Chapter 114: 面倒邸新年怪
Mendo Teishinnen-kai (A Strange New Year at the Mendo Estate)
Ataru, Mendo, Shinobu, Lum and Ten explore the maze-like and booby trap laiden Mendo family household. It turns out to be layed out like a giant parcheesi game with our five protagonists as the game pieces.
Sugoroku (雙六, 'double six') refers to two different forms of a Japanese board game. The type featured in this chapter is ban-sugoroku (盤双六)) and is similar to backgammon.
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Chapter 115: 旅の雪ダルマ情話
Tabi no yuki daruma jiyou wa (Tales of a Wandering Snowman) A snowman crash lands on Earth. Ten tries to melt it with his fire breath but instead lights up Ataru who proceeds to beat up Ten. The snowman gets to thinking that Ataru is defending it so it follows him everywhere. It appears to Ataru one night under the illusion that it is a cute young girl which is when Ataru begins to pay attention. But to everyone else it looks like Ataru's playing with a snowman.
Takahashi's fifth editor on Urusei Yatsura, Makoto Oshima, listed this chapter as one of his favorite chapters.
"It's freezing cold and our bath is on the fritz!" - Most bathtubs in Japanese houses are jacuzzi-like structures with water heaters connected to them. Thus, a phrase such as "ofuro ga kowareru" (literally: bath breaks down) does not refer to the actual structure breaking down!
The snowman in this chapter is actually based on the Japanese legend of Yuki Onna (雪女, snow woman). In some versions of the story, the Yuki Onna is a princess of the Moon who comes to Earth to cure her boredom.
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Chapter 116: 喫茶店への出入りを禁ず！！
Kiisaten he no deiri o kinzu (Coffee Shop Ban)
The students of Tomobiki High play hookey and hang out at a newly opened tea shop nearby. The teachers start a war with the students in a tea shop causing the shop to eventually close up for good.
Prefects are a group of students appointed to oversee and enforce other students' responsibilities. This can include keeping up with tardiness, delinquency, and dress-code violations.
"Wet towel bomb!" - Japanese restaurants, as well as coffee shops, usually give out wet towels for their customers to wash their hands. However, fighting with the towels is not encouraged.
Stabbing spears into the ceiling is a common trope in ninja comics and films. When ninja hide in the floors or roofs, the sure fire way to test is someone is hiding is to plunge a blade in and see if it comes out with blood on it. This likely has its roots in the story of Kuemon (穴九右衛門), a ninja hiding in a ceiling who was planning an assassination. His targe stabbed his blade into the ceiling, wounding Kuemon's head, but Kuemon quickly wiped the blade clean before it was pulled out, and so was able to remain in hiding and carry out his mission later that night.
As Izumi's father plots his revenge against the teachers and students of Tomobiki High his face briefly transforms into that of the Heno Heno Moheji.
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Chapter 117: 所持品検査だ！
Shojihin kensa da! (Locker Inspections) Lum brings a giant war robot to school to be her school bag and carry her stuff. The robot only wants war. The teachers meanwhile lead a spree of inspecting all lockers and confiscating students belongings. The war mongering robot tries to escalate the fight between students and teachers.
This issue comes with a pair of casette tape covers for Touch and Urusei Yatsura.
The toy that Ataru is seen carrying is a kendama (けん玉, "sword [and] ball"), a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle (ken), a pair of cups (sarado), and a ball (tama) that are all connected together by a string.
If you look closely you'll notice that on the page where Lum has her headphones on as she looks at the textbook those top three panels are not purely black and white and were not originally color tinted. This is because when the chapter originally appeared in Shonen Sunday there was an advertisement for Rumiko Takahashi's short story, War Council that was placed on the page. This advertisement was removed when the chapter was reprinted and Takahashi had to illustrate these three replacement panels. You can see a side-by-side comparison of the original page and the one that is now printed.
"It's Daimajin..." - Lum's "Personal Daily Assistant" is a spoof on the 1966 film Daimajin (dai = big evil, majin = demon human). Directed by Kimiyoshi Yasuda (Zatoichi's Conspiracy, Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman) and written by Tetsuro Yoshida (Zatoichi meets Yojimbo), this fantasy features a giant stone statue (Daimajin) who comes to life to help a brother and sister avenge their father's death and destroy an evil lord. Two sequels followed the popular film, each one featuring the giant stone statue saving the day.
The Daimajin character makes an appearance as a mask in Rumiko Takahashi's 1984 short story The Face Pack as well.
The tanuki statue shown in the student's locker is a symbol of good luck and fortune in Japan.
Rumiko Takahashi published War Council (戦国生徒会) between this chapter and chapter 118 in Shonen Sunday Zokan.
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Chapter 118: 部外者ちん入
Bugaishachin niyuu (Alien Invasion)
Lum has a reunion party in class. Benten, Oyuki and a lots of weird-looking aliens show up. Onsen-Mark seems to be the only one who was not let in on it and tries to get the principal to help him take action. However, the principal is unusually calm about the whole thing.
Ochazuke is a simple Japanese dish made by pouring green tea, dashi, or hot water over cooked rice.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 119: 惑わじのバレンタイン！！
Madowaji no BARENTAIN (Valentine's Disillusion!)
It's Valentine's day in Tomobiki. Ataru is a bit worried that he has not gotten any valentines from the other girls. But when it seems even Lum has forsaken him, Ataru becomes depressed, especially after she gives one to Mendo. But later on, she surprises him with a giant valentine.
Published In:
Shonen Sunday 1982 Vol. 10
Urusei Yatsura Tankobon Vol. 12 ch. 6
Urusei Yatsura Wideban Vol. 6 ch. 4
Urusei Yatsura Bunkoban Vol. 7 ch. 4
Urusei Yatsura Shinsoban Vol. 12 ch. 6
Publication Date: February 10, 1982
Pages: 2 (full color) 13 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation:
None
Notes:
This issue of Shonen Sunday contains a contest for an Urusei Yatsura shirt and knit hat.
Taiankichi Day is one of the six auspicious days in the Japanese lunisolar calendar.
“What’s Valentine’s Day?” - Valentine’s Day in Japan is unique. On February 14th girls give chocolate to boys, who then reciprocate a month later on March 14th for White Day.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 120: 命かけます、授業中！！
Inochi kakemasu, jyukyauchuu!! (Deadly Peril in the Classroom) Onsen-Mark, fed up with his rambuctious class, threatens detention to anyone who talks during their lesson, no excuses. Ten comes for revenge against Ataru and his class buddies, but becomes really pissed off that everyone is ignoring him. Ten's full fury of tricks are unleashed upon the class while everyone else tries to keep quiet for fear of detention.
Ten speaks Japanese using the Kansai dialect (関西弁/Kansai-ben) which is strongly associated with Osaka, it has the connotation of being a "harsher" sounding tone of Japanese. Lum's father also speaks this way.
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.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 121: 面堂兄弟！！＝その１＝
Mendo kyoudai - sono 1 (Mendo Siblings! Part 1) Ryoko, Shutaro Mendo's manipulative sister is introduced in this story. It soon becomes evident that sadism and practical jokes are her trademarks.
Ryoko Mendo makes her first appearance in this chapter. Her name, Mendo (面堂) means trouble, and she lives up to that name even more so than her brother. Ryoko (了子) is a fairly common name.
Two pages of Urusei Yatsura goods were advertised in this issue which can be seen here and here.
Kuroko are stagehands who wear all black in traditional Japanese theater.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 122: 面堂兄弟！！＝その２＝
Mendo kyoudai - sono 2 (Mendo Siblings! Part 2) To aggravate her brother, Ryoko arranges a Romeo and Juliet-type rendezvous with Ataru Moroboshi. Ataru goes through all kinds of peril to get to her as Lum and Mendo with his black-glasses-wearing servants try to stop him.
This issue of Shonen Sunday features an article with a model dressed as Lum.
When the doberman steps on the landmine Rumiko Takahashi's famous "chudon" sound effect is used.
Ryoko and Ataru's Romeo and Julietcostumes are modeled on those used in the 1968 Franco Zeffirelli directed version of William Shakespeare's all-time classic. Rumiko Takahashi would revist these designs again in chapters 74-77 of Ranma 1/2.
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Chapter 123: セーラー服よ、こんにちは！
Seeraafuku yo, konnichi wa! (Hello, Sailor Suits!) Ryoko's kuroko come into the Moroboshi home and perform a marionette play which serves as an invitation to Ataru. Every morning since then, Ataru visits Ryoko, but he is beginning to act strange, almost lifeless. Later we find that Ryoko and her school friends have been using Ataru as a guinea pig for hypnosis experiments.
When the kuroko arrive to deliver their message from Ryoko to Ataru, one begins by knocking two wooden sticks together. These are known as hyoshigi (拍子木). Hyoshigi is a simple Japanese musical instrument, consisting of two pieces of hardwood or bamboo often connected by a thin ornamental rope. The clappers are played together to create a cracking sound. Sometimes they are struck slowly at first, then faster and faster.
In Japanese folklore, raccoon dogs (tanuki) and foxes (kitsune) are magical and have the power to shape-shift.
A bill on the telephone pole that Mendo, Lum, Cherry and Ten hide behind features the Town Musicians of Bremen from Grimm's Fairy Tales.
Table of Contents
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Chapter 124: テンからの贈り物！！
Ten kara no okurimono!! (A Gift From Ten) Lum, Ran, Shinobu and Ran are all having a chat at a local cafe. Ten takes out a little ball with an eye on it which is supposed to tell you who your destined mate is. The girls each try it. Lum sees Rei, Ran sees Ataru, Shinobu sees Tsubame and Sakura sees both Mendo and Ataru. The guys show up and soon all hell breaks between them. But we soon find out that these catchballs were the wrong kind.
Originally this was published between chapters 129 and 130 but was moved earlier in the tankobon release to avoid breaking up a multi-chapter story.
"Does Tsubame have a sailor-suit complex?" - High school and junior high school girls in Japan wear school uniforms based on sailor suits. A "sailor-suit complex" refers to older men who like teenage girls.
