The Winter 2024 Anime Preview Guide

Urusei Yatsura (TV 2024)

17-year-old Ataru Moriboshi is a lazy Japanese high school student primarily motivated by lust for every woman he meets. Following a bizarre, intergalactic political incident (a game of tag against an alien princess to decide the fate of the Earth), he accidentally becomes engaged to his opponent, infuriating his long-suffering girlfriend, who dumps him. Now forced to cohabit with his (literally) electrifying alien fiance Lum, Ataru's natural bad luck kicks into overdrive, attracting an endless parade of supernatural and alien weirdos to his formerly quiet hometown.

Urusei Yatsura Season 2 is a sequel to 2022-2023's first season, and is based on the manga by Rumiko Takahashi. The anime series is streaming on HIDIVE on Thursdays.

The original 1981 Urusei Yatsura TV show (directed by the venerable Mamoru Oshii) was one of adolescent me's first ever purchased anime VHS tapes, back in the Before Times when anime wasn't so readily available to stream on this new-fangled InterWeb Thingumajig. It remains one of my top three Rumiko Takahashi stories, alongside Maison Ikkoku and Mermaid Saga. Its source manga hails from 1978, so david production's choice in making their modern adaptation a period piece set in some nebulous late 70s/early 80s Japan fits its comparatively retro humor. In many ways, Urusei Yatsura set the mold for anime harem comedies for decades to come, with female heroine Lum as the original tsundere. This latest version captures Takahashi's anarchic comedy and deranged, colorful characters, updating them with merely a lick of luminescent HD paint – it looks beautiful in a way the 80s version could never dream of.

Modern anime protagonists are rarely as scummy as Ataru Moriboshi – and to be fair, he's the least entertaining part of the story, except when he receives his multiple, deserved comeuppances. The real star of the show is poster-girl-for-a-million-otaku Lum, who, in this episode, relentlessly chases her "darling" Ataru as he produces multiple semi-sentient clones of women he lusts after, using alien toddler Ten's magic bubble gum. I wondered if we were about to witness a hornier The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really Love You-style moment when he conjured Benten and Yuki clinging to one another, only for the poor moaning bubblegum girls to be horrifyingly popped by Lum's electricity. I do like a little throwaway existential horror with my screwball comedy. That Lum herself gets in on the fake-waifu-generating action to one-up her beloved only adds to the bizarre hilarity. The main moral of this segment seems to be to never accept suspicious candy from children who claim "this'll knock your socks off."

In the second segment, Ataru physically abuses his fiance by throwing a rice cooker at her head, causing a concussion, swelling, and an inability to speak Japanese. Domestic abuse isn't funny, but I suppose we can forgive Ataru in that he wasn't actually aiming for Lum, but her infant cousin instead…? Apart from the worrisome premise, when Lum disappears, frustrated by Ataru's persistently shitty behavior, this second story is another one that gives us a glimpse of past Ataru's protestations and bluster. He's gotten used to having Lum around, is bereft in her absence, and even apologizes to her for once. It's these little heartfelt moments that I live for, and I can't wait for this anime adaptation to cover some of the similar later manga material the original didn't get a chance to.

Urusei Yatsura is back, and this first episode of season two makes the show feel like it never left. Urusei Yatsura is a classic, defining many romantic comedy tropes, and even though it has technically been adapted a couple of different times throughout the years, this is hands-down one of the most ambitious anime adaptations the franchise has had in quite some time. From the opening that's chock-full of easter eggs to the unique stylistic choices in specific details like Lum's hair, you can tell the staff behind this adaptation of Urusei Yatsura are crafting it with a lot of tender loving care. It might not be for everybody, but you can still appreciate it as a modern update nonetheless. If you are a fan of the series but didn't take the time to check out season one, then I would argue this first episode does a solid enough job of highlighting exactly what you're getting yourself into for better and for worse.

This episode is divided into two halves, with one focusing more on the wacky comedic side of things while the second half tries to ground things more emotionally. The concept of bubblegum that manifests whatever you're thinking about prompted so many questions throughout the episode but in a way that kept me engaged. The cat-and-mouse dynamic between Ataru and Lum is always fun, but the structure is what you've seen extensively in most other episodes. Ataru does something dumb to further his perverted ends; he gets roped into trouble, and everyone else seems to escalate that trouble because of their selfish desires, but only Ataru suffers as he gets his comeuppance at the end. It's predictable overall, but the show's twists and turns to achieve the predictable outcome are still engaging.

The second half highlights one of the greatest strengths and drawbacks of the franchise. It focuses more on the classic trope of the stubborn pervert who cares deep down. There were a handful of episodes in the first season that did delve into the fact that Ataru cares deep down for Lum, even if he doesn't showcase it that often. Those episodes were always some of my favorites, and while this section isn't as strong as those aforementioned episodes, the setup is still at least unique. The downside to this episode's resolution is that I have a strong feeling it won't matter that much in the grand scheme of things. Urusei Yatsura is mostly about comedy and episodic skits first. There isn't much of an overarching narrative, and the only continuity stems from introducing characters.

However, you could skip around a couple of episodes and not feel like anything dramatic is lost because there isn't any buildup throughout the franchise. The lack of continuity, unfortunately, cheapens the series when it tries to go for a more dramatic beat. It feels good in the moment, but it gets progressively more apparent that this is only temporary. You can argue that it perfectly encapsulates Ataru and Lum's relationship, but it's one of the dated aspects of the show. Still, if you're into retro media or curious about this franchise, this anime adaptation is a solid introduction. There's a lot to go through, but chances are you'll find at least a handful of episodes entertaining.

Lum Thursdays are back on the menu as Urusei Yatsura is back on the air, and I missed it a bit more than I expected. While I had some prior familiarity with other Rumiko Takahashi works like Ranma ½, Inuyasha, and Rin-ne, I only had some bits of second-hand knowledge going into the first season of the Urusei Yatusra reboot, so my experience was pretty fresh and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Sure, a lot of its antics do feel a bit antiquated by modern standards, even with it being one of the major progenitors for anime comedies as we know them today. Still, if there's one thing Takahashi excels at, it's getting as much mileage as she can from a simple formula. It's a strategy that has made her the most successful female manga author of all time, so it's hard to argue with the results.

In Urusei Yatsura's case, the formula is "Ataru sucks and can't go two minutes without hitting on literally any woman but Lum" and "Lum is somehow devoted to Ataru despite how lame and terrible he is," with both halves of this episode putting that on display. For the first part, Ataru gets his hands on gum that can create anything he imagines inside the bubbles and predictably uses it to make copies of all the girls. In the back half, Ataru accidentally hits Lum in the head, causing her to forget Japanese as he slowly realizes how badly he's messed up. Neither is among the show's funniest material, making these stories an odd choice for a season opener. Still, they do an excellent job of displaying the show's basic charms along with some well-animated slapstick, and for a series as formulaic as Urusei Yatsura is, that's about all you could ask for. Sure, if this were a different show, I'd probably be more frustrated by how much Ataru keeps walking back on any realizations that he might like Lum more than he thinks he does, or Lum putting up with him despite that, but this series is less a romantic comedy and more a wacky sitcom, so I know better than to expect anything that could drastically change the status quo. It's certainly possible that this show's sense of repetition might get exhausting at some point, but for now, I still find it pretty charming. If that holds true, it'll continue to make for some good comfort food.