In the hopes that someone on the UY or Fanfic list can settle this:

   I was recently in a discussion with a fan fiction writer concerning the
nature in _Urusei Yatsura_ of the relationship of Benten and Oyuki. His
planned story falls back quite heavily (though hardly exclusively, of
course) on the bit of UY fan folklore that holds that Benten and Oyuki are
lovers. I was familiar with this little tale, and had seen it alluded to
in comic fanfiction before (for instance in Henry Cobb's "Aa Oni!"); but I
had never really taken it as much more than a lonely _otaku_'s idea of a
dirty joke, albeit one that made many other lonely _otaku_ smile (myself
included, I should probably admit!). I never took it very seriously, and
certainly didn't think it really belonged in a story of a serious nature
(for so his is planned to be) set in the UY universe or alluding to it
otherwise.
   I wrote to this fellow saying that as far as I knew the UY manga gave
no merit to the idea that Benten and Oyuki were homosexual, and every
evidence that they were not (the behavior of both women in their
respective first stories around Ataru, under Lum's nose too, is totally
unbecoming of goddesses and queens). I went on to note that in non-lemon
manga lesbianism is quite rare. The only clearly lesbian character I know
of in manga popular in the US, at least, is Akane Kasuga of KOR; many
other females are sometimes thought to be so, but that idea is generally
ill-founded, or at the very least a dramatic "out" has been provided
allowing for a more innocuous interpretation of the motivations of these
characters. 
   The author's rather vehement reply was to the effect that a spectrum of
inclinations exists among men and women, in which case Benten and Oyuki
could be bisexual, and in any case I had no business telling him how and
what to write--both of which were true, but I didn't think answered my
concerns. My point was I had no idea that either the goddess of luck or
the queen of Neptune were capable of loving women at all, let alone each
other. 
   My question is this. I said "as far as I knew" Benten and Oyuki were
not that way, but "as far as I know" doesn't include as much knowledge as
I'd like. I cannot read or speak enough Japanese to understand either
manga or anime in the original, so my knowledge of the manga is limited to
the first eleven volumes Viz has translated, and of the TV series to the
19 existing AnimEigo volumes (up to episode 74). None of these suggested
that the rumor about Benten and Oyuki was true. However, the whole episode
made me wonder if any conclusive or otherwise suggestive evidence for the
prosecution might exist in later manga or TV episodes, though from my
experience reading Takahashi's work I imagine the chance of it is slight.
   So then: does anything in the 34 volumes of the _Urusei Yatsura_ manga
or perhaps in the UY TV series give any merit to the idea that Benten and
Oyuki are lovers, or at the very least homosexual?

Paul Corrigan
pcorrig@uoft02.utoledo.edu
I do hope I won't get flamed for this, but I had to ask...

PS To the FFML: I am not currently on the FFML. I do have access to the
FFML archives, but private replies, or a CC to my address of a reply to
the list, are much appreciated, if only because it'll make it easier if I
need to respond.