Urusei Yatsura

Episode 30

Urusei Yatsura has made me laugh and a bit emotional at times, but this is probably the first episode in the entire series that has genuinely intrigued me. I'm talking about the second half, which had the tried and true trope about randomly inventing time travel. The first half of this episode was OK. Ataru using a baby's body to conduct sexual harassment wasn't great, but I laughed a little bit at how unapologetic he was. Unlike every other character in the show, who is oblivious or in denial about being a terrible person, Ataru goes all in. He accepts that punishment is unavoidable, so he might as well make the most of it. There were quick-sight gags like the cold, vacant stare that Sakura, Lum, and Ataru gave Ten when he was trying to explain himself. Overall, the skit pretty much ends exactly how you expect it to.

The second half caught me off guard in a few places. The reveal of it being a time travel story after there's nothing about the build-up was quite surprising. The minute I saw all the adults in the room, my first instinct was, "Is the payoff gonna be that Ataru is married to Lum?" But it turns out this is part one of a potential two-parter. I'm glad that the show is experimenting with longer storylines to break up the more episodic nature of some of its skits. It allows you to sit with some setups and explore potential outcomes. The minute Shinobu's silhouette was shown, I knew it was her even though we hadn't seen her for a few weeks. It wasn't even revealed to our main characters that the kid's mom was Shinobu. There was a teaser at the end of the episode regarding a white rabbit who also seemed to be time traveling, and I'm going to assume that's the character we see in the opening traveling through the doors.

I'm curious about what this story's payoff will be. Our main characters are depressed because they don't like how the future looks, but there are still a lot of holes regarding how we got to that point. Ataru and Shinobu haven't spent much time together as a couple since the beginning of the show, so the implication that they're married and have a child is shocking. I'm curious about the point of not revealing adult Shinobu to Ataru or Lum since they're upset for different reasons. I know that Ataru is probably more upset for superficial reasons, but I'm curious if a part of him is hoping for something specific. Will this story end on a joke or on a good emotional or dramatic beat? For once, I'm excited about the possibilities that are presented here.

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Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.