Season
overview:
Roughly 10 months after the conclusion of the first season of the Urusei Yatsura remake had concluded, the second season began to air. Following the first season's conclusion Ranking of Kings: The Treasure Chest of Courage (王様ランキング 勇気の宝箱/Ousama Ranking: Yuuki no Takarabako) filled Urusei Yatsura's time slot. During the interimn time frame a number of upcoming cast members had been annouced on the official website UY All Stars including the voices of Asuka Mizunokoji and her parents, Shingo, Nagisa and Inaba (you can read their translated comments on their casting here). This gave a good idea of which stories the series was planning to adapt going forward. With the conclusion of the first season of Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story (るろうに剣心 -明治剣客浪漫譚-/Rurouni Kenshin -Meiji Kenkaku Roman Tan-), Urusei Yatsura returned to its timeslot to begin its second season on Fuji TV's late night Noitamina block of programming. At the time of its conclusion Urusei Yatsura was the longest series in the Noitamina block of shows where most programs run roughly 10 to 13 episodes (1 cour).
Episode 24-1: 妄想フーセンガム
Moso fusen-gamu (Fantasy Balloon Gum)
Ten shares some alien gum with Kotatsuneko and reveals that if you blow a bubble with it while thinking of something that you want, it will materialize within the bubble and materialize into existence. Kotatsuneko of course thinks of a kotatsu, but Ataru overhears and steals the gum for himself, wasting no time in running to school to create duplicates of Oyuki and Benten embracing one another. He realizes his idea was too literal and the pair won't let one another go so he can get between them, but Lum arrives and realizes what he's up to. Ataru is forced to use stick after stick of gum to escape from Lum so he can make more girls to flirt with. Ten blasts an Ataru duplicate with fire, but in the process Ataru drops three sticks of gum. Lum decides to use the gum herself to create sexy doubles of Sakura, Ryunosuke and Shinobu in hopes of luring Ataru out. The duplicates cause havoc around the school and earn the ire of the real Sakura, Ryunosuke and Shinobu, who go in search of who created them. Lum rushes to the roof of the school where she and the other girls all find Ataru using his last piece of gum to blow a massive bubble and create a harem of girls for himself. The bubble is so big that when it pops it sticks him to the rooftop and Lum begins to electrocute his fantasy girls into oblivion one at a time.
In the empty lot where Ten is sitting at the beginning we see a stack of pipes. These are known as dokan (土管). Dokan can be seen frequently in manga and anime, most prominently in Doraemon (ドラえもん) as a playground for Nobita and his friends. Dokan are leftover sewer pipes from the construction boom after the post-World War II Japanese Economic Miracle. They also served as the inspiration for the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros.
The onomatopoeia made when Lum hits Ataru with the mallet is "dosukoi" (どすこい). This is a sound associated with the attacks of a sumo wrestler during their attacks.
In the original manga chapter, Ataru's laser sword was much more obviously a lightsaber. Takahashi and her assistants referenced seeing Return of the Jedi in theaters when it was released two years prior to this chapter's original creation in 1985.
Episode 24-2: 愛は国境を越えて
Ai wa kokkyo o koete (Love Knows No Barriers)
Ataru and Ten are arguing at the breakfast table, when Mrs. Moroboshi scolds them. Finishing their meal, they then immediately start to fight again and Ataru hurls the rice cooker at Ten, who dodges and causes it to hit Lum in the head. Everyone demands Ataru apologize to Lum for causing an injury to her head, but are shocked when Lum speaks and only talks in her Oni language. They soon realize that Lum can no longer speak any Earth languages. At school, when called upon to read a passage, Lum stands and speaks her alien dialect. Ataru is forced to admit what happened, much to the rage of the other boys of the class who immediately attack him to avenge Lum. Testing that Lum really can't speak Japanese or even understand spoken Japanese, Ataru calls out his love for Sakura. Sakura arrives and diagnoses Lum with temporary amnesia, telling everyone not to worry as she will regain her ability to speak and understand Japanese soon enough. Ataru decides to use the time to hit on girls, but when he does it Lum can immediately tell what he's doing and flies away to her UFO. After not coming back that night, Ataru begins to worry and leaves the window open, hoping she'll return. Another day passes and Ataru spies Lum flying in the sky, and calls out to her, but she doesn't respond. When he gets home from school that evening he finds Lum sitting in his room with her back to him. Ataru finally swallows his pride and apologizes tearfully for hurting Lum, embracing her. Lum smiles and slips a duck billed translator onto Ataru's face that forces his words to be translated into the Oni language. Ataru is humiliated to have to wear the device around town until Lum recovers.
Mr. Moroboshi is reading a paper that shows a picture of a bamboo sapling growing up next to a tree along a sidewalk. This image is a real photograph from a Facebook group for Uranohashi Shopping Street Uranohashi, Ise City, Mie Prefecture from 2021.
"A high school girl fell down it and travelled back to the Warring States Period." - Onsen-Mark's English example is the plot of Takahashi's series Inuyasha. You can see more about Inuyasha written on the chalk board as well. His later comments about a girl visiting an village and speaking to an old woman are also an Inuyasha reference regarding Kagome and Kaede.
Episode 25-1: 思い出ボロボロ！？
Omoide poro poro!? (Trickle of Memories)
Ryunosuke heads home from the bathhouse and bumps into a little girl with her mother. The girl apologizes calling Ryunosuke a boy, which irritates her. On her walk home, she spies Ten stuck in a tree asleep and decides to return him to the Moroboshi house. When Ryunosuke arrives, she's greeted warmly and invited to stay for dinner. Having a taste of a real mother's home cooking makes her extremely happy, to say nothing of all the compliments Mrs. Moroboshi gets from Ryu on her delicious cooking. When Ryu finally does go home, she can't help but ask her father for more information about her own deceased mother. Mr. Fujinami plays coy and refuses to give a direct answer, before finally describing Ryunosuke's mother using different names, occupations and even looks. Ryunosuke finally realizes she won't be able to get a straight answer and pummels her father before running out of the house. Meeting up with Lum, Ataru and Mrs. Moroboshi again as they head home from the baths, Ryu is in tears and hugs Mrs. Moroboshi, just wanting some level of motherly affection. At a nearby playground, Lum and Ataru learn that Ryunosuke's mother died when she was little, and all Ryunosuke wants is to be able to remember her face. Just then, her father appears to scare her, sending her punching him into the sky. That night, Ryunosuke spies her father on the local news, begging his wife, Masako to come home and help raise Ryunosuke, revealing that she is not really dead after all.
Mr. Fujinami is watching "Quiz Race" on television. This is a reference to the popular "Quiz Derby" (クイズダービー) program from the 1970s, 80s and 90s.
Episode 25-2: 思い出のアルバム
Omoide no arubamu (Album of Memories)
Ryunosuke continues to wonder about her mother, and after bringing it up at school, Mendo, Ataru, Lum and Shinobu confide that perhaps her father kept a family photo album that she could borrow to see what her mother looked like. Ryunosuke realizes that's a great idea and the group head to the school store to look through the Fujinami family's meager belongings. Mr. Fujinami asks them what they're up to and just so happens to be holding a family photo album. Ryunosuke gets her hands on it only to find it's full of only pictures of her father throughout his life. Demanding the real album, Mr. Fujinami reveals it's hidden under the tatami mat flooring, but warns Ryunosuke against opening it. When she does, Ryu finds photo after photo with multiple different women playing with her as a child. Mr. Fujinami says that he used to beg women to play with Ryunosuke every time they would visit the beach cafe. In fact, Mr. Fujinami was so desperate to forget that Ryunosuke's mother abandoned them, he admits he no longer remembers what she even looks like. On the news that night, Mr. Fujinami is seen on the missing person's program, only this time he's begging Ryunosuke to come home. It turns out she's so fed up with her father she's staying with the Moroboshi's for a while.
"Oh! That picture's from when I took a pilgrimage to Ise Grand Shrine." - Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮/Ise Jingu) is a Shinto shrine devoted to the sun goddess Amaterasu. It is the supposed location of the sacred bronze mirror Yata no Kagami (八咫鏡) which is part of the Imperial Regalia of Japan.
The tatami mat flip that Mr. Fujinami does to reveal his hidden photo album is often referenced in popular culture. It is alleged to have been a technique used by ninja to shield themselves when they were under attack inside a room with tatami mat floors. The mats are quite heavy and well fitted, so simply yanking one up with your bare hands would be extremely difficult.
When Mr. Fujinami reveals that he has forgotten who Ryunosuke's mother is the explosive sound effect is "chudon" (ちゅどーん). This is a sound effect particularly associated with Rumiko Takahashi. She discusses it a bit in this Twitter post.
The guest voices on this episode included Mika Kanda as "Yukie", Yumi Hirota as "Yoko", Misa Ishii as "Kayoko" and Rika Kinugawa as one of the voices on the television.
Episode 25-3: 涙の家庭訪問 激闘の藤波家編
Namida no katei homon gekito no Fujinamike-hen (The Home Visit Blues: Feuding Fujinami Edition)
Onsen Mark is on his visits to his students' homes and visits the Fujinamis at the Tomobiki school store where they live. As soon as he knocks on the door he's met with a punch to the face as Ryunosuke and her father are in the midst of an all-out fight. Onsen Mark is injured and wakes up in the nurse's office in Sakura's care, but vows to continue visiting his students' homes. Fed up with his long speech, Sakura boots him out the window.
Schools do have "school stores" (学校の売店/Gakko no baiten) like we see at Tomobiki High School, though having a family living in such a store would be very unusual. School stores sell things like pens, notebooks, occasionally uniforms/atheletic outfits and snacks.
Episode 26: 電飾の魔境
Denshoku no makyo (Electric Jungle)
A boy sits in a bamboo house in the middle of a jungle watching television. The samurai on the tv show he’s watching meets his future wife. This seems to make the boy plan on getting married as well. Meanwhile, Lum is waiting on Ataru so that they can go out on a date, but he’s running late as he’s busy girl hunting. He decides to try asking out one more girl before he leaves to meet Lum and is shocked when she actually says yes. As Lum waits the boy in a fur loincloth arrives in the park on the back of an elephant and immediately falls for Lum. As the boy hugs Lum she shocks him and is amazed when her electricity has no effect on him. Ataru arrives just in time to see the embrace and pouts, refusing to help Lum escape from the strange boy. Lum shocks Ataru to test her electricity and finds that it works just fine on him, which only infuriates Ataru even more. As he pouts, the boy takes Lum back to his house hidden away inside an electrified jungle. Ataru refuses to pursue and does not look for Lum even when she fails to show up at school the next day. When Ten asks where she is, Ataru is surprised that she did not go back to her UFO overnight. Just then Lum appears and explains to her cousin that she was kidnapped and needs Ataru to rescue her, even as she easily sets up a portable door to the electric jungle in the classroom at school. As the door opens, the boy who kidnapped her spies Lum once more and rushes to reclaim her, encountering Mendo in the process. As he kidnaps Lum once more, the students follow but are immediately shocked as they set foot in the jungle. With no choice, Mendo remembers something… At the Mendo Estate, Shutaro takes Shinobu, Kosuke and Ataru to meet his family’s longtime gardener, an old man named Saizo. Saizo immediately embraces Mendo calling him “Shingo.” Mendo explains that Saizo was in charge of a former Mendo Conglomerate project dealing with electric vegetables, but lost his grandson Shingo in their garden never to be seen again. Shingo would be Mendo’s age, which is what causes Saizo’s confusion. The students borrow electricity dampening suits from Saizo and head into the electric jungle to rescue Lum. As they arrive they encounter the boy, who uses his Tarzan-like talents and the electrical environment to his advantage. He easily dispatches Mendo with electrified radishes and tears Ataru’s suit so that he can be shocked as well. Lum tries to help Ataru but Shingo ties her up and keeps her captive as he plans his wedding. Eventually inviting all of his jungle animal friends to his upcoming nuptials, the group plot their next move. They find an abandoned house in the jungle and realize that this “jungle” is in fact just a part of Mendo’s estate, it is in fact his overgrown electric vegetable garden, and the boy who has kidnapped Lum is the long-lost Shingo. After managing a sneak attack on Shingo, he drops the television set that he considers his grandfather into a pond, which causes it to short out and his grandfather to “die”. The group take mercy on him now that Lum is rescued and take him out to meet his real grandfather. Unfortunately, Shingo runs to hug Saizo’s television set, while Saizo runs to hug Mendo, thinking he is his grandson again.
Shingo’s entire character is a reference to the Edgar Rice Burroughs character Tarzan. First appearing in the novel Tarzan of the Apes in 1912, the story tells of a shipwrecked child who is raised by apes and becomes a wild man who lives in the jungle amongst the animals. The story was famously immortalized in numerous films, comics and radio adaptations, with the character portrayed most famously by Johnny Weissmuller, who starred in a total of 12 Tarzan films throughout his career.
Cafe Ketaguri - "Ketaguri" (蹴手繰り) is a "pulling inside ankle sweep", a technique used in sumo wrestling.
"Paoooh! Paoooh!" - Here, Shingo is yelling the sound an elephant makes in Japanese, similar to saying "ruff ruf" or "bark bark" for a dog. It was translated as "Huzzah" but it really is just animal noises.
"Meet my neighbors: Sir Suke and Sir Kaku. Along with Sir Momotaro and Sir Heiji." - Suke the alligator and Kaku the orangutan are named after characters from the drama Mito Komon (水戸黄門). The series ran from 1969 to 2011 and is likely something Shingo watching for many years, thinking it was his grandfather. Momotaro the anaconda is named for Onitaiji Momotaro from Momotaro Samurai (桃太郎侍) another long running drama from 1976 to 1981 and Heiji the lion is named for Heiji Zenigata from Heiji, the Detective (銭形平次) which ran from 1966 to 1984.
"Yo-yo-yoi!" - The characters are doing a Japanese clapping ritual called "tejime" (手締め). Shingo is watching a Japanese historical drama perhaps Denshichi Torimonocho (傳七捕物帳) or something similar.
"The only wooing you're doing is woonding me!" - In the original Japanese Lum is making a pun. She says, "その念いが重いっちゃ。/Sono omoi ga omoi-cha." The pun is the homonym "omoi" which can mean "to have feelings for/to love" (念い) and "weighty,serious or grave" (重い).
As Ataru collapses he begins by saying "ラ。。。" (Ra...") the first character in "Ramu" (Lum's Japanese pronunciation). Consequently, the others ask him other "Ra" words. Kosuke asks, "you want to eat ramen?" (ラーメンが食いたいのか？/Ramen ga kuitainoka?） Shinobu asks, "you want an otterskin jacket?" (ラッコの上着がほしいんでしょ？/Rakko no uwagi ga hoshiinn desho?) and Mendo comments, "You want to take up Western studies?" (蘭学事始。/Rangakukoto hajime.) In the translation to make the joke work, they changed the references to other "Lu" words in English. "Do you want lunch or something?", "No, I bet he wants lumberjack flannel," "The Luzhin Defense."
The guest actors in this episode include: Nobunaga Shimazaki (Shingo), Shinya Takahashi (Kosuke), Kappei Yamaguchi (Saizo), Katsuya Fukunishi and Tomotaka Ono (boys), Eri Yukimura (woman), Natsu Yoda and Yumi Hirota (village girls), Kosuke Echigoya (evil magistrate), Takuya Nakajima (secret policeman) and Hiroya Egashira (subordinate to the secret policeman).
Episode 27-1: 恋人泥棒
Koibito dorobo (Love Thief)
Kurama complains to her crow minions about still not having a husband after all this time. Deciding they need to try a new approach, one of the crow’s mentions using a supercomputer to find her the best-looking man in all of the universe, a promise they are not actually capable of delivering on. When they enter data into their computer, the results look promising: it’s Rei. Meanwhile in subspace, Rei and Ran are meeting for a romantic snack. The couple are suddenly pulled into a vacuum and kidnapped to Kurama’s spaceship. After encountering the pair, Kurama is head over heels for the handsome Rei, while she swiftly ejects Ran, who is sent crashing into Lum. After explaining the situation to Lum, Ran angrily demands that she accompany her to help get Rei back. In her UFO, Kurama and her crows are continually feeding the gluttonous Rei. When one crow goes out for more provisions, he bumps into Ataru who follows him back to Kurama’s UFO just as Lum and Ran have arrived. The tengu attendants quickly realize that Rei transforms into a less than attractive creature at random times and do their best to keep the transformation hidden until Kurama mates with him. After ejecting the trespassers through a trapdoor that ends up in her bedroom, Kurama learns the truth about Rei, and Ran is saved by her erstwhile lover when she falls down the trapdoor after cooking a sack full of rice balls for him. Once Kurama sees him transform, she no longer has any interest, and Rei pigs out on Ran’s cooking happily.
Taiyaki are fish-shaped cakes traditionally filled with sweet red bean paste.
Takoyaki are savory balls of batter and octopus bits cooked in special pans, a classic street and festival food.
The tengu is pulling a gosho guruma or wheeled cart which are pulled behind oxen or more often, people. This kind of cart was used to transport goods and sometimes people.
The elder tengu (the one in the red hat) is played by Issei Futamata. He is best known for playing Chibi in the original Urusei Yatsura, Yusaku Godai in Maison Ikkoku and Hikaru Gosunkugi in Ranma 1/2. Naoki Tatsuta plays the previous generation elder. He was the kindergarten principal in Maison Ikkoku but is best known as Oolong from Dragonball. Nobuo Tobita plays the previous previous generation elder. He is Ebisu in Naruto, Vayne Solidor in Final Fantasy XII, Albert Heinrich/004 in Cyborg 009, Daisuke Dobashi in Please Save My Earth and Shogen Mamiya in Yashahime and Kyora in Inuyasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Mountain.
The other crows are played by Daisuke Hirakawa, Hiro Shimono, Kazuyuki Okitsu and Toru Nara.
Episode 27-2: 水乃小路家の娘
Mizunokoji-ke no musume (That Mizunokoji Girl)
Mendo is told by his father that it is time for him to go on an arranged marriage meeting. Despite some initial protests, once he’s reminded to when he gets engaged, he can get intimate with his new fiancée, Mendo seems happy to go along with it. Less so are Ataru, who would rather see Mendo’s potential future bride himself, and Ryoko, who is up to her usual tricks, sending one of her kuroko to bash Mendo over the head for daring to meet with a girl. Mendo’s father adds that the potential bridal candidate is the sister of Tobimaro Mizunokoji, to which Mendo changes his mind yet again, not wanting to do anything to support the rival Mizunokoji family. Mendo’s spies sent to the Mizunokoji estate all return bruised and battered, and so Mendo and Ataru go themselves to investigate. Running into Tobimaro, they question him about why he never mentioned a sister, a fact which he denies knowing himself. Just then, the Mizunokoji family’s female guards pass by with another of Mendo’s spies they’ve found. They mention Tobimaro’s sister, and keeping her a secret from the young master, a fact that Tobimaro, Ataru and Mendo all overhear. Soon a deep voiced, ominous looking suit of armor emerges, and is addressed as the young mistress. Both Mendo and Tobimaro are horrified, but Ataru is curious and goes to investigate further. Watching from afar, Ataru sees the armor-clad girl setting records in a 100-meter dash, as the visor of her armor lifts for a second, revealing a cute young woman. Seeing all he needs, Ataru quickly races after her, frightening the poor girl, who has apparently never seen a man before in her life.
The first appearance of Asuka Mizunokoji. Mizunokoji (水乃小路) is a reference to the Japanese baseball manufacturer "Mizuno". Asuka (飛鳥) is a common Japanese girl's name.
Mendo's shirt has the kanji "終" (Shu) on it. This is the first kanji in his first name, Shutaro (終太郎).
A marriage meeting is the first step of an arranged marriage, where two prospective spouses can check each other out before committing to an engagement. It can be pretty formal and intimidating, especially if your parents tag along.
The figure in black is a kuroko, a traditional Japanese stagehand who dresses all in black. The audience can see kuroko as they change scenery and props but pretend that they are invisible.
Mendo's father is played by Kazuhiko Inoue, who is the voice of Mikado Sanzenin in Ranma 1/2 and Ryukotsusei in Inuyasha. He also appeared in the original Urusei Yatsura as Tsubame Ozuno.
Other voices from this episode include Tsuyoshi Koyama as Mendo's sunglasses wearing guard, Katsuya Fukunishi as the kuroko, Sho Okumura as "boy", and Natsumi Kawaida, Hitomi Sasaki and Ahiru Ohira as the three guards assigned to Asuka.
Episode 28: 続・水乃小路の娘
Zoku Mizunokoji-ke no musume (The Continuation of: That Mizunokoji Girl)
Mendo dreams of marrying the many girls of Tomobiki as well as all of Lum’s alien friends and rivals. But his dream is soon interrupted by the arrival of the armor-clad Asuka to whom he’s become engaged to. Waking up in a fright, Mendo remembers that his engagement meeting is going to occur later that day but plans to turn her down. When he prepares to go to the Mizunokoji Estate he learns that his father will not let him turn her down, as the two are a “perfect match” and there is no way Shutaro would say no. Attempting to escape, Mendo is captured by his own bodyguards, but rescued by Lum, Ataru and Shinobu who are planning to help him escape his forced engagement. As Shinobu sneaks Mendo out in a wicker box, Ataru slicks down his hair in an attempt to replace Mendo so he can meet Asuka again but is easily recognized and Shutaro is recaptured. At the Mizunokoji Estate, Asuka’s female guards attempt to teach her about men, but her fear is too great having been exposed to Ataru as the first man she has ever seen. Asuka refuses to take off her protective armor, but her guards also mention she will finally get to meet her brother for the first time as well and explain that brothers are a special type of man who are safe to be around. Later, Mendo is tied up and forced to attend the marriage meeting, where Asuka is unveiled in a cage, meeting her own father for the first time as well. Mendo is sure his father will reject the marriage once he sees how strange Asuka is, but instead of rejecting her, Mr. Mendo just makes his usual jokes. Ataru crashes the ceremony, sending Asuka into a frenzy as she tries to escape. The female guards try to kill Ataru, but he escapes, and Mendo learns that the reason Ataru is so insistent on pursuing Asuka is that under the armor she must be very cute. Realizing this, Mendo beings his pursuit as well. Ataru catches Asuka, but a blast from Lum’s electricity blows Asuka’s armor off revealing to everyone just how cute she is. Even without her armor, Asuka escapes again and meets Tobimaro, and attacks him before realizing that he has the same eyes as her, and therefore must be a woman like her. When he corrects her she attacks him again, but is quickly tranquilized and brought back to the mansion. Chained up, Mrs. Mizunokoji explains the longstanding tradition that women of the Mizunokoji family are not allowed to be around men until they turn 15, to keep them pure, the models of femininity. Everyone thinks this is crazy and feels sorry for Asuka, as Mendo and Ataru attempt once more to get at her, Tobimaro tries to protect her, and Asuka falls in love with him. Lum and Shinobu try their best to set Asuka straight during all the chaos, but the arrival of Ryoko who sets dynamite, blowing everything up only causes more problems. Finally, although she is still attracted to Tobimaro, when she hears Ryoko call Shutaro “brother” she also becomes comfortable around him, realizing that he to is a “brother” and therefore a safe man to be around.
Mendo is shown wearing a traditional wedding kimono in this episode. The traditional black and white ensemble is made up of four layers: a nagajuban (長襦袢), or under-kimono, a montsuki (紋付) or solid black kimono with five family crests (although three crests or one crest is also common) and an obi, a pair of hakama (袴), black and white striped pleated pants and a haori (羽織), a solid black jacket with the same five family crest as the montsuki. The lining of this jacket will have an elaborate design, often matching the design on the nagajuban. The haori is not worn with a belt but is loosely tied in the front with a white pom-pom'ed tie called a haori himo (羽織紐). The footwear is a pair of white tabi socks and white square-toed zori (草履) sandals. The groom might carry a fan for photos.
"I see you handle her with square." - In the original Japanese, this is a pun "箱入り娘ですな！" (hakoiri musume desuna!). This is a Japanese idiom that means "a daughter who has lived a sheltered life", though the literal translation would be "daughter in a box" which is literally what Asuka is in this scene.
When the grenade lands on Ataru the explosive sound effect is "chudon" (ちゅどーん). This is a sound effect particularly associated with Rumiko Takahashi. She discusses it a bit in this Twitter post.
This episode reveals that Tobimaro and Asuka's father is a mukoyoshi. A mukoyoshi (婿養子) is an adult man who is adopted into a Japanese family as a daughter's husband, and who takes the family's surname.
The technical term for Asuka's fear of men is androphobia.
Brother Complex (ブラザーコンプレックス) is a psychoanalytic idea first postulated by Japanese psychiatrist Yoshihide Kubo in 1917. In his 1932 work Psychological Analysis, Kubo called the relationship between father and daughter by sexual instinct "father–daughter complex" and that between mother and son "mother-son complex". He argues that "brother-sister complex" is a transfer of "father-daughter complex" and "mother-son complex.”
The "chudon" (ちゅどーん) sound effect appears again when Ryoko's kuroko plant their dynamite when she arrives at the Mizunokoji estate.
Some of the guest voices appearing in this episode include Shinpachi Tsuji as the Mendo Family Butler and Momoko Taneichi as young Tobimaro. Tsuyoshi Koyama played Mendo's sunglasses wearing guard, Katsuya Fukunishi was the kuroko and as with the prior episode Natsumi Kawaida, Hitomi Sasaki and Ahiru Ohira as the three guards assigned to Asuka.
Episode 29-1: コタツにかけた愛
Kotatsu ni kaketa ai (Kotatsu Love)
Kotatsuneko visits an antique shop and becomes enamored with a luxurious kotatsu. After striking a deal with the owner, he takes the kotatsu back to the Moroboshi house and makes plans to put it to use. Suddenly the kotatsu springs to life and interrupts Lum and Ataru’s game of Othello. Lum is angry about the game, but Ataru points out that a living kotatsu is much more deserving of their attention. After noticing Mendo’s family crest on it, Ataru calls Mendo over who reveals that it did indeed once belong to his family. The kotatsu was made from a lone pine tree at the South Pole and absolutely hates hot environments, so whenever Kotatsuneko tries to cover it with a blanket it rebels and springs to life throwing off the blanket and refusing to be turned on. Mendo says that if anyone can tame the kotatsu, it’s a true connoisseur like Kotatsuneko. Days go by and Kotatsuneko and the kotatsu battle it out, until finally they come to an agreement and the kotatsu becomes a horse that Kotatsuneko uses to pull him around town on a sled.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yuuki Morita (森田侑希)
Animation Director: Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Sugimoto (杉本幸子), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Akane Imada (今田茜), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
The joke in with the boxcutter is that upon seeing it the store owner says "カッター" (cattaa/cutter) which is a homonym for 買った (catta/bought).
Hyottoko (火男) is a comical Japanese character, portrayed through the use of a mask. His mouth is puckered and skewed to one side. Some masks have different eye sizes between the left and right eyes. He is often wearing a scarf around his head (usually white with blue dots).
Episode 29-2: ラムちゃん、ウシになる
Ramu-chan, ushi ni naru (Lum Becomes a Cow)
Lum and Ataru visit a pet store and are warned not to stand too close to a cow that Ataru is studying. When Ataru fails to listen, the cow bites him. As he tries to pry his hand free Lum helps him and gets bitten as well. The pair leave the shop and Lum later returns to her UFO. Falling asleep watching a scary movie in which an alien is bitten by a vampire, Lum dreams of transforming into a cow. When she awakens and looks in the mirror, she sees her horns have grown significantly longer and now resemble a cow’s horns. Lum grows worried that this means she may truly be turning into a cow and swears Ten to secrecy. Three days pass without Lum coming to school, which arouses suspicions amongst the male student population. When they confront Ataru he claims to have no idea, but Ten arrives and spills the beans, mentioning the cow bite from earlier. Lum suddenly shows up at the window to interrupt Ten and question Ataru, but she lets go of his hand and he falls three stories. In Sakura’s office, the nurse notices that Lum is acting strangely. Lum keeps her horns hidden with her hair, but as they walk home that night she confesses everything to Ataru, that she believes she’s turning into a cow. In tears, Ataru stops her from running away and vows to take care of her so no one will find her and eat her. Lum returns to her UFO and learns from her father that their horns grow to fight off bacteria, and they will return to normal when she’s all well again. Lum cannot bring herself to tell Ataru who is building her a new cow pen to live in.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yuuki Morita (森田侑希)
Animation Director: Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Sugimoto (杉本幸子), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Akane Imada (今田茜), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
Yoshinoya, the name of the pet store is also the name of a popular Japanese fast-food chain that sells beef bowls.
Sukiyaki is a hot pot dish made with thinly sliced beef.
Ataru's outfit says "carpenter" (大工/daiku) when he is building the cattle pen outside.
The vampire-like man is played by Kosuke Echigoya. The alien girl is played by Yumi Hirota, while the alien companion is Misa Ishii.
Episode 29-3: いい日旅立ち
Ii hi tabidachi (The Home Visit Blues: Luxurious Mendo Edition)
Onsen Mark’s home visits continue as he arrives at the Mendo mansion. As soon as he gets there he is intimidated by the numerous guards. Determined to tell Mendo’s parents that Shutaro must learn to work with others better, Onsen Mark is frightened by the pop of a bag, as Mr. Mendo plays a joke on him before sitting down. Surrounded by gun toting guards, Onsen Mark continues to nervously stammer in fear. When Shutaro comes down stairs, Onsen attempts to greet his student but is tackled to the ground by the bodyguards.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yuuki Morita (森田侑希)
Animation Director: Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Sugimoto (杉本幸子), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Akane Imada (今田茜), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
Episode 30-1: イヤーマッフルの怪
Iya maffuru no kai (Eerie Earmuffs)
Ataru and Ten meet a strangely dressed man who attempts to sell Ataru a pair of earmuffs. After some haggling, Ataru manages to con two pairs of earmuffs from the salesman, and expect Ten to reimburse him for the pair he got him. Ten is hesitant to accept them, but not wanting to trick Ten out of paying, Ataru says that women on Earth love men in earmuffs. As soon as Ten and Ataru put the earmuffs on, they suddenly switch bodies. Ataru in Ten’s body wastes no time in realizing he can use this to his advantage. Ten in Ataru’s body slams into a wall and injures himself as he tries to pursue. Lum arrives and tends to Ataru’s body while Ataru escapes to chase girls in Ten’s body. Unable to explain the situation, Ten is forced to chase after his body with Lum pursuing him, thinking that something is seriously wrong with Ataru’s mind after his injury. Ataru makes quick work using Ten’s body to snuggle up to some girls’ chests, but is interrupted when Ten and Lum arrive and chase him away from the girls. Instead, he spies Sakura and immediate rushes to bury himself in her breasts, but she swats him away, sensing Ataru’s evil presence in Ten’s body. Alarmed that she smashed little Ten, Sakura apologizes, not knowing why she reacted the way she did. Lum criticizes her for hurting Ten, while the real Ten in Ataru’s body pleads with everyone to listen to him. Ataru continues to use Ten’s body to do more and more perverted things to Sakura. Eventually Cherry arrives with his own set of earmuffs and puts them on, changing places with Ten and sending Ataru back to his own body. It turns out the salesman was an alien who was trying to make money using body switching earmuffs on humans for fun.
Episode Staff:
Director: Eiichi Kuboyama (久保山英一)
Animation Director: Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Haruki Miura (三浦春樹), Toyoaki Fukushima (福島豊明), Kim chae eun (金採恩), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫), Sparkly Key Animation Studio (玄機)
Each pair of earmuffs cost 150 yen, approximately $1.50.
The subtitles translate Ten-in-Ataru's-body as calling Lum "cousin" when he calls her "Lum-chan". While not a literal translation, the writers are indicating how noticable Ataru's adding "-chan" to Lum's name would be to a Japanese listener. Ataru does not typically address Lum this way and so they change would be very noticable to a Japanese listener.
Episode 30-2: 系図
Keizu (Family Tree)
Late for school, Ataru and Lum rush out the door and try to make it in time. Lum has an idea and uses one of her alien gadgets on a pipe to create a portal to school. Ataru is wary of trying it, but Lum convinces him. As they arrive at school Ataru goes inside while Lum prepares to close the portal. In classroom 2-4 instead of meeting the class as usual he finds adults having a party. Everyone laughs at him and says he looks just like "Ataru," which only confuses him more, until he sees the writing on the chalkboard this is a tenth annual high school reunion. Realizing that Lum sent them through time Ataru panics and rushes outside. While there he bumps into an odd-looking child who throws a fit until Ataru hands over his lunch. Lum arrives, realizing what she has done but is tightly hugged by the little boy Ataru found. She thinks he looks a lot like Ataru, but Ataru protests. Upon asking the boys name, they learn he is Kokeru Moroboshi. Lum becomes upset when she realizes he is Ataru’s son, but has no Oni features and so she must not be his mother. Ataru rushes off with the child to find out who his mother is. Outside the school wall, the adults are looking for the missing Kokeru for his mother. Ataru is about to hand him over when Kokeru pees on Ataru and dashes off on his own, running back to his mother. Ataru watches in horror as an unattractive woman tends to the boy before laughingly saying she is not his mother. Ataru is too distraught thinking this is his future wife that he turns away before seeing that Kokeru’s actual mother is Shinobu. Depressed, both Lum and Ataru head back in time. At home, they both sit in sorrow, worried about their future. Elsewhere, a boy in a rabbit costume rushes through a subspace filled with doors proclaiming that he is running late.
Episode Staff:
Director: Eiichi Kuboyama (久保山英一)
Animation Director: Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Haruki Miura (三浦春樹), Toyoaki Fukushima (福島豊明), Kim chae eun (金採恩), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫), Sparkly Key Animation Studio (玄機)
Kokeru Moroboshi debuts in this episode. His name is a pun connected to Ataru's name. "Ataru" means "to hit" while "Kokeru" means "to fall".
In the empty lot where Lum makes her portal there are many pipes. These are known as dokan (土管). Dokan can be seen frequently in manga and anime, most prominently in Doraemon (ドラえもん) as a playground for Nobita and his friends. Dokan are leftover sewer pipes from the construction boom after the post-World War II Japanese Economic Miracle. They also served as the inspiration for the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros.
Zashiki warashi is a house spirit that's fond of mischief and believed to bring great fortune and riches to those whose house it haunts. If appears as a ghostlike child with a blushing red face who looks about five or six years old. In Rumiko Takahashi's works, the most famous example of a Zashiki warashi is in her short story Extra-Large Size Happiness.
The other guest voices for this episode include Jun Inoue as Hokuto, Daisuke Sakaguchi as Akira, Setsuji Sato as Satoshi, Natsumi Kawaida as Hitomi, Sho Okumura as Kakugari, Rika Kinogawa as "woman" (likely the woman Ataru thought he would marry) and Misa Ishii, Yumi Hirota and Momoko Taneichi as the female students.
Episode 31: 扉を開けて 前編
Tobira o akete zenpen (Open the Door - Part 1)
As Shinobu walks home from shopping she laments all the weird men in her life. Just then Soban rushes up to her followed by Ataru. After punching them both away she comes across a strange boy laying passed out amongst the garbage cans on the street. After giving him some food, she quickly realizes that the boy is wearing a one-piece rabbit costume. He quickly thanks her and tries to repay her by offering to take her out, but fearing she’s met yet another weirdo, Shinobu punches him away as well. As he goes flying he almost collides with Lum before vanishing into subspace. Lum goes down to speak to Shinobu and they discuss the strange boy while Shinobu finds an ornate key that he dropped. The boy arrives back in subspace with other men dressed as rabbits are waiting for him to start their annual clean up of the area. When the boy arrives, they call him Inaba and are furious to find he’s lost the Key of Fate back on Earth. Meanwhile, Shinobu and Lum discuss returning the key, but have no way of doing so. Lum decides to construct a door that the key will fit in, creating an entrance to subspace. Shinobu, Lum and Ataru all get pulled through the door and fall through a subspace aea filled with nothing but doors. As they fall, Shinobu grabs hold of a doorknob and pulls open a door, with the trio going through it. Later the rabbits of the Fate Production Bureau find the open door and realize that humans have used the Key of Fate to infiltrate subspace. They begin to hunt for the intruders as Inaba rushes off on his own to find them and meet Shinobu again. Meanwhile, Shinobu, Lum and Ataru find themselves in a future Tomobiki and are horrified to find that Shinobu is once again married to Ataru with Kokeru as a son. Inaba locates Shinobu as Lum and Ataru spy on future Sakura and Tsubame who are married with two children of their own. Soon, Lum sees her future self walking past Ataru as the pair greet each other in a friendly manner before going on their own ways. Lum has married Rei, while an adult Ran curses her and says she’ll get her revenge for stealing Rei away form her. Lum is horrified that there is a future where she doesn’t marry Ataru. Shortly thereafter future Mendo shows up to fire his lowly employee Ataru, which horrifies the present day Ataru to no end. Everyone seems miserable with this future, but Inaba remarks that it is only one possible future, and there are many to choose from. As he is about to escort them to another possible future the rabbits of the Fate Production Bureau intercept the group and capture them. Taking them back to subspace, the rabbits discuss what they should do before settling on bashing the interlopers with mallets, however Ataru, Lum and Shinobu all manage to escape, freeing Inaba and taking him with them. Inaba helps them escape to the bureau’s locker room where he helps them change into official bunny costumes that will allow them to access any future door in subspace. The group sets out to find futures where they will be happy, and end up in multiple futures where Mendo and Lum are married to one another, Ataru works as a lowly footman to Mendo, and Shinobu is a spinster. More determined than ever, they set off once more to find a bright future, with Inaba asking Shinobu what kind of future would make her happiest.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shugo Tsuneoka (常岡修吾)
Animation Director: Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Kim chae eun (金採恩), Toyoaki Fukushima (福島豊明), ddasang, Yoko Komaki (小牧容子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Sparkly Key Animation Studio (玄機)
The stick with zig-zagging bits of paper on it that Sakura uses is called a "gohei" (御幣). The bits of paper themselves are known as "shide" (紙垂). A gohei is a Shinto wand used in purification rituals.
After passing through the subspace door and into one of the potential futures we see people will cellphones and also a tanned girl with vivid eyeliner. This is indicative of the "ギャル" (Gyaru/Gal) fashion sense that began to develop in the 1990s. There are many sub-genres and offshoots of Gyaru-style such as the tanned "Ganguro Gal" (ガングロギャル) or "Ko-Gal" (コギャル).
Once again Ataru and Shinobu's son Kokeru appears, indicating that no matter what his future is, Kokeru is destined to be born, and be very much like his father.
Ataru is hiding behind a sign for the "Cat Diner". This same restaurant was seen in episode 1. "Neko Shokudo/Cat Diner" is likely meant to hint at the Cat Cafe/Nekohanten (猫飯店) from Ranma 1/2.
Sakura is wearing a piyo-piyo apron and has her hair tied back making her the spitting image of Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku.
As in the previous episode we see everyone lingering in a lot filled with large pipes. These are known as dokan (土管). Dokan can be seen frequently in manga and anime, most prominently in Doraemon (ドラえもん) as a playground for Nobita and his friends. Dokan are leftover sewer pipes from the construction boom after the post-World War II Japanese Economic Miracle. They also served as the inspiration for the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros.
The Fate Production Bureau is obviously based on aspects of Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, with subspace being a similar setting to Wonderland, the rabbits being references to the White Rabbit, with clocks on their apron like the pocketwatch he carries, and in this chapter, even a tea party, alluding to the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
When Inaba is on the quiz show being asked who lost the key, his name is written in kanji, hiragana and English, each name is the same however. Speaking of Inaba's name, his name comes from a children's story called The White Rabbit of Inaba.
"The cubicle clutz of my company!" - In Japanese Mendo calls Ataru "sucharaka shain" (スチャラカ社員/Sucharaka Employee). This is a reference to the 1961-1967 comedy program of the same name about employees at a company in Osaka.
Future Ran is carrying straw dolls in her bag. These straw man dolls (藁人形) are actually part of the ceremony known as Ushi no toki mairi (丑の時参り), or "ox-hour shrine-visit". The curse is placed on the straw doll during the "hours of the ox" which is between 1 and 3 AM. Hikaru Gosunkugi from Ranma 1/2 is probably the character most associated with this ritual.
The costume of a Playboy Bunny gained huge popularity in Japan, where it has lost much of its association with Playboy and is accordingly referred to simply as the "bunny suit" (バニースーツ/Banii suutsu), or "bunny girl outfit" (バニーガール衣装/Banii gaaru ishou). The original Playboy Bunny costume was designed by the mother of Ilse Taurins.
The other voice actors from this episode include Tsuyoshi Koyama as Mendo's sunglasses-wearing bodyguard, Shinya Takahashi, Tomohiro Ono, Katsuya Fukunishi and Kosuke Echigoya as the rabbits and Yumi Hirota as "woman".
Episode 32-1: 扉を開けて 後編
Tobira o akete kouhen (Open the Door - Part 2)
Attempting to escape from the rabbits of the Fate Production Bureau everyone rushes into another potential future behind a door. They arrive in a deserted wasteland, where Lum is busy saving the last bit of rice in the world from two biker thugs working for Ataru who is now a wasteland warlord with Shinobu at his side. As the evil Ataru catches up and demands the rice from Lum, a heroic Mendo appears out of nowhere and uses his laser sword to kill Ataru and save Lum. Horrified at this future everyone leaves. As they lament all the bad futures they’ve seen, Inaba takes the group to a factory like room where the doorknobs for all the doors are manufactured. He tells them that this is Fortune Factory, and allows Lum, Ataru and Shinobu to each create a doorknob leading to the exact future they want. After they each make their doorknobs, the Rabbits appear in pursuit once again and the group rushes to escape. The end up in an area of the Fate Production Bureau where doors without knobs hang in space, allowing each of them to attach their knob and create the future they want. The rabbits catch up again and bash Inaba, sending him plummeting into the abyss of space. Shinobu rushes to save him while Lum blasts the rabbits with her electricity but has her personal doorknob destroyed in the process. Ataru tries to console her by saying his future is still safe, but this only angers Lum more, as she knows he just wants a harem of his own. Running away from Lum, Ataru attaches his doorknob and ducks into his very own future. When he arrives, he finds that he does indeed have a harem filled with the likes of Shinobu, Ryunosuke, Benten, Oyuki, Sakura, Ran and many others, all living in a one room apartment together, but no Lum. His wives tell the future Ataru that Lum moved out because she was tired of how he treated her. Future Ataru mopes around and leaves the cramped apartment to lament that he misses Lum even after treating her so badly. Ataru bashes his future self and leaves his perfect future, realizing it is not as good as he thought it would be without Lum. As he re-enters subspace, he finds Lum who starts blasting electricity at him while blaming him for creating no possible future where they can get married. Ataru begins to question if that’s really the case himself. Meanwhile, the rabbits are still following Shinobu and Inaba. Shinobu attaches her doorknob to a door and ducks inside it with Inaba to hide. There, Inaba learns that Shinobu’s future is one in which everyone stays basically the same as they are now. No one is married, Ataru continues to chase women, while Lum pursues him. Their lives are exactly the same, just as adults. Inaba watches with her and laughs saying it looks like fun, which cheers Shinobu up. In subspace, the rabbits give up on their chase and instead use a massive key to destroy all the doors, eliminating any possible future that the group has seen from coming to pass. As the doors plummet, Ataru ducks into one and finds that in it he and Lum do in fact get married, but under the protest of most of the men of Tomobiki who hate Ataru for taking Lum away. Ataru leaves, but is desperate to save this potential future, and Lum is moved to see him fighting so hard to protect a future where they finally end up together. Unfortunately, the doors all hit the bottom of subspace. Inaba helps everyone escape, and sends them back through the door to take them to the present, but says he cannot follow, because he has to close the door from his side so the rabbits cannot follow. Overcome with emotion, Shinobu suddenly worries she won’t be able to see him again and that he’ll be punished mercilessly by his co-workers. Inaba says that he would like to have a drink with her when they do see each other one day and with that the door closes. However, the next day, the two couples are drinking tea together on a double date, and Shinobu thinks that she cannot believe she spent all night crying thinking she wouldn’t get to see Inaba again. When Inaba asks her if she’s mad, Shinobu gives a curt “no” but smiles to herself while playing with her doorknob, the only one that was saved.
The post-apocalyptic landscape, the motorcycle gangs and Lum carrying seeds are all references to the iconic manga/anime Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳/Hokuto no Ken). The strange death cries made by the two men Mendo cuts down when saving Lum are also references to some of the strange, garbled wails made in Fist of the North Star.
In Ataru's imaginary humble future in a small apartment, Sakura is wearing a piyo-piyo apron and has her hair tied back making her the spitting image of Kyoko Otonashi from Maison Ikkoku.
Cafe Ketaguri - "Ketaguri" (蹴手繰り) is a "pulling inside ankle sweep", a technique used in sumo wrestling.
The other rabbits are played by Shinya Takahashi, Tomohiro Ono, Katsuya Fukunishi and Kosuke Echigoya.
Episode 32-2: 涙の家庭訪問 禁じられた三宅家編
Namida no katei homon kenji rareta Miyake-hen (The Home Visit Blues: Prohibitive Miyake Edition)
Onsen-Mark is exhausted from his home visits and says he is almost at his limit. Relieved that his next stop is the Miyake house, he thinks things will go much easier and he will get a break where he can rest for a bit. However, when he arrives, Shinobu refuses to answer the door. The exhausted teacher suddenly starts breathing hard and trying to open the door himself, only causing Shinobu to worry about his strange behavior. Onsen reassures her he is just tired but insists she open the door. Fed up, Shinobu pulls open the door but delivers a kick sending him flying.
In the preview for the "Hellish Moroboshi Edition" we see the wandering snowman holding the sign.
Episode 33-1: あやかしの面堂
Ayakashi no Mendo (Haunted Mendo)
As a bodyguard on the Mendo Estate calls the roll for the many pet octopi that the family keeps one particular octopus is missing, Akamaru. The guard alerts Mendo, who organizes a search party for the missing pet. That night, Mendo is awoken from his peaceful slumber by an eight tentacled spirit. One week later no one at school has seen Mendo, and so Lum, Ten, Shinobu and Ataru visit the estate in hopes of finding out just what is wrong with their missing classmate. Mendo refuses them entry, but they sneak in and discover that Mendo has his missing octopus, Akamaru stuck to his head and painted with flowers. It seems that this is not Akamaru’s actual body but his spirit, which was painted by Ryoko so it would be visible to everyone. Akamaru went exploring and was trapped somewhere, and so his spirit has been sent out to haunt Mendo until he passes on. With that, Sakura and Cherry arrive and explain that Akamaru isn’t dead yet, but his spirit is stuck in limbo trying to communicate with Mendo. All of Mendo’s guards have spent the week looking for the missing octopus with no luck. Ataru continually tries to bash Mendo in the head with a hammer to see if that will make Akamaru leave while Ten spreads gossip all over town about how bizarre Mendo looks. Ultimately, Akamaru is discovered inside a pillow Mendo had been sleeping on. Once Ataru douses him with water he wakes up and his spirit disappears, solving the mystery.
Mendo's shirt has the kanji "終" (Shu) on it. This is the first kanji in his first name, Shutaro (終太郎).
"That thing attached to your head is known as a 'cowalker'." - The term Sakura uses to describe Akamaru is "ikiryou" (生霊). The kanji translate as "living spirit", but an easier way to think of it is as a vengeful spirit spawned from someone's hate or emotional turmoil, something like a personified grudge. It is not a soul or a ghost. Such creatures appear in Rumiko Takahashi's Kyokai no RINNE somewhat regularly.
Episode 33-2: 最後のデート
Saigo no De-to (Last Date)
From her window a hospitalized girl watches Ataru rush past on the streets below every day. She asks her mother to learn his name and what he is like. Finding out he’s Ataru, her mother just laughs when the girl presses for more information. In her diary she writes down all her secret feelings for Ataru. Months pass, and Sakura contacts Ataru who arrives at her house with Lum. Sakura was given the sick girl’s diary by her parents and tells Ataru that the girl wanted to date him. Ataru happily accepts the date, only to learn that the girl, Hitomi, has already died of her illness, and only her spirit remains. Hesitant to continue on, Ataru sees how cute she is and gives in. Hitomi showers Ataru with handmade gifts including a scarf, hat, gloves and leg warmers. However, she died at Christmas, and now it’s the middle of summer and Ataru is forced to wear the warm clothes in the stifling heat. Attempting to make her dreams come true, Ataru takes Hitomi for a fun-filled day at the amusement park. But no matter how many rides they go on, or snacks they eat together, she doesn’t seem ready to move on. Still in the hot clothes, Ataru is becoming weaker and weaker. Sakura consults Hitomi’s diary and learns her final dream was to stand arm in arm with Ataru under a white sky of snow. Deciding they’ll just have to wait until winter comes, Lum protests. Just then, all the lights in the park go off and a firework show begins. Sparkles of white light rain down on the couple as Hitomi asks if she can hold onto Ataru. With that she begins to fade away. Sakura tells Ataru he can take off the winter clothes now, but he decides to keep them on a bit longer. Later, Ataru and Lum visit Hitomi’s grave and make an offering. Lum tells Ataru how nice he was for doing that, and he responds that he’s always nice.
This chapter that this episode is adapted from is often cited as one of the best in the series. Takahashi's sixth editor on Urusei Yatsuracites this as his favorite chapter from the series. Takahashi stated it was one of her favorites too.
When Ataru tries to run away Sakura throws out a rope to snag him. This is a shimenawa (標縄), "enclosing ropes". They are made to ward off evil spirits. They are typically placed around yorishiro (依り代) which are objects capable of attracting spirits such as trees.
Hanging from the shimenawa are zig-zag pieces of paper called shide (紙垂). They are often hung from shimenawa or are attached to the wands of shinto priests for purification ceremonies.
Guest voices for this episode include Manaka Iwami as Nozomi and Mika Kanda as her mother. Akamaru is Rika Kinogawa and Mendo's sunglasses wearing guards as Tsuyoshi Koyama, Tomotaka Ono and Takuya Nakajima.
Episode 34-1: 校長殴打事件
Kocho oda jiken (The Case of the Battered Principal)
The easygoing Principal of Tomobiki High School walks in on Onsen Mark disciplining the usual misbehavior of Class 2-4. The culprits include Lum, Ataru, Mendo, Shinobu and Ryunosuke. While trying to think of a punishment severe enough to teach them the ultimate lesson, the Principal instead lets them off relatively easily but suggesting they clean his office instead. Onsen Mark protests but ultimately the Principal gets his way. In his office, while everyone tidies up their own areas, Onsen Mark suddenly hears a loud thud and walks in to find the Principal unconscious with a large bump on his head and the five students gathered around him. Determined to discover who bashed the Principal, Onsen Mark plays detective and goes out of his way to concoct increasingly elaborate stories to explain why each of the students would attack the Principal, from petty revenge on Mendo's part to alleged sexual harassment against Lum and paying back money for damages incurred by the Fujinami family's fighting. Eventually the students get so angry at Onsen Mark that they turn the tables on him and subject him to a harsh interrogation to confess he was the one who really did it. Meanwhile, the Principal wakes up and reveals that he knocked himself out by trying to break an egg on his head, closing the case in an unsatisfactory way for everyone, as they continue to make Onsen Mark crack.
"One truth always prevails in the end." - This is the famous catch phrase of Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan (名探偵コナン/Meitantei Conan).
Offering a suspect a bowl of katsudon is a common interrogation trope seen on Japanese television that is thought to make suspects confess. You can read more about this trope here and here.
The song that Ataru, Mendo and Ryunosuke are humming in an attempt to make Onsen Mark confess is "Hometown" (故郷/Furusato) with lyrics by Tatsuyuki Takano (高野辰之) and music by Teiichi Okano (岡野貞一). The song has been covered many, many times and its lyrics refer to longing for one's hometown and bygone days and the hope that one day once the singer's hardships have ended that they too might return to their hometown.
Additional voices credited for this episode includes Tsuyoshi Koyama as Mendo's sunglasses-wearing guard and Rika Kinogawa and Natsu Yoda as "women".
Episode 34-2: 秘密の花園
Himitsu no hanazono (The Secret Flower Garden)
Ran is growing a new kind of alien flower outside her house when Lum and Ten fly by. When Ten speaks the flowers repeat what he says. Ran and Lum explain that these gossiping flowers will repeat whatever they hear and then blow in the breeze to repeat it all over town. Immediately Lum thinks Ran is growing them to spread lies about her, but Ran realizes Lum could use them for the same purpose and so the girls call a truce, only for Cherry to wander up and free all the flowers to fly away. Spending the rest of the Sunday trying to catch the flowers, Lum and Ran encounter various catastrophes of gossip that occur, with Ataru thinking Ran has been attacked, Mendo being accused of wetting the bed in front of Shinobu and Onsen Mark and the Principal thinking that the students are going to murder them for holding a mandatory study session on a Sunday. Ultimately Lum and Ran track down all of the flowers but are totally oblivious to all the havoc that they caused.
In Japanese the flower is called a Ryugenvilla. Ryugen (流言) means "baseless rumor."
"Just like flowers in a storm, life is full of..." - Cherry is quoting a line from a poem by Masuji Ibuse (井伏鱒二). "花に嵐のたとえもあるぞ、さよならだけが人生だ" (Hana ni arashi no tatoe mo aru zo, sayonara dake ga jinsei da) is the full line.
Kotatsuneko is resting against a large set of pipes in a vacant lot. These are known as dokan (土管). Dokan can be seen frequently in manga and anime, most prominently in Doraemon (ドラえもん) as a playground for Nobita and his friends. Dokan are leftover sewer pipes from the construction boom after the post-World War II Japanese Economic Miracle. They also served as the inspiration for the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros.
Episode 34-3: 涙の家庭訪問 地獄の諸星家編
Namida no katei homon jigoku no Moroboshi-ka-hen (The Home Visit Blues: Hellish Moroboshi Edition)
Onsen Mark's horrible day of home visits continues as he crawls to the Moroboshi household. As he collapses at their doorway he can hear them inside watching television and waiting for him to eat dinner with them. They protest that they've waited long enough and so he is forced to endure them eating all the extra helpings of tempura they made for him as he weakly calls out that he's there but they cannot hear him over the television. Giving up, Onsen Mark crawls back out into the streets only to be beamed up by Lum's spaceship and taken off planet for his next home visit.
The character that appears in space at the end of this episode is Kintaro.
The TV audio from this episode is voiced by Katsuya Fukunishi.
"Stupid home visits..." - Home visits are a real thing in Japanese schools. Teachers will visit the home of their pupils to meet with their parents and inspect the study area of the student to better understand the child's learning environment.
Episode 35-1: 愛◆ダーリンの危機！！
Ai Daalin no kiki!! (L♥vely Darling in Danger!!)
Ataru spies Ran walking through the plaza and decides to sneak up on her and give her a fright. Before he reaches her though, she drops a cupcake from her basket and disappears into a subspace portal. Ataru decides to snack on the cake himself and immediately collapses. Soon Lum comes along and finds him unconscious with the cupcake wrapper bearing Ran’s name. Suspecting that he’s been poisoned Lum takes him back home and hooks him up to a heart monitor while she searches for Ran in hopes of finding an antidote to what she suspects was a poisoned cupcake. As she heads into subspace she finds another victim of Ran’s cupcake and begins to question the inhabitants as to her whereabouts. Meanwhile, back at Ataru’s house, Cherry is watching over him but dozes off and accidently pulls the plug on the monitoring equipment, causing Lum to think Ataru has died just as she finds Ran on a date with Rei. Angered that Lum interrupted her, she is moved by Lum’s tears and agrees that she and Rei will fly back with her to check on Ataru. When they arrive, they find that he has woken up, and Ran curses out Lum for wasting her time. It turns out the cupcakes were made to expand once eaten, a special recipe for the always hungry Rei.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yumeko Iwaoka (岩岡夢子)
Animation Director: Sayuri Sakamoto (崎本さゆり), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
The cherry blossom petals seen falling indicated that the episode is set in spring, which matches when the episode debuted.
Cherry and the doctor have set up a Buddhist funerary altar in preparation for Ataru's imminent demise.
The red creature that Lum is speaking to when she is searching for Ran is an alien in the shape of a Japanese mail box.
The robot doctor is played by Shinya Takahashi while the guide is played by Kosuke Echigoya.
Episode 35-2: 月夜のキツネたち
Tsukiyo no kitsune-tachi (Foxes in the Moonlight)
Kitsune recounts the legend of eating Horsetails on hazy moonlit nights and how if humans eat one, they will turn into a fox for the night. Determined to share this experience with his beloved Shinobu, the little fox gathers horsetails together and sets off for Tomobiki. As he enters the city he is chased by a pack of dogs and only saved at the last second by Kotatsuneko, who scares the dogs away. Unfortunately, Kitsune loses his bundle of horsetails, which are picked up by Kotatsuneko. Spying Lum and Ataru, Kitsune transforms into Shinobu and asks the pair to take “her” home. They aren’t fooled by Kitsune’s transformation but play along. Once they arrive at Shinobu’s house she is thrilled to see her little fox friend again, and Kitsune realizes that he has lost his horsetails. Transforming back and forth into Lum and Ataru to explain why he needs them, Ataru is furious the fox would try to transform Shinobu, but she good-naturedly agrees to help Kitsune find his missing items. Even though they search all over, they cannot find the missing horsetails, but end up in the empty lot with Cherry and Kotatsuneko. It seems as though Cherry has prepared a special stew using the horsetails, and once everyone samples some they transform into foxes for the night, much to Kitsune’s delight.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yumeko Iwaoka (岩岡夢子)
Animation Director: Sayuri Sakamoto (崎本さゆり), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
We see Ataru standing in front of a "Hi-F" vending machine, a reference to "Hi-C".
The folk tale kitsune is played by Sara Matsumoto while the woman is played by Hitomi Sasaki.
Episode 35-3: 涙の家庭訪問 温泉マーク宇宙へ
Namida no katei homon Onsen Mark Uchuu he (The Home Visit Blues: Onsen Mark Goes to Space)
Onsen Mark is transported onto Lum’s family’s UFO where he is treated like a king, given a delicious dinner and plenty of sake. Onsen is reduced to tears as he recounts how horrible his day has been, and how grateful he is to be treated like an actual human being. Lum’s Father takes a particular liking to the middle-aged teacher and the pair continue to get drunk all night long while Lum and her mother prepare for bed. Days later, Onsen Mark has still not returned to school as Lum’s Father is still enjoying his company aboard their UFO.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yumeko Iwaoka (岩岡夢子)
Animation Director: Sayuri Sakamoto (崎本さゆり), Mitsunori Yamaguchi (山口光紀), Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Masahiko Itojima (糸島雅彦), Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
The character that appears in space at the end of the episode is Ten's mother.
No episode of Urusei Yatsura aired the following week as the show shifted to a new cour. In its timeslotOne Piece Variety: Become the Pirate King TV (ワンピースバラエティ 海賊王におれはなるTV/Wan piisu baraeti kaizoku-o ni ore wa naru TV).
Episode 36: みじめっ子・終太郎！！
Mijimekko Shutaro (Wretched Shutaro)
Mendo is dedicating himself to training by climbing into oversized pickling jars and locking himself inside with a large rock on the lid in an attempt to cure his nyctophobia and claustrophobia. Attempt after attempt fails and he emerges exhausted with all his bodyguards waiting on him. As he stumbles out of the room with the jars, Ryoko arrives and feigning concern extends her arms to her brother. When he exhaustedly walks past her, she clobbers him with a hammer. Wasting no time, Ryoko sends her Kuroko to tell everyone at school that Mendo is undergoing training. Ataru and the others remark that they haven’t seen him for ten days and decide to go to the Mendo Estate to investigate. When they arrive, everyone pigs out on all the luxurious food, and only Lum briefly asks Mendo why he’s in training. Mendo reveals to her that he is trying to cure his fears once and for all, and so when everyone else discovers this, Lum uses her time machine to go back to Shutaro’s childhood to see just what caused his phobias in the first place. Arriving back in time, Lum, Ataru, Shinobu, Ryunosuke and Mendo all instantly meet Little Mendo. The child is an absolute brat and wastes no time in taunting both Ataru and the grown up Mendo while proposing to both Lum and Shinobu, and treating Ryunosuke like she’s a man as well. Young Ryoko shows up and plays pranks on her brother and ultimately, both Ataru and Mendo are captured in a pit trap and taken back to the mansion. Lum, Shinobu and Ryunosuke are left to try and find a way to save the pair. Inside Mendo’s playroom he tortures his future self with arrows while Ataru breaks free only to encourage the child to continue to bully his adult self. Mendo gets tortured more and more until finally his parents show up, but of course don’t recognize their teenage son. Lum, Shinobu and Ryunosuke steal the suits of some of Mendo’s bodyguards and infiltrate the mansion only to find that Little Mendo is torturing his adult self by dropping a temple bell on top of him. As an all-out brawl breaks out, Mendo is so fearful that he ends up ripping the bell in half and goes on a rampage to punish both his child self and Ataru as well. Ataru and Little Mendo hide in the very same room of pots that Mendo would later use for his training, but the wild, out of control Mendo comes into the room shattering pots with an axe. Just as he is about to find his young self, Ataru knocks him unconscious and the group returns to the future. When Mendo awakens in his bed, everyone is with him and tests to see if his fear went away. Unfortunately, it’s just as bad as ever, but Lum says she wonders what caused his fear in the first place. Back in the past, the young Mendo is finally located hiding in abject fear from the pot he had been locked inside of while hiding from his older self, thus beginning all of his phobias.
Pickles and other preserves were tradtionally made in these giant earthenware jars.
"Don’t worry. I fixed it after last time." – Lum previously used her time machine gadget in episode 30-1.
The giant paper fan that Ryunosuke uses to hit young Shutaro is called a "harisen" ((ハリセン). They are typically used in manzai comedy acts.
Young Mendo is played by You Taichi.
Episode 37-1: 飛鳥ふたたび
Asuka futatabi (Asuka Returns)
While bathing one evening, Tobimaro is disturbed by his sister, Asuka, coming in and insisting on bathing with him. When he thinks he is dying due to his nosebleed, her gentle embrace turns into a rib-shattering hug that nearly kills him. To try and solve this issue, Mrs. Mizunokoji tells Asuka that she will have to go to Tomobiki High School on her own and deliever a message to Mendo despite her fear of men. However Asuka promptly has a meltdown when she arrives at the school after she encounters a number of different boys that frighten her, leading her to crash through the Fujinami's school store and mistake Ryunosuke for a boy. Ryunosuke is insulted by Asuka's assumption and chases after her, trying to prove that she is girl. When Tobimaro and his mother come to support Asuka, she sees that his ribs are still injured from her previously hugging him too hard and mistakes Ryunosuke's chest wrapping for an indication that she is the same as Tobimaro- another big brother.
When the staff at Tomobiki High School think that Asuka is an intruder you can see some of them carrying long poles with a horseshoe shape on the end. This is a "satsumata" (刺股) or "spear fork". Schools began having them as standard equipment after the 2001 mass-murder at Ikeda Elementary School in Osaka Prefecture by Mamoru Takuma in which he stabbed eight children and injured thirteen others plus two teachers. Additionally a satsumata was in the news when a jewelry store employee fought off robbers using one in November 2023.
Episode 37-2: 嵐を呼ぶデート前編
Arashi o yobu deeto, zenpen (A Stormy Date: Part 1)
After finding Asuka once again in bed with Tobimaro, Mrs. Mizunokoji decides to force her daughter to go on a date with Mendo at his home. Ataru overhears this and decides to head to the Mendo Estate to involve himsel as well. Ryoko, jealous of her brother spending time with someone else, decides that she too will interfere in her brother's date and, upon seeing how dangerous Asuka's hugs can be, decides that if Asuka might kill her brother, then Ryoko should just kill him herself. Meanwhile, Lum disguises herself as one of Asuka's guards in order to find where Ataru is hiding before he can cause too much trouble.
The gauntlets that Mrs. Mizunokoji is wearing are known as kote (籠手, armored sleeves). Her brass knuckle type weapons are called The tekkō (鉄甲).
Mendo's shirt has the kanji "終" (Shu) on it. This is the first kanji in his first name, Shutaro (終太郎).
Tobimaro’s donkey Hayabusa can be seen playing shoji with Mr. Mizunokoji.
Mendo's guards are wearing animal costumes in this episode, in the original manga chapter their costumes included Ultraman and Alien Baltan from Ultraman.
Episode 38: 嵐を呼ぶデート後編
Arashi o yobu deeto, kouhen (A Stormy Date: Part 2)
Mendo and Asuka are finally alone and beginning their date. Asuka prepares tea for Mendo, but with her overwhelming strength destroys the tea cup she's mixing tea in. Mendo is nervous about her strength and all his bodyguards are in costume patrolling the area while keeping themselves hidden so Asuka won't realize they are men. Lum knows that Ataru is using this to his advantage and must be hiding in costume as well, so she gives the bodyguards fake orders to begin cleaning the moat where she shocks them all. Ataru manages to sneak into Mendo and Asuka's room when an injured bodyguard reports to Mendo, and causes Asuka to become scared and squeeze Mendo, breaking his ribs. Ataru disguises himself as a kuroko and begins to "puppet" Mendo's body by sliding into his kimono with him. Ataru uses Mendo's unconscious body to lure Asuka away while Lum looks for him. Suddenly, Tobimaro arrives to watch over his sister, but is interrupted by Ryoko. Ryoko learns of Tobimaro and Asuka's complicated relationship and attacks Tobimaro, calling him a pervert. Asuka hears his cries but becomes afraid when Ataru reveals his face, smashing him and sending both he and the re-awakened Mendo flying. Lum takes Asuka to a tank to hide in, but instead, Asuka misunderstands and rips the tank apart with her bare hands to create a makeshift suit of armor. Asuka hopes that the armor will keep her safe but the arrival of her mother complicates matters further. Asuka continues to beat up Mendo every time Ataru sticks his head out, and ultimately Mrs. Mizunokoji appears and threatens to hurt Tobimaro unless Asuka spends time with Ataru, who she blames for creating Asuka's fear of men in the first place. Even at the risk of hurting her beloved brother Asuka refuses to go on a date with Ataru, and so she is handcuffed to Ataru, and Lum acts as a chaperone to make sure he behaves himself. Of course, Ataru finds a way to act out, scaring Asuka. Mrs. Mizunokoji continually injures Tobimaro in retalation until Asuka rescues him and makes an attempt to escape with her brother by using the chained Ataru as a makeshift helicopter rotor. Lum frees Ataru, Mrs. Mizunokoji threatens Asuka, and Ryoko continually bashes the perverted Tobimaro over the head with her mallet as nothing gets settled. Later, back at the Mizunokoji Estate Asuka is caught in bed with Tobimaro once more.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yasuhiro Kimura (木村泰大)
Animation Director: Hanako Mitsubachi (三橋桜子), Sachiko Sugimoto (杉本幸子), Toyoaki Fukushima (福島豊明), Reo Kawamoto (河本零王), Kim Chae Eun, Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
Japanese tea ceremony is known as sado (茶道, The Way of Tea). The utensils are known as chadogu (茶道具), specifically the wisk is a chasen (茶筅) and the bowl Asuka turns to powder is a chawan (茶碗).
One of Mendo's guards is dressed as an animal that might not be immediately recognizable. The green creature is a "kappa" (河童), a fictional aquatic creature. Once they move to the moat, one is disguised as a scarecrow that resembles Gosaku, the bottle salesman.
Kuroko are stagehands who wear all black in traditional Japanese theater. Ryoko Mendo employs them as her messengers and assistants.
The sunglasses-wearing guards are voiced by Tsuyoshi Koyama, Takuya Nakajima, Hiroya Egashira, Kosuke Echigoya and Tomotaka Ono. The kuroko are voiced by Katsuya Fukunishi and Sho Okumura.
Episode 39-1: 渚のフィアンセ
Nagisa no fianse (Nagisa's Fiancé)
Ataru, Mendo, Shinobu and Lum receive and invitation from Ryunosuke to the opening of her family's new seaside cafe. The group files out in one of Mendo's helicopters and are shocked to find a tiny island with only one small shack in the center. Ryunosuke is complaining that her father bought the entire island without consulting her first, and is horrified to learn that he spent 300 yen on it because a friend gave him a deep discount. To the Fujinami's that is an astronomically high price but the others are shocked that even a tiny island could be sold for pocket change like that. As Ryunosuke bathes that evening, she senses someone watching her and turns to find a girl approaching the shack. Without thinking she tosses a ladle at her and it passes through the girl before she vanishes. When Ryunosuke tells her father about the ghost, he admits that the previous owners are in fact dead and the island may be haunted. Just then, a pair of ghosts appear in an attempt to scare the group before removing their masks and proving to be as obnoxious as Mr. Fujinami. The pair are Shiowatari and his daughter Nagisa. It seems that when they were young Shiowatari and Fujinami decided that no matter what the circumstances were their children would marry one another. Ryunosuke is horrified at this, and attempts to tell the spirits that she's a woman but is interrupted multiple times. Nagisa insists that the only way she can rest in peace is to kiss her fiance just once before passing on and attempts to kiss Ryunosuke. When Ryunosuke is finally beaten into unconsciousness, Nagisa moves in to steal a kiss, but phases right through her. Ataru tries to steal a kiss at the same time and is clobbered for it. Shiowatari admits that on the night of a full moon in the summer a sea urchin will come ashore and lay its eggs. When the urchin cries, its tear will allow Nagisa to come back to life, and that's exactly what happens. With a body of her own, Nagisa goes to pursue Ryunosuke. Lum and Shinobu notice that Mendo and Ataru have not tried to flirt with Nagisa, and soon the reason is revealed, Nagisa is a boy. Shiowatari passes on and leaves his cross-dressing son in the care of the Fujinamis much to Ryunosuke's annoyance.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinji Osada (長田伸二), Kiyomitsu Sato (佐藤清光)
Mr. Shiowatari and Nagisa are restless spirits who cannot attain Buddhahood because they have unfinished business.
The joke of Mr. Shiowatari's shirt "I Love Sea Urchins" is that in Japanese it sounds almost identical to Mr. Fujinami's "I Love the Sea" shirt. Fujinami's says "Umi ga Suki" (海が好き) while Shiowatari's says "Uni ga Suki" (うにが好き).
Onibi (鬼火, "Demon Fire") is a type of atmospheric ghost light in legends of Japan. According to folklore, they are the spirits born from the corpses of humans and animals. They are also said to be resentful people that have become fire and appeared. Also, sometimes the words "will-o'-wisp" or "jack-o'-lantern" are translated into Japanese as "onibi".
Guest voices include Kosuke Echigoya as the giant sea urchin and Takaaki Torajima as the customer.
Episode 39-2: 妖精のパラソル
Yosei no parasoru (The Fairy's Parasol)
Ataru and Ten are up to their usual playful bickering. Ten has a robot monster that Ataru is battling with a hand puppet. Ataru has defeated Ten over and over again, but is finally ready to go to sleep. Ten protests but Ataru smashes him with a frying pan. That night Ten dreams about attacking a city on the back of his toy monster and making Ataru run for his life. His dream is interrupted by a massive foot falling from the sky and crushing him as he wakes up to find that in his sleep Ataru has rolled over and done just that. The next morning Ten finds a small fairy trapped in a puddle. The fairy explains that the previous night's storm blew him off course and he fell into the puddle, but without his special umbrella he cannot escape. He promises Ten that he will make one of his dreams come true if he finds the umbrella. Ten happily accepts and wonders what he'll wish for, a marriage to Sakura or revenge on Ataru. Unfortunately he finds the umbrella in the possession of Torajima, the neighborhood tough cat. Torajima beats up Ten and sends him flying along with the umbrella. Lum finds the umbrella and ends up giving it to a family of birds to keep the morning dew off them. When Ten tries to get it back the mother bird attacks him. In the process he angers Ataru, and is forced to tell both Lum and Ataru about the umbrella. Ataru snatches in hoping to have his wish granted, but Ten gets it back just in time, delivering it to the fairy. The grateful fairy tells Ten to follow the rainbow and he will find his dream fulfilled at the end of it. Ten follows the rainbow back to the Moroboshi's home only to find remnants of his giant monster and a large foot crushing the house, remnants from his previous nights dream.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shinji Osada (長田伸二), Kiyomitsu Sato (佐藤清光)
In the original Japanese the parasol sprite is known as (妖精/yousei) which can be translated as sprite, fairy or elf.
Guest voices include Jun Fukuyama as the sprite, Shinya Takahashi as the pterosaur and Katsuya Fukunishi as Torajima.
Episode 40-1: 一夜の攻防戦
Hitoya no kobosen (One Night's Battle)
Ryunosuke is having trouble adjusting to Nagisa living with her and her father. Nagisa constantly eats up all their food despite their poverty and tries to make out with Ryunosuke. All of this is because she still believes she needs a kiss in order to pass on to heaven, despite no longer being a ghost. When Mr. Fujinami tells Ryunosuke that he will be taking an overnight trip, Nagisa soon realizes that the house will be empty so the two of them can have some alone time. Ryunosuke continually tries to elude Nagisa and soon realizes that Sakura's ghost-warding talismen frighten Nagisa, who still sees himself as a ghost. As the two battle it out, Ryunosuke soon realizes how powerful Nagisa is and how, despite her own strength, Nagisa gets the upperhand. Seemingly content to let Nagisa continue living with them until Ryunosuke can defeat him, the two share a room, until Nagisa once again tries to make out with Ryunosuke.
The creatures that appear on the television screen with the title card are the Dappya Men.
Perhaps in a sign of the times, when Ryunosuke comes to school, Lum inquires about Nagisa and says "you mean that ghost kid?" (あの優麗/ano yuurei). In the original Japanese manga Lum remarks "オカマの幽霊" (okama no yuurei/that crossdresser ghost). Viz's translation of said manga chapter used the term "trans ghost" which would probably be a bit too contemporary of a translation of "okama" as it is a word that was frequently used in Takahashi's work Ranma 1/2 where it was often translated as "cross-dresser". The word can also be used for an "effeminate gay man".
Ryunosuke's shirt has the kanji "竜" (ryu/dragon), the first character in her name.
In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an ofuda (お札) is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal.
For winning the sumo championship, Nagisa is shown carrying a rice bale or kome-dawara (コメダワラ) on his shoulder. It is also used as a unit of measurement and equals 60kg.
Episode 40-2: 命かけます、授業中！！
Inochi kakemasu, jyukyauchuu!! (Deadly Peril in the Classroom!!)
On their way to school, Ataru and his friends run into Ten who overhears that if there are further disruptions they will be given supplementary lessons on their day off. After they annoy Ten, he decides that he will come to school and get his revenge. However, in class, everyone has decided to remain absolutely quiet to ensure they are not stuck with supplementary lessons during the weekend, going so far as to refuse to answer any of Onsen-Mark's questions during class. Ten arrives and becomes furious that no one will engage with him despite shooting at them, breathing fire and making a nuisance. Soon the entire classroom is in turmoil, but the students continue to encourage Onsen-Mark to continue on with his lecture.
Ten's vehicle is a mini version of his spaceship, both of which are based on a duck shaped potty (あひるのおまる) that children use for potty training.
"He fell into a legendary spring where a young girl drowned 1500 years before and from that day he was cursed to transform into a girl if he got wet." - Onsen Mark's lesson is a description of Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2.
The other voices in this episode, simply credited as "boys" are Takuya Nakajima, Tomotaka Ono, and Hiroya Egashira.
Episode 41: 愛と勇気の花一輪
Ai to yuki no hana ichi-rin (Flower Petals of Love and Courage)
As Shinobu waits for Lum and Ataru to arrive to go to the movies she becomes anxious as she is stared at by two boys who comment that she looks like she's alone and would go out with anyone who asked. Enraged she turns around to find that they are talking about a nearby dog. Humiliated by the time Ataru and Lum arrives, Shinobu seems to be in no mood to go out. However as she marches off, she finds Inaba laying on the ground. The two go to a cafe and he asks her if she would be his girlfriend. Ataru arrives again and says he would probably ask anyone. Inaba agrees, much to Shinobu's anger. He tries to clarify that he needs a girl to couple up with him to pass his promotion test at the Fate Production Bureau, but that she is the only girl he could think of trying to ask. Shinobu understands and is willing to go with him, but Ataru and Lum tag along. As they arrive, they learn that the test involves finding a flower that must be in bloom, and so the two couples set out to find it. As they enter the course leading to the flower the first area is a door leading into a women's bathhouse. Ataru is immediately distracted by all the naked girls, but Inaba is too shy to even enter. Shinobu ultimately forces him forward and they successfully pass the first test. After passing through the bathhouse, suddenly Lum and Inaba's feet are bound together, as are Shinobu and Ataru's. The two mismatched pairs are forced into a makeshift three-legged race. Their path divides into a route leading to Heaven, and one to Hell. Ataru spies a bunny girl in trouble in Hell and immediately forces Shinobu to take that path, with Lum and Inaba in pursuit. However it turns out that the hellish path is the correct path. A Buddha offers the couple a key to their leg locks, but tosses it into a lake. Inaba dives in to get it and manages to free himself from Lum and Shinobu from Ataru, however a mermaid captures Shinobu and refuses to let her go unless Inaba kisses her. As she is about to drown, Inaba feels he has no choice, and so moves in to kiss the mermaid, which enrages Shinobu who frees herself and smashes Inaba before leaving the lake. Inaba emerges and tries to offer up an explanation, but Shinobu refuses to listen. Ultimately, bunny girls arrive and point out a shortcut, a staircase leading to the flower that Inaba is after, but he must team up with one of them rather than Shinobu. If he doesn't he cannot take the shortcut and must face a giant cyclops in a boxing match. Inaba refuses, because he feels that taking the shortcut would ensure he never gets to see Shinobu again. Battling against the cyclops leaves Inaba utterly defeated, until he removes the monster's horn which leaves it deflated. Shinobu is shocked at how injured Inaba was just to stay with her. She drags Inaba's unconscious body to the flower field only to find that the flower is not blooming. Inaba seems not to mind and gathers flowers as thanks to Shinobu for coming with him in the first place. Shinobu is so moved that she begins to cry, which causes the flower to bloom, enabling Inaba to pass the exam. He asks her if she would be willing to go out with him again, and Shinobu agrees.
Episode Staff:
Director: Shugo Tsuneoka (常岡修吾)
Animation Director: Sachiko Mori (森幸子), Yoko Komaki (小牧容子), Hanako Mitsubachi (三橋桜子), Sachiko Sugimoto (杉本幸子), Kim Chae Eun, Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫), Genki Co., Ltd. (玄機株式会社)
The fountain that Shinobu is standing in front of features the image of a tanuki. This particular depiction, featuring the animal with a straw hat and its large scrotum promenently displayed is common throughout Japan.
Cafe Ketaguri - Ketaguri (蹴手繰り) is a sumo wrestling term meaning a "pulling inside ankle sweep".
The other voices that appeared this week include Shinya Takahashi, Tomotaka Ono, Katsuya Fukunishi and Kosuke Echigoya as the rabbits. Kanuka Komei as the Great Buddha, Natsu Yoda, Yumi Hirota, Ahiru Ohira and Sara Matsumoto as the bunny girls and Yasuhiro Mamiya as the one-horned creature.
Episode 42-1: 怒りのラムちゃん！！！
Ikari no Ramu-chan (Lum's Wrath)
Lum puts her whole heart into knitting a scarf for Ataru, but when she goes to deliver it to him, he is in the middle of a fight with Ten. Ataru manages to smash Ten into the wall of his room, while Lum places the scarf on Ataru, Ten turns around and burns him with his flames, destroying the scarf. Lum is in shock, but Ataru immediately starts to berate Ten, telling him how awful what he did was. Lum is moved that Ataru cares so much, but Ataru really just wants to make Ten feel bad. Dejected and feeling horrible, Ten leaves the house while Ataru continues to yell at him about ruining Lum's gift. She says she can always make another but Ataru insists she needs to get angry with him. Fearful of Lum being upset with him, Ten moves around town, questioning people about the perfect way to apologize. He asks Cherry and Mendo, who are no help, spies on Ryunosuke and her father fighting, but learns nothing from them. Eventually he goes to Lum's UFO and watches her practice getting mad and yelling at him, which only makes him more fearful. Finally, Ten comes across Sakura who tells him exactly how he should apologize if he's too afraid to do it in person. While Ataru is sleeping, Ten writes a message on his back apologizing to Lum, who sees it and smiles, while Ataru has no idea.
Ataru's room has an HCIA pennant in it. This is a reference to the HCIA organization from Rumiko Takahashi's Dust Spot!! manga. The other pennant beside it says "Tokeizaka" a reference to the neighborhood in which Maison Ikkoku takes place.
In the empty lot Ten and Cherry sit on a series of large pipes. These are known as dokan (土管). Dokan can be seen frequently in manga and anime, most prominently in Doraemon (ドラえもん) as a playground for Nobita and his friends. Dokan are leftover sewer pipes from the construction boom after the post-World War II Japanese Economic Miracle. They also served as the inspiration for the warp pipes in Super Mario Bros..
The song sung from the sweet potato truck is a common tune heard throughout Japan to signal the arrival of the sweet potato salesman. It is similar to the songs played by ice cream trucks in the United States.
Takoyaki are savory battered octopus balls cooked in special pans. Ikayaki is a grilled squid. Both are classic street and festival food.
"Ah yes, the Dogeza bow!" - According to Wikipedia, Dogeza (土下座) is an element of traditional Japanese etiquette which involves kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself while touching one's head to the floor. It is used to show deference to a person of higher status, as a deep apology or to express the desire for a favor from said person. The term is used in Japanese politics such as "dogeza-gaikō" (土下座外交) which is translated to "kowtow diplomacy" or "kowtow foreign policy". In general, dogeza is translated into English as "prostration" or "kowtow".
Mendo's arms akimbo stance with his chest puffed out is an indication of just how proud he is, even when apologizing. This stance will later be used as one of Ranma Saotome's martial arts techniques in Ranma 1/2chapter 206: Lion Versus Tiger!.
The bag Ten is shown carrying is a "furoshiki" (風呂敷). This is a towel or blanket used to place items on and then it is tied together and carried. The swirling pattern shown on Ten's furoshiki has become the default pattern of a burglar's pack in Japanese popular culture.
Episode 42-2: ハートをつかめ
Haato o tsukame (Steal My Heart)
On her way to a date with Rei, Ran comes across a salesman who offers up some candy that will make whoever eats it sprout a floating heart above their head, if someone grabs the heart the eater will fall in love with them. Ran immediately buys the candy for her date with Rei, however when she feeds him the treat, he immediately eats his own heart, preventing her from capturing it. After a night of this, Ran gives up and goes home where she runs into Lum. In a horrible mood, she gives the candy to Lum who munches on one. The next day, Ataru sees the heart above Lum's head, and wondering what it is, snatches it, setting of a major electrical shock hug from Lum as she declares her love for him. At first Ataru thinks that whoever grabs the heart will get shocked and so he tries to convince Mendo to grab it in class, but instead Kosuke takes it. Lum immediately writes him a love letter. When Mendo does get ahold of her heart, Lum knits him a sweater. Infuriated that Lum shows her love for him by shocking him, Ataru grabs the candy from her and starts trying to feed it to all the girls in class. Cherry arrives and devours the hearts before the girls eat them. Lum chases Ataru around the room but he gets the idea to feed the candy to all the boys in the class so he can hide amongst them. As soon as they all sprout hearts, Onsen Mark comes in and interrupts all the disruption, snatching all the hearts except for Lum and Ataru's for himself. Days later Onsen Mark has stopped coming to school as all the boys from his class await his arrival bearing gifts for their beloved teacher.
Digging through a closet Lum's Father finds a large bundled up package. Meanwhile, Benten visits Oyuki and finds a huge pile of gifts from clients who do business with Oyuki, she notices one and asks Oyuki about the sender. Oyuki says it comes from the Dark Dominion, a faraway galaxy where there is no sun and the planets are plunged into total darkness. On Earth, Lum carries a gaudy coat while she wears a matching one. She and Ran saw a commercial on television that explained if a couple wears the coats they will immediately fall in love. Lum continually tries to get Ataru to put on his coat, but as soon as he learns what they do, he snatches Lum's coat and tries to find another girl who will put on the matching coat. Meanwhile, in space a ship approaches earth. Two of the inhabitants remark that they will arrive shortly, while one opens a locket that has a picture of Lum as a little girl. In flashback, Lum and Ran are playing in a field of flowers as children, when a small older man gathering mushrooms asks Lum if she is the daughter of the nearby family. When she says she is, he laughs, saying they finally had a daughter, and proclaims he will meet her again when she is older. It seems that that time is now, as the old man is on the ship headed to Earth. Finally, Lum's father opens the package from his closet, and he and Lum's Mother find an old man in cryogenic storage with a note saying their daughter is in danger.
The aliens that demonstrate the effects of the candy at the beginning of the chapter resemble haniwa (埴輪) figures. Haniwa are terracotta, cylindrical figures originally made during the Kofun era. These sculptures served as funerary offerings.
As depicted on the flashy coat, it's considered good luck to dream about Mt. Fuji, hawks and eggplants on New Year's.
This is the beginning of the final storyline of Urusei Yatsura and the first appearance of introduces Upa as the first appearance of Lum's Great-Grandfather and the first appearance of Rupa.
The guest voices this week include Yuichi Nakamura (Rupa), Cho (Upa), and Banjo Ginga, though it it not list who they portrayed in this episode. Kosuke Eichigoya played "boy" and Hitomi Sasaki, Natsu Yoda and Eri Yukimura played "girls".
Episode 43: ボーイ ミーツ ガール 別れの朝
Boi mitsu garu wakare no asa (Boy Meets Girl: The Morning of Farewell)
Lum dozes in class and suffers a nightmare where she recalls being approached by a strange old man dressed all in black when she was a little girl. Onsen Mark tries to wake her up and suffers an electric shock as Lum wakes up in surprise. Later she tells Ataru about how scary her dream was, but he seems mostly uninterested and tries to hit on more girls. Lum is enraged as usual and heads back to her UFO to complain and hang up her school uniform. While on board, she gets a call from her father telling her that her great-grandfather has been located and removed from cryogenic storage. Lum has no idea what he's talking about, but he explains that the storage pod that her great-grandfather was in got misplaced the last time they moved and they only just now found it and thawed him out, and now he wants to meet Lum for the first time. Meanwhile, Sakura begins to sense dark omens approaching, so much so that her legendary hunger is bothered by it. Ataru visits her house and witnesses Sakura's crystal ball showing an all consuming darkness with Lum at the center. Sakura tells Ataru that he has to make sure that Lum avoids dark places. When he goes back home, Ten teasingly tells him that Lum has returned to their home planet and maybe she won't ever come back. Ataru goes to take a nap in his room and dreams of Lum vanishing into darkness. Meanwhile, on her home planet, Lum meets her great-grandfather, who is shocked to find that his grandchild is female, which seems to be a major concern. Suddenly the little old man dressed in black from Lum's childhood memory arrives and confronts her great-grandfather. It seems that 120 years ago, he made a bet with Lum's great-grandfather in which he was to become engaged to the oni's daughter, but for generations the oni his his family have all been male until Lum's birth. The little old man says that he has come to claim Lum for his great-grandson who is the perfect age for her. Lum's father tosses the old man out of his house in response. At Tomobiki High, Mendo asks Ataru about Lum's continued absence, when suddenly a boy riding a chariot pulled by pigs arrives and crashes into the side of the school. He is taken to see Sakura in the nurse's office. There he dreams of his great-grandfather, the little man named Upa, giving him a locket with Lum's photograph when he was a little boy and telling him that she is his fiancee. The boy wakes up and thinks that Sakura is Lum, hugging her. Mendo and Ataru both clobber him but the boy fights back, causing mushrooms to grow from Mendo's katana. Lum arrives and the boy realizes his mistake, announcing to everyone that Lum is his fiancee. Lum shocks him and tells him to take his hands off her. Before he leaves, the boy puts a ring on Lum's finger and says that he hopes she will reach adulthood soon. That night, Lum tries to remove the ring but is gassed when she does. It seems the ring is loaded with pheromones that will trigger an Oni's biological response to shed their horns and lose their powers briefly. The next day, Ataru argues with Lum about her still wearing the ring, but when he tries to remove it forcibly Lum is gassed again. While Ataru's back is turned, the boy arrives again, announcing to Lum that his name is Rupa, and gassing her so she's unconscious as her horns molt. Ataru sees Rupa kidnapping the unconscious Lum and finds her horns on the ground.
The doll of Lum that falls when Ataru knocks the magazines off the shelf is from episode 10-2.
The strap on Sakura's sandal breaking is a bad omen in Japanese culture.
Shinken Shirahadori (真剣白刃取り) is a fictional fighting technique mostly known in manga and anime in which a person catches a blade being swung down at them by clapping their hands together to prevent the blade’s downward motion. While this is named for an actual technique used to prevent an opponent from drawing their blade in the first place, the idea of catching a blade barehanded is entirely fictional.
Rupa taps Mendo's sword with a small rounded object that causes it to sprout fungus. The item that he is tapping against Mendo's sword is supposed to resemble an "uchiko" a small cloth bag on a stick that spreads powder to remove oil and grease from fingers that may have gotten on the blade.
The guest voices in this episode include "young Rupa" who is played by Shizuka Ishigami (who also plays Benten) and Ginga Banjo, who played Lum's great grandfather (he was listed in the previous episode as well, though he had no lines). The man from the moving company is Kosuke Echigoya and Katsuya Fukunishi played "boy" while Natsumi Kawaida played "girl".
Episode 44: ボーイ ミーツ ガール 結婚するって本当ですか
Boi mitsu garu kekkon surutte hontou desu ka (Boy Meets Girl: Are You Really Getting Married?)
As Lum is kidnapped by Rupa, Ten emerges clinging to Lum as he too is taken away. On the Oni home world Lum's parents receive a VHS tape from Upa declaring that Lum will be marrying his great-grandson Rupa. Lum's parents are horrified, and notice that their daughter can be seen attacking Upa on the tape, but that she is missing her horns and therefore has no powers. Lum's Father prepares an all-out assault and assembles his troops to go attack Rupa's home world in the Dark Dominion in order to rescue his daughter. Just as the troops prepare to go to war a gift from Upa appears, large mushrooms that spread all over the planet and interfere with the electronics of the oni's war machines. Meanwhile on Earth, Ataru has grown desperate and goes to school, interrupting Onsen Mark's lesson in order to give all of his address books with the local female populations phone numbers to Mendo. He tells him he wants to trade them for a spaceship. Mendo attacks Ataru for asking such a ridiculous thing, as even his family does not have their own space shuttle. Suddenly the class is interrupted again with Benten and Oyuki who have come to ask about Lum's whereabouts. At a local cafe, Ataru catches everyone up on Lum's kidnapping and the group makes plans to go rescue her. With no other choice, the four go to Ran's house/space ship and interrupt her date with Rei. Barging in, Benten and Oyuki go to the cockpit of her ship and prepare for take off. Ran says she does not care if Lum has ben kidnapped, but protesting does no good as the group takes off into space. Oyuki calculates a way to arrive in the Dark Dominion by warping in the shadow of the moon. As they warp they collide with another space craft and both crash land on Rupa's planet where they are immediately captured. Lum and Ten hold off Rupa as he encourages Lum to get dressed for their wedding. As she continues to put up a fight and use Ten's flames as a weapon, Upa arrives and uses a mushroom to make a copy of Lum in her wedding dress to make use of later. Lum learns that her friends have come to rescue her, but there is no sign of Ataru, as he is the only one who escaped the crash. Back at the crash site, Ataru meets Karula, the woman who's ship they crashed into. Karula calls for Ataru to sign a marriage certificate with her and explains that she is the lover of Rupa who has come to stop his wedding to Lum. Ataru agrees to pose as her future husband so they can infiltrate the wedding venue. As the couple arrive, they find Rupa and Lum's wedding about to get underway. Lum is shocked and excited to see Ataru arrive, but Karula starts to immediately shoot her massive gun, wrecking havoc after Rupa tells her that he hates her. In the commotion, Rupa replaces Lum with her copy, who tells Ataru to go away, and that she is going to marry Rupa. After being captured, Mendo, Benten, Oyuki, Ran and Rei are caught up on Rupa's plans by Ten, and then they immediately break free and begin to head to the wedding venue themselves. Ataru is shocked at the false Lum's declarations that she will marry Rupa, and when the real Lum manages to escape after Karula's next attack, she is shocked to find that Ataru wants nothing to do with her, calling her a traitor and backstabber. Karula shoots another blast that sends Rupa and Ataru both flying, as the two men run away to escape Karula's wraith while Lum chases after Ataru trying to find out what happened while she was briefly locked away.
Episode Staff:
Director: Yasuhiro Kimura (木村泰大)
Animation Director: Goro Taki (滝吾郎), Hanako Mitsubachi (三橋桜子), Yoko Komaki (小牧容子), Mina Inagaki (稲垣美奈), LO Studio, Han Hye Min (ハン・ヒェミン), Fincrossed Studio, Wang Chenyang (王晨陽), Fast Snail Animation Productions Co., Ltd. (無錫極速蝸牛動畫)
"Accept our betrothal gift!" - "Yuinohin" is a gift consisting of several items, including money, given to celebrate an engagement. The word "Yuino" can also mean the ceremonial exchange of such gifts. "Surume" (Dried squid), "Kombu" (Seaweed), sake and Tai (red snapper), items typically included, symbolize good luck. Orimono (hand-woven fabrics) are traditionally used to make the bride's wedding dress. The degree of formality one wants will dictate the quality and amounts of these items one will include. Such ceremonies were traditionally conducted at the bride's home, by messengers of the groom, but nowadays are held in hotels or wedding halls, when they are held at all.
The guest voices in this episode include Shinya Takahashi as the space post office worker, Hiroya Egashira, Kosuke Echigoya and Takuya Nakajima as the oni soldiers, Sho Okumura as the servant of darkness and Rika Kinogawa and Yumi Hirota as servants.
Episode 45: ボーイ ミーツ ガール ねじれたハートで
Boi mitsu garu Nejireta haato de (Boy Meets Girl: The Crooked Heart)
Shinobu and Inaba meet for a date at a local cafe in Tomobiki where Inaba shares that all of the doorknobs he's been making lately have come out solid black. He goes on to say that whenever they are attached to a door the only thing that exists behind the door is a future of darkness. Asking if anything on Earth has changed recently that could cause this, Shinobu mentions that both Ataru and Lum have been missing for several days now. The pair decide to investigate further, while in the Dark Dominion Karula continues to rain down missiles on Ataru and Rupa who are now perched on the roof of the wedding hall they had escaped from. Benten flies her overloaded bike to the venue with Mendo, Ran, Rei, Oyuki and Ten and they see the ongoing fight in the distance. Ataru continues to be angry at her after her double made it clear she was going to marry Rupa, and refuses to engage with Lum now, only confusing Lum more since she does not know about the double. Upa arrives in a blimp to rescue Rupa, who snatches up Lum again. Rupa chides Karula about finding a new man already, as he hangs from a rope ladder in the sky with Lum in his arms, while Ataru shouts that he will marry Karula instead. Just then Mendo leaps from Benten's bike and slashes the rope ladder sending both Rupa and Lum falling and crashing into Ataru and Karula. Oyuki uses her ice to pin everyone to the roof but Lum is only caught by the veil of her wedding dress. As the veil rips, she goes plummeting from the roof of the building. Ataru rushes out of his coat to jump from the roof to save her, but as they fall the couple continue to argue, and Ataru pulls out the marriage certificate that he and Karula used to gain access to the building. Angered at this, Lum's powers return as she blasts Ataru with electricity and regains her ability to fly, grabbing his charred body and flying back up to the roof. Rupa and Karula continue to argue while Lum declares that Karula and Ataru can be together, because she's decided to stay in the Dark Dominion with Rupa. At the glowing lake portal, everyone says their goodbyes. Benten and Oyuki show the double that Upa created to Lum and explain that that was the cause of the misunderstanding, but Lum says that it only proves that Ataru does not trust her at all. On Ran's ship the group prepares for takeoff while Mendo demands that Ataru apologize to Lum, but he refuses. As Benten and Oyuki board the ship, Ataru tries to flirt with them and Oyuki freezes him before take-off, leaving Lum and Ten behind as they travel back to Earth. Back in Tomobiki, Shinobu and Inaba visit Sakura and Cherry who show them the crystal ball that shows Lum surrounded in darkness. It then goes on to show the entire Earth enveloped in the same darkness, leading Sakura to believe that Lum's disappearance is only the beginning of something even more ominous. Ran's ship arrives back on Earth and the group unfreezes Ataru who is still in mid-argument about apologizing to Lum. They tell him they've already left and arrived back on Earth and he seems shocked that they actually left Lum behind. Everyone goes to the Moroboshi house to have dinner, leaving Mrs. Moroboshi in shock that she has to cook for so many people. Even Karula suddenly appears bearing mushrooms from the Dark Dominion to contribute to the family hotpot. Back on his planet, Rupa explains his relationship with Karula and how overbearing and violent she has always been in her insistence that they get married. Back on Earth, the Moroboshi's dinner is ruined as Karula's mushrooms begin to grow to enormous proportions when exposed to heat and light. Soon the mushrooms have erupted from Ataru's house and begun to spread into the yard. Sakura wonders what will happen when daylight comes and the sun hits the mushrooms. Lum begins to learn how much Rupa actually cares for Karula after seeing his room, when Karula calls him, asking him to send his pigs to help take care of the mushrooms before they get out of hand. During the call, the couples argue again, with Ataru telling Lum that he hates her. Everyone smashes Ataru into the screen for behaving so childishly. As daylight comes, the mushrooms begin to sprout at a rapid pace with Ran calculating that they will completely overtake the Earth in ten days. Just then Rupa's pigs arrive and begin to eat a few of the mushrooms in a display of power. A gigantic broadcast of he and Lum, both dressed in black appears in the sky over Tokyo. Lum says that the pigs will be given to Earth to save it if Ataru can beat her in a game of tag, but that he will have no chance unless he tells her he loves her. Ataru shouts at the sky, saying he refuses.
Episode Staff:
Director: Takahiro Kamei (亀井隆広)
Animation Director: Madoka Ozawa (小澤円), Kazuki Shibata (柴田和紀), Toyoaki Fukushima (福島豊明), Haruki Miura (三浦春樹), Yoshihiro Yoshioka (吉岡佳宏), Yuki Kudou (工藤ゆき), Akira Takeuchi (竹内アキラ), Akane Imada (今田茜), Kim Chae Eun, LO Studio, Han Hye Min (ハン・ヒェミン)
"Why tag of all things?" - This line is one of the fundamental puns on which the series is based. The Japanese name for tag is "Onigokko," which literally translates as "Game of the Oni," and is thus logically the game that Lum's people, the Oni, would play. The significance of grabbing an Oni's horns stems from a Japanese myth which says that an Oni must grant the wish of whoever manages to do so. This myth in turn stems from a tradition in the Kansai region of Japan of lopping off the horns of all but one or two bucks in a herd of deer, to control breeding. Ataru's failure to be specific about the wish he makes on Lum's horns in the first story of the first episode of the TV series sets the stage for everything that follows, and now holding Lum's horns will enable Ataru to save everyone from darkness, thus granting him another wish.
The guest voices for this episode include the Servant of Darkness (Takuya Nakajima), the reporter (Shinya Takahashi), housewives (Mika Kanda, Rika Kinogawa, Natsumi Kawaida, Yumi Hirota and Sakiko Uran) and the boy (Sho Okumura, Kosuke Echigoya, HIroya Egashira, and Katsuya Fukunishi).
Episode 46: ボーイ ミーツ ガール ないものねだりのＩ Ｗａｎｔ Ｙｏｕ
Boi mitsu garu Nai mono nedari no I Want You (Boy Meets Girl: I Want You When I Can't Have You)
The game of tag between Ataru and Lum begins with the fate of the Earth at stake. Ataru is at a complete disadvantage with Lum's ability to fly, but she has agreed not to fly above the tops of the mushrooms so that Ataru still has a fighting chance at catching her. As the game begins, Ataru stubbornly refuses to tell Lum that he loves her, which would make her end things immediately. Instead he takes a different tact and begins to flirt with onlookers and irritate Lum, hoping to lure her close enough to shock him so that he can grab her horns. Lum is too hurt and fed up to fall for the trick though and simply flies away leaving Ataru to hurry after her after each of his failed flirting gambits. All of Ataru's friends know he won't simply tell Lum he loves her, but Rupa is surprised. As he listens to Shinobu, Mendo, Sakura and the others discuss Lum and Ataru's relationship he realizes that he never told Karula he loved her either. However he remembers the previous night when Lum made him promise to use his pigs to eat the mushrooms even if Ataru fails to catch her, so that the people of Earth will be spared the fungi taking over the planet. Rupa agrees to let the pigs loose on Earth, but says he would do so without the pretense of the game of tag as well, however Lum says its important to her to go through with the game with Ataru so she can finally learn if he truly loves her or not. Upa visits the Oni home world to tell Lum's parents that Lum and Rupa's engagement is finished and to update them about the game of tag on Earth. Lum also asks him to deliver a message from her requesting a certain item. Later, Rupa searches out Karula and finds her sitting atop a mushroom. The two bicker a bit before Rupa says that he wants Karula to come back to their planet and marry him. The two finally make amends. Lum's parents mothership arrives on Earth as everyone watches, wondering what is going to happen next. That night everyone gathers in the empty lot as they learn that Lum has requested her parents bring a memory scrubber, so that if Ataru loses the game of tag everyone on Earth will have their memories of the Oni invasion erased and it will be as though none of the alien's ever visited Japan. Everyone is at a loss, not wanting to forget the friendships they've made not only with Lum but Oyuki, Benten and Ran as well. Ataru overhears this and he and Mendo fight, as Ataru still stubbornly refuses to give in and tell Lum he loves her. Fed up, Benten and Oyuki visit the Oni mothership and demand that Lum give up on using the memory scrubber, as Benten says she likes the Earthlings and doesn't want to forget about them. In her anger, Benten smashes a table that just so happened to be the activation device of the memory scrubber as a silly looking Oni shaped object is launched into the sky over Earth. As Ataru tries to rest on the final night, Ten visits him and tells him that he does not care about forgetting about Ataru, but silently sheds a tear before leaving. The final day arrives and Ataru continues his pursuit of Lum while Mendo gathers everyone else on his helicarrier and they plan on tracking the memory scrubber in an attempt to destroy it. Inaba finally spies the strange object out the window as everyone straps on jet packs and tosses balls at the oversized Oni device, hoping to hit its deactivation button. Below, Ataru follows Lum to the roof of a building, and is on his last legs, totally exhausted from the chase. Lum knows the end is near and Ataru is no closer to admitting he loves her. When she finally screams out, asking Ataru if he's truly okay with forgetting about her, Ataru screams that nothing can make him forget her, before stumbling and dropping the pair of Lum's horns she shed before she was kidnapped by Rupa. Seeing them makes Lum know that Ataru truly does love her, and as he gathers the last of his strength and leaps towards her, Lum catches him and congratulates him, placing his hand on the top of her head. As the game of tag ends, the memory scrubber deactivates and the Rupa's pigs begin to devour the mushrooms, saving Earth. Everyone is thrilled, and celebrates, Ataru's parents and Lum's parents meet and apologize for all the fuss, while Karula and Rupa prepare to leave. Ataru and Lum watch the mushrooms get devoured as Ataru pretends to be his usual pouty self while Lum lays her head on his shoulder. After everything calms down, Ataru and Lum argue on the way to school as usual. All their friends follow along and ask if they plan on bickering forever, to which they say yes. Lum says she'll make Ataru tell her he loves her one day, while he says he'll only say it on his deathbed as everyone chases behind the couple.
In a 2022 interview Takahashi spoke about refusing to allow Ataru to say "I love you."
The humor of playing a game of tag for the fate of the earth against an oni deals with the fact that "tag" in Japanese is literally "onigoko" (鬼ごっこ) the "game of the oni".
Ataru wears the number 4 on his jersey. Traditionally, four is unlucky because it is sometimes pronounced shi, which is the word for death (死).
Rupa, Karula and Upa all speak with an accent that is akin to the Tohoku accent, which is why the subtitles have them use British colloquialisms. Actors that have played the Dark Dominino characters in both Movie 5 and this series have commented on the challenge of doing the accent.
The eyecatch showing all of the characters is the title page of the final chapter of the manga.
The guest stars for this episode include the "boys" played by Katsuya Fukunishi, Kosuke Echigoya, Sho Okumura and Hiroya Egashira with the "girls" played by Natsumi Kawaida and Yumi Hirota. The sunglasses wearing guard of Mendo was voiced by Tsuyoshi Koyama.
The song playing at the very last scene is "Lum no Love Song" from the original 1981 television series.
Upon the conclusion of the show a commemorative illustration was released thanking viewers and comments from Hiroshi Kamiya (Ataru) and Sumire Uesaka (Lum) were shared.
Kamiya stated,
"After doing some research, I found out that the audition was in January 2021. I got the role and started recording at the end of that year... At the time, I thought it would be a long journey until the final episode, but I never imagined the final episode would finally air...! It really did go by in the blink of an eye. I think that just shows how fulfilling my time was! I was happy to be involved in Urusei Yatsura, which I love! I'm grateful to everyone who was involved in the production! And to Ataru, thank you so much! Ah! It was fun!!"
While Uesaka shared,
"I am so happy to have been able to play Lum-chan for four cour! I'm so happy! I'm sad that it is coming to an end, but I am honored to have been able to play my beloved Lum-chan all the way through "Boy Meets Girl".
I became obsessed with Urusei Yatsura when I found out about it through a rebroadcast of the anime, and I started collecting the original manga and merchandise, and had many favorite characters dating back to my school days, and my love for Lum-chan has not changed. Lum-chan is cute, devoted, jealous, a little mysterious, and the strongest. I never thought that the day would come when I would be able to be so close to her as a cast member.
Since I passed the audition and started dubbing, I have been spending happy and fun days as if in a dream. The anime broadcast will come to an end here, but I sincerely hope that I will have the opportunity to voice Lum-chan again...! I will be in perfect condition for that day!
To everyone who has always loved Urusei Yatsura and to everyone who has encountered Urusei Yatsura through this anime, thank you very much again. I believe that Urusei Yatsura is a work that will be read and passed down through generations for decades, even centuries.
I hope to continue loving the world of Urusei Yatsura together with all of you for a long, long time to come! Thank you for your continued support!"
