé. Charles experiences further humiliation from several ex-girlfriends, including the distraught Henrietta. He retreats to an empty hotel suite, where he watches Carrie and Hamish depart. He becomes trapped in the room when the newlyweds stumble in to have sex. Later, an angry Henrietta confronts Charles, claiming he is a "serial monogamist" who fears commitment. Carrie returns to the reception, and she and Charles spend another night together.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: A month later, Charles receives an invitation to Carrie's wedding. While shopping for a gift, he runs into her. She recounts her 33 sexual partners; Charles, who was number 32, awkwardly confesses his love to her, which Carrie reluctantly rebuffs.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: A month later, Charles and his friends attend Carrie and Hamish's wedding in Perthshire. The gregarious Gareth instructs the group to seek potential mates; Scarlett meets Chester, an American from Texas. As Charles watches Carrie and Hamish dance, Fiona deduces his heartbreak. She confesses to him that she remains single because she has long been in love with him; though sympathetic, Charles does not reciprocate her feelings. During Hamish's toast, Gareth suffers a fatal heart attack.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: At Gareth's funeral, Matthew recites "Funeral Blues", a poem by British-American poet W. H. Auden. Carrie and Charles share a brief moment and, later, Charles and Tom ponder that despite their clique's pride in being single, Gareth and Matthew were as a "married" couple. They wonder whether the search for "one true love" is futile.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Ten months later, Charles's own wedding day arrives; his bride is Henrietta. While seating guests, Tom meets and is immediately taken with his distant-cousin, Deirdre, whom he has not seen since childhood. Carrie arrives and tells Charles that she and Hamish have separated after a difficult marriage. Charles stunned, privately has an emotional crisis. After being counselled by David and Matthew, Charles resolves to proceed with the wedding. When the vicar asks if anyone present has any reason why the couple should not marry, David, Charles' brother, responds using sign language, He says the groom has doubts and loves someone else, which Charles confirms. Henrietta angrily punches him, and the ceremony is halted.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Shortly after the wedding fiasco, Carrie arrives at Charles' flat to apologize for causing the disruption. Charles says he loves Carrie and proposes having a lifelong commitment without marriage, which Carrie accepts. As they kiss, a thunderbolt flashes across the sky.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: In an ending photo montage, Henrietta has married an officer in the Grenadier Guards; David married Serena, whom he met at the second wedding; Scarlett married Chester, the Texan at Carrie and Hamish's wedding; Tom married Deirdre; Matthew has found a new partner; Fiona is shown with Prince Charles; and Charles and Carrie have a baby.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Screenwriter Richard Curtis's own experiences as a wedding attendee inspired "Four Weddings and a Funeral". According to Curtis he began writing the script at age 34, after realising he had attended 65 weddings in an 11-year period. At one wedding he was propositioned by a fellow guest, but he turned her down and forever regretted it; accordingly he based the origin of Charles and Carrie's romance on that situation.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: It took Curtis 17 drafts to reach the final version. He has commented on director Mike Newell's influence; "I come from a school where making it funny is what matters. Mike was obsessed with keeping it real. Every character, no matter how small, has a story, not just three funny lines. It's a romantic film about love and friendship that swims in a sea of jokes."


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Curtis chose to omit any mention of the characters' careers, because he didn't think a group of friends would realistically discuss their jobs while together at a wedding.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Curtis, Newell and the producers began the casting process for "Four Weddings" in early 1992. Alex Jennings was cast as Charles, but funding for the production fell through in mid-1992. Jennings would eventually go on to play a supporting role in Mindy Kaling's 2019 television miniseries adaptation of the film. The team continued holding auditions for over a year, seeing roughly 70 actors for the role of Charles before Hugh Grant.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Grant was ready to give up acting as a career when he received the script for "Four Weddings and a Funeral"; he stated in 2016 that: "I wasn't really getting any work at all, and then to my great surprise this script came through the letterbox from my agent, and it was really good. And I rang on and said there must be a mistake, you've sent me a good script." Initially, writer Richard Curtis, who had modelled the character of Charles after himself, was opposed to casting Grant in the role, because he thought Grant was too handsome. Curtis favored casting Alan Rickman, but Rickman refused to audition. Curtis was eventually persuaded by Newell and the producers to approve Grant's casting.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Jeanne Tripplehorn was originally cast as Carrie, but she had to drop out before filming when her mother passed away. The role was offered to Marisa Tomei, but she turned it down, because her grandfather was sick at the time. Sarah Jessica Parker was also reportedly considered. Andie MacDowell was in London doing publicity for "Groundhog Day" when she read the script, and was cast. MacDowell took a 75% cut in her fee to appear, receiving $250,000 upfront, but due to the success of the film, she earned around $3 million.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Grant's participation hit another stumbling block when his agent requested a £5,000 rise over the £35,000 salary Grant was offered. The producers initially refused because of the extremely tight budget, but eventually agreed. The supporting cast-members were paid £17,500 apiece.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Duncan Kenworthy produced the film while on sabbatical from Jim Henson Productions. Pre-production for the movie was a long process because funding was erratic, falling through in mid-1992 and leading to much uncertainty. Finally in early 1993, Working Title Films stepped in to close the gap. Nonetheless, another $1.2 million was cut just before production began in the summer of 1993, forcing the film to be made in just 36 days with a final budget of £2.7 million (appr. $4.4 million in 1994). Channel Four Films contributed £800,000. The budget was so tight that extras had to wear their own wedding clothes, while Rowan Atkinson appeared as a vicar at two of the weddings so production wouldn't have to pay another actor.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Future Home Secretary and Member of Parliament (MP) Amber Rudd was given the credit of "Aristocracy Coordinator" after she arranged for several aristocrats to make uncredited appearances as wedding extras, including Peregrine Cavendish, who was at the time Marquess of Hartington, and the Earl of Woolton, who conveniently wore their own morning suits.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: To make Grant look more nerdy, the producers styled him with shaggy hair, glasses, and deliberately unflattering, ill-fitting clothes. Grant was encouraged by director Mike Newell to mess up and trip over his lines, written in "convoluted syntax" as Grant describes them, in order to give Charles a stammering, nervous quality. Grant, who struggled with hay fever throughout filming, was unsure of Newell's direction and his own performance, which he thought was "atrocious." About Newell, Grant commented that: "He seemed to be giving direction against what I thought were the natural beats of the comedy. He was making a film with texture, grounding it, playing the truths rather than the gags".


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: The film was shot mainly in London and the Home Counties, including:Hampstead, Islington where the final moments take place on Highbury Terrace, Greenwich Hospital, Betchworth in Surrey, Amersham in Buckinghamshire, St Bartholomew-the-Great (wedding number four) and West Thurrock in Essex.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Exterior shots of guests arriving for the funeral were filmed in Thurrock, Essex overlooking the River Thames with the backdrop of the Dartford River Crossing. Stately homes in Bedfordshire (Luton Hoo for wedding two's reception) and Hampshire provided exteriors for weddings.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Throughout production, Gramercy Pictures, the U.S. distributor for the film, sent frequent transatlantic faxes objecting to the explicit language and sexual content, fearing the final product would not be suitable for American distribution or television airings. They particularly objected to the opening scene of the movie, in which Charles and Scarlett say the word "Fuck" over and over, after an initial screening of the movie in Salt Lake City led the conservative Mormon members of the city council to walk out. Accordingly, Mike Newell and the actors agreed to reshoot the scene with the British swear word "Bugger" to be used in the American version. The executives also objected to the title, believing "Four Weddings and a Funeral" would turn off male viewers from the film. In its place they suggested such titles as "True Love and Near Misses", "Loitering in Sacred Places", "Skulking Around", and "Rolling in the Aisles", none of which were accepted.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: The original score was composed by British composer Richard Rodney Bennett. The movie also featured a soundtrack of popular songs, including a cover version of The Troggs' "Love Is All Around" performed by Wet Wet Wet that remained at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart for fifteen weeks and was then the ninth (now twelfth) biggest selling single of all time in Britain. This song would later be adapted into "Christmas Is All Around" and sung by the character of Billy Mack in Richard Curtis' 2003 film "Love Actually", in which Grant also stars. The soundtrack album sold more than 750,000 units.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: "Four Weddings and a Funeral" had its world premiere in January 1994 at the Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: It opened in the United States on 11 March 1994 in five theatres. The box office receipts from the first five days of the film's general release in the United States so impressed the movie's distributor that it decided to spend lavishly on promotion, buying full-page newspaper ads and TV-spots totaling some $11 million. The movie also benefited from much free publicity because of Grant's reception in the United States, where he became an instant sex symbol and undertook a successful media tour promoting the film. Producer Duncan Kenworthy stated that "It was the most amazing luck that when Hugh went on the publicity trail he turned out to be incredibly funny, and very like the character of Charles. That doesn't ever happen." The film had a wide release in the United States on 15 April 1994.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: At the UK premiere in Leicester Square on 11 May 1994, Hugh Grant's then-girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley garnered much publicity for the film when she wore a black Versace safety-pin dress which became a sensation in the press. The film opened in the UK on 13 May 1994.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's critics consensus states, "While frothy to a fault, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" features irresistibly breezy humor, and winsome performances from Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "delightful and sly", and directed with "light-hearted enchantment" by Newell. He praised Grant's performance, describing it as a kind of "endearing awkwardness". Todd McCarthy of "Variety" called it a "truly beguiling romantic comedy" which was "frequently hilarious without being sappily sentimental or tiresomely retrograde." Producer Duncan Kenworthy later attributed much of the success of "Four Weddings" at the box office to McCarthy's review.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Writing for the "Chicago Reader", Jonathan Rosenbaum called the film "generic" and "standard issue", stating that the audience shouldn't "expect to remember it ten minutes later". "Time" magazine writer Richard Corliss was less scathing, but agreed that it was forgettable, saying that people would "forget all about [the movie] by the time they leave the multiplex," even joking at the end of his review that he had forgotten the film's name.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Upon its limited release in the United States, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" opened with $138,486 from five theatres. In its wide release, the film topped the box office with $4.2 million. The film would go on to gross $52.7 million in the United States and Canada.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: In the United Kingdom, the film grossed £1.4 million in its opening weekend, a record for a UK production, and £2.7 million in its opening week from 211 theatres. It was number one for nine consecutive weeks, grossing £27.8 million, making it the second highest-grossing film of all-time in the United Kingdom behind "Jurassic Park". It surpassed "A Fish Called Wanda" as the highest-grossing British film. In France, it was number one at the box office for ten weeks, grossing $34.4 million. It was also number one at the Australian box office for five weeks and was the second-highest-grossing film of the year, grossing $A21.4 million. Overall, it grossed $245.7 million worldwide, generating the highest percentage return on cost of films released in 1994. The success of the film cleared Working Title's past losses and generated over $50 million for Polygram, clearing most of their losses in the four years since they started producing films.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: The film was voted the 27th greatest comedy film of all time by readers of "Total Film" in 2000. In 2004, the same magazine named it the 34th greatest British film of all time. It is number 96 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: "The Guardian", in a 20th anniversary retrospective of "Four Weddings", stated that "Its influence on the British film industry, on romantic-comedy writing, on the pop charts, on funeral readings, on "haircuts", was enormous."


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: Hugh Grant commented in 2016 on the experience of the film's phenomenal success and its effect on his career: "I was making "An Awfully Big Adventure" at the time that "Four Weddings" came out, with Mike Newell again, same director, even tinier budget, in Dublin. And we'd get back from brutal days on the set, very long and no money, and the fax machines...were coming out saying that now your film "Four Weddings" is #5 in America, now it's #3, now it's #1 and here's an offer Hugh, for "Captain Blood" and they'll pay you $1 million. It was completely surreal."


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: It was reported in November 2017 that the streaming service Hulu was developing an eponymous anthology television series based upon the film, to be written and executive produced by Mindy Kaling and Matt Warburton, with Richard Curtis also serving as an executive producer. In October 2018, it was announced Jessica Williams, Nikesh Patel, Rebecca Rittenhouse, and John Reynolds had joined the cast. The miniseries premiered on 31 July 2019.


title: Four Weddings and a Funeral

text: On 5 December 2018, it was announced that Richard Curtis had written "One Red Nose Day and a Wedding", a 25th anniversary Comic Relief television reunion short film. The original film's director, Mike Newell, returned, along with the film's surviving cast, including Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, John Hannah, Rowan Atkinson, James Fleet, David Haig, Sophie Thompson, David Bower, Robin McCaffrey, Anna Chancellor, Rupert Vansittart, Simon Kunz, Sara Crowe and Timothy Walker. It was filmed on 13–14 December 2018 at St James' Church, Islington, London. It centered on the reunion of all the characters from the original film at the wedding of Charles and Carrie's daughter to Fiona's daughter. The involvement of additional cast members Lily James and Alicia Vikander was not announced until the day the film aired in the UK, because they played the young women getting married. The film aired in the US on their Red Nose Day on Thursday 23 May 2019.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Kim Yo-jong (; born 26 September 1987) is a North Korean politician and diplomat serving as the Deputy Department Director of the Publicity and Information Department of the Workers' Party of Korea, or WPK. She also served as an alternate member of the Politburo of the Workers' Party of Korea from 2017 to 2019, and again from 2020 to 2021. Since September 2021, she has also served as a member of State Affairs Commission of North Korea, the only woman on the panel.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Yo-jong is the youngest child of North Korea's second Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il and the younger sister of Kim Jong-un, the current supreme leader and WPK general secretary, and is considered by some commentators to be a possible successor.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Kim Yo-jong is the youngest child of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his consort, Ko Yong-hui. The U.S. Treasury lists her birthdate as 26 September 1989, while South Korean sources place her birth on 26 September 1987. Born in Pyongyang, she spent most of her early childhood at her mother's residence, growing up alongside her siblings. Between 1996 and December 2000, Kim studied with her elder brothers at the Liebefeld-Steinhölzli public school in Bern, Switzerland, under the assumed name "Pak Mi-hyang". During this time, she is believed to have developed a close relationship with her brother and future leader, Kim Jong-un. After returning to Pyongyang, she completed a degree in computer science at Kim Il-sung University.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In 2007, Kim was appointed as a junior cadre in the ruling Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), likely working under her father or her aunt, Kim Kyong-hui. In 2009 and 2010, she was active in establishing her father's hereditary succession campaign, also working in the National Defense Commission and in her father's personal secretariat. Beginning in March 2009, she joined a group of close aides and family members that appeared at her father's side in his public appearances, but her presence was rarely noted until September 2010, when she was identified among participants at the 3rd Conference of the WPK.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Kim Yo-jong received much publicity during the funeral service for Kim Jong-il in December 2011, appearing alongside Kim Jong-un and leading groups of senior party officials in bowing at her father's casket. At the beginning of 2012, she was reportedly given a position at the National Defence Commission as tour manager for her brother, arranging his itineraries, schedule, logistical needs, and security arrangements. She did not appear in news reports of the time except in November 2012, when the Korean Central Television showed her accompanying Kim Jong-un and her aunt at a military riding ground.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Kim received her first official mention in state media in March 2014, when she accompanied her brother in voting for the Supreme People's Assembly. She was named a "senior official" of the WPK Central Committee. In October 2014, she was reported to have taken over state duties for her brother while he underwent medical treatment. The next month, she was appointed First Deputy Director of the party's Propaganda and Agitation Department.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In her role as vice-director at the department, Kim is responsible for "assisting in consolidating Kim Jong-un's power" by implementing "idolisation projects". In July 2015, reports described her as playing the role of "de facto" leader of the department, with nominal director Kim Ki-nam in a supporting role. She also holds a vice-ministerial post, but her portfolio is not known. She regularly accompanies Kim Jong-un on his "field guidance" trips.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: She has been said to be the driving force behind the development of her brother's cult of personality, modeled after that of their grandfather, Kim Il-sung. Thae Yong-ho, a North Korean defector and former diplomat, said in 2017 that Kim Yo-jong organized all major public events in North Korea. She was said to have encouraged her brother to present an image of a "man of the people" with, for example, rides on fairground attractions and his friendship with basketball star Dennis Rodman.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In January 2017, she was placed on the United States Department of the Treasury's Specially Designated Nationals List in response to human rights abuses in North Korea.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In October 2017, Kim Yo-jong was made an alternate member of the Politburo, only the second woman to be appointed to this decision-making body. As previously speculated, her ascension to the country's supreme governing body may indicate that she is Kim Jong-un's replacement for his aunt, Kim Kyong-hui (with whom Kim Yo-jong is said to have a good relationship), who has not played an active role in his regime. It has also been hinted that her newly assigned position would also put her in charge of the State Security Department.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: On 9 February 2018, Yo-jong attended the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was the first time since the Korean War that a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had visited South Korea. She met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on 10 February and revealed that she was dispatched as a special envoy of Kim Jong-un. She also delivered a personally written letter from Kim to Moon. Kim was later part of her brother's team during the 2018 North Korea–United States Singapore Summit and the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit. Her involvement in diplomatic affairs continued as she issued an official statement in March 2020 from her capacity as first deputy department director of the party.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: According to Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, and others, the promotion of Kim Yo-jong and others is a sign that "the Kim Jong-un regime has ended its coexistence with the remnants of the previous Kim Jong-il regime by carrying out a generational replacement in the party's key elite posts". Tom O'Connor of "Newsweek" echoed this opinion, writing that Kim Yo-jong's rise to power was part of Kim Jong-un's overall plan to appoint younger people in place of his father's older elites who may have harboured doubts about the younger Kim Jong-un's ability to lead North Korea.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: Kim was elected to the Supreme People's Assembly during the 2019 North Korean parliamentary election, representing Killimgil. In April of the same year, she was briefly removed from the Politburo, before being reinstated in April 2020. She was excluded again from the Politburo elected after the 8th Party Congress and demoted from the first deputy department director to deputy department director on 10 January 2021. But some commentators and analysts say her influence in the government remains unchanged.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: On 8 July 2020, Lee Kyung-jae, an attorney with the South Korean law firm Dongbuka, sued Kim for her involvement in the demolition of the Inter-Korean Liaison Office. Lee also sued Pak Jon-chong, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army. Lee added that Kim had ordered the liaison office destroyed and was "ultimately responsible" for its destruction.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In March 2021, Kim condemned virtual joint military drills held in South Korea, calling them a "serious challenge." She also warned the administration of President Joe Biden, saying, "If it wants to sleep in peace for the coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step." Kim threatened to decommission the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country and to shutter the Kumgangsan International Travel "and other organizations concerned as any cooperation and exchange with the South Korean authorities antagonizing us are no longer necessary." Kim also said these measures have been reported to Kim Jong-un.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In September 2021, it was reported that Kim was promoted to be a member of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In September 2022, in response to South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol's offer to economically aid the DPRK in exchange for denuclearization, Kim made a speech before the Assembly on behalf of her brother recommending that Yoon "shut his mouth", commenting that Yoon had "nothing better to say". She additionally blamed the South for introducing COVID-19 to the country, and threatened that if the virus returned to North Korea, she would retaliate against South Korea.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In April 2020, rumors of Kim Jong-un's ill health brought attention to Kim Yo-jong as a possible successor of the government's leadership in North Korea. During this period, she gained significant attention on social media including memes, informational videos and 'stanning'. In August, she gained additional attention on social media when Kim Jong-un was reported to have been in a coma.


title: Kim Yo-jong

text: In late 2014, she reportedly married Choe Song, the second son of government official Choe Ryong-hae. Choe Song is thought to be a fellow alumnus of Kim Il-sung University and either an official at Room 39 of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) or working at a military unit responsible for guarding the country's leader. Kim Yo-jong reportedly gave birth to a child in May 2015. During the 2018 Winter Olympics, Kim was reported to have disclosed being pregnant.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: The manga series was republished in different formats in Japan. Viz Media released the series in North America in the 1990s under the names "Lum * Urusei Yatsura" and "The Return of Lum", but dropped it after eight issues. They re-licensed the manga and began releasing an omnibus edition under its original title with new translations in 2019. The television series, OVAs, and five of the films were released in North America with English subtitles, as well as a dub for the films by AnimEigo. They provided extensive notes on the series to allow people to understand the many cultural references and jokes in the series that would not normally be understood by non-Japanese. The remaining film, "", was released bilingually by Central Park Media. Five of the films, as well as the OVAs, are available from MVM Films in the United Kingdom. The series was released on television in Southeast Asia as "Lamu the Invader Girl". A second anime television series adaptation of 46 episodes produced by David Production premiered on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block in October 2022, exactly 41 years after the first premiered.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: "Urusei Yatsura" launched Takahashi's career and received positive reception in and out of Japan from fans and critics alike. The manga has over 35 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 1980, it received the 26th Shogakukan Manga Award in the "shōnen" category. As well as the 18th Seiun Award for the Best Comic category in 1987.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: An alien race known as the Oni arrive on Earth to invade the planet. Instead of taking over the planet by force, the Oni give humans a chance to fight for the rights to the planet by taking part in a competition. The competition is a variant of the game of tag (known as "the game of the Oni" in Japanese), in which the human player must touch the horns on the head of the Oni player within one week. The computer-selected human player is Ataru Moroboshi, a lecherous, unlucky and academically unsuccessful high school student from the fictional in Nerima, Japan, and the Oni player is Lum, daughter of the leader of the alien invaders. Despite his initial reluctance to take part in the competition, Ataru becomes interested in the game when he meets Lum. When the competition begins, Lum surprises everyone by flying away and Ataru finds himself unable to catch her. Before the last day of the competition, Ataru's girlfriend Shinobu Miyake encourages Ataru by pledging to marry him if he wins. On the final day of the competition, Ataru wins the game by stealing Lum's bikini top, which prevents her from protecting her horns in favor of protecting her modesty. In celebrating his victory, Ataru expresses his joy at being able to get married; however, Lum misinterprets this as a proposal from Ataru and accepts on the competition's worldwide live television broadcast. Despite the misunderstanding, Lum falls in love with Ataru and moves into his house.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: Despite Ataru's lack of interest in Lum and attempts to rekindle his relationship with Shinobu, Lum frequently interferes and Shinobu loses interest in Ataru. Still, Ataru's flirtatious nature persists despite Lum's attention. Lum attempts to stop him from flirting, which results in Ataru receiving powerful electric shock attacks from Lum as punishment. Two characteristics of Ataru are particularly strong: his pervertedness and his bad luck that draws to him all bizarre residents of the planet, the spirit world and even the galaxy. Later Lum begins attending the same school as Ataru despite his objections. Lum develops a fan base of admirers among the boys of the school, including Shutaro Mendo, the rich and handsome heir to a large corporation that all the girls from Tomobiki have a crush on. Despite their romantic interest, none of Lum's admirers will risk upsetting Lum by trying to force her and Ataru apart, although this does not stop them from trying to get Ataru punished due to his bad behavior, and interfering every time the two get close.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: In 1977, Rumiko Takahashi created the short story "Those Selfish Aliens" that was nominated for Shogakukan's "Best New Comic Artist" award. This would serve as the basis for creating "Urusei Yatsura" which was first published a year later when Takahashi was 21 years old. The series was her first major work, having previously only published short stories and is a combination of romantic comedy, science fiction, suburban life, and Japanese folktales. "Urusai Yatsura" means "those annoying guys" (or neighbors), and "sei" means star or planet, so Uru**sei** Yatsura is a Japanese pun that roughly translates to "Those Obnoxious Aliens". The series first appeared in Shogakukan's "Weekly Shonen Sunday" in September 1978. At the start of the series it was only scheduled to run for 5 chapters. Ataru was the central character and each chapter would feature a different strange character. The character of Lum was only going to appear in the first chapter and was not in the second chapter; however, Takahashi decided to re-include her in the third chapter. The series was not an instant success and chapters were initially published sporadically. Between May and September 1978 she simultaneously worked on a series called "Dust Spot"; however, the increasing popularity of "Urusei Yatsura" caused her to focus on "Urusei" and the series became a regular serialization from the middle of 1979.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: Takahashi said that she had been dreaming about the overall universe of "Urusei Yatsura" since she was very young. She said that the series "really includes everything I ever wanted to do. I love science fiction because sci-fi has tremendous flexibility. I adopted the science fiction-style for the series because then I could write any way I wanted to". She wanted the reader to be completely surprised by the next panel and used slapstick comedy to create a reaction in the reader. When Takahashi ran out of ideas she would create new characters. Takahashi shared a small 150-square-foot apartment with her assistants, and slept in a closet due to a lack of space. While writing "Urusei Yatsura" she also began work on "Maison Ikkoku" and used this experience as well as her university experience as the basis for the setting of that series. Character names often carry extra meanings used to describe a characters personality or other traits. For example, the name Ataru Moroboshi refers to being hit by a star, a reference to the aliens and other people who gather around him. The name Shinobu suggests a patient character; however, this in contrast to the character's actual personality. In a similar way, the setting for the series is "Tomobiki", which means "friend taking". Tomobiki is also the name of a superstitious day in the old Japanese calendar system considered to have "no winners or losers" and occurred on every sixth day. Funerals rarely took place on this day as it was believed more deaths would soon follow. Lum was named after Agnes Lum, a bikini model during the 1970s. Lum's use of the English word "Darling" in reference to Ataru was to emphasize her status as a foreigner, as well as a play on the name Darrin, the husband figure from "Bewitched".


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: The characters of Megane, Perm, Kakugari and Chibi are recurring characters throughout the first anime adaptation; however, in the manga they are nameless fans of Lum who appear less after Mendo is introduced. In contrast the character Kosuke Shirai plays a large role in the manga, but does not appear in the first anime series. His role is often performed by Perm. The second half of the first anime adaptation is closer to the manga than the first half. In 2022, Takahashi said that "Urusei Yatsura" ended because she saw that Shinobu was happy after the character Inaba had been introduced. Takahashi has stated that she will not produce any more content for the series.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: Written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi, "Urusei Yatsura" began sporadic serialization on September 24, 1978, in that year's 39th issue of Shogakukan's "shōnen" manga anthology "Weekly Shōnen Sunday" until the middle of 1979 when it became a regular serialization. It ended in 1987's eighth issue on February 4, after publishing 366 chapters and almost 6,000 pages. A total of 34 individual volumes with 11 chapters each were released in "tankōbon" format between 1980 and March 1987. After the tenth anniversary of start of the series, it was printed in 15 "wideban" editions between July 1989 and August 1990. Each volume contained around 25 chapters, and were printed on higher-quality paper, with new inserts. A "bunkoban" edition of the series was released over 17 volumes between August 1998 and December 1999. Each volume contains forewords by other manga creators discussing the influence the series had on them. A "My First Big" edition was printed between July 2000 and September 2004. This edition was similar to the "tankōbon" but used low-quality paper and were sold at a low price. A "shinsoban" edition over 34 volumes was released between November 17, 2006, and March 18, 2008. This edition was also similar to the "tankōbon" but used new cover artwork and included a section that displayed artwork from current manga artists.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: After requests from fans, Viz Media licensed the series for release in English across North America under the title of "Lum * Urusei Yatsura". Despite a strong start, the series was dropped after 8 issues. The series was then reintroduced in the monthly Viz publication "Animerica" and because of the long gap the series was retitled "The Return of Lum". To start, chapters were published monthly in "Animerica"; however, due to reader feedback and an increased popularity of the series it was decided to release it as an individual monthly publication. The English release finished in 1998 and is now out of print. The first 11 volumes of the Japanese release were covered, but several chapters were excluded and a total 9 English volumes of the series were released.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: On July 19, 2018, Viz announced that they re-licensed the manga with plans to release it in a 2-in-1 omnibus edition with new translations. Based on the Japanese "shinsoban", the first volume was published on February 19, 2019.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: The series was adapted by Kitty Films into an animated television series that aired on Fuji TV from October 14, 1981, to March 19, 1986. The first-season episodes would often consist of two fifteen-minute stories per episode, making a total of 194 episodes with 213 stories. The first 106 episodes were directed by Mamoru Oshii and the remainder by Kazuo Yamazaki. Six opening theme songs and nine closing themes were used during the series.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: On December 10, 1983, the first VHS release of the series was made available in Japan. The series was also released on fifty LaserDiscs. Another VHS release across fifty cassettes began on March 17, 1998, and concluded on April 19, 2000. Two DVD boxed sets of the series were released between December 8, 2000, and March 9, 2001. These were followed by fifty individual volumes between August 24, 2001, and August 23, 2002. To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the anime a new HD transfer was created and released on Blu-ray in Japan. The first Blu-ray boxed set of the series was released on March 27, 2013, with the fourth box set scheduled for release on March 23, 2014. To promote the Blu-ray, the anime was rebroadcast in high definition on Kids Station.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: During 1992, the series was licensed for a North American release by AnimEigo. Their VHS release began in October of the same year and was among the first anime titles to receive a subtitled North American release. However, the release schedule was erratic. The episodes were also released on LaserDisc in 1993. The first two episodes were released with an English dub on March 29, 1995, as "Those Obnoxious Aliens". Anime Projects released the series in the United Kingdom from April 25, 1994. AnimEigo later released the series on DVD. The series was available in box set format as well as individual releases. A total of 10 boxed sets and 50 individual DVDs were released between March 27, 2001, and June 20, 2006. Each DVD and VHS contained Liner notes explaining the cultural references and puns from the series. A fan group known as "Lum's Stormtroopers" convinced the Californian public television station KTEH to broadcast subtitled episodes of the series in 1998. AnimeEigo's license later expired, and has confirmed that the series is out of print as of September 2011. An improvisational dub of the first and third episodes was broadcast on BBC Choice in 2000 as part of a "Japan Night" special as "Lum the Invader Girl". During their panel at Otakon 2022, Discotek Media announced that they licensed the anime series.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: On January 1, 2022, a second television series adaptation was announced and premiered on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block on October 14, 2022. The series is produced by David Production and directed by Hideya Takahashi and Yasuhiro Kimura, with scripts written by Yūko Kakihara, character designs by Naoyuki Asano, Takahiro Komei serving as series director and Masaru Yokoyama composing the music. The series was ordered for 46 episodes of four cours, with the first two-cour season set for broadcast. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series in North America, Europe, Oceania, and selected Latin American and Asian territories.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: During the television run of the first series, four theatrical films were produced. "" was directed by Mamoru Oshii and began showing in Japanese cinemas on February 11, 1983. "" was directed by Mamoru Oshii and was released on February 11, 1984. "Urusei Yatsura 3: Remember My Love" was directed by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on January 26, 1985. "Urusei Yatsura 4: Lum the Forever" was directed again by Kazuo Yamazaki and released on February 22, 1986.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: After the conclusion of the first television series, two more films were produced. A year after the television series finished, "Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter" was directed by Satoshi Dezaki and was released on February 6, 1988, as a tenth-anniversary celebration. It was shown as a double bill with a "Maison Ikkoku" film. The final film, "Urusei Yatsura: Always My Darling", was directed by Katsuhisa Yamada and was released on August 18, 1991. In North America, "Beautiful Dreamer" was released by Central Park Media. The remaining five films were released by AnimEigo in North America and MVM Films in the United Kingdom. After re-releasing "Beautiful Dreamer" in North America in 2018, Discotek Media acquired the rights to the other five films in 2020.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: On September 24, 1985, the special "Ryoko's September Tea Party" was released consisting of a mixture of previously broadcast footage with 15 minutes of new material. A year later on September 15, 1986, "Memorial Album" was released, mixing new and old footage. On July 18, 1987, the TV special "Inaba the Dreammaker" was broadcast before being released to video. It was followed by "Raging Sherbet" on December 2, 1988, and by "Nagisa's Fiancé" four days later on December 8. "The Electric Household Guard" was released on August 21, 1989, and followed by "I Howl at the Moon" on September 1. They were followed by "Goat and Cheese" on December 21 and "Catch the Heart" on December 27, 1989. Finally, "Terror of Girly-Eyes Measles" and "Date with a Spirit" were released on June 21, 1991. The OVAs were released in North America by AnimEigo who released them individually over six discs. In the UK they were released as a three-disc collection by MVM on September 6, 2004.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: On December 23, 2008, a special was shown at the "It's a Rumic World" exhibition of Rumiko Takahashi's works. Entitled "The Obstacle Course Swim Meet", it was the first animated content for the series in 17 years. On January 29, 2010, a boxed set was released featuring all of the recent Rumiko Takahashi specials from the Rumic World exhibition. Entitled "It's a Rumic World", the boxed set contains "The Obstacle Course Swim" as well as a figure of Lum.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: Many video games have been produced based on the series. The first game to be released was a handheld electronic game, released by Bandai in 1982. Following it were microcomputer games, as well as , which was released by Jaleco for the Famicom on October 23, 1986, exclusively in Japan. The latter was developed by Tose as a port of the unrelated arcade game "Momoko 120%". In 1987, "Urusei Yatsura" was released by Micro Cabin for the Fujitsu FM-7 and was released for the MSX computer.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: A large number of LP albums were released after the series began broadcasting. The first soundtrack album was "Music Capsule", which was released on April 21, 1982, and a follow-up, "Music Capsule 2", was released on September 21, 1983. A compilation, "The Hit Parade", was released in July 1983, and "The Hit Parade 2" was released on May 25, 1985. A cover album by Yuko Matsutani, "Yuko Matsutani Songbook", was released on May 21, 1984. Lum's voice actress Fumi Hirano also released a cover album, "Fumi no Lum Song", which was released on September 21, 1985.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: Two books collecting all of Takahashi's color artwork from the series were released under the title "Urusei Yatsura: Perfect Color Edition". Both books were released on January 18, 2016, and include a new interview with Takahashi.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: "Urusei Yatsura" won the 26th Shogakukan Manga Award in the "shōnen" category in 1980. The manga was awarded the 18th Seiun Award for Best Comic category in 1987. "Urusei Yatsura" has over 35 million copies in circulation. In 1985, the franchise generated () in merchandise sales.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: In "", Jason Thompson referred to "Urusei Yatsura" as "A slapstick combination of sci-fi, fairy-tale and ghost-story elements with plenty of cute girls." He also noted that Lum is "the original otaku dream girl." He awarded the series four stars out of four. Graham Higgins of "The Independent" praised the series. He further wrote that the experience of reading "Urusei Yatsura" is "a bit like channel-hopping between "The Outer Limits", "Neighbours", and "Star Trek"." In an interview with Ex.org, Fred Schodt expressed surprise at the popularity of the original English release of the manga as he believed the cultural differences would be a problem. Reviewing the 2019 English release of the manga, Arpad Lep of Comics Beat called "Urusei Yatsura" an impressive, essential debut by a living legend of comics, where "many themes and archetypes integral to her whole body of writing emerge already very well-developed." He compared its story to those by Shigeru Mizuki and its art, which he had strong praise for and noted gets better in just the first two volumes alone, to that of Go Nagai. Lep said Takahashi nails the many gags and physical comedy, with the series' stability from the never-changing sitcom elements of "Disappointed parents. Put-upon girlfriend. Insatiable yokai. Weird uncle. And our hero, a total loser" being fun and always staying fresh.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: RightStuf wrote that Takahashi excels at creating characters who play off of each other perfectly and "Urusei Yatsura"s normally "calm [and] innocent", but hot-tempered, Lum serves as a wonderful foil to the "idiotic, lecherous, and lazy" Ataru. Nick Benefield of Operation Rainfall enjoyed that each chapter stands on its own and can largely be read in any order, as well as the manga's "heavy-handed usage" of puns, visual gags, and parodies of other works. He took issue with some of Viz's English translation decisions, not enjoying the amount of American slang used and feeling that terms such as "Oni" and "Karasutengu" should have been left untranslated, but acknowledged its improvement over their original 1990s translation. In a critical review of the first volume, Elias Rosner of Multiversity Comics praised her clear artwork, facial expressions and comedic timing for slapstick comedy, and stated "In spite of Takahashi’s always lively artwork and sharp eye for slapstick, "Urusei Yatsura" is not for everyone. Volume 1 does a brilliant job of introducing the absurdity of the world and the endearing obnoxiousness of its characters. Considering this work debuted over 40 years ago, the ways in which it has remained strong should be commended and fans of Takahashi’s works will enjoy seeing her journey as a storyteller, which has only begun in here".


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: The series has been credited by Jonathan Clements in "Schoolgirl Milky Crisis: Adventures in the Anime and Manga Trade" as influencing multiple other "geek gets girl" works including "Tenchi Muyo!" and "Love Hina". Tokyo Movie Shinsha produced the series "Galaxy High School" for CBS as an attempt to create a similar series for the American market. The school scenario is reversed to be based around humans attending a high school for aliens.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: In 1992, the singer Matthew Sweet released the single "I've Been Waiting", the video of which features images of Lum from the series. Lum also makes smaller appearances in his videos for "The Ugly Truth", as a keychain and "Sick of Myself", in a framed picture on his wall. In 1993, a band from Glasgow formed under the name "Urusei Yatsura" as a tribute. On "", anime references were frequently added as in-jokes and homages by Senior Illustrator Rick Sternbach. In the episode "Up the Long Ladder", two ships named "Urusei Yatsura" and "Tomobiki" can be seen on a graphical display. Another reference appears in the episode "The Icarus Factor" where William Riker and his father have an Anbo-Jitsu match, a fictional futuristic sightless sport that takes place in a ring where each fighter uses a stick to attack the other. Japanese characters featured on the costumes and set of this scene are references to the main characters of Urusei Yatsura. Lum and Ten make a cameo as passing pedestrians in one panel of the first issue of Futurama Comics.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: A life-size bronze statue of Lum was erected at Ōizumi-gakuen Station in 2015. On 5 August 2000, the now defunct BBC Choice channel made a dub of 2 spared episodes that featured the voice talents of comedian Matt Lucas as Ataru and Anna Friel as Lum for a weekend block dedicated to Japan-themed programming, Japan TV. The dub itself was later repeated on the following night. In 2019, Tokyo Gas released a series of commercials parodying "Urusei Yatsura", featuring Kyoko Fukada as Lum and Shin Terada as Ten.


title: Urusei Yatsura

text: The series is considered an excellent source for references to Japanese culture and mythology. The manga makes heavy use of Japanese literature, folklore, history and pop culture. Examples of literature and folklore include "The Tale of Genji" and Urashima Tarō. Many of the characters in the series are derived from mythological creatures. In some cases the creatures themselves appeared, and in other cases a character was designed to incorporate the characteristics of a mythological creature. Stories and situations made use of these mythological elements to create jokes and draw comparisons with the original mythology. For example, the Oni choose tag to decide their contest with Earth because the Japanese word for Tag, "Onigokko", means "game of the Oni". When Ataru grabs Lum's horns during their contest and she misunderstands his statement that he can get married, it is a reference to the myth that grabbing the horns of an Oni will make your dream come true.


title: CCH Pounder

text: Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder (born December 25, 1952) is a Guyanese-American actress. She has received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her roles in "The X-Files", "ER", "The Shield", and "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".


title: CCH Pounder

text: Pounder portrayed Dr. Angela Hicks in the medical drama series "ER" (1994–1997), Captain Claudette Wyms in the FX police drama series "The Shield" (2002–2008), Irene Frederic in "Warehouse 13" (2009–2014), and District Attorney Tyne Patterson in "Sons of Anarchy" (2013–2014). From 2014 until the show's conclusion in 2021, she portrayed medical examiner Dr. on the police drama series "". Pounder was also the voice of Amanda Waller in the animated show "Justice League Unlimited" (2004–2006), a role that she has reprised in later DC Comics media.


title: CCH Pounder

text: In film, she appeared in "All That Jazz" (1979), "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (1984), "Prizzi's Honor" (1985), "Bagdad Cafe" (1987), "Postcards from the Edge" (1990), "" (1990), "Benny & Joon" (1993), "Demon Knight" (1995), "Face/Off" (1997), "End of Days" (1999), "Orphan" (2009), "Avatar" (2009), "" (2013), and "" (2019).


title: CCH Pounder

text: Pounder was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) on December 25, 1952. Her full name, Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder, is in honor of her grandmothers and godmothers. She was raised on a sugar plantation that her father managed. Her mother worked at the United States Embassy while the family lived in London, England. Pounder attended a Catholic boarding school in Sussex, England.


title: CCH Pounder

text: She matriculated at Hastings College of Arts and Technology where Pounder studied painting, but dropped out as a freshman after moving to the United States. Her family had already settled in New York while she was attending school. Pounder graduated from Ithaca College in 1975. Pounder stated her parents did not support her choice to be an actress, with her mother instead wanting Pounder to be a newscaster.


title: CCH Pounder

text: Pounder made her acting debut in the film "All That Jazz" (1979). She continued her career in New York City theater, where she appeared in "The Mighty Gents" by playwright Richard Wesley, and "Open Admissions" on Broadway. She moved to Los Angeles in 1982. She starred in the film "Bagdad Café", and has made smaller appearances in many other films.


title: CCH Pounder

text: She focused primarily on her television career. In the early 1980s, Pounder first appeared in guest roles on "Hill Street Blues", and then on several shows ("The Cosby Show", "L.A. Law", "The X-Files", "Living Single", and "Quantum Leap") before landing a long-running recurring role as Dr. Angela Hicks on "ER" from 1994 to 1997. She also co-starred in the "Tales From the Crypt" feature film "Demon Knight" (1995). She then returned to guest appearances on other shows, including "The Practice", "", "Millennium", "The West Wing" (where she was considered for the role of C. J. Cregg), and the short-lived sitcom "Women in Prison".


title: CCH Pounder

text: From 2002 to 2008, she starred as Detective Claudette Wyms in the FX police drama "The Shield". For this role she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2005 and an NAACP Image Award. She had previously been nominated for an Emmy in 1995 for guest starring in "The X-Files" and in 1997 for her supporting role on "ER". She has also lent her voice to several video games and animated projects, including "Aladdin and the King of Thieves", "", "Gargoyles" as Desdemona and Coldfire, and "Justice League Unlimited" as government agent Amanda Waller, which role she reprised for the animated movie adaption of the comic book "" as well as the video game "", its sequel "", and another animated film that takes place in continuity with the games, "".


title: CCH Pounder

text: Pounder was also one of the readers for the HBO film "Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narrative" (2003). She appeared on the Syfy series "Warehouse 13" from 2009 until its finale on May 19, 2014. Pounder also was one of the stars of Fox's cancelled 2009 sitcom "Brothers". Pounder was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her appearance in the BBC/HBO series "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency". She had a recurring role as DA Thyne Patterson on the FX crime drama series "Sons of Anarchy" (2013–14). She co-starred in "" (2013). In Disney's "The Lion Guard" she voices Kongwe, the wise old turtle.


title: CCH Pounder

text: As one of the founders of Artists for a New South Africa, Pounder has energized awareness of post-apartheid and HIV/AIDS issues. In an interview, she said about the pandemic: "When it's this massive disease, and it's affecting things in 5,000 different ways, it requires great strength and power—and there is power in numbers. So we need to involve as many people as we can, like we do with ANSA. I call it my little engine that could. It is a remarkable, tiny organization with a huge outreach. We use actors and artists with the biggest voices so they can use every opportunity to talk about AIDS."


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded underneath short, rarely used forewings, hence the scientific order name, "skin wings". Some groups are tiny parasites on mammals and lack the typical pincers. Earwigs are found on all continents except Antarctica.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are mostly nocturnal and often hide in small, moist crevices during the day, and are active at night, feeding on a wide variety of insects and plants. Damage to foliage, flowers, and various crops is commonly blamed on earwigs, especially the common earwig "Forficula auricularia."


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs have five molts in the year before they become adults. Many earwig species display maternal care, which is uncommon among insects. Female earwigs may care for their eggs, and even after they have hatched as nymphs will continue to watch over offspring until their second molt. As the nymphs molt, sexual dimorphism such as differences in pincer shapes begins to show.


title: Earwig

text: Extant Dermaptera belong to the suborder Neodermaptera, which first appeared during the Cretaceous. Some earwig specimen fossils are placed extinct suborders Archidermaptera or Eodermaptera, the former dating to the Late Triassic and the latter to the Middle Jurassic. Dermaptera belongs to the major grouping Polyneoptera, and are amongst the earliest diverging members of the group, alongside angel insects (Zoraptera), and stoneflies (Plecoptera), the exact relationship between the three groups is uncertain.


title: Earwig

text: The scientific name for the order, "Dermaptera", is Greek in origin, stemming from the words "derma", meaning skin, and "pteron" (plural "ptera"), wing. It was coined by Charles De Geer in 1773. The common term, "earwig," is derived from the Old English "," which means "ear", and "," which means "insect", or literally, "beetle". Entomologists suggest that the origin of the name is a reference to the appearance of the hindwings, which are unique and distinctive among insects, and resemble a human ear when unfolded. The name is more popularly thought to be related to the old wives' tale that earwigs burrowed into the brains of humans through the ear and laid their eggs there. Earwigs are not known to purposefully climb into ear canals, but there have been anecdotal reports of earwigs being found in the ear.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are abundant and can be found throughout the Americas and Eurasia. The common earwig was introduced into North America in 1907 from Europe, but tends to be more common in the southern and southwestern parts of the United States. The only native species of earwig found in the north of the United States is the spine-tailed earwig ("Doru aculeatum"), found as far north as Canada, where it hides in the leaf axils of emerging plants in southern Ontario wetlands. However, other families can be found in North America, including Forficulidae ("Doru" and "Forficula" being found there), Spongiphoridae, Anisolabididae, and Labiduridae.


title: Earwig

text: Few earwigs survive winter outdoors in cold climates. They can be found in tight crevices in woodland, fields and gardens. Out of about 1,800 species, about 25 occur in North America, 45 in Europe (including 7 in Great Britain), and 60 in Australia.


title: Earwig

text: Most earwigs are flattened (which allows them to fit inside tight crevices, such as under bark) with an elongated body generally long. The largest extant species is the Australian giant earwig ("Titanolabis colossea") which is approximately long, while the possibly extinct Saint Helena earwig ("Labidura herculeana") reached . Earwigs are characterized by the cerci, or the pair of forceps-like pincers on their abdomen; male earwigs generally have more curved pincers than females. These pincers are used to capture prey, defend themselves and fold their wings under the short tegmina. The antennae are thread-like with at least 10 segments.


title: Earwig

text: Males in the six familes Karschiellidae, Pygidicranidae, Diplatyidae, Apachyidae, Anisolabisidae and Labiduridae have paired penises, while the males in the remaining groups have a single penis. Both penises are symmetrical in Pygidicranidae and Diplatyidae, but in Karschiellidae the left one is strongly reduced. Apachyidae, Anisolabisidae, and Labiduridae have an asymmetrical pair, with left and right one pointing on opposite directions when not in use. The females have just a single genital opening, so only one of the paired penises is ever used during copulation.


title: Earwig

text: The forewings are short oblong leathery plates used to cover the hindwings like the elytra of a beetle, rather than to fly. Most species have short and leather-like forewings with very thin hindwings, though species in the former suborders Arixeniina and Hemimerina (epizoic species, sometimes considered as ectoparasites) are wingless and blind with filiform segmented cerci (today these are both included merely as families in the suborder Neodermaptera). The hindwing is a very thin membrane that expands like a fan, radiating from one point folded under the forewing. Even though most earwigs have wings and are capable of flight, they are rarely seen in flight. These wings are unique in venation and in the pattern of folding that requires the use of the cerci.


title: Earwig

text: The neuroendocrine system is typical of insects. There is a brain, a subesophageal ganglion, three thoracic ganglia, and six abdominal ganglia. Strong neuron connections connect the neurohemal corpora cardiaca to the brain and frontal ganglion, where the closely related median corpus allatum produces juvenile hormone III in close proximity to the neurohemal dorsal arota. The digestive system of earwigs is like all other insects, consisting of a fore-, mid-, and hindgut, but earwigs lack gastric caecae which are specialized for digestion in many species of insect. Long, slender (excretory) malpighian tubules can be found between the junction of the mid- and hind gut.


title: Earwig

text: The reproductive system of females consist of paired ovaries, lateral oviducts, spermatheca, and a genital chamber. The lateral ducts are where the eggs leave the body, while the spermatheca is where sperm is stored. Unlike other insects, the gonopore, or genital opening is behind the seventh abdominal segment. The ovaries are primitive in that they are polytrophic (the nurse cells and oocytes alternate along the length of the ovariole). In some species these long ovarioles branch off the lateral duct, while in others, short ovarioles appear around the duct.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are hemimetabolous, meaning they undergo incomplete metamorphosis, developing through a series of 4 to 6 molts. The developmental stages between molts are called instars. Earwigs live for about a year from hatching. They start mating in the autumn, and can be found together in the autumn and winter. The male and female will live in a chamber in debris, crevices, or soil deep. After mating, the sperm may remain in the female for months before the eggs are fertilized. From midwinter to early spring, the male will leave, or be driven out by the female. Afterward the female will begin to lay 20 to 80 pearly white eggs in two days. Some earwigs, those parasitic in the suborders Arixeniina and Hemimerina, are viviparous (give birth to live young); they would be fed by a sort of placenta. When first laid, the eggs are white or cream-colored and oval-shaped, but right before hatching they become kidney-shaped and brown. Each egg is approximately tall and wide.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are among the few non-social insect species that show maternal care. The mother will pay close attention to the needs of her eggs, such as warmth and protection, though studies have shown that the mother does not pay attention to the eggs as she collects them. The mother has been shown to pick up wax balls by accident, but they would eventually be rejected as they do not have the proper scent. The mother will also faithfully defend the eggs from predators, not leaving them to eat unless the clutch goes bad. Another distinct maternal care unique to earwigs is that the mother continuously cleans the eggs to protect them from fungi. Studies have found that the urge to clean the eggs persists for days after they are removed; when the eggs were replaced after hatching, the mother continued to clean them for up to 3 months.


title: Earwig

text: The eggs hatch in about seven days. The mother may assist the nymphs in hatching. When the nymphs hatch, they eat the egg casing and continue to live with the mother. The nymphs look similar to their parents, only smaller, and will nest under their mother and she will continue to protect them until their second molt. The nymphs feed on food regurgitated by the mother, and on their own molts. If the mother dies before the nymphs are ready to leave, the nymphs may eat her.


title: Earwig

text: After five to six instars, the nymphs will molt into adults. The male's forceps will become curved, while the females' forceps remain straight. They will also develop their natural color, which can be anything from a light brown (as in the tawny earwig) to a dark black (as in the ringlegged earwig). In species of winged earwigs, the wings will start to develop at this time. The forewings of an earwig are sclerotized to serve as protection for the membranous hindwings.


title: Earwig

text: Most earwigs are nocturnal and inhabit small crevices, living in small amounts of debris, in various forms such as bark and fallen logs. Species have been found to be blind and living in caves, or cavernicolous, reported to be found on the island of Hawaii and in South Africa. Food typically consists of a wide array of living and dead plant and animal matter. For protection from predators, the species "Doru taeniatum" of earwigs can squirt foul-smelling yellow liquid in the form of jets from scent glands on the dorsal side of the third and fourth abdominal segment. It aims the discharges by revolving the abdomen, a maneuver that enables it simultaneously to use its pincers in defense.


title: Earwig

text: Under exceptional circumstances, earwigs form swarms and can take over significant areas of a district. In August 1755 they appeared in vast numbers near Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, especially in the cracks and crevices of "old wooden buildings...so that they dropped out oftentimes in such multitudes as to literally cover the floor." A similar "plague" occurred in 2006, in and around a woodland cabin near the Blue Ridge Mountains, U.S.; it persisted through winter and lasted at least two years.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are mostly scavengers, but some are omnivorous or predatory. The abdomen of the earwig is flexible and muscular. It is capable of maneuvering as well as opening and closing the forceps. The forceps are used for a variety of purposes. In some species, the forceps have been observed in use for holding prey, and in copulation. The forceps tend to be more curved in males than in females.


title: Earwig

text: The common earwig is an omnivore, eating plants and ripe fruit as well as actively hunting arthropods. To a large extent, this species is also a scavenger, feeding on decaying plant and animal matter if given the chance. Observed prey include largely plant lice, but also large insects such as bluebottle flies and woolly aphids. Plants that they feed on typically include clover, dahlias, zinnias, butterfly bush, hollyhock, lettuce, cauliflower, strawberry, blackberry, sunflowers, celery, peaches, plums, grapes, potatoes, roses, seedling beans and beets, and tender grass shoots and roots; they have also been known to eat corn silk, damaging the corn.


title: Earwig

text: Species of the suborders Arixeniina and Hemimerina are generally considered epizoic, or living on the outside of other animals, mainly mammals. In the Arixeniina, family Arixeniidae, species of the genus "Arixenia" are normally found deep in the skin folds and gular pouch of Malaysian hairless bulldog bats ("Cheiromeles torquatus"), apparently feeding on bats' body or glandular secretions. On the other hand, species in the genus "Xeniaria" (still of the suborder Arixeniina) are believed to feed on the guano and possibly the guanophilous arthropods in the bat's roost, where it has been found. Hemimerina includes "Araeomerus" found in the nest of long-tailed pouch rats ("Beamys"), and "Hemimerus" which are found on giant "Cricetomys" rats.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are generally nocturnal, and typically hide in small, dark, and often moist areas in the daytime. They can usually be seen on household walls and ceilings. Interaction with earwigs at this time results in a defensive free-fall to the ground followed by a scramble to a nearby cleft or crevice. During the summer they can be found around damp areas such as near sinks and in bathrooms. Earwigs tend to gather in shady cracks or openings or anywhere that they can remain concealed during daylight. Picnic tables, compost and waste bins, patios, lawn furniture, window frames, or anything with minute spaces (even artichoke blossoms) can potentially harbour them.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are regularly preyed upon by birds, and like many other insect species they are prey for insectivorous mammals, amphibians, lizards, centipedes, assassin bugs, and spiders. European naturalists have observed bats preying upon earwigs. Their primary insect predators are parasitic species of Tachinidae, or tachinid flies, whose larvae are endoparasites. One species of tachinid fly, "Triarthria setipennis", has been demonstrated to be successful as a biological control of earwigs for almost a century. Another tachinid fly and parasite of earwigs, "Ocytata pallipes", has shown promise as a biological control agent as well. The common predatory wasp, the yellow jacket ("Vespula maculifrons"), preys upon earwigs when abundant. A small species of roundworm, "Mermis nigrescens", is known to occasionally parasitize earwigs that have consumed roundworm eggs with plant matter. At least 26 species of parasitic fungus from the order Laboulbeniales have been found on earwigs. The eggs and nymphs are also cannibalized by other earwigs. A species of tyroglyphoid mite, "Histiostoma polypori" (Histiostomatidae, Astigmata), are observed on common earwigs, sometimes in great densities; however, this mite feeds on earwig cadavers and not its live earwig transportation. Hippolyte Lucas observed scarlet acarine mites on European earwigs.


title: Earwig

text: The fossil record of the Dermaptera starts in the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic period about in England and Australia, and comprises about 70 specimens in the extinct suborder Archidermaptera. Some of the traits believed by neontologists to belong to modern earwigs are not found in the earliest fossils, but adults had five-segmented tarsi (the final segment of the leg), well developed ovipositors, veined tegmina (forewings) and long segmented cerci; in fact the pincers would not have been curled or used as they are now. The theorized stem group of the Dermaptera are the Protelytroptera, which are similar to modern Blattodea (cockroaches) with shell-like forewings and the large, unequal anal fan, are known from the Permian of North America, Europe and Australia. No fossils from the Triassic — during which Dermaptera would have evolved from Protelytroptera — have been found. Amongst the most frequently suggested order of insects to be the closest relatives of Dermaptera is Notoptera, theorized by Giles in 1963. However, other arguments have been made by other authors linking them to Phasmatodea, Embioptera, Plecoptera, and Dictyoptera. A 2012 mitochondrial DNA study suggested that this order is the sister to stoneflies of the order Plecoptera. A 2018 phylogenetic analysis found that their closest living relatives were angel insects of the order Zoraptera, with very high support.


title: Earwig

text: Archidermaptera is believed to be sister to the remaining earwig groups, the extinct Eodermaptera and the living suborder Neodermaptera (= former suborders Forficulina, Hemimerina, and Arixeniina). The extinct suborders have tarsi with five segments (unlike the three found in Neodermaptera) as well as unsegmented cerci. No fossil Hemimeridae and Arixeniidae are known. Species in Hemimeridae were at one time in their own order, Diploglassata, Dermodermaptera, or Hemimerina. Like most other epizoic species, there is no fossil record, but they are probably no older than late Tertiary.


title: Earwig

text: Some evidence of early evolutionary history is the structure of the antennal heart, a separate circulatory organ consisting of two ampullae, or vesicles, that are attached to the frontal cuticle near the bases of the antennae. These features have not been found in other insects. An independent organ exists for each antenna, consisting of an ampulla, attached to the frontal cuticle medial to the antenna base and forming a thin-walled sac with a valved ostium on its ventral side. They pump blood by elastic connective tissue, rather than muscle.


title: Earwig

text: The overwhelming majority of earwig species are in the former suborder Forficulina, grouped into nine families of 180 genera, including "Forficula auricularia", the common European Earwig. Species within Forficulina are free-living, have functional wings and are not parasites. The cerci are unsegmented and modified into large, forceps-like structures.


title: Earwig

text: The first epizoic species of earwig was discovered by a London taxidermist on the body of a Malaysian hairless bulldog bat in 1909, then described by Karl Jordan. By the 1950s, the two suborders Arixeniina and Hemimerina had been added to Dermaptera. These were subsequently demoted to family Arixeniidae and superfamily Hemimeroidea (with sole family Hemimeridae), respectively. They are now grouped together with the former Forficulina in the new suborder Neodermaptera.


title: Earwig

text: Arixeniidae represents two genera, "Arixenia" and "Xeniaria", with a total of five species in them. As with Hemimeridae, they are blind and wingless, with filiform segmented cerci. Hemimeridae are viviparous ectoparasites, preferring the fur of African rodents in either "Cricetomys" or "Beamys" genera. Hemimerina also has two genera, "Hemimerus" and "Araeomerus", with a total of 11 species.


title: Earwig

text: Dermaptera is relatively small compared to the other orders of Insecta, with only about 2,000 species, 3 suborders and 15 families, including the extinct suborders Archidermaptera and Eodermaptera with their extinct families Protodiplatyidae, Dermapteridae, Semenoviolidae, and Turanodermatidae. The phylogeny of the Dermaptera is still debated. The extant Dermaptera appear to be monophyletic and there is support for the monophyly of the families Forficulidae, Chelisochidae, Labiduridae and Anisolabididae, however evidence has supported the conclusion that the former suborder Forficulina was paraphyletic through the exclusion of Hemimerina and Arixeniina which should instead be nested within the Forficulina. Thus, these former suborders were eliminated in the most recent higher classification.


title: Earwig

text: Earwigs are fairly abundant and are found in many areas around the world. There is no evidence that they transmit diseases to humans or other animals. Their pincers are commonly believed to be dangerous, but in reality, even the curved pincers of males cause little or no harm to humans. Earwigs have been rarely known to crawl into the ears of humans, but they do not lay eggs inside the human body or human brain as is often claimed.


title: Earwig

text: There is a debate whether earwigs are harmful or beneficial to crops, as they eat both the foliage and the insects eating such foliage, such as aphids, though it would take a large population to do considerable damage. The common earwig eats a wide variety of plants, and also a wide variety of foliage, including the leaves and petals. They have been known to cause economic losses in fruit and vegetable crops. Some examples are the flowers, hops, red raspberries, and corn crops in Germany, and in the south of France, earwigs have been observed feeding on peaches and apricots. The earwigs attacked mature plants and made cup-shaped bite marks in diameter.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred inside a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, United States, during a midnight screening of the film "The Dark Knight Rises". Dressed in tactical clothing, James Holmes set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms. Twelve people were killed and 70 others were injured, 58 of them from gunfire. It was the deadliest shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. At the time, the event had the largest number of victims (82) in one shooting in modern U.S. history. This number was later surpassed by the 107 victims of the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes was arrested minutes later in his car outside the cinema. Earlier, he had rigged his apartment with homemade explosives and incendiary devices. These were defused by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Bomb Squad a day after the shooting.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Fearing copycat crimes, movie theaters showing the same film across the US increased their security. Gun sales increased in Colorado, and political debates were generated about gun control in the United States.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes confessed to the shooting but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Arapahoe County prosecutors sought the death penalty. The trial began on April 27, 2015. On July 16 of that year, Holmes was convicted of 24 counts of first-degree murder, 140 counts of attempted first-degree murder, and one count of possessing explosives. On August 7, the jury deadlocked on whether to impose the death penalty. On August 26, Holmes was given 12 life sentences, one for every person he killed; he also received 3,318 years for the attempted murders of those he wounded and for rigging his apartment with explosives.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: The shooting occurred in Theater 9 at the Century 16 multiplex (operated by Cinemark Theatres), located in the Town Center at Aurora shopping mall at 14300 E. Alameda Avenue. Police said that Holmes bought a ticket, entered the theater, and sat in the front row. About 20 minutes into the film, he left theater 9 through an emergency exit door beside the movie screen, with direct access to the lightly used parking area at the back of the complex, while propping the door slightly open with a plastic tablecloth holder. There were about 400 people inside theater 9.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes went to his car (which he had parked near the exit door), changed into protective clothing, and retrieved his guns. About 30 minutes into the movie, police say, around 12:30 a.m., he reentered the theater through the exit door. Holmes was dressed in black and wore a gas mask, a load-bearing vest, a ballistic helmet, bullet-resistant leggings, a bullet-resistant throat protector, a groin protector, and tactical gloves. He was listening to techno music through a set of headphones so that he could not hear anything from people in the theater. Initially, few in the audience considered Holmes to be a threat. Some witnesses thought he was wearing a costume, like other audience members who had dressed up for the screening. Some believed he was playing a prank, while others thought he was part of a special effects setup for the film's premiere, or a publicity stunt by the studio or theater management.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes reportedly threw one canister towards the left side of the theatre, emitting a gas or smoke, that partially obscured the audience members' vision, made their throats and skin itch, and caused eye irritation. He fired a 12-gauge Remington 870 Express Tactical shotgun, first at the ceiling and then at the audience. He also fired a Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle with a 100-round drum magazine, which eventually malfunctioned. Finally, he fired a .40-caliber Glock 22 Gen4 handgun. He shot first to the back of the room, and then toward people in the aisles. A bullet passed through the wall and hit three people in adjacent theater 8, which was screening the same film. Witnesses said the multiplex's fire alarm system began sounding soon after the attack began, and staff told people in Theater 8 to evacuate.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes fired 76 shots in the theater: six from the shotgun, 65 from the semi-automatic rifle, and five from the .40-caliber handgun.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: The first phone calls to emergency services via 9-1-1 were made at 12:39 a.m. Police arrived within 90 seconds and found three .40-caliber handgun magazines, a shotgun, and a large drum magazine on the floor of the theater. Some people reported the shooting via Twitter or text messaging rather than calling the police; officers were already at the theater by the time that the tweets were sent. Ambulances were hindered by chaos and congestion in the parking lot, and they were unable to reach the back of the complex where police had pulled the injured out through the emergency exit doors of Theatre 9. Sgt. Stephen Redfearn, one of the first police officers to arrive on the scene, sent victims to area hospitals in squad cars.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: At about 12:45 a.m., police officer Jason Oviatt apprehended Holmes behind the cinema, next to his car, without resistance. Because of his tactical clothing, Holmes was at first mistaken for another police officer. He was described as being calm and "disconnected" during his arrest. Two federal officials said that Holmes had dyed his hair red and called himself "The Joker", although authorities later declined to confirm this. Three days later, at his first court appearance in Centennial, Colorado, Holmes's hair appeared reddish-orange. Later, the Colorado district attorney who prosecuted Holmes said he never called himself The Joker, and blamed the federal officials for the rumor. The officers found several firearms in the theater and inside the shooter's car, including another Glock 22 handgun. Holmes was found carrying a first aid kit and spike strips, which he later admitted in an interview he had planned to use if police either shot at or chased him.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Following his arrest, Holmes was initially jailed at the Arapahoe County Detention Center, under suicide watch. The police interviewed more than 200 witnesses of the shooting. Speaking on behalf of himself and FBI agent James Yacone, who was in charge of the investigation, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said he was confident that the shooter acted alone.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: When apprehended, Holmes told the police that he had booby-trapped his apartment with explosive devices. Police evacuated five buildings surrounding his Aurora residence, which was about north of the cinema. Holmes' apartment complex is limited to University of Colorado Medical Center students, patients, and employees. One day after the shooting, officials disarmed an explosive device that was wired to the apartment's front door, allowing a remote-controlled robot to enter and disable other explosives. The apartment held more than 30 homemade grenades, wired to a control box in the kitchen and filled with at least of gasoline.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Neighbors reported loud music from the apartment around midnight on the night of the massacre, and one went to his door to tell him she was calling the police; she said the door seemed to be unlocked, but she chose not to open it.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: A police official said a Batman mask was found in the apartment. On July 23, police finished collecting evidence from the apartment. Two days later, residents were allowed to return to the four surrounding buildings, and six days later, residents were allowed to move back into the formerly booby-trapped building.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Twelve fatalities were reported along with 70 injuries. Seventy were hit by bullets, and were reported by mainstream news as the most victims of any mass shooting in United States history. This figure would not be surpassed until the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, which killed 49 people and injured 58 others for a combined total of 107 casualties. Four people's eyes were irritated by the tear gas grenades, while eight others sustained non-gunshot injuries while fleeing the theater. The massacre was the deadliest shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Ten victims died at the scene and two more were pronounced dead in local hospitals. Five men Jonathan Blunk, John Larimer, Matt McQuinn, Jesse Childress, and Alexander C. Teves died protecting their girlfriends or friends. The people murdered were:


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: The injured were treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center, The Medical Center of Aurora, Parker Adventist Hospital, Rose Medical Center, Swedish Hospital, and University Hospital. On July 25, three of the five hospitals treating victims announced they would limit medical bills or forgive them entirely.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Ashley Moser, Veronica Moser-Sullivan's mother, suffered critical injuries after being shot in the chest. She was rendered a paraplegic. She miscarried a week after the attack.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Caleb Medley, the last victim discharged, left University Hospital on September 12. He had serious brain damage and an injury to his right eye from a shotgun blast to the head, and underwent three brain surgeries. He required a feeding tube, had severely impaired movement, and could no longer speak.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: The Community First Foundation collected more than $5 million for a fund for victims and their families. In September, victims and their families received surveys asking about their preferences for how collected funds should be distributed, either by dividing it equally among victims or through a needs-assessment process.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On November 16, 2012, the Aurora Victim Relief Fund announced that each family of the dead would receive $220,000.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Holmes' booking photo was released and he first appeared in court on July 23, 2012. According to press reports, he seemed dazed and largely unaware of his surroundings.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On July 30, Colorado prosecutors filed formal charges against Holmes, including 24 counts of first-degree murder, 116 counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of illegal possession of explosives. Two charges were filed for each victim to expand the opportunities for prosecutors to obtain convictions. Colorado State District Court Judge William B. Sylvester, who was the trial judge overseeing the case, placed a gag order on lawyers and law enforcement, sealing the court file and barring the University of Colorado from releasing public records relating to Holmes' year at the school. Media organizations challenged the sealing of the court file.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On August 9, Holmes' attorneys said he is mentally ill and they needed more time to assess the nature of his illness. The disclosure was made at a court hearing in Centennial, Colorado, where news media organizations asked a judge to unseal court documents in the case. Prosecutors alleged on August 24, 2012, that Holmes told a classmate he wanted to kill people four months before the shooting.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: A judge ruled on August 30 that a notebook written by Holmes, in which he allegedly described a violent attack, was covered by physician–patient privilege because it was addressed to his psychiatrist. This made it inadmissible as evidence unless Holmes' mental health became an issue in the case. Prosecutors dropped their request for access to the notebook on September 20, 2012. Due to suicide attempts made by Holmes, Judge Sylvester agreed to postpone proceedings until December 2012.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On January 2, 2013, prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case returned to court in advance of the preliminary hearing, the public's first officially sanctioned look at the evidence, due to the gag order. It began on January 7. Prosecutors offered their case as to why the trial should proceed, and defense lawyers argued that it should not. At the conclusion, Judge Sylvester decided there was enough relevant, admissible evidence to proceed to a trial.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: Also on January 7, lawyers for both sides argued whether to admit four unspecified prescription bottles and immunization records investigators had seized from Holmes' apartment when they searched it in July 2012, considering doctor-patient confidentiality laws. The judge ruled in October that prosecutors could keep the items.


title: 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting

text: On March 27, Holmes' lawyers offered a guilty plea in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty. On April 1, the prosecution announced it had declined the offer. Arapahoe County district attorney George Brauchler said: "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death."