Urusei Yatsura

Episode 10

I was underwhelmed by the episode's opening skit regarding Lum's mom. Not only did I not find it particularly funny, but it also felt somewhat out of sync with the buildup of last week's episode. There seems to be a connection between Lum's mom and Mendo's mom in how they both have communication issues. Mendo's mom constantly mutters under her breath, while Lum's mom doesn't seem to understand Japanese. Not a bad skit, and it makes me curious about how this would be handled in an English dub.

No, the real meat of this episode was in the following two-thirds regarding Lum going away without telling anybody and Ataru dealing with what that means for his life now. It is a classic example of the idea that you never really know what you have unless it's lost, and there's an excellent chance that the revelation from the skit won't carry over into subsequent episodes. If anything, I'm surprised this isn't a season finale. As a standalone skit, this episode was beautifully composed, paced, and well-animated. The gentle leitmotif going on throughout the act, the bouncy yet distinct character animations, and the panel framing all make for some of the series' best presentational efforts so far, which is saying a lot considering how gorgeously animated the show has been. So while the setup might be a bit standard, the execution is superb, and I genuinely felt for Ataru here. That scene where Lum is hugging the monitor because she can hear how much Ataru misses her in his own roundabout way pulled at my heartstrings and further reinforces why she puts up with his attitude. Yes, he's an idiot and a sleaze and can say some very dumb things, but deep down, he has accepted Lum as a prominent part of his life.

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Urusei Yatsura is currently streaming on HIDIVE.